Highlights from 2011 SSF

[Blue and Green]

Your photos rawk, Tony! Just gorgeous.

Thanks! I'm adding to the photo stream everyday.

[kidsmoke]

One of my highlights was watching kidsmoke (it was you, right) smiling at the feet of a rockin' Pat for the duration of Autumn Defense's awesome set.

 

Yep, guilty as charged. You should've introduced yourself! Or did you and I've managed to space it? I met sooo many great people that weekend. Maybe we met by real-life name but I didn't realize it was you by username?

 

That was a pretty incredible AD set! "Sentimental Lady" always sounds so fantastic when they do it. My son Brennan recorded, so eventually we'll get to hear that set again via bit torrent. I don't think he's had any time to work on his recordings yet. We weren't home from our cross-country jaunt until July 6th. We are just beginning to feel fully "home".

 

I want to hear Liam's set again too, and Pajama Club. Bren got those too.

[Blue and Green]

Yep, guilty as charged. You should've introduced yourself! Or did you and I've managed to space it? I met sooo many great people that weekend. Maybe we met by real-life name but I didn't realize it was you by username?

 

That was a pretty incredible AD set! "Sentimental Lady" always sounds so fantastic when they do it. My son Brennan recorded, so eventually we'll get to hear that set again via bit torrent. I don't think he's had any time to work on his recordings yet. We weren't home from our cross-country jaunt until July 6th. We are just beginning to feel fully "home".

 

I want to hear Liam's set again too, and Pajama Club. Bren got those too.

Awesome that Bren got Liam's set and Pajama Club.

[Bosco]

Awesome that Bren got Liam's set and Pajama Club.

 

With regards to Pajama Club, I had no idea he was recording and sorta had a long conversation with him during their set, his mics were kinda low, I'm gonna guess you won't be seeing this one, sorry . Now if Bern wasn't so nice and polite he might have pointed out (to a fellow taper even) that he was taping and I wouldn't have talked over their set .

[kidsmoke]

We'll see, John. I asked Brennan & he said he didn't think the conversation had picked up, he hadn't heard it in his skim-listening of the recording. He hasn't had time to do anything with that recording (or others). Since coming home he's had a lot of work hours, so little free time. I listened to part of his recording yesterday & it sounded good.

 

He says he did try to indicate the recorder to you but I think he was trying to be (too) polite! So sue me for raising a mannerly boy! I hope it turns out to be an ok recording.

[cracked & hooked]

Finally got my Solid Sound flickrs up.

 

It was another magical weekend. They found ways to improve on last year in ways that I didn't think could be improved. It was chockfull of coolness.

 

Personal highlight for me - the band doing the Split Enz' "I Got You' with Neil Finn himself. My husband and I nearly lost our minds - it's one of our tunes, and they rocked it. Topped the time we saw Golden Smog do it at Bowery Ballroom.

 

Can't wait 'til next year! Right?

[JukeJointJeff]

I volunteered this year (Courtyard D Saturday afternoon) and met some fantastic folks who bust their asses to put this together.....thank you

 

Met up with Pat outside the venue on both Friday and Saturday....he carries his camera everywhere

 

Funny moment: I took a few hits off of a joint in a port-o-let and of the countless open facilities at the time, there was a woman standing right outside of mine. Upon opening the door, I never heard someone laugh so hard as she proclaimed it was the best smelling port-o-let she had ever encountered !

[jimtweedy1977]

The whole weekend was mind blowing. The luxury of seeing green grass and trees and the privilege of standing in the glorious rain to watch the best band in world (it hasn't rained here in 4 months and the world is burning, so I enjoyed getting watered). The best part was shaking Jeff's hand at the falconry demo and seeing the fun he and his family were having.

 

So I suppose State Farm bought Jeff a falcon.

 

[jack324]

Hey everyone,

Been a lurker on Via Chicago for about six months now, thought I'd finally break my silence here. I went to Solid Sound both last year and this year, and I really do think it's one of the most amazing festivals around. Most of this has been covered already, but among my many highlights from this year are:

 

-Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion surprise acoustic set... so beautiful.

 

-JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound whole set, but especially the Jeff sit-in on IATTBYH and the Psycho Killer tease. I got to talk to JC for a couple minutes afterwards at the autograph session and tell him how much I loved his performance - very cool.

 

-PA cutting out during Radio Cure and the crowd filling in the vocals.

 

-Wilco coming out to help Levon Helm close his set with I Shall Be Released > The Weight as I sat up on the hill, watching the sun set over the Berkshires and reflecting on another perfect weekend.

 

-Born Alone - both nights were great, but I think night two has the edge.

 

-I Got You (at the End of the Century) > I Got You (Split Enz cover w/ Neil Finn)

 

-Front row for Thurston Moore.

 

-Glenn's solo set.... WOW!

 

-The fantastic art installations, both Wilco-related and not.

 

-The campgrounds - TONS of space, great neighbors, very nice people at the food kiosk, clean bathrooms (by porto-potty standards anyway).

 

-Seeing so many performers wandering around and enjoying the festival themselves.

 

-All the other little things that went into making this such a fantastic weekend, from the good food and beer options (not to mention bloody Marys), to the Euclid Records pop-up store, to the comedy, the baseball game, and the overall vibe of the crowd... beautiful.

 

Basically, I'll keep coming to these things as long as they keep having them.