Jeff Tweedy Riffs at the Door Community Auditorium

Jeff Tweedy enthralled a packed house with a blend of stripped down songs and off-the-cuff humor at the Door Community Auditorium Friday night in Fish Creek.

Tweedy, the frontman for the pioneering alt-rock band Wilco, plucked songs from all pages of his immense catalog, including the crowd-pleaser Gun, for which he reached back to his pre-Wilco days with the band Uncle Tupelo. In a show that exposed more of Tweedy’s dry wit than expected, DCA’s first sell-out crowd of the season went home reveling in a rare opportunity to see a renowned songwriter near his prime on the peninsula.

For all but a couple asides, Tweedy steered away from the usual empty artist platitudes about Door County and instead joked at length about his inability to pull off rock star cool, his crush on Jennifer Lopez (“She’s beautiful”), and his appreciation for American Idol (“Why wouldn’t I watch that? You guys don’t watch that?”) with a fired up crowd dominated by fans from Chicago, Madison, and Green Bay (as judged from an informal cheering poll). That was just fine for one of the younger crowds you’re likely to see at DCA, as it was clear that most of those in the house were die-hard Tweedy and Wilco fans.

Armed only with a bank of guitars and his tech, Matrix, Tweedy’s understated, vulnerable voice filled up the stage and the 750-seat auditorium, perhaps no better than in his classic Passenger Side, in which Tweedy stretched the limits of his voice just enough to let it crack before coming back in range.

Other highlights (from a show overflowing with them) included a stripped down version of the rocker I’m the Man Who Loves You, Passenger Side (whose lyrics seemed to hit home with the Door County crowd), Late Greats, Heavy Metal Drummer, Shot in the Arm, and I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.

Great performance, great crowd, great night for the Door Community Auditorium.

DCA hosts the Imuka singers tonight, and the Indigo Girls Tuesday, July 12.