Last night’s Tortoise/Daniel Lanois show at Park West was stellar. Tortoise opened with a 65-minute set that really swung hard, thanks in great part to the relentless rock-solid rythmn section. Most of the numbers were tightly-arranged, angular and weirdly catchy. You could really dance to this stuff. Then Lanois came out and Tortoise became the back-up band. Lanois’ stuff (as Andy pointed out) is much more “conventional” than anything by Tortoise, but it was for that exact reason that there was so much fertile creative tension onstage. Lanois even referred to it between songs: “Folk music is a term being bandied about time to time that’s misunderstood. Usually it means whatever you bring to it. I think that’s what we’re doing up here together, we sort of bring our own things together and mix it up.” Picture a cross between Ry Cooder and Medeski, Martin & Wood. Lanois alternated between guitar, quite chunked up at times but always precise, and some lovely pedal steel work. The group stripped down to a three-piece for a reading of “Frozen,” from the new album, which could accurately be described as steel guitar folk-punk. Part of the set was also just Lanois & guitar. The show concluded with a very long and passionate version of “The Maker.” Three hours with no encore. Wonderful stuff.