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Beyond Our Boroughs
Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA
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New York City is an amazing place to live (eight million residents can’t be wrong), but sometimes you’ve just got to leave the five boroughs and explore the rest of New York—even the dreaded “upstate”—and its surrounding areas. “Beyond Our Boroughs” is a series of escapes from NYC that are easy to get to via bus, car or train. Or plane, if you’re rich.
The Event
Wilco is a perennial summer concert favorite, and with good reason. The Chicago-based band—composed of lead singer Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, drummer Glenn Kotche, pianist/keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone—play long sets, interact with the crowd, and even sing the occasional cover. This summer, they’re only playing one East Coast date: the Solid Sound Festival, curated by the band themselves, at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts from August 13-15, 2010.
The festival will feature comedy, art and music, including a set by Wilco on the 14th. Also performing: Mavis Staples, Avi Buffalo, Sir Richard Bishop, the Books, Brenda, Deep Blue Organ Trio, Mountain Man, Vetiver, and four Wilco sideprojects: the Nels Cline Singers, the Autumn Defense, On Fillmore and Pronto. Jeff Tweedy will also perform a solo set.
Other highlights:
-If Nels Cline’s Solid Sound Stompbox Station, an interactive guitar pedal exhibit, is even half as entertaining as watching Cline play his instrument, it’ll be one of Solid Sound’s must-sees. Glenn Kotche will have an interactive project as well, which I can assume will be called “Heavy Metal Drumhead Exhibit.” There will also be Wilco posters and a concert poster screening demonstration. If you’re a Wilco fan, Solid Sound Festival is your Graceland.
-And, oh yeah, the art! MASS MoCA is the largest center for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the country, and their “Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective” was called the top museum exhibition of 2008 by Time. I’m looking forward to seeing Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle’s “Gravity Is a Force to be Reckoned With” because, well, I agree.
-Solid Sound will also have performances by Bread and Puppet Theatre and Story Pirates (“Monty Python meets Schoolhouse Rock“), and comedy shows from Todd Barry (The Wrestler, Sex and the City), Hannibal Buress (Saturday Night Live writer), John Mulaney (Best Week Ever) and Kristen Schall (Mel from Flight of the Conchords).
-If you’re bringing your children, who are never too young to enjoy Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, MASS MoCA has got you covered with Kidspace, an art gallery, studio and educational program. One of Kidspace’s current exhibits is “You Are What You Eat,” featuring dioramas, videos, paintings, installations and cool photos of Jello-O sculptures.
The Location
North Adams, Massachusetts, roughly four hours away from NYC by car. You can also take Amtrak to Pittsfield or Rensselaer-Albany, or the Peter Pan bus to Williamstown, only six miles away from MASS MoCA.
The Where-to-Stay
Solid Sound’s website has a list of near-by hotels and motels, including how many rooms are still available in each lodging. And because North Adams is so close to the borders of New York and Vermont, you can choose which of three states you want to stay in.
The Tickets
Tickets, available here, cost $91 for the entire festival (single-day tickets are not available), and include access to MASS MoCA and parking. Children six and under are free. There are a few items, including glass and alcohol, that you’re not allowed to bring in, so be sure to check them out here.
The Reason You Should Go
As previously mentioned, Wilco puts on a great show (I’ve seen them four times and have yet to be disappointed, although I’m still waiting to hear “Kamera” live…), so why should you expect anything less at their own festival? Besides the music, there’s also great artwork and hilarious comedians, all in a gorgeous setting at an affordable price. New York City has a lot to offer, but they don’t have the Solid Sound Festival.