Jeff Tweedy said from the stage Friday night that he hasn't spent much time in our city, and we'll vouch for that.

In existence since 1994 and based in Chicago, Wilco has only played Pittsburgh a half-dozen times. Never has the band sounded better than it did on this trip to the A.J. Palumbo Center. That was established right around the time new guitarist Nels Cline launched his first solo, on the opening song, "You Are My Face."

Cline, who has made the rounds of the improvisational jazz scene, is a lyrical and sometimes fierce player who brings a level of musicianship to Wilco that appears to be infectious.

Wilco has never played with this much conviction and confidence, not to mention range. Here's a group of players who could be a country-folk act, a blue-eyed soul band, a bar-rock band or a noisy space-rock ensemble, but they somehow split the difference.

The two-hour set allowed Tweedy, looking every bit the indie-rock cowboy, plenty of room to work his wonders as an emotive (not emo) singer and songwriter while still wielding lots of freak-out moments. Wilco's double edge was best captured in "Via Chicago," a dark acoustic folk ballad from "Summerteeth" that erupted into a microburst of percussive noise and flickering strobes.

Tweedy was right in saying in a recent PG interview that the new "Sky Blue Sky" songs translated well to the stage. "Impossible Germany" began innocently enough with twinkling guitars, then ventured into an intricate jam where the guitars of Cline, Tweedy and Pat Sansone went deep into conversation. "Side with the Seeds" started as pure blue-eyed soul before shifting into thrilling, guitar-driven prog rock. Tweedy put his own guitar down to focus on the beautiful vocal for "On and On and On" that, with a keyboard like a hypnotic soap opera theme, was paired with "Hummingbird" for a gorgeous set closing.

Along the band being better, so was Tweedy. In past shows, he tended to be withdrawn or even contentious with the audience. Friday night, he was in great spirits, keeping a running joke about the apparent sobriety of the crowd and the complaints from one section that security wouldn't let them dance.

"I am definitely sensing a lack of alcohol in this building," he said. "We have to intoxicate them with our music. 'tain't easy."

'Tain't hard either when you have songs like "A Shot in the Arm," which churned like a Velvet Underground rocker; "Too Far Apart," a blast from old "A.M." played with maximum soul and a grungier riff; the stunning "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," which devolved into a squall of feedback; "Spiders," tense piece of jam-rock with a nod to The Who; and "Misunderstood," Wilco's first-ever taste of noise, climaxed with pummeling math-rock and Tweedy's shouts of "I'd like to thank you all for Nothing...Nothing...Nothing!"

In the end, Tweedy did thank the enthusiastic Palumbo crowd. "Thanks for coming," he said, "thanks for singing along, thanks for dancing, thanks for following the rules ... if you weren't dancing."

As for the city, he said Wilco had a lovely time spending two days here, and he blew raspberries at Detroit and Cleveland.

Perhaps his bonding time with Pittsburgh played into this being the best Wilco show here yet. But it's more likely he's just found the perfect cast for Wilco -- a unit now gelling like the Band or some other Great American Ensemble.