BobDylan'sBeard

Oh, I forgot one relevant thing: while I don't really care about other people's substance use, I was a bit annoyed by how many people around me were passing out/fainting on Friday night. It didn't happen on Saturday, but on Friday night no less than 3 people around me collapsed. One guy, right behind my friends and I, literally just went down and I thought he was dead. Luckily it was in between songs so my friend screaming "MEDIC" (we didn't know the guy, but everyone around us was pretty concerned since, the guy was just flat out) didn't ruin a song. Anyway, the guy got right back up after 30 seconds, and then referenced "taking too many drugs and not enough air" as why he went out.

So, I don't mind people smoking (though cigarette smoking in a crowd is rude, even though one of my friends was doing this so I am guilty by association, and maybe a bit of a hypocrite) but I do mind when people are just way too far gone and are causing issues. I mean, imagine if someone was actually hurt or had to go to the ER or something in the middle of SS. Would have really hampered the festival.

And the weirdest part was how Saturday night this didn't seem to be an issue. You'd think the rock set would have seen the people going down, but no.

Personally, I enjoy the cold weather. I'm originally from Michigan, and I like the "break" from the humid swamp that is my home....my wife?, not so much.  

I moved down to FL from NY as a youngin', did a year of college in Rochester before I transferred to FSU - amongst other things, I really couldn't take the cold. Though admittedly upstate NY winter is pretty bad - probably comparable to Michigan? I don't know really, but I assume.

And yes, though I like humidity (I'm weird like that) - I far prefer Berkshires in the summer to the FL summer climate.

Yeah, we were very lucky in 2013 with weather. My wife (a die hard Floridian) would be absolutely miserable in cold/rainy weather. When I found out about the weather, I actually breathed a brief sigh of relief that we weren't going. To her 70s is too cold. I think it would have really soured the trip for us. We Floridans are spoiled with weather too. ha ha..

 

Speaking of...how amazing was the weather during that St. Augustine show?

I made the usual mistake when I travel out of state, and I forgot that sometimes it gets cold at night (or in the rain) in non-Florida places. I DID bring a poncho, but I didn't really have any specifically warm weather clothes (which are all in Tallahassee anyway, since I figured it only gets cold when I'm at school, and not during summer break) - but it was sort of a nice break from the especially brutal Florida summer we are having this year.

The rain really exacerbated the pot and cig smoke problem. I wear glasses and can't see distance without them. If they get wet, I can't see either. I can't take them off and rub them on my shirt to dry them, because that makes it worse. So I had to keep them dry by pulling my poncho hood up. Every time a cloud of pot smoke hit me in the face while the hood was up, it was like getting a hit shotgun-style (oh yes, I remember those days). So yeah, I had to work very fucking hard to ignore this stuff and get what enjoyment I could out of the shows.

I guess it would have been better farther back, but I was figuring, If people are yapping in row 20, how much worse will it be in row 50? We really are spoiled by those small theater shows.

Was the farting on Saturday night? I definitely smelled some farts during Friday or Saturday night's set. Pungent ones too, which is remarkable given we were outdoors (and there were other competing smells)

Personally, I'd never bring my 5 year old daughter to a concert like this, and shake my head at the folks that do.Those people should also know what they are getting into. You can't always control the world around your kids.

 

If you take your kids to a rock concert, expect they will see a bunch of people partying, because that's usually what rock concerts are, a giant party. They don't call it a "festival" for nothing.

I both agree and disagree (though I'm not a parent so really I don't have much to say of value on this) - SS *is* a family-friendly venue, but the kids are also exposed to the rock concert stuff we are discussing - people smoking and drinking. Though it definitely seems most of the familys set up camp on the hill and in the back of the crowd. I was up close for all of the shows and didn't see too many youngsters in that crowd, though there were some.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/wilco-prepares-for-a-hot-outdoor-show-on-the-fourth-of-july-weekend-7453165

Great interview, going to steal this and post it on the FB group.

It's one of those epic albums that gets overlooked - like Forever Changes.

 

The 3 cd Andrew Sandoval/Rhino version is great. The three albums before that one are also great. That guy really knows his stuff.

Oh man, when I first heard Forever Changes in HS I was SHOCKED that I had never heard of it before. Now i know it's a pretty highly regarded album, but it should be really be more popular than it is.

Definitely weather affected the 2nd encore. It looked like at the end the wind was blowing some rain onto the stage. I was a bit nervous about the instruments.

Anyway, that would have been an amazing 2nd encore set, especially with Spiders as you KNOW they would have jammed hard to that. I mean, Nels alone had like 3-4 solos on Sat night that he doesn't do during normal shows, so I imagine he would do one during Spiders too (though Jeff tends to play lead on that one, I bet both would have done some shredding)

So the reason why company in my back cuts out is due to everyone's favorite four letter word that starts with S. The actual recording is fine, it's just censored for public radio

Once I realized this I sort of laughed. Just the thought of Wilco having to be censored. We'll have to tell that to the people who call their music dadrock.

Stalker alert!

How do you know the nickname that the Tweedy family gave me?

Summerteeth IPA!   

 

I personally liked it more than the Wilco Tango Foxtrot but that's just me.  I also enjoyed the Berkshire bourbon.

Didn't try the Berkshire liquors, should have. But I think I liked Summerteeth more than WTF. Both were really good beers though.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you.

My group got there at 8am or before EVERY single day to secure our rail spots for the Wilco/Tweedy shows. We took turns manning camp and it was only left unattended one time because my husband needed a bathroom break while the rest of us were drumming with Glenn or watching the performance. In the 10 minutes he was gone, teenagers actually moved our stuff to try to watch (edit: Feliece Bros, not Mac Demarco) He came back and explained we'd been there for the entire day (in our case 9am because we got authorization to go in before doors to make sure we were where we needed to be). The kids teenagers were kinda mean about it, but ultimately backed down. We would fold our chair up for the wilco gigs, btw.

 

 

If a person is willing to invest time to get the spot they want they should get that spot. Early bird gets the rail.

See, you were doing it right though. You were having someone stay there. You probably didn't need the chairs for marking purposes. But I agree with you, early bird and all, just, the bird has to be there.

I liked Mac DeMarco a lot, too. I got a big kick out of the silliness of his band mates. It helps that they can flat out play, too. He is coming to Portland in August; at $25, I think I'll grab a ticket.

 

I was impressed with Real Estate, too. Parquet Courts was fun - big on energy, and Cibo Matto was better than I anticipated. I missed Charles Lloyd, which was a bummer. Overall, I was really pleased with the other acts.

Yeah I thought they were hilarious too. Definitely want to see him again, I better check his tour listings! Thanks for reminding me.

Excellent weekend all around. Two amazing Wilco sets (I know some people had issues hearing on Friday night because of talkers and the acoustic set, I was lucky to be rather close - saw a bunch of y'all with the nametags in the first row, but I was just a tad behind - so that wasn't a huge issue.

The chairs/towels are sort of out of control, I personally think that it should just sort of be first come, first serve, so rather than plopping a chair down at 9 AM, you'd have to stand there from 9 AM. Ideally, nobody would actually do this - people would wait until noon! - but either way I would never move someone's chair or blanket etc, that's a dick move. Didn't witness any confrontations over that either, but plenty of you have noted there were some.

My favorite non-Wilco and non-Wilco side project act was Mac DeMarco - I started listening to him in anticipation of the festival, since lots of my friends are into him and he's pretty popular now, I really enjoyed his set, and his music in general. Also the Autumn Defense pop-up show was really cool and I got to meet both Pat ad John. I'm a big John fan, so that was cool. He was really nice.

All in all, an amazing weekend. Though I did spend way too much money at the Euclid Records store.

Incredible show, especially Mountainbed and Please Tell My Brother, and the last half dozen songs. Nice meeting Donna and seeing David (bobdylansbeard) again.

Yeah, great seeing you! Funny too as I spotted you Friday, found a spot that happened to be behind you on Saturday, and then on Sunday I was a bit behind you and to the right too, but I wasn't able to wave to you. Great shows all in all.

The Guardian comes up with some random coverage in the UK. Nothing too dramatic but the last line is nice.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/25/wilco-solid-sound-festival-daydream

The line before that is even nicer

"Wilco is accounting its 20th year with a recent box set of rarities and last year played a marathon run of shows in Chicago where the band played every song in its catalog. Next up: a new album, possibly out late this year."

Just landed at O'Hare. Time to find some chow and a cold beverage to help pass the 4.5-hour layover.

Enjoy. I'm flying out in a few hours.

Watching a doc on netflix called "happy valley" about the penn state scandal, and they use "country disappeared" in the opening credits... logged on just as it started playing and said "what the hell?!" super weird. 

Yeah, I saw that doc too! I was watching it in bed, hoping to fall asleep, and then I hear the intro to the song and I woke right up since, hey, Wilco.

Am I the only one who feels.....like....time.....is....moving.....super......slow....this week?

I'd like to chime in regarding the sequence of patrons staring into the camera.  For me, that section was the most compelling portion of the movie; by asking us to look, really look at those multitude of faces, it conveys something about the egalitarian spirit of Solid Sound, including the close relationship with the community and including how those faces, whether famous or not, are all of a piece.  The sequence is long and stylized, yes, but that's what sets it apart from typical fly-on-the-wall footage.  It was a poetic touch in a document that, whatever its pleasures, needed more such touches.

I agree, and I wasn't a super big fan of the doc. I especially liked how they had Jeff (and I think other band members or performers) in that sequence with the rest of us laypeople.

Not really Wilco but I was watching American Dad on Netflix, and at the end of an ep the beginning of "The Ruling Class" by Loose Fur played

Also the story behind Mark Mulcahy, and it being his first live perfromance since his wife died several years ago., must have been completely lost on the film makers. Did I mention that Pat used to come to his Miracle Legion shows when he was younger? He not only played a great acoustic set of Miracle Legion songs (songs he hasn't performed in over a decade), he also played a song with Autumn Defense. He probably had the most "interesting story" of all the acts..and they completely ignored him. I'm happy the nutjob stamping dollar bills got some airtime though....

Hey, that nutjob is Ben from Ben and Jerry's

Looking forward to the VC 'oasis' table once again!

 

Was great to take a break from the galleries and courtyard shows to have a welcoming VC table outside on the deck. It was great to see some familiar faces and meet additional VC'rs. Last time it was ice cream, beef jerky and Lagunitas' Wilco Tango Foxtrot!

Lagunitas and Wilco, two of my favorite things.

I thought the shuttle have a stop in Williamstown

Looking at the map is far from where I'll stay :/

Williamstown is pretty close to North Adams, though. I have a friend who goes to school there, and last summer we saw Beck at Mass Moca (it will be almost exactly a year in between that show and SS) - we didn't stay in Williamstown (and may or may not next week) but we were there before the show and it's only a few minutes apart.

Another thing to note from the film, Tony Margherita's new look.

Also, some beautiful shots of the Berkshires/hills. I spent a lot of summers there in times past, actually where I started listening to Wilco, so that's always a highlight of SS for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyco3iusOiE

 

Was hoping for some professional footage of the Mark Mulchahy / Pat Sansone pop up performance seen here. I know the camera's were there. I was front row.

 

Can anyone confirm if he gets any time at all in the movie? So far I haven't seen any mention of him.

99% sure this performance or part of it are in there. Pat doesn't get any talking time (Jeff does, John does, Glenn does, Mikael does, Nels I don't remember, but they mostly were talking about their installations) but he's in there with Autumn Defense and this performance.