Solid Sound Festival - WILCO will love you, baby

I decided a week before it occurred that I was going to the "Solid Sound Festival" curated by WILCO, even if I could only attend one day of the three day event. It was one of my best decisions this summer! The only day I could go was Saturday, but there was no way I could pass up a WILCO event within such a close driving distance, only 2 hours were between me and WILCO immersion. Game on !

I set my GPS for MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts and headed out that Saturday morning, just me in my scratched up red Honda. The sun was shining and I didn't really know where I was going, but it was a beautiful ride, dipping into Vermont for a bit before turning south towards Massachusetts. I had seen a few photos of MASS MoCA online, but it was still amazing to drive up to it and see the WILCO name superimposed on the MASS MoCA sign. Museum of Contemporary Arts, indeed.

After a bit of hassle finding parking, I finally got my wrist band and was inside. MoCA was once a factory and is a series of industrial sized buildings surrounding several courtyards, with a stream running along side it. I decided just to enter and wander around, I didn't really know what to expect so I was willing to just let it happen. I heard the unmistakable buzz of guitar effects and decided to follow the sound upstairs. I walked right into Nels Cline's stomp box station, two circles of guys seated on red and black pillows eagerly working electronic boxes generating an impressive feedback haze that filled the room.

I watched and listened for a few minutes, marveling at the male musical bonding going on. I wandered into a neighboring gallery and luck was with me, as I saw the one and only Nels Cline talking with a few fans and having his picture taken. Nels is the newest addition to WILCO and adds a very professional edgy guitar sound to the mix. I still can't believe I had the nerve, but as he was walking on I said hello and asked if I could get a picture with him and he kindly agreed. A fellow fan took the shot and Nels was friendly and posed with me, commenting "like your shirt" at my shameless green WILCO shirt. He even waited to make sure that the picture was a good one. This one moment made the trip worthwhile, and I hadn't been there more than half and hour !

Now that my head was really in the clouds, I wandered through some of the museum galleries, through rooms filled with caves of white rope or mountains of very orange chain, or trees filled with perching peacocks and dried flowers upon the floor. This was a wonderland for the visual senses. I especially liked the crystal rope room, very new age and shiny...


The museum itself was intriguing to wander through, filled with its regular displays but now punctuated with music related displays like a gallery of WILCO posters, with a craftsman showing how a screened poster is created. There was a luthier constructing guitars and answering questions about choice of wood and construction techniques. This was a mighty juxtaposition of the visual and aural arts, I was beginning to understand what WILCO was up to. Music is art, and the creative process is the same, the only difference is the medium used to express it. Why not celebrate the visual and the aural together, they are part of the same dream.

This collaboration continued as I wandered out into the various courtyards. There were small stages set up where other musical acts were performing, bands like Vetiver and The Baseball Project filled the air with lovely sound, people seated around them enjoying the warm sunshine and friendly vibe of the place. The buildings themselves are a bit harsh looking, very industrial, yet the music managed to soften this a bit.
The stream winding along the buildings added some grace and softened the look.

As I continued to explore the inside of the buildings and the outside grounds, I kept running into signs of WILCO, literally. I almost walked into Pat Sansone in the hallway near the comedy show. I didn't want to wait in the long line to get into the comedy acts, maybe next time for me. I didn't have enough time to see everything, so I did not experience the puppet acts and children's area, though I do regret not witnessing Jeff Tweedy in the dunking booth. If you read my blog, you already know my love for Mr. Tweedy. I managed to never run into him anywhere during the festival. Maybe someday, somewhere.

I made sure to be at Glenn Kotche's interactive drum talk. That man has a radiant smile and an intense love of percussion, you can feel it right away. His drum exhibit was very hands on, with various drums that he constructed hanging from the ceiling and begging to be touched and played. Boy, were they touched and played ! Glenn walked us through some of them, drums with electrical wires hanging from them, or with springs and chimes attached. He talked about how each little variation in sound can add a lot to a piece of music. In some of his solo work he has used a different sound to represent each character in a story that he was telling through percussion.


As if it couldn't get any better, now it was almost show time at the simply named Joe's Field. Mavis Staples was performing first and I managed to get a good spot a couple rows deep near the right side of the stage. I am fairly petite, so I either stand very close to the stage, or very far away on a hill, there is no in between for me. Today was definitely a close to the stage day.

This was my first time hearing the gospel strong Ms. Staples, and she and her band were excellent.

They were energetic and Mavis has a very strong Gospel singer voice, a nice counterpoint to the sound of WILCO that was soon to follow. Her band could rock though and had a couple solo bits where they really let it go... Mr Tweedy produced her album and she told us all to buy many copies, suggesting what wonderful Christmas gifts they would be !

While Mavis was performing, I spied the profile of Jeff Tweedy in the wings, waiting to accompany her on a couple of her tunes.

The roadies began to re-equip the stage and it would soon be time for our hosts of the festival to finally take the stage. I had been standing for hours and hours all day, and my legs were starting to ache, but I forgot all about it once WILCO took the stage. This was the perfect way to end this day, with the moon peaking out of the trees and Jeff and the boys on stage. If you have ever seen WILCO perform, you know that they give their all. If you have never seen WILCO live, that should be the next thing on your to-do list. Jeff was chatty and relaxed, playing dueling guitars with Pat and Nels. The boys kept it rocking most of the night, there was no quiet parlor section tonight. Stand out songs for me were "I am trying to break your heart"and "Impossible Germany", I never get sick of hearing them live! They played the very much requested "Cars Can't Escape" and "A Magazine Called Sunset", in addition to their usual fare. It was sad when the evening came to a close, and I knew I had to get moving as I had a two hour ride ahead of me. I was happy though, as I had many fine memories of this day, and if they do this again next year, I am in for the three days...