The last time we caught Wilco on DVD was I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, a documentary about the recording of 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which almost saw the band implode and exposed some extremely childish behavior from nearly everyone involved. Seven years on comes Ashes of American Flags, which traces one of America’s best loved bands through concert footage at revered venues like Tipitina’s in New Orleans, Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium during their 2008 tour.
While glimpses of decaying America and interviews with band members offer insight into life on the road – and boy are they lovey-dovey compared to I Am Trying – the real meat is the performances. Bandleader Jeff Tweedy invokes a latter day Dylan right down to the tufts of beard on his chin, while the group takes alt.country (I’m sure they hate that term, but if the shoe fits) to places unforeseen during the roots-rock scare of the mid-1990s.
The solidifying force of Wilco is guitarist Nels Cline, whose buzz, roar, and shake is imaginative and transcendent. It’s convincing when he describes his time onstage: “I just want to levitate on the best nights. I feel like I’m defying gravity. I just want to float away.”
The band’s legion of fans will thrill at the heights reached on “Impossible Germany” and Tweedy’s admission that he got a steroid shot to help his voice the day of the Ryman show, before launching into an imposing take of “Shot In the Arm.” Overall, Ashes of American Flags is an extremely well told story of why Wilco has reached so many people. Still, the ghosts of jerks witnessed on the first DVD are still lurking, coloring some of Ashes perceived glory.
Ashes of American Flags was offered initially last Saturday as a special offering to celebrate Record Store Day, with general release on April 28. Besides the main film, the DVD contains seven bonus tracks as well as a link for downloading all the audio plus an entire show recorded at Washington’s 9:30 Club in February 2008, some of which is featured in the film.
This article appears in April 17 • 2009.