Solid Sound 2013

[-seven]

I plan to cross the Atlantic and attend Solid Sound next year.

Though it's not clear to me how many nights I need to book.

From the Boston shuttle schedule I assume that the festival starts on Thursday late afternoon and ends on Sunday afternoon.

However, I'm a bit confused since the page for campsite info shows "check in begins Friday, June 21, at 11am".

 

Since I'm not from the US, any tip and/or advice about accomodation would be greately appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

The last 2 festivals have started on Friday evening. I've been to the past 2 and arrived on Friday evening around 5-6pm. You could plan to leave on Sun evening as most everything is done by 6-7pm. I have stayed the night and headed back on Monday both times. There are some nice little little towns in the area that are worth exploring, ex. Williamstown, Stockbridge, Lenox... but if you are taking a shuttle you may not be able to do that.

[tinnitus photography]

Ack - I'm late to the game this year and not finding any lodging options. I really thought that they were going to be offering a hotel package with the Holiday Inn, similar to what they did at Red Rocks. It confounds me that the entire Holiday Inn is booked that weekend. Makes no sense. We stayed there the first year and it made for such an amazing experience, being blocks away. We were spoiled, I guess, and now I'm cranky about it. 

 

Anyone finding any options? Still haven't bought tickets, so if we can't find anything reasonably close we probably won't go...

 

the lodging options are the weakest part of the festival imo, but you can't fault the festival for booking the entire holiday inn if they need it. the first year a friend of mine was one of the artists (Sir Richard Bishop) and he ended up having to stay somewhere in Bennington.

[Magnetized]

Thank you for this info. I'm not sure if anyone reached out to you yet, but I'm interested.

 

I bought my early bird ticket and bus passes (coming from NYC) and thought I might have a few companions coming with me. Turns out I'm going solo at the moment. Not sure if this room is spoken for yet, but I'm interested and if it has been I would love to split the costs with anyone if there is a spot available.

 

Any advice would be great! First Solid Sound for me!

 

Send me a private message with your phone number, please. My extra room is gone unfortunately but I maybe able to offer some suggestions.

[-seven]

the lodging options are the weakest part of the festival imo, but you can't fault the festival for booking the entire holiday inn if they need it. the first year a friend of mine was one of the artists (Sir Richard Bishop) and he ended up having to stay somewhere in Bennington.

 

Lodging is a problem. I would suggest people also try vrbo.com I'm sure some local folks will be renting their places for the weekend.

[Magnetized]

There used to be a guy who posted here on Via Chicago--I think he posted under the name Park-- and possibly he could jump in here and offer us some suggestions. It really is a sellers market in terms of accommodations. But I would bet that there are some local real estate companies or some other kind of "underground" market that would have some homes or apartments that people might be willing to rent out.

I was one of those who was spoiled last year by getting to stay at the Holiday Inn and I was also really disappointed about their policy this year, but I agree they probably had no choice but to do this.

The biggest hassle about not being able to stay right in town is needing to charge up all of your electrical devices. So among other tips I would advise anyone who can't run back to the hotel periodically during the day to be sure to bring a wall charger and extra batteries for your phone, cameras, etc.

[kwhitehead]

The Solid ground campsite is right in town and a quick-ish walk to Mass Moca, for those who want to rough it a bit.

[park]

Shhh.  I'm in hiding.  Seriously though, not much has changed.  The best thing to do would be to read through the exhaustive first year thread.  I've heard of locals renting rooms/houses but I really don't know how they set that up, must be elsewhere on the internet. 

 

I searched for the original solid sound thread but can't find it.  Gone?

 

Of course not, I think this is it:  http://viachicago.org/topic/43552-wilco-solid-sound-festival/

 

There used to be a guy who posted here on Via Chicago--I think he posted under the name Park-- and possibly he could jump in here and offer us some suggestions. It really is a sellers market in terms of accommodations. But I would bet that there are some local real estate companies or some other kind of "underground" market that would have some homes or apartments that people might be willing to rent out.
 

[laundrymachinedream]

Had a great conversation with Diane (Wilco Me) yesterday and I have started the search for lodging options.  Calling around to a few places, I have found some with a few rooms still available.  I was hoping that there might be others in a similar position looking to split a place and reduce costs overall.  So far the cheapest I have found is $139/night, but open to other possibilities and would love to connect with others thinking about going the same route on lodging.

[choo-choo-charlie]

I haven't found lodging yet, but I also haven't looked very hard...have been up to my neck in work lately.

['61 SG]

I'm in, with the family too, will be the 2nd (and 3rd!) Wilco show for the boys (9 + 12 yrs) and the best part is I'm only 40 minutes from Mass MOCA.

[Cam Jones]

so all the hotels are booked? If any one has a spare room (cheap ish :\ ) I'd love to take it off your hands. 

Otherwise I guess the campground is the next best thing. 

[laundrymachinedream]

so all the hotels are booked? If any one has a spare room (cheap ish :\ ) I'd love to take it off your hands. 

Otherwise I guess the campground is the next best thing. 

 

I was able to find a few locations that still had rooms, but I am not familiar with the territory up there so I am doing some research to see which options are best for getting to and from the festival (I'm going to be without car). 

 

Can you rent a tent up there or is that something you would have to provide yourself?

[Heart full of holes]

Bascom Lodge on Mt. Greylock (just outside North Adams) has a few rooms left:

 

 

For the weekend of June 21 -24, the weekend of the Solid Sound Music Festival at MassMOCA, the only availability is two (2) Small Private Rooms, double bed, and space in our Group Bunk Bed Rooms, five (5) bunk beds, potentially ten (10) guests per room.

We have two bunk bed rooms and, at present, no reservations for any accommodations in them.

 

All rooms share sanitary facilities, have private showers and come with a continental breakfast, full breakfast upon request, additional. The lodge serves breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week from June through October. All reservations are confirmed by a 50% deposit with a major credit card.

 

* Bunk Bed Rooms - $35.00 per person, per night.

 

* Small Private Rooms, double bed, $125.00 per night.

 

* Private Family Room, queen-size bed and a bunk bed, $150.00 per night, double occupancy, $20.00 per additional.

 

CANCELLATION POLICY :

 

Thirty (30) days or more notice of cancellation, 100% refund of deposit.

Two (2) weeks or more notice of cancellation, 50% refund of deposit.

Less than a two (2) week notice, sorry not refund.

 

If you wish to make a reservation, call me at anytime at 917-680-0079 with your deposit details. Thank you for considering Bascom Lodge for your stay while visiting in the Berkshires.

 

Best regards,

John

 

Bascom Lodge

Mt. Greylock State Reservation

Adams, MA 01220

(413) 743-1591

mail@bascomlodge.net

www.bascomlodge.net

[laundrymachinedream]

Thank you for this info, Heart full of holes.

 

That's a great deal for the bunk beds, for someone like me who will only be there to sleep.  Have you had trouble contacting them before? I've tried placing a call to ask some questions about any type of public transportation or what to expect for car rental services, but no luck getting through. 

[Heart full of holes]

Thank you for this info, Heart full of holes.

 

That's a great deal for the bunk beds, for someone like me who will only be there to sleep.  Have you had trouble contacting them before? I've tried placing a call to ask some questions about any type of public transportation or what to expect for car rental services, but no luck getting through. 

I was able to reach them by email yesterday AM and they replied right away.  The lodge is pretty basic, but it's located at the top of Mt. Greylock with unbelievable views.  The Solid Sound shuttle runs along Route 2 at the base of the mountain, but you'll definitely need a ride to get up and down from there.

[twoshedsjackson]

What's the parking like in N Adams? How/where do the shuttles run?

Our hotel is in Pittsfield (approx. 30 minutes away) so if anyone who's done this before can offer any advice I'd greatly appreciate it.

[-seven]

What's the parking like in N Adams? How/where do the shuttles run?

Our hotel is in Pittsfield (approx. 30 minutes away) so if anyone who's done this before can offer any advice I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

We were able to park in North Adams' just a few blocks away from MASS MoCA each day last year. The shuttle ran between Williamstown and North Adams so you'd need to rent a car if you are staying in Pittsfield unless they add to the shuttle route this year but I kind of doubt they'd go that far. 

[Magnetized]

Someone should probably start a rideshare thread specifically for people who are staying farther out than the shuttle line. My experience has been that people get all warm and fuzzy and friendly and are more than happy to offer lifts to fellow festival-goers, but it would be nice to make those connections ahead of time rather than wait for good fortune to strike at the festival itself.

 

It might be a bit early to start that up now, but maybe around early May someone should start a Ride Connect thread.

[-seven]

Someone should probably start a rideshare thread specifically for people who are staying farther out than the shuttle line. My experience has been that people get all warm and fuzzy and friendly and are more than happy to offer lifts to fellow festival-goers, but it would be nice to make those connections ahead of time rather than wait for good fortune to strike at the festival itself.

 

It might be a bit early to start that up now, but maybe around early May someone should start a Ride Connect thread.

 

These's a ride share set up on the Solid Sound website.

http://solidsoundfestival.com/travel/ride-sharing/

[twoshedsjackson]

Thanks for the info, SpiritDove.

We'll have our car - I was just guessing that local parking might be limited and the shuttles would be running from some arranged parking lot outside of town. Happy to hear otherwise.

[Magnetized]

Parking is pretty good around town, and most of it is either free or cheap. The whole town is cozy and laid back. You might have to walk a few short blocks if you don't get there early, but my suggesiton would be to try to get there early and just plan to stay for the day. There's really no need to leave the festival grounds for anything--the food and beer are good and inexpensive, and water is free. If you do want to take a break from the festival, there are lots of good places to eat and drink within a couple of blocks.

 

Re the ride sharing, I did see the info on the Solid Sound website, but I assumed that had more to do with driving to and from the festival from home, not for carpooling options while already at the festival. But who knows? Maybe it's flexible enough to accommodate that.

 

One other thing--someone set up a Solid Sound facebook page in previous years, not for official announcements but for a way to let people who were going connect on things like room shares, meetups, etc. I just set one up a few minutes ago for Solid Sound 2013. No pictures yet because I'm goofing off at work and I have no pictures on my hard drive here, but I will be fooling around with it when I get home tonight. Meanwhile, come on over and Like the page!

[twoshedsjackson]

@Wilco Me: Thanks very much! Good to know. I'm not on Facebook, but my wife is. I'll check it out tonight.

 

June can't come quickly enough.

 

 

[hippityville]

Thanks for the info, everybody. Bascom Lodge really sounds like a great deal - when you have a car. Gonna fly in from Europe and take the bus shuttle from NYC or Boston. So, I guess going for the campsite would be the easiest and cheapest option then. No idea about the tent yet, though. 

[twoshedsjackson]

Holy crap, my tickets came in the mail today! That was fast.

Strangely, having them in my hand makes June seem even more distant.

[renic]

if i'm lucky, i'll be there this year.  it all comes down to nine inch nails 2013 tour dates.