I’ve been to five concerts of the band Wilco, and every time I see them, they never disappoint. Perhaps my fondness for their music clouds my judgment, but with each concert I go to, they seem to get better and better. Last night, I was at Madison’s Overture Center where Wilco performed an outstanding show to a sold-out theater.

The band touched on every album from their career last night, playing more tunes from their back catalog than I expected. Some of the best songs of the night were older ones: “Too Far Apart” from their first album, A.M., and “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” from Being There. I also enjoyed the songs from my favorite Wilco disc, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart,” “War On War,” and “Jesus, Etc.”

For me the show had the perfect mix of easy-going tunes like “Sky Blue Sky” (the title track from their latest album), and more rocking songs like “A Shot In The Arm.” Musically, Wilco excels all along that spectrum. From acoustic guitar folk songs, to those featuring piano or Hammond organ, to outright guitar rockers, the musicianship of the band is simply awe inspiring. Last night, the solo work of lead guitarist, Nels Cline, was particularly impressive. His solos and other playing (on both electric and Dobro guitars) complimented the rest of the music perfectly. He seemed to be pushing his musical abilities to the limit, but without ever going too far over the top.

The musical high points just kept coming throughout the show. In the middle of “Impossible Germany,” the band launched into a sublime, Grateful Dead style jam. For what I assumed was the closing song, the band started the quiet, hypnotic beat of “Spiders (Kidsmoke).” When they got to the song’s arena-rock instrumental refrain, I figured this was probably a first for the fairly new Overture Hall (a venue that normally hosts music from the classical genre). When the song ended, I thought we were done for the night. After all, it was the fifth song of the encore, and the band had been playing for almost two-hours. But after a few minutes of enthusiastic applause, Wilco came back on stage to finish the evening with the graceful “California Stars.”

The one negative comment I have about the show involved the opening song, “Via Chicago.” It started off with its easy going, acoustic tone, but then part way through, half the band launched into a raucous, random, noise producing frenzy (accompanied by bright flashing lights). This happened while Jeff Tweedy continued to sing and play somberly. That confusing combination went on for a few verse lines, and then the entire band when back to the normal performance of the song. A verse or so later, it happened again. If there was a point to be made with that, I certainly didn’t get it. In the media, we’ve been hearing about the 6th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Was it perhaps a terrorism metaphor? Or just the band doing some of the experimentation they’re known for?

Confusing random noise aside, Wilco gave us an outstanding concert. The best I’ve seen them perform so far.

Last night’s opening act was the band, Dr. Dog. They played a short but rewarding set of rootsy, jam-band styled music to a half-full Overture Hall. That made me wonder… Why do so many concert goers ignore the warmup bands?

Update: Setlist.fm has posted a setlist from the show.