Wilco fans on campus rejoice over May concert

Preparing for tests Monday night of finals week may prove particularly difficult for lovers of country music with a psychedelic kick.

Last Friday, UM Productions announced that the Grammy Award-winning alternative-country group Wilco will play the Adams Center on May 5. Tickets for UM students, staff and faculty went on sale Monday at 10 a.m. for $26 with a valid Griz Card. Sales open to the general public Friday at 8:30 a.m. for $31.

At the very front of a line that stretched past the courtesy phones on the first floor of the University Center sat Ty Wolosin, who claimed his spot around 8:10 a.m.

Wolosin, a UM graduate student in geology, has been a Wilco fan since the release of the band’s 2007 album Sky Blue Sky and even attended the band’s Austin City Limits performance, a PBS live concert series.

For Wolosin, the lyrics of front man Jeff Tweedy, as well as the band’s “mix of rocking it pretty hard,” serve as Wilco’s most appealing qualities.

“I just really like his (Tweedy’s) mindset in general,” Wolosin said.

Sharing Wolosin’s admiration of Tweedy is Riley Byrne, a sophomore majoring in history.

“Jeff Tweedy’s voice is amazing,” Byrne said. “He really puts his heart into it.”

A loyal listener since Wilco’s 2002 release, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Byrne said he looks forward to a concert of “rock and strange noises, as opposed to a folk set.”

Wilco formed in 1994 following the disbanding Uncle Tupelo, a Chicago-based alternative-country group. With Jeff Tweedy at the helm, Wilco released its debut in 1995, A.M., an album faithful to the original Uncle Tupelo sound.

The band achieved its greatest amount of success with its fourth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S. despite being dropped by their label, Reprise Records. The label dropped Wilco prior to the album’s release because they didn’t believe the record had any crossover potential.

In 2004, Wilco released A Ghost is Born, which earned them two Grammy Awards, including Best Alternative Album. Ghost also serves as arguably the band’s most progressive and experimental work – an album that Rolling Stone hailed “as eerie as Wilco has recorded yet.”

With Sky Blue Sky, Wilco returns to its folk-roots, while incorporating some heavy blues licks reminiscent of the Beatles’ White Album. Sky debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard charts last May and earned Wilco another Grammy nod for Best Rock Album.

Last month, the band played tunes “I Hate It Here” and “Walken” on Saturday Night Live.

Ryan Hamilton, director of UM Productions, said ticket prices were relatively inexpensive because Wilco wanted to do a community-centered show without “pricing anybody out.”

Dan Torti, UM Productions’ marketing coordinator, believes that although Wilco’s notoriety has grown, the band continues to reach out to the community. Torti said that the band’s first Missoula performance was in 2001 in the UC Ballroom. In 2003, Wilco returned as the opening act for alternative rock legends REM in the Adams Center. This time around, Wilco is headlining.

“I think that’s the coolest thing,” Torti said of Wilco’s progression. “Now they’re starting to sprout.”

Although the concert takes place during finals week, that hasn’t deterred fans from showing up and supporting the Chicago rockers.

“You can always work your studying around a concert,” Byrne said.

According to Adams Center Box Office staff, floor tickets have nearly sold out and are expected to do so when tickets go on sale to the general public. There is still plenty of reserved seating available.