10A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 10, 2005
ARTS
A2 'SHcOT IN
THE ARM
WILCO FRONTMAN JEFF
TWEEDY COMES TO THE
MICHIGAN
By Gab. Rivin
Daily Arts Writer *;..
A shout broke Jeff Tweedy's silence in
between the first four songs of his solo set at
the Michigan Theater Tuesday night: "Fucking
beautiful!" To which Tweedy replied, "Thank
you. I always shoot for 'fucking beautiful."'
Notoriously reserved on stage, Tweedy - the
only constant behind the
alt-country band Wilco - Jeff Tweedy
appeared withdrawn during Michigan Theater
the first few songs of his
performance, offering only
charming quips and smiles in response to the
audience of screaming hooligans.
An odd mix packed the Michigan.
Tweedy, the frontman of one of the most cel-
ebrated rock bands of the last decade performed
an acoustic set in front of a restless crowd mixed
between those who wanted to drink beer and heck-
le and those who wanted to hear quieter and more
intimate renditions of their favorite Wilco songs.
Somehow, between the audience's ambivalent
energy and Tweedy's own self-professed shyness
("I really need to take a public speaking class," he
said), the night was a success.
Hiding behind long, messy brown hair and
a black jacket, Tweedy took to playing without
uttering a word. Blackness enveloped everything
outside of the spotlight; one point, Tweedy even
asked audience members in the back to hold up
their lit cell phones to remind him of their exis-
tence.
Eerie as it was to see a sea of neon-blue lights
held in the air by invisible hands, the darkened
atmosphere made for a much more personal
performance - a feeling of direct connection
to the man onstage. The night was much more
about Tweedy as an individual singer and writer
than his work with the band.
From 1995's breakout A.M. to last year's A
Ghost is Born and every side project in between,
Tweedy played a stripped-down set of Wilco
tunes that reminded audiences of his many
well-written songs. More popular and recent
pieces like "Heavy Metal Drummer" from the
critically lauded Yankee Hotel Foxtrot gave
fans a chance to sing along to its catchy chorus.
Tweedy even improvised lyrics, repeating the
line "Playing Kiss covers beautiful and stoned"
The cast of Homeboys rehearses at the Arena Theater.
Playwright turns out
for Basement show
By David R. Eicke
Daily Arts Writer
This weekend's performance of
"Homeboys" in the Frieze's Arena
Theater will not
only provide audi- Homeboys
ences with a unique
perspective on vet- Nov. 10-12
erans of the Viet- Free
nam War, but it'll At the Arena
also feature a post- Theater
show treat. The
playwright, John Lordan, will give
a talk afterward and also take ques-
tions from the audience.
"The author's being there pushes
the value of this performance beyond
theater," said director Whitney Dibo,
who is also an Opinion columnist for
the Daily. "Writers of all kinds, not
just aspiring playwrights, can learn
about marketing their work and the
professional's writing process."
The play follows three grown boy-
hood friends. Joe, home for eight
years from Vietnam, has just been
diagnosed with terminal cancer from
exposure to Agent Orange, a highly
toxic herbicide.
Gathered together in a garage, the
boys talk about their different experi-
ences with the war, or, for the consci-
entious objector among them, around
it. It's not a play about the war itself,
but rather the relationships it has
affected and the confrontation of, in
Lordan's words, the "disinterested
pillory of history."
"It's a very politically charged
show," Dibo said, "not artsy-fart-
sy like a lot of the other Basement
shows. It's not only for the average
drama or English student, but also
for the average biologist or the aver-
age engineer." The strong voice it
provides soldiers who the United
States sends off to fight makes it
an obvious choice for Veteran's Day
weekend.
Unlike many basement shows,
"Homeboys" has been staged only a
few times. "It hasn't gotten the criti-
cal acclaim that it deserves," Dibo
said, but she said she thinks the
Basement will be a great venue for
it. With limited space in the Arena,
shows like this one that take place in
just one room tend to fit very well.
The play has a definite Ameri-
can backbone, bringing Lordan's
contemplative characters to life for
those who might feel the prick of
patriotism this weekend.
JASON COOPER/Daily
Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy performed Tuesday night at the Michigan Theater.
and substituting in other band names, esoteric
and humorous alike.
More than improvised lyrics, what made
Tweedy's set different from a Wilco show was the
way he took a risk to play lesser-known songs.
From Mermaid Avenue to Weird Tales - both
of which lie on the periphery of his musical cat-
alog - the audience might have been caught off
guard by the more obscure songs.
While a risky set list and a potentially slow,
acoustic-only show may seem difficult to pull
off, Tweedy's shaky-yet-enormous voice filled
the theater with warmth and energy, which
made his two hours go by more quickly than
it should have. Finishing up the first segment
of his set, he played "Passenger Side," an inti-
mate gaze into the embarrassment of his alcohol
abuse. Throughout, his lyrics roused nearly full
audience participation. Other notables included
Summerteeth's "Shot in the Arm," with Tweedy
leaning away from the microphone, eyes closed
and head cocked back, pouring his heart into
the chorus ("Something in my veins / Bloodier
than blood").
With three encores, one in which he was
joined by his opening act and touring drum-
mer Glenn Kotche, Tweedy gave a performance
that exceeded expectations. Those who missed
out on the show because of ticket prices or time
constraints will have the opportunity to pur-
chase Wilco's album Kicking Television - Live
in Chicago, which was recorded in May. The
new CD can't capture the intensity of seeing
such a gifted songwriter perform live and solo,
but it should do justice to Wilco's archive of
infectious and expansive rock songs.
$
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NOVEMBER 7 - NOVEMBER 11
NOVEMBER 14 - NOVEMBER 18
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Michigan Union
To schedule an appointment, go to:
http://www.carlwolfstudio.com
* Click on "Schedule"
* Click on "University of
Michigan"
* Use the Username "umich"
and the Password "0049"
* Then sign up for a specific
date and time
Sign up early because spots
are limited.
There is a $14 sitting fee.
2006 Michiganensian cover.
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