Recently, the Wilco curated Solid Sound Festival celebrated its second year in western Massachusetts. Friend and contributor Meredith Melragon was on hand and files this report.

A veteran of both the MusicNOW festival and MPMF in Cincinnati, I ventured to western Massachusetts to catch a portion of the Solid Sound Festival in late June. The site, MassMOCA is in North Adams, a half day’s ride from Boston via bus. The venue, like MusicNOW, is an important feature of the festival; it provided both indoor and outdoor venues, and enabled the band and visitors to celebrate visual art alongside the music.

Musically, festival performers link into the greater Wilco family. The schedule was created so that you could spend your entire day going from stage to stage without missing acts, but then you would miss the art installations and other activities. You might also need to hide from the rain.

Saturday opened with a set from Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion’s in a lovely courtyard. Guthrie remarked that it was great to be from the Berkshires. With full days of music, there were opportunities for folks to check out unfamiliar sounds. A friend was persuaded me to check out the duo, Sic Alps, with a short stop at Euclid Records on the way. Back at the most intimate stage enabled many to discover Here We Go Magic who performed a set of their catchy, groovy pop tunes. Thurston Moore, accompanied by cello and harp, offered an engaging and melodic set. The closing sets on the largest stage from Syl Johnson & the Sweet Divines and Wilco were delayed a bit to wait out a rain shower, but proceeded in a muddy field, but that didn’t stop anyone. The stage lighting and design signaled that the WILCO set would be special.

The set included many old favorites, and a repeat from Friday night of their new single. When it’s your festival, you know the crowd are there to see you and celebrate your music. Folks were loving every minute: taking pictures, setting up mics for recording and singing along.

Sunday began with a solo set (in the indoor space) from Darin Gray (Glenn Kotche’s partner in Loose Fur) and then a full solo set from Glenn Kotche accompanied by gorgeous video and animations. JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound somehow fit the Sunday mood and featured a cover of “I am trying to break your heart,” complete with a Jeff Tweedy cameo. Knowing I would hear a good dose of melody and lush voices, I caught The Autumn Defense. Unlike previous shows I have seen, this set featured Pat Sansone more prominently and “rocked out” as much as they do with addition of guitarist/pedal steel player, John Pirruccello. The last set of day before Levon Helm & His Rambling Band was Pillow Wand, the collaboration between Nels Cline and Thurston Moore. Where Saturday’s set had been melodic, this was noise that a friend described as “thumpy.” The interesting part of the set up was you could watch from above, you could wander and catch bits of it or you could be up front.

For the weekend’s final set, Jeff Tweedy proudly introduced Levon and the band, and then part-way through the set invited the entire band joined onstage and sang along to music well-suited to a grassy (and muddy) hill on a Sunday afternoon.

In addition to the museum’s current exhibitions, WILCO brought their own installations including: InGLENNitions, Glenn Kotche’s prepared instruments for visitors to play and a video installation he created to accompany one of his solo record Mobile. Pat Sansone curated a collection of photographs Vivian Maier, a posthumously discovered Chicago photographer and Glenn’s drum tech, Nathaniel Murphy and Em Salem created a video installation.

Among the Sol Lewitt wall paintings were Gunnar Schonbeck’s Wunderments, oversize instruments that Loose Fur used for a short set on Sunday.

In addition to more static installations, the festival teamed up with the Bureau for Open Culture that offered a “gallery” to explore and kites to decorate. The Impossible Project created a growing wall of Polariods taken throughout the weekend.

There was more — kids activities, yoga, falconry, and shopping. A very full weekend with a small-town feel.

More photos from Solid Sound here…