ONE hot afternoon in August, Alicante’s Plaza de Toros does not seem like a dangerous place. While the tiled inner walls of this 19th-century arena are decorated with vintage posters of matadors, resplendent in their finery, to remind us of its true purpose, the bullfighting season is over. Instead, the venue is currently hosting far less grizzly entertainments. Besides a host of Spanish acts who’ve appeared here this summer, Dylan, Kraftwerk and Tom Jones have all performed on a makeshift stage that rises up from the sand-covered ruedo. At present, Wilco’s crew are preparing for tonight’s show, busily setting up Glenn Kotche’s drum kit and Mikael Jorgensen’s keyboards. Backstage, Nels Cline is eating lunch in a small catering area while Pat Sansone hangs next to a table – designated the band’s ‘green room’ – stocked with neat rows of water bottles, packets of nuts and protein bars and various condiments. Nearby, a sign above a door reads ‘Jam Room’ – this is where, some hours from now, the band will convene to work through the night’s set. Meanwhile, Jeff Tweedy settles himself on a sofa inside the venue’s air-conditioned dressing room.
At this point, Wilco are four shows into their 2023 European Tour, mixing festival slots with their own headline shows. “In some ways it makes it a little easier to get started, because you tend to generally paint with a little bit broader strokes on a festival stage,” explains Tweedy. “The subtler material is always the hardest to get sounding good, right off the bat. So giving yourself time to get something like ‘Muzzle Of Bees’ together is good.”
Ostensibly, we are here to discuss – Wilco’s excellent 13th studio album in almost 30 years. The title, Tweedy explains, is not a reference to a nickname used in TV’s . Experimental, questing and filled with strange undercurrents, is – as has become tradition in the band’s lengthy history – a creative rethink. As it transpires, began life in 2019. When Wilco reconvened after the pandemic, they planned to resume work on in consecutive in favour of what became the mellow, rootsy .
