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By Rudy Klapper, January 26, 2012 10:00 am

Finally saw Wilco for the first time Tuesday night as they played their first night of a three-night stand in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Palladium. Although Kicking Television (where this song is from) is one of my favorite live albums, I had little idea just how good they would be live – they destroyed my expectations. Jeff Tweedy and company, especially face-melting guitarist Nels Cline, dispelled any notion of Wilco as a “dad-rock” band, a label unfairly heaped on them thanks to some of their newer albums. I’ll be the first to criticize Sky Blue Sky or Wilco (The Album) for sounding uninspired, but hearing those songs in a live setting, with the entire band nailing time changes, solos and improvised codas with ease, transforms them into an altogether different beast. And they performed “Handshake Drugs,” one of my favorite live cuts.

Wilco – “Handshake Drugs (Live)”

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By Rudy Klapper, September 30, 2010 8:00 am

Seeing one of my favorite bands at the Palladium in Hollywood tomorrow. Besides being my favorite Spoon song (right ahead of “Black Like Me”), this is easily in the running for favorite song ever…just check out my site’s tagline. And those guitars!

Spoon – “The Beast and Dragon, Adored”