Oregon Music News

Jeff Tweedy in Nashville. Photo by Zoran Orlic.

“Our band has made its living on the road from the beginning,” states Jeff Tweedy.  It’s a road that has explored America’s interiors and exteriors shaping the explorers and inspiring the distinct sound we call Wilco.

In a time of mash-ups and MySpace superstars, unidentifiable noise and vicious barking, Wilco are not a breath of fresh air, they’re a gale–followed by the uncertain calm after the storm.  Wilco masterfully combine timelessness with innovation, allowing us to reconnect with rock’n'roll in its simplest, purest form.

Directors Brendan Canty (the drummer from Fugazi) and Christoph Green take America inside America with Wilco steering the tour bus from Tulsa to New Orleans, Mobile to Nashville to Washington, D.C.

Ashes of American Flags, filmed in February and March of 2008, takes us through cow pastures, past semi-trucks, and into the band’s life on the road–from sound checks to banter to backstage.  Tweedy’s white suit embroidered with roses and rhinestones sparkles in the subdued blue and red hues of the stage while his gravely, straightforward voice runs lyrical circles.

Touring takes tolls on their bodies as Tweedy shoots steroids, Glenn Kotche grinds his hands raw on his kit, and guitarist Nels Cline self induces whiplash but displays solos and whammy-work that flutter faster than a humming-bird–hands a blur as HD film can’t capture his sheer velocity.

The only compliant is that Canty and Green leave me salivating for more spectacular concert footage.  With Tweedy in his cowboy hat, Mikael Jorgensen adds organ-ic yet electrifying keys to Wilco’s unrefined tones.  Horns blast from the balcony as the band nods beneath New Orleans’ fleurs-de-lys while showing us America reflected in their eyes.

It’s easy to forget that old formulas still solve problems.  Beautifully merging country, rock, indie, folk, alt, pop, and blues, Ashes shows us something natural, classic.  Tweedy exhales life onto the screen, telling stories with his lyrics, creating landscapes in our minds, while the band flourishes on the road entering our cities and homes.

Watch the trailer here.

—
Friday, January 8 — Saturday, January 9 at 9:15 PM
Wilco Live : Ashes of American Flags [88 mins.]
US 2009 | DIRECTORS: BRENDAN CANTY, CHRISTOPH GREEN
More information on NW Film Center

VENUE :
Whitsell Auditorium
1219 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR 97205

ADMISSION PRICES : Buy tickets online
$8 General
$7 PAM Members, Students, Seniors
$5 Friends of the Film Center
Double features are an additional $2 per ticket.
[cash or checks only]