7 Feb 2012 at Paramount Theater

Last night's performance by Wilco at the Paramount was just a few strokes short of phenomenal. And those few strokes, mind you, were negligible at best. The set had that bright, perfect, let-your-love-light-shine kind of feeling, coupled with a stunning amount of... well, shredding, really, is the only way to put it. Hella shredding, even! Lovelight and shredding, with lots of emphasis on the new album, select tracks from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and a perfect integration of the rest of the band's catalog. Lines like what was I thinking / when I said hello {I Am Trying To Break Your Heart}, with no larger problems / that need to be erased {Impossible Germany} and you love her / but you don't know why {Born Alone} were delivered with the intimacy and care as if they were being played for a few hundred close friends at a venue the size of Neumos. Connecting with a room the size of the Paramount is no small task, and Wilco seemed to pull this off effortlessly, much to the crowd's delight.

On top of all the sonic bliss, fans seated up in the balcony were able to take in the show the full view of the stage and the incredulous setup of hundreds of rag-covered lights that hung from the rafters, which reflected an aptly-displayed series of lights and images that changed with the songs during the set -- birds, mountaintops, digital dreamscapes, and open skies. It was reminscent of the thousand-lantern stage setup that Grizzly Bear had at the Moore a few years back, only better. Shreddier, even. And so beautifully Wilco-esque.

Set list:

* One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)
* Poor Places
* Art Of Almost
* I Might
* Bull Black Nova
* Company In My Back
* I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
* Kamera
* Impossible Germany
* Born Alone
* Laminated Cat
* Shouldn't Be Ashamed
* Whole Love
* Heavy Metal Drummer
* I'm The Man Who Loves You
* Standing O
* Misunderstood
* Dawned On Me
* A Shot In The Arm

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* Candyfloss
* War On War
* Walken
* Red-eyed and Blue
* I Got You (At The End Of The Century)
* Outta Mind (Outta Sight)

{Photo of the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot towers (Chicago) by Victoria VanBruinisse.}