FIELD REPORT: Solid Sound Festival 2

Submitted by Seth Rogovoy on August 14, 2010 - 2:40pm

FIELD REPORT: SOLID SOUND FESTIVAL 2
MASS MOCA
NORTH ADAMS, MASS.
August 14, 2010

Text and photos by Seth Rogovoy

(NORTH ADAMS, Mass., August 14, 2010) – Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival has gotten off to a solid start today, with festivalgoers trickling in at a steady pace, Mother Nature fully cooperating, and plenty of music for a lovely summer afternoon.

Brenda from Portland, Maine, kicked off the day’s program, followed by cult guitarist Sir Richard Bishop, whose unique solo acoustic stylings drew heavily on Indian raga. Bishop even makes his guitar sound like a sitar.

Vetiver, led by songwriter Andy Cabi, followed Bishop with its stimulating brand of freak-folk.

The first Wilco member of the day to be heard from was drummer Glen Kotche, who performed with acoustic bassist and multi-instrumentalist Darin Gray as On Fillmore. Bassist Darin Gray and drummer Glenn Kotche took listeners on a safari of sorts, with their soft music mimicking the sounds of nature: bird calls, chirps, the sound of the wind, playing through whistles and bells, with Gray laying down the rhythmic pulse.

In the meantime, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline has been seen wandering the MASS MoCA campus as if he is an ordinary mortal and not an Olympian guitar god, and Wilco bandleader Jeff Tweedy was reportedly submitting himself to the indignity of the dunking booth.

Rumors continue to fly that the Baseball Project, featuring Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn and the Young Fresh Fellows’ Scott McCaughey, a touring member of R.E.M., will be augmented by R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills, practically making it an R.E.M. show minus Michael Stipe.

Seth Rogovoy is Berkshire Living’s award-winning music critic and editor-in-chief. He is the author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet

Bookmark/Search this post with: