Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

33° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Shot in the arm’

It was a hit-or-miss affair at the A&O Ball on Thursday night. Wilco rocked the crowd of more than 2,000 with their signature bittersweet blend of country rock. Elliott Smith stumbled on stage, finishing only about half the songs he started.

The concert was the first of the year for A&O Productions, which has been criticized for a lack of major programming.

Starting with Willy Wonka’s theme, “Pure Imagination,” piping out of the Riviera’s speakers, Wilco chimed in with ear candy that would have made mad Mr. Wonka proud.

Lead singer Jeff Tweedy led his band through several songs from its latest and most challenging release, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” as well as highlights from throughout Wilco’s career. The set’s understated opener, “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” wasn’t a typical, attention-getting introduction, but Wilco soon proved itself a master of combining crowd-pleasing, catchy pop hooks with abstract lyrics and strange instrumentation.

What followed were songs such as the breezy “Heavy Metal Drummer,” in which Tweedy sang, “I’ve missed the innocence I’ve known/ Playing KISS covers, beautiful and stoned.” Other stand-outs like the plaintive “She’s a Jar” and rocking “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” and “Shot in the arm” also caught the crowd’s ear and took them along for a pleasing, yet sometimes heart-wrenching, ride.

The slow-building “Ashes of American Flags,” with its poignantly patriotic lyrics, was the concert’s pinnacle. With red, white and blue lights flashing, Tweedy sang, “I would like to salute/ The ashes of American flags,” with an honesty and rawness that drew immediate applause for concertgoers. The song was an adopted national anthem, full of grace and discord.

On the other hand, Elliot Smith’s excruciating 50 minute solo-acoustic set could only be described as a nightmare. From the moment he stepped on stage, Smith complained of pain in the fingers on his left hand, which made it difficult for him to play guitar.

During several performances, Smith stopped after only a few notes, apparently unable to continue. Upon stopping his performance of “Say Yes,” Smith told the audience, “I don’t want to fake it.”

Halfway through his set, he joked, “I was on a plane for six hours and slept on my arm, and now I can’t feel two of my fingers.”

Smith only managed to play a few new songs but started many familiar tunes only to abort them after a few seconds. During one such instance, he apologized, dropped a few four-letter words and gazed at his hand, saying “It’s like having stuff on your hand and you can’t get it off.”

The audience still showed support for Smith when he was able to play a song, though most of his selections were unreleased.

A&O had been under pressure from students to put on a concert after not bringing a performance to campus this year. Last year, the group brought musicians Bob Dylan, George Clinton and Ben Harper.

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Shot in the arm’