And while the relatively new lineup (drummer Glenn Kotche could almost be considered an old-timer by being with them for two albums), along with the sheer number of musicians on the stage, could prove detrimental to other bands, for Wilco, these things mostly made only a positive difference. The sweet song "Hummingbird" actually benefited from having Mike Joregensen's piano joined by Pat Sansone on keyboards, and in several other songs, lead singer and songwriter Jeff Tweedy's guitar became an enhancement and bolster to guitarist Nels Cline's casually played, intricate work. Often, the musicians barely glanced at each other--just staying in synch by pure fusion--while switching instruments mid-song and jumping into solos and experimentation.

Many tunes have been converted, tweaked and improved. Songs like "Company in My Back," from "Ghost," and "Shot in the Arm," from 1999's "Summerteeth," became much bigger rockers than their recorded counterparts, while softer tunes like "Radio Cure" and "At Least That's What You Said" built into pounding crescendos, often louder than the songs that began with blasting sound.

The buildup before the first encore started with a stormy "I'm the Man Who Loves You," into "Kingpin," from the band's second album, "Being There," which became sing-along turned scream-along at Tweedy's request, and, finally, into "I'm a Wheel," which had all members--three guitars, bass, keyboards and drums--in full-on rock-out mode.

Wilco often saves its standouts for multiple encores, and this show was no exception. The first return to the stage included the old tune "Misunderstood," the giant thumping of "Poor Places," the melancholy "Less Than You Think," and "Spiders (Kidsmoke)," an oddly crowd-pleasing, over-10-minute sound free-for-all that got people going purely by putting them in a feedback trance.

The second comeback included the newer single "Cars Can't Escape," followed by two of the lesser-known tracks off "Mermaid Avenue"--the Billy Bragg collaboration of tunes penned to Woody Guthrie lyrics--and then by the drunken ballad, "Passenger Side," off the band's first album, "A.M." Enough word had spread after other California shows that the band had taken to closing with Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" (a winking plea to keep Blue State hope alive) that a "MORE COWBELL" banner showed up, but that (along with a stop and restart to get the song right in the middle) didn't wreck that great ending vibe.

Much has been made of the "genius" of Wilco's music--and especially that of Tweedy--in the past few years, helped along by a famous label drop (and recovery), a drug addiction (and recovery), a rock documentary, and no shortage of magazine pages devoted to all of it. But seeing a show like this pushes all this talk aside and just proves this is a band that loves to play great, if not often radio-played, music--some of which might be "genius," but mostly is just a way to have a really good time on a Friday night.