Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Misunderstood
2. Company in My Back
3. The Late Greats
4. Hell Is Chrome
5. Handshake Drugs
6. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
7. Shot in the Arm
8. At Least That’s What You Said
9. Wishful Thinking
10. Jesus, Etc.
11. I’m the Man Who Loves You
12. Kicking Television

Disc 2:

1. Via Chicago
2. Hummingbird
3. Muzzle of Bees
4. One by One
5. Airline to Heaven
6. Radio Cure
7. Ashes of American Flags
8. Heavy Metal Drummer
9. Poor Places
10. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
11. Comment

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4877 in Music
• Released on: 2005-11-15
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Live

Album Description
Kicking Television-Live in Chicago, recorded over four nights in May at The Vic Theatre. "It's really the best it's ever felt," said Jeff Tweedy to the Detroit Free Press earlier this year. "I would say at this point, I don't think I've ever been in a band that's felt this connected and unified with this collective vision." To document that collective vision that band called upon veteran mixing engineer Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, Johnny Cash) to capture the energy, excitement, clarity and musicality that has earned Wilco continued praise for their live shows around the world.

Amazon.com
Recorded over four-nights in front of a sold-out hometown crowd at Chicago's historic Vic Theatre in 2005, Kicking Television: Live In Chicago is the first official live release from Wilco. It's remarkable to think that a band so well known for for its richly varied, inspiring live sets waited so long to get one these things out. At the same time, it's a little foreign hearing songs that once felt like personal treasures, plus a set-closing cover of Charles Wright's "Comment," handed over to the masses - the quietly disturbing "Misunderstood" is transformed into an audience sing-along, "Handshake Drugs" becomes a communal jig, and "Heavy Metal Drummer" a certifiable party anthem. Luckily, the whoops and clinking cocktail glasses can't take away from Jeff Tweedy's compelling laments or the band's full-throttle charge, particularly on a knuckle-gripping reworkings of "A Shot In The Arm" and "Ashes of American Flags." --Aidin Vaziri

Customer Reviews

Accurate reflection of how outstanding Wilco is live these days
Ever since the long-delayed official release of 2002's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", Jeff Tweedy has done a lot of touring, both with Wilco and solo, and even with the band going through some line-up changes, if you have seen Wilco touring behind the "ghost is born" album, you know that this is one of the tighest-sounding bands on the road these days.

"Kicking Television: Live in Chicago" (2CDs, 23 tracks, 113 min.) brings the best of a 4 night stand at the Vic Theatre in Chicago in May, 2005. Rightfully so, the setlist is heavy on the YHF and ghost albums. For me the best song on the entire set is the 11+ min. epic "Spiders (Kidsmoke)", which live sounds miles better than it does on "ghost". The highlights are many: "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart", "Muzzle of Bees", "Poor Places" and the 2 Guthrie-worded songs "One by One" and "Airline to Heaven" (from the "Mermaid Avenue" CDs) are my personal favorites, but there really is no weak song on the entire album. The other band members are equally strong throughout.

If you've seen Wilco live, do yourself a favor and buy this, you won't be disappointed! In a sense, this live album almost feels like the closing of another chapter in Wilco's journey. Maybe Tweedy is ready to embark on another musical experiment altogether, to which I say: sign me up!

Kick Out The Jams
Wilco's Kicking Television (the title of an internet only outtake from A Ghost Is Born) is a double disk live album that was culled from four shows performed in May, 2005 at the Vic Theater in the band's hometown of Chicago. Songs from the band's last two albums, Yankee Foxtrot Hotel & A Ghost Is Born, dominate the album. That's not a complaint as those are two of the finest albums released this decade. The band has stretched out to a six-piece unit and bandleader Jeff Tweedy plays with brilliant consistency. "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" far outstrips the studio version and might be the best track on the album, "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" is a beautiful cacophony of noise, "Jesus, etc." (which Mr. Tweedy hilarious introduces by saying "let's get this party started with some midtempo rock") has it's violins replaced by an effective slide guitar, "I'm The Man Who Loves You" has a great vibe and shining horns, "Hell Is Chrome" has a piercing guitar solo and "Hummingbird" finds Mr. Tweedy dropping the guitar and working on the keyboards. Older songs include a crowd favorite "Via Chicago", a stirring "Airline To Heaven", the pop brilliance of "A Shot In The Arm" and the closing track a cover of Charles Wright's "Comment (If All Men Are Truly Brothers)". Mr. Tweedy will never be the most energetic performer, but he has loosened up over the years. It helps make for better performances and makes Kicking Television a cd one must purchase.

Like Being There
I attended the Saturday night show (May 6) at the Vic Theater, one of the evenings during which this package was recorded, and one of the best shows I've had the privilege to attend. This recording is one of the best live albums I've ever heard, and one that faithfully recaptures the energy and excitement of the live experience. Wilco is tight, like no other band I've ever heard in performance. Looking forward to the DVD.