Solid Sound Festival (Wilco Fest!)

[faxman75]

and we have some bands....none of which I have ever heard anything from.

Wilco Weekend, aka the upcoming Solid Sound Festival, promises to turn the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art into a three-day extravaganza of music, art, comedy, film, and interactivity between August 13th and 15th.

In addition to two sets from Wilco as well as performances from the band’s related side-projects, the festival will also feature the likes of fellow Chicago outfits Avi Buffalo and Vetiver, guitarist Sir Richard Bishop, Vermont trio Mountain Man, Maine-based indie rockers Brenda, Massachusetts duo The Books, and Chicago’s jazz outfit The Deep Blue Organ Trio will be joining them for the festivities.

Plus, they’ll be a performance by the legendary Vermont based puppet theater company Bread and Puppet. Story Pirates, a nationally respected arts and creative writing organization, will be on hands to provide story time. And if that weren’t enough, several members of Wilco will be sharing their skills as part of interactive exhibitions: Glenn Kotche will share his newly announced (and as-yet-untitled) interactive drum head installation, while Nels Cline will host The Solid Sound Stompbox Station, an interactive guitar pedal exhibit.

For a complete look at the festival’s scheduled events and activities, click here. Tickets remain on sale through the band’s official website wilcoworld.net and through solidsoundfestival.com.

I've heard some good things about Avi Buffalo and Vetiver so I guess I have some homework to do.

[faxman75]

Now it's official from Wilco HQ.

Today we're announcing the first of several lineup additions to Wilco's Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA (in North Adams, MA) August 13-15. The full announcement is here, but the gist is we've added the following artists to the bill:
Avi Buffalo (Long Beach, CA)
Sir Richard Bishop (Seattle, WA)
Vetiver (San Francisco, CA)
Mountain Man (Bennington, VT)
Brenda (Portland, ME)
The Books (North Adams, MA)
Deep Blue Organ Trio (Chicago, IL)
We've also scheduled the Bread and Puppet Theater (Glover, VT) and Story Pirates (NYC). This on top of the previously announced Wilco headline set (Saturday evening) and sets by The Nels Cline Singers, On Fillmore, The Autumn Defense, and Pronto. Expect more announcements in the coming weeks. But as you can see, the festival is beginning to take shape. Tickets are on sale now. You should note that capacity for this event will be limited to 8,000 for the entire weekend and that this is one of only 3 North American performances by Wilco this summer. So act soon. Remember, early bird pricing is available only through May 31. Having just returned from a visit to the museum... we here at HQ couldn't be more psyched about both the programming and the location. The spaces and the exhibits are stunning and August in the Berkshires is really about as good as it gets. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for confirmation of more bands, comedy, films, etc. as things "solidify" at Solid Sound.
Peace & warm breezes,
the HQ staff

I'm a little worried. They were initially playing 2 headlining sets. They don't mention a 2nd set here.

[whiney]

I don't even like Wilco in the slightest and i am totally psyched to go to this.

I'm basically feeling Deep Blue Organ Trio, Vetiver, Sir Richard Bishop, On Fillmore, Mountain Man and the opportunity to seeing the Sol LeWitt exhibit and hang out in cozy-ass North Adams. Dudes have good taste!

[faxman75]

North Adams is excited about our arrival!

North Adams readies for Wilco’s arrival
By Garett Sloane
Posted: 05/18/2010 02:03:33 AM EDT

Wilco, pictured above, is bringing its Solid Sound Festival to Mass MoCA on the... (Courtesy photo)Tuesday May 18, 2010

NORTH ADAMS -- As much as North Adams will be one big stage for Wilco this summer, the band’s festival will be a big stage for the city.

On the weekend that the alternative-rock band takes over the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Aug. 13-15, the city of about 13,700 14,600 people expects an influx of 8,000 visitors. According to many, it will be as big an event -- if not the biggest -- North Adams has ever seen. And the opportunity is not one that will be wasted by businesses.

"It’s more than just a concert," said Brian Miksic, president of Develop North Adams, a newly formed alliance of businesses working with the city to coordinate economic strategy.

Wilco will be in town heading up the Solid Sound Festival, and the internationally renowned band is sure to draw newcomers to town. The festival couldn’t come at a more auspicious time for businesses that had already been working on plans for economic development, including a greenspace initiative to beautify downtown. Develop North Adams has established goals it hopes to reach by the time Wilco and its fans arrive.

"What we’re going to do is work together as a business community to extend hours, and have the same open and close hours," Miksic said, which is the type of unity he and his group hope to continue beyond the event.

"We’re going to show businesses what working together can do," he said.
"There hasn’t been a cohesive business community in the town for a long time, and hopefully this show -- this little microcosm of a weekend -- shows that working together works."
Besides economic opportunities, the weekend also poses challenges. The city expects 2,500 cars to roll into town -- it doesn’t have that many parking spaces. There are also safety issues and other concerns. There have been meetings, and more are scheduled to tackle the challenges. Already, the city decided to move its farmers market that weekend to downtown, to make room for parking in the lot it usually occupies.

Also, the community set the Wilco weekend as a target date to open a park where the Tropical Gardens pet shop once stood on Eagle Street and renovate Hobart Park, as well as install benches downtown, Miksic said. Within two weeks, the development group has raised $10,000 toward a private fundraising goal of $20,000 for the parks project, he said.

With all the visitors expected, there aren’t enough hotel rooms in the city to accommodate them. The Holiday Inn sold out before tickets went on sale, according to James Galli, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing.

The event is a promotional platform for the Holiday Inn, which just opened its new pool and is renovating all its rooms, he said.

"When this group of people [Wilco fans] comes in from all over the place, it’s important to get out as much promotional information as possible, so they say, ‘This would be a great place to come back and spend the weekend,’ " Galli said

Porches Inn and Blackinton Manor Inn are also full. Independent landlords are renting through Craigslist. Some are booked, some aren’t.

Jean Talarico of Somerville rented her condo on Church Street to a Wilco fan who took the whole month of August for $700 just to stay for the festival. Talarico said an e-mail went out to all the condo owners from the building manager notifying them of the weekend.

The e-mail read: "Be reasonable. People are out there looking for rooms and the area is booked. Our policy is not to gouge people," she said.

That’s a courtesy you might not find in other cities, but many in North Adams said they were not jacking up rates for Wilco fans.

The band is also doing its part to help the city. The festival’s website, solidsoundfestival.com, has a growing page dedicated to local establishments, said Deb Bernardini, Wilco’s publicist.

"We expect area businesses and restaurants will do quite well," she said.

Wilco will be a big test for Mass MoCA, as well. The museum usually sees about 1,000 visitors on a given weekend day and expects more than 5,000 that weekend, according to Katherine Myers, the museum’s marketing director. When Wilco performed Tanglewood in 2008, the band drew about 10,000 to those grounds.

Like North Adams, the museum has to make adjustments and upgrades to accommodate so many visitors. The museum had to prepare a whole new venue to make room for its largest concert.

"It’s an outside event so we don’t know how many tickets we’ll wind up selling," Myers said. "It’s actually a new venue. People haven’t been to this spot yet."

The museum will have to bring in a stage and spruce up the grounds for the performances. Unlike North Adams hotel rooms, there are still thousands of festival passes available.

With so much activity, the whole event will have to run smoothly if the city wants to host similar ones in the future, Miksic said. Part of that is causing as little stress for the local population as possible.

"These are the types of events we’d like to see over and over again," he said. "If residents aren’t happy, it’s not going to happen."

[liquidsnake28]

Well at least they got The Books ...

[whiney]

they're really gonna fit 5,000 people in Mass MoCa? ATP is only 3,000 tix!

[faxman75]

Alright, we have an official trailer of sorts.

http://vimeo.com/12029622

We also have some additions!!

Mavis Staples joins Solid Sound Lineup
Chicago native and American music icon Mavis Staples of the legendary Staple Singers is the latest performer to be added to the SOLID SOUND FESTIVAL lineup. The Wilco-curated, independently ticketed and promoted festival featuring Wilco, their side projects, and much, much more takes place at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA August 13 – 15. Staples joins SOLID SOUND on the heels of completing work on her new album, which was produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. Get the connection?

The SOLID SOUND FESTIVAL comedy stage is now also fully booked and ready to go. We’ve tapped comedian Todd Barry (The Wrestler, Flight of the Conchords) to headline and program a full line up of laughs. Barry’s fellow Flight of the Conchords castmate and Daily Show correspondent Kristen Schaal will be performing as will Hannibal Buress (“funniest man in Chicago” according to Time Out Chicago), and VH1’s Best Week Ever star John Mulaney.

Mavis Staples

The Nels Cline Singers

The Autumn Defense

Avi Buffalo

Sir Richard Bishop

The Books

Brenda

Deep Blue Organ Trio

Mountain Man

On Fillmore

Pronto

Vetiver

COMEDY
Todd Barry

Hannibal Buress

John Mulaney

Kristen Schaal

PERFORMANCE
Bread and Puppet Theatre

Story Pirates

ART & EXHIBITS
Glenn Kotche – Interactive Drumheads

Nels Cline – Solid Sound Stompbox

Pat Sansone – Polaroid Photo Exhibit

WILCO – Poster Exhibit


http://solidsoundfestival.com/

Can't wait!

[faxman75]

Sad panda. It looks like i'm backing out of this due to priorities changing and financial reasons. If anyone wants a pair of tickets I can save them service fees and knock a few dollars off the price. $80 each or $160 for the pair. I bet Jeff and Mavis perform on stage together for a bit too.

[apostle2]

it's still up in the air for me fax, but if I do decide to go I haven't bought tickets yet, so I'll take yours. try to drop them on somebody else first if you can though.

[faxman75]

Right on, i'll let you know here if they sell.

[faxman75]

This is killing me. I'm back to reconsidering and wanting to go. Mostly because they just added a Jeff Tweedy solo set to the mix and the whole location is still a draw for me because I never get to the Northeast.

The important part was Jeff Tweedy solo announced. They also claim a schedule with some new information may be released by the end of the week.

[faxman75]

I just heard Outrageous Cherry has been added as well. I don't know who they are though.

[faxman75]

Schedule is up!

Greetings campers,

The lineup for Wilco's Solid Sound Festival (Aug. 13-15, North Adams MA) is finally final.... and gotta say, we've added some pretty cool stuf (entire schedule listed below). On Sunday afternoon, we've now got Jeff Tweedy's "Solo Plus" set -- certainly one with many possibilities but all we can say for sure is that it will definitely feature one man with an acoustic guitar. On top of that, on Saturday afternoon we've added The Baseball Project (featuring Steve Wynn and Scott McCaughey), who'll be playing songs from their recent album "Dying Quails and Frozen Ropes" and more. Todd Barry's comedy stage is also in place and our DJ friends from the Numero Group will be on hand throughout the weekend to rock, soul and folk you out several times. Take a look at the entire schedule here. We reiterate -- with a Saturday night set by Wilco, performances by all the individual Wilco members side projects, a Sunday evening solo set by Mr. Tweedy and gigs featuring Wilco friends like Mavis Staples, Avi Buffalo, the Books, Vetiver and a bunch more -- this is going to be the ultimate weekend for Wilco fans. Tickets, as well as lodging, transport options and more information that you can possible imagine about Solid Sound availab le here:

Mr. Tweedy heads to Europe next week (UK/Spain). Info here. Nels Cline Singers are on tour as are On Fillmore who play a free show with Nels Cline at Chicago's Millennium park on Monday. Singers Tour Info Here. On Fillmore Tour Info Here. Wilco and Yo La Tengo at Coveleski Ballpark, South Bend on July 30. Info here. Wilco at Jazz Aspen in Sept. Info Here.

that's all. There will be no more Wilco til 2011, unless you're gonna be in Europe in September.

see you out there in the sunshine.

the Wilco HQ travel office
PS. The Wilco Summer Photo contest is back. Get your photos in by July 7 for a chance to win free Solid Sound tickets, mugs, and other fun prizes. Final round voting by the public coming July 13th. Info here.



SOLID SOUND FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
Friday, August 13
8 p.m. - Midnight

The Books

Pronto

Deep Blue Organ Trio

plus

SOLID SOUND LAUNCH PARTY

featuring the audio/visual collective

The Numero Group

w/Special Guests

spinning sounds and projecting images on the largest outdoor movie screen in Mass.

Saturday, August 14
1 p.m. - Midnight

WILCO

Mavis Staples

The Baseball Project

Bread & Puppet

Mountain Man

Vetiver

On Fillmore

Sir Richard Bishop

Brenda

plus

The Numero Group (DJs)

Story Pirates (Kid Friendly)

Comedy Cabaret Featuring

Hannibal Buress, John Mulaney, Kristen Schaal and Todd Barry

Sunday, August 15
Noon - 8 p.m.
Jeff Tweedy Solo +

Avi Buffalo

The Nels Cline Singers

The Autumn Defense

Outrageous Cherry

Deep Blue Organ Trio

plus

The Numero Group (DJs)

Plus

Weekend Pass to MASS MoCA featuring the Sol Lewitt Retrospective, Material World Exhibit, the kid-friendly Kidspace and

the Solid Sound Specific Nels Cline's Solid Sound Stompbox Station • Glenn Kotche's Interactive Drumhead Exhibit • Pat Sansone's Polaroid Exhibit • Cassandra C. Jones' - Video Installation • WILCO Curated Film Series • WILCO Poster Retrospective • Poster Printing Workshop • On-site Luthier • Intelligentsia Coffee Bar/Lab

[whiney]

i wouldn't call that an especially informative schedule

[faxman75]

A photo from the Mass MoCA parking lot.

[faxman75]

Map and schedule were released. I'm excited, it's less than a week away!


http://solidsoundfestival.com/downlo...d_schedule.pdf

http://solidsoundfestival.com/downlo...dSound_map.pdf

I love what they are calling the Nels Cline clinic.

Ostensible Taming of
the Untamable: Nels’
take on the SSSS

2:00PM
B4, Floor 2
Material World Gallery

[LooseAtTheZoo]

Is it possible to buy a single day ticket to this for the day Wilco plays?

I'm anticipating a four hour set

[faxman75]

I'm expecting a long Wilco set. There are no single day tickets but my roommate isn't going so i'm fairly certain he would sell his ticket for a single day price. I can get details if you like.

[LooseAtTheZoo]

I'm expecting a long Wilco set. There are no single day tickets but my roommate isn't going so i'm fairly certain he would sell his ticket for a single day price. I can get details if you like.

Let me check bus tickets and I'll get back to you today. Thanks Mark.

[faxman75]

Yep.

[whiney]

all the bands i really want to see are playing the same time as all the comedians i really want to see.

booooo

[faxman75]

lol @ your screen name while reading that.

[Pixiessp]

The screen name and the cute little doggy face. Cute!!


I really wish I could go to this fest.

[faxman75]

lol I didn't even notice the avatar the first time.

I just posted a Mavis Staples/Jeff Tweedy video in the Lolla thread. I can't wait to see them two on stage together next week.

[faxman75]

So....this is tomorrow! I'm packed and ready. Should be an interesting, slower paced and fun festival. 3+ hours of Wilco is what i'm guessing on Saturday night and another couple hours of tweedy and friends late Sunday afternoon. The plan is to drive from Hartford to N. Adam, get checked in at the campground and hopefull into the festival by around 10PM or so to catch The Books. Friday is basically a reception but I don't want to miss The Books.

I got this e-mail last night.




A dozen reasons to get off the couch and head to Solid Sound this weekend
12. The Perseid Meteor shower peaks tomorrow night (Thursday). But to really see it, you have to get away from the city lights..
11. There's a sales tax holiday in Mass. this weekend (14/15), so you can shop and rock for less.
10. Two words: Jacket Weather. Escape the dog days in the city and head for the mountains: fantastic forecast for North Adams this weekend (sunny, highs in the upper 70s, lows around 60)
9. Admit it, you're itching for one last road trip before summer ends and reality beckons. Check these promotions with Zip Car for rentals and ZimRide for sharing.
8. Speaking of road trips; the journey can be just as fun as the destination. There are 3 drive-in movie theaters en route to North Adams -- (Hyde Park Drive-in (NY), Pleasant Valley Drive-in (CT), and Northfield Drive-in (NH/MA/VT border). Or for a different slice of Americana, local minor league baseball teams at home this weekend include the Tri-City Valleycats (Troy, NY), Lowell Spinners (MA) and Pittsfield Colonials (MA).
7. If you're the outdoorsy type, there is great hiking, kayaking, camping etc. all over the area. Mass., VT, and NY state recreation websites can direct you or check this out here.
6. Plus, there's fine dining from one extreme to the other: Pedrin's Dairy Bar (home of the fish fry) and Jack's hot dog stand in North Adams , Mezze in Williamstown, and the Gramercy Bistro at MASS MoCA.
5. Once you're in the festival, you can come and go as you please. Want to go the the Clark Museum, the ropes course at Jiminy Peak or get all spiritual at the Hancock Shaker Museum? No problem... split for a while and come back.
4. When you're at MASS MoCA you'll join people from at least 40 states and 10 countries at the festival, making it both an international and cross-country scene (new friends, perhaps?) There, in addition to the festival, you'll have full run of the museum... including Time Magazine's #1 museum installation of the year, the Sol Lewitt Retrospective.
3. How about the festival programming? The great music, from Wilco to the band members individual projects to Mavis Staples, Sir Richard Bishop and a ton more cool stuff, plus the comedy and performance spaces where you can see Todd Barry, Kristen Schaal, John Mulaney and Hannibal Buress and multiple performances by the Bread and Puppet Theatre Co. and Story Pirates. Not to mention exhib its including Glenn Kotche's "prepared drums" (which you can play), Nels Cline's Stompbox Station... (again you can play), Polaroid photos from Patrick Sansone, Cassandra C. Jones's video installation, a pair of Luthiers explaining their work, live poster screen-printing, a dunk tank, a record store where you can listen to lots of vinyl (etc.) on a Solid Sound system, plus... A veritable world of fun. Oh and if you get weary, we've got some of North America's best coffee from the Intelligentsia Coffee bar/lab., plenty of local food/drink vendors and a bar. Complete schedule here.
2. Mavis Staples performance at Lollapalooza last weekend (inc. a guest appearance by "Tweedy", as Mavis refers to him) was, according to all reports, one of the highlights of the festival. Just sayin'....
1. And, lucky you, it's not too late. Tickets are still available and will be at the box office all weekend. Be there.

[faxman75]

Wilco Stage


Courtyard D

[faxman75]

Arrived at fest about 10 min. Prior to the start of The Books set last night just after setting up camp. Put these guys on your list of bands to see. The best way to describe them live is as as avant guarde musicians with an a/v club. They use a lot of obscure video footage they have gathered from everywhere from home movies to friends collections. They take an audio sample and layer it with various instruments. They were very excited about being able to say they have done their various recordings just blocks away in each direction and up on various hills throughout town. After hearing their latest album i was expecting the live show to come off a bit more amateur but it surpassed my expectations and came off very well. They are worth checking out if you like the album.

Oh and the weather is fantastic up here! Barely 80 degrees and cool at night. Im going to explore town a bit today before heading in. The MassaMoCA is great venue. The crowd was a perfect size last night to be able to navigate the campus comfortably wich tells me had this thing sold out it could have been a clusterfuck. As it stands they only sold 4k of the 8k tix. Today Mavis Staples, Wilco, art and comedy.

cheers

[MarkO]

Have fun dude.

1/2 capacity fest ? Yikes. I think this will be a one and done fest or else they'll have to move it to a bigger metro area to pull in more people.

[faxman75]

4200 tickets turned out to be the final number but despite that all sides seem to be declaring victory and after talking to local bar and restaurant employees they say a five year deal is in the works. Jeff Tweedy on more than one occasion said they would be doing it again next year. 8,000 people would not have been as enjoyable.

There was really plenty to do too. I had a fantastic time. I'm typing on my phone from the car where I will be sleeping this evening since my tent leaked and soaked my clothes but that hasn't dampened the experience. I'll give more detail of the show when I have more time.

[faxman75]

4200 tickets turned out to be the final number but despite that all sides seem to be declaring victory and after talking to local bar and restaurant employees they say a five year deal is in the works. Jeff Tweedy on more than one occasion said they would be doing it again next year. 8,000 people would not have been as enjoyable.

There was really plenty to do too. I had a fantastic time. I'm typing on my phone from the car where I will be sleeping this evening since my tent leaked and soaked my clothes but that hasn't dampened the experience. I'll give more detail of the show when I have more time.