thejokeexplained

 

 

I'm surprised to see people complaining about waiting for food. That was a big issue for me last time, but the only thing we had to wait more than five or ten minutes for was pizza. We must have eaten at off-peak hours the whole weekend. Even the line at the merch tent wasn't too bad Friday night. It seemed to me that things were laid out better and flowed better than last time. Parking was really the only thing we had a hard time with, except for Sunday when we came early.

 

 

I never had a long wait for food either. If i saw the line to long for any particular truck i just went to another until i found one short or just found something else to do, my wife had snacks to tied us over in the event of hunger. Maybe 10 min tops any given day. I think the only truck i missed was the Burrito and the BBQ becasue that stuff is on every corner in Texas. 

Thank you Massachusetts for the hospitality and your beautiful landscape. This notes for you brought to you by one of your own. The very funny and tallented John Hodgman. The recording is captiured from my master on the first row of the Hunter Center. Sorry about the shitty cell phone pictures but thats all i had.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHMATROTtyI&feature=youtu.be

Here is a link to my slide show. It's loaded with some personal picts of the wonderful people my wife Allison and i had the pleasuer of hanging out with, but i think it captures the weekend. Mountian Bed and the intro were taken from my master from my taping Sundays set. I hope you enjoy! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTLTlDJr1A0#t=124

Great show. I'd take that rain over terrible heat any day. God, I love "Dark Neon."

 

 

Definitely was a real bubble.

Yea i asked Stan, the sound board guy, about it the next day if they had a special effect bubble and he said no.   But everything about it was perfect, i should not doubt the magic of Solid Sound. From the part of the song that it was blown, to the tempo of it floating through the air ending up what seemed inches away from Jeff's face at mic level, to slowly lift and then shoot upwards as the guitar riff came in. It was pointed out to me that with the lights into his face, Jeff may not have been aware of it,  and why he made no mention of it afterwards. And the reason it lifted so quickly was the stage ventilation.  Anyway I should never doubt the magic that happens at Solid Sound, and that hallowed ground that is Joes Field. The train flying by just at the end of a tune on Friday was another example of magic. For those that don't beleive in magic, i would guess you have never attended a Solid Sound. Magic happens there.

One other thing...lying here in bed and digesting the recording i captured... Nils Cline is a fucken guitar god! His play last night was out of this world! I have seen a lot of great guitar players in my live music obsession through out my life and he has to be the best. Sorry SRV you had a great run for me, but it's time to step aside in my guitar god book!

So... The "At Least That What You Said" bubble! I'm not sure how many of you saw this happen, but during the slow beginning of the song there was this perfect bubble that floated over my head center stage about 10 yards from the stage and ended up just in front of Jeff's face before lifting up and disappearing into the stage awning. There was some discussion after the gig about this among us, and it's my feeling it was some type of special effect from lighting. Others feel it was a actual bubble blown by some one in the audience. Jeff made no mention of this and the way it floated off and up leads me to think it was a lighting prop. It was just to perfect for the song and how it floated for it not to have been a effect. And with the rain you would think it would be hard to have a bubble travel like that one did . If it was a actual soap bubble i would think Jeff would have reacted somewhat to it. Did anyone else see this and have any thoughts?

Any way if it was real it would just add to the magic that happens every year at Solid Sound. This is one special event. 

Thanks to Donna for organizing the beach ball tribute to the band. It worked flawlessly.

My favorite part of every Solid Sound has to be the smile that stretches from ear to ear on our beloved Jeff Tweedy. It makes me happy to see him happy!

Urgent travel message: If there are folks traveling from the Boston area down Rt 2 West to N Adams please be aware that that the exit onto I-91 S that most on-line navigators will send you is closed for repairs!   It is a long detour to get back to Rt 2 West if you follow the navigators (google maps, yahoo maps mapquest etc.) as they are as yet unaware of this closure!

Instead, take either the MA 2A W exit (French King Highway it's a left at a traffic light) or the next exit for US Rt 5/10 to downtown Greenfield. (It's a right exit) Both will take you to downtown Greenfield where you will take a right back onto Rt 2 W (Main St in Greenfield). Traffic is always pretty light going through downtown Greenfield so no worries and the bonus is you get to go through a real old school New England downtown where there is a co-op (Greenfield's Market), The People's Pint Brew Pub (which is awesome), a great beer store (Ryan and Casey Liquors) and lots of other local businesses and restaurants. The Rt 5/10 exit has more options for gas stations, drug stores etc. 

Hope this helps.  See you there!

Coming from Hartford for SS III i took 91 N to 90 W then to MA 7 N to Williamstown. Is it faster to stay on 91 and take RT 2?

The last week will be the hardest.

No the week after will be the hardest!

Does anyone know a dance for no rain?

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/north-adams-ma/01247/daily-weather-forecast/338641?day=11

Yea change your weather source! 

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USMA0282:1:US

Tickets have landed!

oh just realized that the announcement was first time ever for a "full set"... my error.

 

For the first time ever, the guys will unplug their instruments and perform a full set of Wilco tunes acoustically. If you’ve seen the band on its recent tour you may have seen them do a mini-set like this (i.e.: this performance of “Casino Queen” from Wilco’s recent show in Indy), but as Solid Sound 2015 gets rolling they’ll turn Joe’s Field into an intimate living room and play a full acoustic set (with amplification).

“It’ll be a bit of an experiment,” Jeff Tweedy said, “but the Solid Sound audience is usually game for whatever we throw at them.”

Not really the first time ever. Back in 03 and 08 at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit the band did this. None the less it is pretty cool to witness. The advantage that we have at SS is, we will get a full; probably two hour,  set as apposed to the BSB where the bands only play about 40 min.

Keep this page handy as we get closer to the broadcast, and check for additional artists. We’re adding more to our lineup all the time! As always, any breaking lineup announcements will be made on Facebook and Twitter.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for broadcast alerts to be the first to know about lineup additions and festival news.

Ah...this is what I was hoping for, our own little "winterlude" show. I'll be at St Aug show, can't wait.

 

Ps - I actually requested Panthers on the wilco world website. Go figure.

just curious...how long was the set. I see on Facebook that they started at 9pm...what time did they end?

They were on at exactly 9 o'clock  and off at 11:02 back on 11:06 done at 11:24.  Great show and crowd around me. I have always loved shows at McFarlin. SMU is such a beautiful campus and the hall always sounds so good. The only drawback is the beer and merch lines are always so long. If you want a poster from these gigs you better get it early. Mine is numbered 83/205. last night they were all gone by 10pm. Very cool collection of merch too. i picked up a very cool retro pennant with the anniversary logo which is the roman numeral 20 with the X's crossed to appear to be W's. 

Such a great way to kick off this 20 year anniversary tour, i imagine the set list will change throughout with the amount of rarities that were played last evening. My next stop is Solid Sound! i can't wait.

I got mine yesterday and had the time to give it a spin through side 3 and Wow! What a great recording and pressing. One of the best live recordings i have ever heard. Ryan's play is pretty inspired too. Early in the show his enthusiasm is captured very well. I can't wait to hear the rest.

Tonight's the Night would be a good opener.

That would be a treat! 

my set are gone.

a friend of mine bailed so she has two in sec A row cc. i can meet up at the gig. She wants what she paid 61 bucks each after fees.

With such an ominous number hanging over my head from the last time me seeing the band live, and severe weather predicted in Dallas about the time the gig starts. Maybe "Hell is Chrome" is a appropriate opening number. Hopefully the weather holds off from the "defcon 5" Texas stomchacers are predecting!

I would say try to do the last hour or so of the trip during daylight. All the roads leading to North Adams are curvy and remote, so driving them for the first time at night wouldn't be too fun. I came in one year after dark and felt pretty creeped out! You might aim to drive to, say, Albany or Poughkeepsie on Thursday, get a cheap hotel somewhere, and then finish the drive on Friday so you can get into North Adams with a little time to explore before the festival starts.

SS 2 we flew in late to Albany after getting stuck on a lay over in Dull-Ass airport for about 6 hours. Driving from Albany to N.Adams late night, tired and fog was not very safe.  But we made it driving carefully and dodging what seemed like dozens of deer. If we had been i a car for 13 hours i don't think i could have handled that last hour.

I finally found a place to stay and booked a room in Williamstown, near Williams College \o/ 

We'll rent a car in NY but I'm wondering what is better drive everyday or take the shuttle? How's parking and traffic coming in/out?

We have stayed every year in Willamstown, and have always diven without worry of getting a parking spot. The close lots fill early but there is plenty of street parking all around MASSMoCA

i would think under rated would mean songs, fewst times played live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well we certainly don't want any freedom of speech at this concert

 

 

 

Freedom of speech is cool, freedom to be a asshole and infringe on others enjoyment and employment is not.

I hope the people that attend this show will show some respect for the band, and fans who there for the tunes when performing. With some of the derogatory comments made here the last few days from those directly effected, some might want to voice their opinions from the floor causing a distraction for the band and those that are there just for the music.

 

 Discrimination is everywhere, hateful people will be hateful people, WE can't change everything and everybody quickly.  As this older generation dies off, this country WILL be a better place, but right now, this country and our world is an absolute mess and a little fun for one night on THU May 7 would have given all us ticket holders a bit of release, but according to a few board members we are to get over it and move on.

Oh my God did i just read this? Talk about the Millennial elitist, me first, fuck everyone else attitude. That is one central reason why the world if fucked up! This self centered boo hoo, i didn't get what i want everyone is out to get me, no respect for others bullshit. As this older generation dies off? Really? you think that's the problem with "our" world? Look first in the mirror. Seems to me the world is more fucked up now that the new generation started showing up.