Twilight sound curfew shortchanges Wilco fans at the Pier

Concert review

Wilco, John Hiatt, Thursday night at Summer Nights at the Pier, Pier 62/63, Seattle waterfront.

Whenever someone covers a Summer Nights at the Pier concert, the reviews usually start the same way. They gush over the gorgeous sunsets, starry nights and cool, Sound breezes that make Pier 62/63 Seattle's most beloved outdoor setting. Then, the setting is tied into the music, with transitions like "The musicians must've been moved by the heavenly surroundings, as they played an inspired set . . ."

This is all well and good, and yes, Thursday night was another magnificent summer evening at the Seattle waterfront where Wilco and John Hiatt played to a sold-out crowd. Magnificent, that is, unless you were a Wilco fan.

While Pier 62/63 may be aesthetically pleasing to most, its 10 p.m. sound curfew is ridiculously frustrating to true music lovers. Rabid Wilco fans sold out this gig immediately after it went on sale, plunking down $33 (not including service fees) to see the band. What they got in return was 75 minutes of Wilco, which on a good night represents about half the band's show.

As the house lights rose, the tour manager emerged and told the crowd that, though Wilco wanted to continue, they were told they had to stop. The fans, on the other hand, were just getting started. Boos and profanity cascaded towards the stage.

Opener John Hiatt was part of the reason. The veteran singer/songwriter played 70 minutes, though after several tunes, his rootsy country-rock fusion grew repetitious and overwrought. This didn't stop him from taking an encore - something that headliners Wilco weren't allowed.

What made the Wilco's abrupt close even more upsetting was that they had just hit stride. The Chicago band cheerfully fumbled through the first half of their set, extensively performing Woody Guthrie material taken from their homage records "Mermaid Avenue Vol. 1" and "Volume 2." Songs like "Airline to Heaven" and "Christ for President" were rough, murky blends of rock 'n' roll, country and R&B, drenched in organ and Jay Bennett's slide guitar.

While the "Mermaid" stuff was interesting, Wilco jump-started both their set and fans when they turned to their original tunes. They transformed "Summerteeth" material ("I'm Always in Love," "A Shot in the Arm") from lush pop to brash rock, when the band attacked them with ringing, extensive guitar solos and passionate honky-tonk piano.

The band's closer, "Misunderstood," however, stole the show, and suggested that Wilco, too, wasn't pleased with their brief time constraints. The moody, acoustic-driven ballad eventually spiraled into crashing drums, layers of deafening feedback and fists slamming on keyboards. As the band went nuts, Tweedy grabbed the mike, lurched forward, and bellowed "I'd like to thank you all for nothing!"

It was a line fans had heard at past Wilco shows; however, on this evening - despite the setting - they had no idea it foreshadowed their own disappointment.