You have to give Wilco credit for knowing their audience.
A far cry from your now-standard music-and-substance-abuse binges like Bonnaroo and Coachella, the band's third Solid Sound festival was hosted at Mass MOCA's (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) compound in woodsy mill-town-cum-artist's-haven North Adams. Replacing the usual festival fare of wasted shirtless bros and MDMA-induced cuddle puddles, attendees were greeted with microbrews and wine, a pop-up record store, menus that would have been right at home in your local Whole Foods, plenty of kid's activities, and, of course, an entire museum of cutting-edge art in which to meander while taking breaks from the intense heat.
Starting the weekend off with an all-request set on Friday night that ran the gamut from Wilco predecessor Uncle Tupelo's "New Madrid" to Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" to the Replacements' "Color Me Impressed" (with actual Replacement Tommy Stinson), other highlights included a screening of the documentary The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller with live soundtrack from Yo La Tengo, up-and-comers Lucius performing under artist Xu Bing's massive Phoenix sculpture, urban birding tours, a live Radiolab broadcast, Foxygen's young Sam France getting physical with security when he decided it was a good idea to climb the stage scaffolding during his set and they disagreed (later in the evening saw the band's tambourine player being carried away — literally — by the seat of his pants), and a grand finale superjam with avant-jazz jammers Medeski Martin & Wood.
While it may read like a greatest-hits list from Stuff White People Like, a chord was definitely struck, as Solid Sound sold out and smiling faces abounded, even though the aforementioned heat coupled with New England humidity made Sunday a weight-shedding sweat-in. Backstage the overall vibe was also reminiscent more of an annual reunion of college friends than a debaucherous rock fest, with children running everywhere and artists mingling to watch shows from the sidelines together. This suited the okay-with-being-called-Dad-Rock Wilco, as in a lot of ways for the almost twenty-year-old band (and its fan base) that's exactly what it was.
