Live Music Review: Jeff Tweedy Celebrates New Triple Album at Paramount Theatre
A songwriter like Jeff Tweedy is rare company. With an ever-growing gaunlet of books, records, and musical outlets, the Illinois-born artist has maintained an unrivaled prolific streak that’s shown no signs of letting up as he reaches the not-so-ripe age of 60. After a phenomenal three-day stint with his primary vehicle, Wilco, at ACL Live last December, Tweedy and his family band made their way to the Paramount Theater in downtown Austin on Wednesday night. The Austin stop comes as a part of the tour to celebrate the release of triple LP Twilight Override, a 30-song epic chronicling the Midwest wordsmith’s more hopeful side. For the gig at one of Austin’s most coveted and beautiful venues, the results did not disappoint, given a storied career spanning over four decades.
Taking the sole opening slot was singer and songwriter (And Tweedy band violinist) Macie Stewart (Also of Finom). Known for her approach to songwriting as a foray into avant-garde and orchestral arrangements, the Chicago-hailing musician opted for a performance focused on her voice and a guitar. Stewart constructed her set with 2021 release Mouth Full of Glass, an album loaded with selections that evoke genuine emotion in the vein of Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush, a series of thoughtful homages that share an old-soul quality with the evening’s headlining counterpart.
Jeff Tweedy’s live band is rounded out by Stewart, his sons Sammy and Spencer Tweedy on synths and drums respectively, guitarist Liam Kazar, and bassist Sima Cunningham. For those unfamiliar with the Chicago mainstay, he’s a figure of guitar greatness. Known for possessing a vast array of guitars for each live appearance, each cut appeared to contain a guitar switch. With an instrument arsenal that contained his plethora of acoustic instruments and a six-string that took the shape of a crescent moon, it’s evident that he’s still the guitar nerd his long-time fanbase met all those years ago. A necessary feat of meticulousness, Tweedy augments his onstage austerity by infusing each track with a poignant element of sheer honesty. The two-hour set explored 18 tracks from the recently released Twilight record, taking no time away from solo material to focus on any Wilco offerings. A creative risk that panned out swimmingly, as evidenced by the packed-out Paramount’s chilling reactions.
Despite not taking any pages from the Wilco catalogue, Tweedy’s sardonic sense of humor still showed out as per usual. The frontman took time to comment on the seated room, making a lighthearted lampoon of the tour’s last few stops: “A lot of folks have been passing out at our shows, but you guys are already sitting down.” Making a return to the running gag from last year’s December residency in Austin, the virtuosic singer and guitarist allows one phrase of affirmation from the audience before they can “Take themselves off the list.” “Some look at me and think I need encouragement, but I’m actually pretty cocky,” he joked.
Aside from the occasional banter from the gracefully aging player, the weekday show in Austin was all about the music. With Wilco being accompanied by the likes of Nels Cline, the jam sessions and improv take more of a back seat on that end. In this instance, it was about playing a majestic set and not taking any time to meander: just tunes, all the time. Taking virtually no break between most of the setlist’s numbers, the backing band demonstrated tenacity by being locked in and ready to follow to every whim, tuned up and super-charged to cycle through the legend’s songbook, whose goal is to keep getting bigger until the people want less. No, seriously, Tweedy said these exact words on a recent interview on Stephen Colbert. We don’t see that happening — keep going, Jeff.
The last song in the set came in the form of new rocker “Lou Reed Was My Babysitter.” With a prophetic line in “Rock and roll is dead, but they dead don’t die,” the ballad of Jeff and his laundry list of collaborators feels like they will last forever in history. Musicians past and present cite Wilco and related projects as a prime influence, and that’s not going away anytime soon.
The encores for this tour have featured at least one unique entry that will not appear at any other show. For Austin, attendees were treated to not one, but two covers by late bona fide Austin hardliner Daniel Johnston. “Walking The Cow” and “Cold Hard World” served as an ideal encore, highlighting the longtime Austin resident, Johnston’s DIY ethos that made him a fixture before his untimely death at age 58. Hey, the “Hi, How Are You” mural across from the UT campus didn’t come out of nowhere. A soaring finale manifested as “Enough” from the worthy players, sending it all home in a way that even got the older-leaning crowd choked up after a heartwarming excursion at one of Central Texas’ most iconic spaces.
Jeff Tweedy continues down the road through the end of November before heading to Europe for another run in 2026. Tickets can be found via the Wilco website.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
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