Wilco Perform ‘Being There’ & ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’ In Entirety at Solid Sound (FESTIVAL RECAP)

Now five Solid Sound festivals in, the team of Wilco and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) have settled into a groove. They’ve had two years since the last one to dream up improvements to an already fabulous festival, and in 2017, they have clearly stepped up their game. This year, the three-day event now boasts its own app that offers everything from weather reports to schedule updates. There is a stronger showing of vendors, and the museum itself has expanded. But as always with Solid Sound, the thing that stands out the most is the varied and compelling lineup, in which you’re bound to discover something totally new and amazing.

There has not yet been a Solid Sound lineup that doesn’t raise a few questions. “Who is that?” “I’ve never heard of that band.” There are typically a handful of familiar acts, and then a bunch of names that sound vaguely familiar, and 2017 is no exception. And that is what makes coming back every other year so great. It’s knowing you’ll leave with a fresh perspective – the newest fan of some incredible artist that’s been missing from your life. In 2015 it was Ryley Walker, William Tyler and Mac DeMarco, to name a few. This year, I predict it will be Andy Shauf (his 2016 sleeper The Party was one of the year’s best), Deep Sea Diver and Big Thief.

Friday offers only a taste of this, as Wilco is the main attraction of the day. Things kicked off in the early evening with Nancy and Beth, the duo of actresses Megan Mullaly and Stephanie Hunt, accompanied by their stellar band (that features Mullaly’s husband and fellow festival performer Nick Offerman). Though their coordinated dance numbers and harmonies can occasionally border on shrill, they’re a blast to watch. The two performed twangy covers of their favorite tunes (mostly covers), hyping the crowd up for the long night ahead, and setting the tone. When they finished, Dave and Phil Alvin took the main stage, performing a smooth opening set for Wilco. The brothers and their longtime bandmates rocked out to favorites like “Marie Marie”, and got the crowd on their feet, ready to dance.

Traditionally, when Wilco takes the stage on Friday night, they perform an audience chosen set (voted on in advance) from start to finish. This year the fans chose the entire 1996 release – and Wilco’s second record – Being There. While it’s a strong album, it may have been chosen for its length. At 19 tracks long, it’s a double album and not the easiest set of songs to play. Still, after an introduction from Nick Offerman, they delivered for their fans, starting with album opener (and classic Wilco tune) “So Misunderstood.” They’d been incorporating a complex instrumental-heavy version of this song into their most recent tour, but on this night, they took it down a few notches and the payoff was spectacular. It’s a song with a pace practically made for singing along, and countless voices did. Rockers like “Hotel Arizona”, “I Got You (At the End of the Century)”, and quieter, introspective tunes like “The Lonely 1” conjured even more sing-alongs, and the audience was more than happy to partake.

Their performances of oldies like “What’s the World Got in Store” and “Was I in Your Dreams?” suggest a band who has grown immensely since the release of this record. It has a wide-eyed, nostalgic feel to it. Recorded not long after the disbandment of Uncle Tupelo, Being There is a faint reminder of Tweedy’s former band, but at over 20 years old, it hasn’t aged a bit. Like the majority of Wilco’s catalogue, it is timeless and a solid example of how prolific they already were and how much more prolific they would get as a band. Solid Sound, too, feels like evidence of that. Their music has the power to bring so many people together for a three-day festival they’ve curated for them. We don’t just trust our love of Wilco’s music – we trust their taste in other music, too.  And given the diverse array of artists set to perform over the next two days, we’ve put ourselves in capable hands.

By the time the encore hit, in true Wilco fashion we were treated to more than just a handful of extras. The band dutifully played another album, fan favorite (and one of their most sophisticated) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot from start to finish, just beating the downpour that was hovering tentatively all evening. The crowd turned to puddy in their hands for songs like “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”, “War on War”, “Jesus, Etc.”, “I’m the Man Who Loves You” and “Pot Kettle Black.” It was easy to forget we were hearing another eleven songs, with the shadows of mountains surrounding us and the camaraderie of our fellow festivalgoers, toasting tasty Lagunitas well into the night.