Last night, we went to see Wilco’s frontman Jeff Tweedy put on a solo show at Heineken Greenspace, one of Valencia’s top concert venues. It’s the first rock concert I’ve been to since moving here 6 months ago. Well, we did see Dover’s free show during Fallas for about 5 minutes, but I’m not counting that.
Wilco are one of America’s best bands and are incredible live. Solo, Tweedy was a lot more mellow than in one of his band’s raucous, high-energy shows. It was just him and an assortment of about 8 guitars on stage — no other accompaniment. The track list he chose was like a greatest hits tour through his career. He played songs from all of Wilco’s albums, and even one or two from Uncle Tupelo (arguably the founders of alternative country).
Greenspace as a venue was good, if not great. It’s quite large, and this was too intimate a show for such a spacious area. It wasn’t nearly full, which turned out to be a good thing, given the heat and utter lack of air circulation. Poor Tweedy was completely drenched in sweat during his entire performance.
This was the first stop of his tour through Spain; he’s also appearing in Mallorca, Altea and Murica. If you’re a fan of Wilco, you really should go. It’s a shame Valencia doesn’t attract more high-profile international acts… any ideas why?