Wilco's North American tour winds its way north to Columbus, Ohio, tonight, and then to two sold-out shows in Toronto in the coming days. That follows several stops in the South, including Friday night's show at the Palladium in Dallas, Texas, at which the "sold-out crowd ate up every joking aside, roared after every song, belted out lyrics and enveloped the Chicago-based rockers in a fierce, warm welcome," says the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.

Preston Jones, the Star-Telegram's pop music critic, reports that, as the group "happily rambled through its catalog ... there was a limber, almost giddy quality to the show that spilled off the stage and into the audience." Jones says it's the sort of atmosphere one might expect following the band's recent Nonesuch release, Wilco (the album). "Befitting the spirit of its latest album," he writes, "the band delivered controlled chaos with a smile."

Further to the point, Jones explains:

Wilco (the album) has garnered considerable critical acclaim for bridging the extremes of this wonderfully ambitious group. As Friday’s excellent performance demonstrated, letting in a little light—and calmness—cements Wilco’s standing as one of America’s finest rock bands.

Read the complete album review at star-telegram.com.

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The Dallas News could concur. "If Jeff Tweedy and his Wilco bandmates weren't having the time of their lives on stage Friday night at the Palladium Ballroom," writes the paper's Hunter Hauk, "they sure fooled us."

Wilco, says reviewer, "delivered the kind of expansive, experimental takes on tunes that drew so many fans to the groundbreaking albums Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born," and went on to include "plenty of unexpected treats" throughout the night.

"There's no question that Wilco's one of the most skilled rock (or, if you insist, alt-country) bands you can see live," Hauk concludes. "And, amazingly, the players seem to enjoy the concert experience just as much as their audience does."

There's more at dallasnews.com.

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The Dallas Observer begins its review by asking what Friday's show was better than, answering: "Anything?" The Observer's Robert Wilonsky was asking such questions even by the set's second song, wondering: "What next? How to top that?" There was much more to come in a set that was so comfortable, the venue "might as well have been your backyard, by a campfire; Wilco loves you, baby." That made for a show that "was a sprawling, thrilling best-of—all goosebumps and grins." The review is at dallasobserver.com.

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Prior to the Dallas show, the group played Austin's Cedar Park Center last Thursday. Austin 360 reviewer Peter Mongillo says the band's ability to "seamlessly weave" songs from the new album into the catalog-rich set "served as a reminder that the most recent lineup, which has been in place for a while, has come into its own in recent years." Mongillo notes in particular that "the subtleties of songs such as 'At Least That’s What You Said' from 2004’s A Ghost Is Born, and 'Hate It Here' [off 2007's Sky Blue Sky] made the band’s live experience particularly special." Read more at austin360.com.

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Seattle radio station KEXP recently asked its listeners to weigh in on what could very well be the most ambitious Best Of list yet: the Best Year for Music in all of music history. While the poll may not be scientific, it certainly raises an interesting topic for conversation. Topping the list was 1991, perhaps not surprising coming from Seattle, home of a number of prominent artists from that year, like Nirvana and Soundgarden. This year's albums, with KEXP noting Wilco (the album) among a handful of representative 2009 releases, places No. 4. For the complete list, visit kexp.org.