LENOX - Rock �n� roll is defined by excess. Invented by kids who wanted r & b, blues and country to be louder, faster and billy Wilder, rock has continually noted overindulgence. Then along comes auteur Jeff Tweedy, decision making to define rock by restraint.
It�s a bold, well-nigh stupid mind. But it gives Tweedy a rule to make art by, and a rule to break at perfect moments, which he did at Wilco�s jam-packed Tuesday demonstrate at Tanglewood.
Dressed in tawdry, retro rhinestone-studded suits, the Chicago sestet took to the Boston Symphony�s summer stage on a gorgeous night, gap with the subtle, sweet �Either Way.� The song�s gentle tonal pattern and guitarist Nels Cline�s jazz tone made the band heavy subdued sufficiency to open for James Taylor. Through �Hummingbird,� �Remember the Mountain Bed� and �Muzzle of Bees,� Tweedy and troupe adhered strictly to his aesthetic of restraint.
Then, somewhere during the middle of �You Are My Face,� Tweedy allow Cline dynamite a sonic levee by releasing a solo that flooded Tanglewood with a barbaric burl of notes and feedback. From here Tweedy lento eased his restrictions, generally by rental Cline mash up Wes Montgomery and Sonic Youth (and on occasion jumping in himself).
But it was during �I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,� the epic opener of �Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,� that Tweedy first permitted his band to indulge completely and freely in a herald of ear-bleeding dissonance.
This is Tweedy�s large trick: track record minor masterpieces of albums where the melodies ar purposely flat and the songwriting is skimmed of the fat rock thrives on, so the contrastive live eruptions hit a crowd with a forcefulness that would make thrash-metal bands envious.
Tweedy then bounced back and forth 'tween flattened, still sublime melodies (�Pieholden Suite,� �California Stars,� �Summerteeth�) and rule-breaking bursts to occupy out an almost two-hour set.
Because Tweedy�s still got a stone �n� roll heart, he encored with 40 transactions of uptempo, straight-ahead rock aided by the Total Pros� horns: �The Late Greats,� �Heavy Metal Drummer,� �Outtasite (Outta Mind)� and �I�m Wheel.�
Andrew Bird opened with his impressive, valued folk-rock picayune and whistling - he whistles with the science of a jazz horn player, though sadly this means cloying Kenny G lines to go with cool Chet Baker ones. Backed by a drummer and two multi-instumentalists, Bird showed off his exceptional melodic skills and near-virtuoso playing, most notably on �Tables and Chairs.�
WILCO, with ANDREW BIRD at Tanglewood, Lenox, Tuesday night.
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