I saw Wilco live last night at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ. It was my first time seeing them play, which is shameful I know, especially as I have been a fan of the band since A.M. For whatever reason, I kept missing them when they came into town. As it turns out, I'm really glad that last night was my first time, because the show was very special.Having worked in the music industry for 20+ years, I've seen a tremendous amount of shows. I've seen too many awful gigs, lots of good gigs, but only a handful of great gigs. And every 5 or ten years, I've see a show that boggles my mind and heart, transcends all the rock and roll cliches, and just fucking stuns me. That was Wilco last night.There are a lot of reasons why they blew me away. The band plays with a mixture of competence and passion that is so so rare these days. Clearly, they're having fun playing together, which adds to the enjoyment of watching them. The crowd was absolutely in tune with the dynamics of every song, jumping up & down, singing along quietly, loudly, dancing, we were on our feet the whole time. The gig was a celebration of every verse, every chorus or tasty little guitar lick, drum fill. Strangers were laughing and hugging all around me. We stood from the beginning to end, something I've done 1,00 times at shows, but I have never been so light on my feet at a gig.Something incredible happened about 3/4 of the way into the show. There had been some minor technical glitches with Tweedy's rig during the evening, which he seemed to take in stride. He was goofing on Bon Jovi, saying he was on the guest list but didn't come as usual, we were all laughing, and then the PA blew. The microphones had no level, and the band improvised for about a minute before Tweedy, looking frustrated, took off his guitar, handed it to a tech, and walked offstage. The band looked at each other and left the stage too, while the techs scurried around trying to figure out what was wrong.But Tweedy walked back out with an acoustic guitar, came to the front of the stage, and started talking to the crowd. "I guess it's bad luck to goof on Bon Jovi in New Jersey," he quipped. A minute later, after a lot of "shushing" amongst the audience, Tweedy started to sing and strum loudly, without any amplification. The Count Basie Theater holds about 1500, a good sized theater with a balcony, and he was doing his best to reach the people in the back row, to keep entertaining, keep the momentum going. Just as he finished the song, the PA got fixed, Tweedy smiled and said thanks, and the band came back out to continue playing. To see Jeff Tweedy standing alone with his guitar like that, singing to an auditorium while everyone struggled to be silent so they could hear him, was a very special thing indeed.What else to say - Nils Cline was amazing. But so was the whole band, just total virtuoso playing from everyone, everyone played really tasty. If you pick up the Sky Blue Sky CD, it unlocks a website where you can hear a live show recorded in England back in May, and you'll get an idea of how great these guys are playing right now.There have been a fair amount of reviews that are critical of the new Wilco record. I don't know what the critics are smoking, but it is a collection of amazingly good songs. Wilco is just as good as any other American band who have ever played, far better than most - I'd say they're on par with The Band without question. Wilco has captured that 1960's-ish spirit of undiluted, important and thrilling Rock And Roll. This band could have played Woodstock, Monterey Pop or The Isle Of Wight right alongside The Who, Hendrix, or The Stones.Tweedy may not be Bob Dylan, but he's pretty damned close. If you love music you just have to see them on this tour. A little taste of some live Wilco: