Wilco – 3Olympia – Live Review
by Killian Laher

Friday 8th September 2023

Wilco’s first Dublin gig in seven years sold out some time ago.  Forget your “dadrock’ clichés, there was a very mixed crowd of all ages in attendance.  Plenty of the audience were present for a fine support set from Anna Mieke.  Joined by a percussionist and keyboard player, Mieke treated the audience to selections from last year’s Theatre album.  A sparse, echoey sound mix suited songs like Twin well, where subtle percussion accompanied Mieke’s rolling guitar.  Coralline featured a lovely, stretched-out coda and a sprinkling of woodwind from the keyboard player.  In between songs, Anna Mieke told an odd story about setting her hair on fire on her last visit to the Olympia.  But on stage, the band have a polished sound.  Their performance was slick and practically note-perfect.

On the other hand, the main act, Wilco, came to rock the bejaysus out of their vast back catalogue.  Opening with Hell Is Chrome, Jeff Tweedy’s squealing guitar licks set the tone for the evening.  The band alternated between countrified strums and more avant-garde rockers.  It was on the latter that the band REALLY excelled, the guitar interplay between Nels Cline and Pat Sansone at times evoked Television.  Cline stole the show with an incendiary guitar freakout on I Am Trying To Break Your Heart and an elongated Impossible Germany.  Not to be outdone, Sansone impressed on Bird Without A Tail/Base of My Skull and a rocking Boxful of Letters, one of Wilco’s earliest songs.  Jeff Tweedy reckoned the latter was played in Whelans a long time ago.  He suggested the audience check their prostates, and maybe a mammogram.  But he also provided the songs, acting as a platform for the two guitarists to take flight, which was a joy to behold.

Misunderstood was another highlight, the song appearing like it might collapse in on itself but powered through to a climax of Tweedy roaring ‘NOTHING! NOTHING! NOTHING!’ repeatedly.  A Shot In The Arm had a fair amount of the audience dancing as Mikael Jorgensen pummelled his keyboard with a cushion!  The band reined in their jammier instincts for a tight, rocking encore featuring a Stones-y Monday and rounding off their set with a sprint through I’m A Wheel.  Wilco were never a cool name to drop, but they are one of the finest jam bands in music.  Forget the Grateful Dead, these guys are the real deal.  Really accomplished musicians, and an impressive catalogue of songs.