EDMONTON - The air in the Jubilee Auditorium on Thursday night was electric. It was like a collective of hairs standing on the back of your neck as more than 1,700 hardcore fans waited for alt-rockers Wilco to take the stage.

And they did, to an eruption of cheers. Twice. The five band members emerged first, allowing front man and songwriter Jeff Tweedy to follow behind and enjoy a round of applause just for him.

If it were any other band, Tweedy's few ego-induced moments such as the exaggerated encores would have far greater sway on the overall performance.

But with his trove of incredible songs, a vast collection of guitars exercised to the brink and a little humour to ease the intensity, we'll let him carry on with his ego intact to entertain more masses of Wilco fans and, hopefully, return to Edmonton soon.

As the backdrop was lit up in bright Crayola colours, Wilco kicked things off with Hell Is Chrome from 2004's A Ghost Is Born. Right from the get-go, Tweedy demonstrated his delight in loud, distorted electric noise, and the crowd responded, wasting no time to stand up with fists pumping and show their shared pleasure.

Tweedy must have one of the busiest guitar techs in the business, because next he picked up his acoustic guitar for Handshake Drugs from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, released in 2002. Moving backwards in time to Wilco's Summerteeth release, Tweedy actually switched between two more guitars for the piano- and synth-infused A Shot in the Arm.

Stadium screams were sent forward as Tweedy swung his head from side to side along with the music, his shaggy hair flopping about his equally bushy face. His lime green, pin-striped jacket and matching shirt were relaxed by a pair of torn jeans and, unfortunately, included a brace on his right leg.

Tweedy apologized his broken leg didn't let him shake his booty more for the crowd, but he did attempt a few funny moves.

Other than a couple of "Thank yous," Tweedy didn't acknowledge the crowd until halfway through their performance when he gave a nod to the audience.

"We're American and we forget things like that," exclaimed Tweedy after finally asking how the crowd was. "Wilco's friendlier than most bands, but we could be friendlier. I apologize."

Taking it right over the top, Tweedy carried on humorously explaining their contractual obligation to periodically check in with the audience.

"We're Wilco. Thanks for coming!"

And it was right back to the music everyone came to hear, moving onto more sombre selections like War on War and Ghost's At Least That's What You Said.

He also presented the crowd with a couple of new selections, the first being a rather straightforward arrangement with tons of creative possibilities for his talented band to play with. The next came out in an odd key and erupted into an interlude of Tweedy's signature raging guitars and instrumentation from the band.

He let the audience indulge as well, throwing "Edmonton" into Kingpin with a call-and-response chorus from Wilco's second album Being There.

A brief goodbye let them leave the stage once. But, almost knowing the crowd wasn't going to let them go easily, the stage lights stayed on as Tweedy's guitar tech set up for the first encore, which included Summerteeth's elegant Via Chicago.

After another temporary departure, Wilco came back with another handful of songs as the climax of the night. They started off with a couple of songs written by Woody Guthrie and recorded with Billy Bragg for the Mermaid Avenue project, which got the entire theatre out of its seats and dancing in the aisles. After a few more energetic numbers like Heavy Metal Drummer and Late Greats, Tweedy bid a final farewell and limped off stage with a smile.