dvigs24 Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 After a few days to process my fourth Solid Sound experience, and first with my children (ages 7 and 8), there was one particular experience that really stood out as unique and special for me - the Drums With Glenn workshop/performance that took place Saturday into Sunday culminating with the world premiere of a specially commissioned drum piece, "The Immortal Flux", composed by Glenn for the event. I know a few people have alluded to it in the Solid Sound thread, but I think it merits its own space. First a little background: Music is a constant in my household and my children have grown up listening to Wilco. Their first show was the Friday night at Newport a few years back (rained on) and I've been hemming and hawing about bringing them to Solid Sound for years. Finally I felt like they were old enough to actually appreciate it this year, so I pulled the trigger on some weekend passes for them. I must say that there are pluses and minuses to bringing children to a festival such as this, but Solid Sound clearly is playing to families with all the kid-oriented events taking place throughout the weekend, and the programming of this nature has gotten more thoughtful and robust throughout the years, for which both my wife and I are grateful. Anyways, I play guitar and have been gently cajoling my kids towards different instruments for some time. My son Joey started drumming last year and it's been amazing to watch him practice and grow as a budding musician. The first songs we ever played together were "Summer Noon" and "Shot in the Arm" so needless to say we were excited to see both Tweedy and Wilco in the same weekend! Fast forward to this past Saturday. I had been vaguely aware of the Drums with Glenn event, but was reminded by a tweet around 12:45 which said the first 25 in line on the 2nd floor of building 11 would be able to participate. I grabbed Joey and we headed over, by my count there were about 17 or 18 people ahead of us, so I figured we were good. After a few minutes an event organizer announced that people who were preselected should form a line on the right, and at about 1:30 those people were let in to the room where the session was taking place, then they moved on to our line. An event organizer kept counting and they seemed to be letting people in in groups of five or so. When we were almost to the front of the line we were told there was only room for a few more and we thought we had just missed out, then after this last group entered we were told there was room for three more people. Joey was literally the last one who got selected and I got to go in as a "watcher." For the next two hours Glenn walked the entire crowd in step-by-step fashion through the process of creating prepared drum heads using springs, dowels, sandpaper, tape, wires, wax, fishing line, rosin, and two drumsticks while also instructing his makeshift "orchestra" in how to coax sounds from them. Each drum head has five different colored sections around the outside and each section was modified in a different way. When combined with the central "S" Solid Sound logo the six areas of the drum head were each ingeniously matched to a different part of the musical compostion. Throughout this process Glenn was by turns enthusiastic, funny, charming, creative, instructive, and a whole host of other superlatives. His enthusiasm and encouragement for the project were infectious and it was quite a pleasure to watch. Once the heads were finished some assistants passed out sheet music for the 8-minute composition. "The Immortal Flux" is comprised of six distinct parts (which match the colors on the prepared drum head) that represent the changing nature and different eras in the history (and future) of the Mass MoCA grounds. The orchestra of which Joey was a part was divided into three sections, each section playing a different pattern to mirror either Glenn's kick drum, snare, or cymbal in each of the different parts of the song. Joey was placed in section 1, mirroring the cymbal. The entire crowd was instructed to return at 9:30 AM on Sunday morning for rehearsal. Everybody left their heads behind so that they could be mounted on snares. Glenn hung around for a while generously signing autographs and taking pictures all the while seeming to genuinely enjoy the interactions with the attendees. On Sunday morning we arrived for rehearsal. After a few munchkins and some coffee we assembled in the Ross Gallery where chairs were set up with the now-mounted heads and music stands. Everybody found their drums and took a seat then were quickly rearranged so that everybody was sitting by group. For the next hour Glenn, alternating between a microphone set up in front of the room and his kit, instructed all three sections on how and when to play their parts. There were two screens set up in front of the room that displayed the color that matched with the specific section of the piece. Every time the music would switch from one part of the composition to another the screen would switch. The way the piece is arranged every time a Glenn switches to a new part there is a period of rest for the orchestra before they join in. As the song progresses through each cycle of six parts the amount of rest gets shorter until there is no rest during the culminating cycle and the parts change every two measures. There were two full run throughs of the entire piece and that was it. Glenn explained that he liked to leave rehearsals sounding a little raw and save "the magic" for the show. He encouraged everybody to be aggressive and play loudly so they could be heard. The piece was going to be played roughly during the middle of Glenn and cellist Jeffrey Zeigler's set later that afternoon so we set out to have some food and the later morning/early afternoon. Around 1:45 we headed back to the gallery which was packed with people. Joey took his seat and took in the very inventive performance (as did the rest of the family) and then came the big moment. Glenn introduced the crowd to the concept behind "The Immortal Flux" and the prepared drum head orchestra, then they were playing the piece and it went off without a hitch. Afterwards Glenn again was nice enough to hang around and individually thank everybody as they waited to have their heads removed from the snares so they could take them. My son got an autograph on his drum head, a nice thank you from Glenn, and even got interviewed for a short promotional piece that D'Addario is making about the event. The entire experience was so unique and awesome. My family and I are so grateful to Glenn, Wilco, and everybody that has worked to shape this beautiful festival environment that embraces and supports the interactive fan culture that allows for these types of events to happen. The generosity of the band members along with their willingness to involve the fans in this festival in amazing ways such as this makes it a truly incredible and fulfilling experience. I know that this is one that we will always remember! I have full videos of the rehearsal performance and the actual performance, as well as a bunch of other snippets which I will try to get up on YouTube eventually and post some links here (sorry that the video is shaky and primarily focused on my son, but you'll get the gist of it). 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u2roolz Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Hey! Your live tweets of the Wilco set list Sat night were filling up the screen near the Hunter Center and the ice cream spot near the elevator and seating area. I noticed this when I sought out shelter. I took a pic of that screen this year and I'll post it when I'm on my computer. Btw, they played Panthers and not Message From Mid Bar. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dvigs24 Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Hey! Your live tweets of the Wilco set list Sat night were filling up the screen near the Hunter Center and the ice cream spot near the elevator and seating area. I noticed this when I sought out shelter. I took a pic of that screen this year and I'll post it when I'm on my computer. Btw, they played Panthers and not Message From Mid Bar. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Here you go! No problem! When I saw your tweet, I thought that I had blacked out for a second. You're famous! Show the kids that. Yeah, I gave myself a chance to dry myself during Heavy Metal Drummer. Something I've heard at every show…I think so... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I got to drum with Glenn also, and it was such a blast. He is such a nice guy, and man it was fun to work with him! Earlier in the morning on Sunday, my friend and I saw him in Courtyard D, and he stopped for a second and said "hey! how's it going, bandmates!" That piece was so cool too. There's video on youtube too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Nice report dvigs24. Ta. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulcalypse Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Thanks for the well-written write up. I watched some rehearsal, and it sounded awesome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 i was bummed that i didn't get a chance to see the ensemble in action...i was stationed at the wall near Glenn for about 40 minutes but eventually had to leave before the volunteers started, in order to catch the last bit of Charles Lloyd's set. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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