Dan Wilson at Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (06 June 2014) concert review

A pinch of this, a dab of that…



On the last of his three sold-out shows at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis over the weekend, singer/songwriter/producer/hometown favorite son Dan Wilson had decreed the night’s theme as a “Chef’s Choice”- to be composed of elements of his previous two storytelling evenings, and would also feature some rarely played collaborations and surprises.  With his 110 minute performance, the “Chef” did not disappoint.



Wilson had returned to town, in support of his second and latest solo effort, Love Without Fear (Kobalt/Ballroom Music, Ltd) and brought along his right-hand man Brad Gordon on keyboards, drummer Ken Chastain, and for several songs, the Laurel Street Quartet, who added an elegance with their Jacob Slichter-arranged string enhancements.


After a retrospective 45 min. set of his own featuring numerous solo and Rogue Valley songs, local songsmith Chris Koza gave way to the headliner, who began his set with the title track from his new album.  Dressed in jeans and a fitted dark denim jacket, Wilson then went into a stark version of the hit he co-penned with the Dixie Chicks, ‘Easy Silence’.

Dan Wilson

Prefacing the Semisonic song, ‘Secret Smile’, Wilson mentioned his mother’s advice to keep a dream journal and that song being one of the things that resulted from it.  The swooping strings from the quartet added a welcome polish to the acoustic version, while keeping its core pop roots intact.

Dan Wilson Setlist

A “massive hit” in Greece and Macedonia, ‘Breathless’ was next, the audience chuckling along with Wilson’s story about his brush with brief pocketed international fame.  The new ’Your Brighter Days’ is a pop nugget, borne out of a transcontinental plane trip and the inspiration and jet-leg as a result of landing half a world away.  Lead single from the new album, ‘Disappearing’, was delicate and heartbreaking at the same time, Wilson mining his willingness to show vulnerabilities and emotions, that makes him in demand as a creative collaborator, particularly with notable female artists (P!nk, Adele, etc).



Without naming names, Wilson then told an amusing story about his collaboration with Taylor Swift, before launching into ‘Treacherous’, from Swift’s 2012 album, Red; a confessional song about being enticed by something obviously also so dangerous. The Adele collaboration, ‘Don’t You Remember’ was next, with Wilson saying her vision for the song was to show “why the other album songs were so heartbroken”; one of Wilson’s favorites, he admitted though he rarely plays it himself live.

Laurel Street Quartet

Semisonic’s ‘DND’ was a mellow favorite and a shoulda-been hit, from 1998’s Feeling Strangely Fine, with the Laurel Street Quartet adding its appropriate elegance, alongside some gentle harmonica.   Semisonic’s biggest hit, ‘Closing Time’ was punctuated with a relaxed Wilson playfully over-extending a bridge section to the point of absurdity, to the chagrin of the amused audience, which was then followed by some other riffing versions of the song’s chorus.  ‘All Kinds of Beautiful’ had the crowd singing along to the chorus, in a Minnesota polite but not loud tone, and ended the main set.



The new ‘However Long’ with its lyrics inspired by a volcano, began the encore, followed by Wilson’s interpretation of Adele’s epic of sadness and redemption, ‘Someone Like You’.  Semisonic’s ‘Movies’, Paul Simon-like in its lyrical attention to detail and with the string quartet soaring at full energy, closed the evening and three-night stand, with flourish.



And with that, the “Chef” said good night, a palette satisfying, Grammy-winning recipe, prepared and served.

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