knotgreen

I never imagined I'd be one to get into beer trading... It's a slippery slope! It is the only way to get to try the best craft beer in the country. Unless you have the freedom to travel the country and wait in line for beers with a 1 or 2 bottle per person limit!

A lot of beer talk on Via Chicago lately, which is pretty awesome. My two most frequented forums are VC and BeerAdvocate, so it's fun to see the cross over! For whatever reason I can't seem to utilize the quote function, but I'll have to agree with the above that Tank 7 is one of the best widely distributed saisons available! That and Ommegang's Hennepin are pretty amazing. I'm very spoiled in that I take somewhat regular trips to Vermont for Hill Farmstead. IMHO, Hill Farmstead is producing some of the best beer in the country. Vermont really is THE beer mecca. Between HF, Fiddlehead, Th

http://pitchfork.com/news/58947-tweedy-perform-world-away-on-conan/

The new single has blown me away. I'm so excited for this record.

Totally agree re: Gabe on the drums. And it seems to be the consensus that both Chris and Noam are at the top of their field as far as mandolin and banjo playing is concerned. My girlfriend, who is the real bluegrass fan in the relationship, took me to Bela Fleck's Banjo Summit show a year or so ago. It was really obvious that even amongst a group of the best living banjo players, Noam really shines. Not much needs to be said about Chris -- the guy is unreal.

Ticket prices is a good idea, though that could have the adverse effect and discourage future concert going! Glad I'm not the only with this.

I'm lucky in that I was an obsessive hoarder from a young age, so I have several binders with every ticket stub from every show I've ever seen. When I was younger I'd clip newspaper reviews of shows - I've since stopped doing that. I keep an Excel document now, in hopes a thread like this pops up!

Guster: 19 Wilco/ JT: 17 (assuming each SSF counts as 1) State Radio/Dispatch: 17 From there there's a big drop off; I've seen a lot of bands ~5 or so times. Was easy to see a lot of Guster/ State Radio shows in High School as I lived pretty close to Boston.

I'm REALLY enjoying this show. Also just watched the season 1 finale of the HBO show Togetherness, written by and starring Mark Duplass. Enjoyed season 1 very much and would recommend it.

I'm hopeful that once summer shows are announced the list will grow. For now: April 3: The Decemberists April 13: Gregory Alan Isakov April 14: Gregory Alan Isakov April 30: Joe Pug May 2: Guster May 4: (hopefully) Sufjan Stevens May 10: Julian Lage/ Chris Eldridge June 26-8: Solid Sound!

One of the best live shows I've seen in a long time. It's almost unfair how much talent is on that stage. It certainly helps that they're touring behind their best studio record. Highlights for me were the album opener "Familiarity" (can you even think of another band capable of writing a song like that?!) and also the Kid A cover that went into Wayside (Back in Time). Also, how about Gabe playing fiddle and drums?! They were on fire... Hoping to catch them again at Fresh Grass in Sept.

Punch Brothers tonight, and I can't wait!

It's interesting to think about the sort of bands Wilco has opening for them on tour and who they then invite to SSF. I was sort of hoping there would be some overlap, but that's not really the case. In the past few years they've had: Dr. Dog, Blitzen Trapper, Split Single, Conor Oberst, etc, yet they don't invite any similar acts to Mass MoCa. Bbop, I think you hit the nail on the head with your comparison to Bon Iver's festival, Eaux Claire. I'd imagine the two are curated with a similarly modest budget. Eaux Claire has some great bands that would have been great at SSF: Spoon, Sufjan Stev

If it weren't for Wilco, I wouldn't be attending SSF. Luckily I'm from MA so the trip to Mass MoCa is very reasonable. It would be pretty difficult for me to travel across the country for this one. Aside from the comedians, there really aren't any acts I'd go out of my way to see. To each their own-- I'm glad to hear that so many VCers are excited about the announcement.

"My neighbor Larry?" is my favorite guess so far.

Autumn Defense are clue #1!

Awesome. Tig's hilarious. Everyone should listen to her special "Tig Notaro LIVE." This American Life does a segment on that special, which is also really, really amazing: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/476/what-doesnt-kill-you?act=1

i can't believe these shows are happening and i didn't know about it. How was it?

Looking rock and roll is Foxygen's whole shtick.

Pretty awesome lineup of comedians in 2010. Wish I caught some of that. I'd also like to add Langhorne Slim to my wish list.

I'd love to see Joe Pug at SSF. I think there's a chance, considering Pat's going to be on his new album. Would also love: Gregory Alan Isakov, Blitzen Trapper, Sharon Van Etten, and the Punch Brothers. Chances are none of these bands will be there & I'll recognize maybe 2 of the acts that they actually invite.

I read this as three different sets. Am I the only one?

nice. i've never had any cantillion. how'd you score a bottle?

Trillium's brewery is in Boston's Fort Point neighborhood. They distribute to maybe a half dozen bottle shops in greater Boston. Redstone Liquors in Stoneham, and Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont are two that I'm aware of. Your best bet is to visit the brewery where they sell bottles and do growler fills. I can't overstate how good their hoppy beers are.

I know this is ViaChicago, not BeerAdvocate, but... Heady is only 8%. I'm a total lightweight and even I can consume more than one. Session IPAs and APAs usually clock in around 5%, by comparison. For me, I consume HT last because it absolutely destroys my palate. Tough to taste anything but hops after sipping on one. Also, being that I'm from the area and the festival is in MA, Boston's Trillium Brewing deserves a major shout out. Producing some of the best beer in New England IMHO. Their double IPA, Heavy Mettle, can go toe to toe with any of the big VT IPAs.