Tweedy and Friends — 30 June 2019, North Adams, MA (Joe's Field at Mass MoCA) [Solid Sound Festival; Day 3 of 3]

[bböp]

Another Solid Sound Festival in the books, and there's always that bittersweet feeling about walking out of the Mass MoCA campus following the traditional Tweedy and friends Sunday afternoon set. Some magic always seems to happen during that final 90 minutes before everything comes to an abrupt end and everyone goes their separate ways, and this year was no different.

 

Much more to come about stupid rainbows and things like that, but for now here was the complete setlist as played (the core Tweedy band for this show, in addition to Jeff, was: Spencer Tweedy on drums, Liam Kazar on bass and James Elkington on electric guitar; additional guests will be noted on each song as needed):

 

Bombs Above (w/Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart of Ohmme on backing vocals)

Some Birds

Don't Forget

Having Been Is No Way To Be Alive

Summer Noon (w/Josh Kantor on keyboard)

Ten Sentences

Guaranteed

Orphan

I Know What It's Like (w/Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)

...And Then You Cut It In Half

World Away

How Hard It Is For A Desert To Die (w/Todd Reynolds on violin)

Evergreen

Family Ghost

Love Like A Wire [Diane Izzo]

Low Key (w/Sima Cunningham on backing vocals)

You Are Not Alone (w/Ohmme on backing vocals and Pat Sansone on keyboard)

It Must Be Love [Labi Siffre] (w/Pat Sansone on tambourine and backing vocals)

You And I (w/Amelia Meath on vocals, Glenn Kotche on drums, Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen on keyboards)

The Losing End (When You're On) [Neil Young] (w/Scott McCaughey on acoustic guitar and backing vocals and Sima Cunningham on backing vocals)

Let's Go Rain (w/Scott McCaughey on acoustic guitar and backing vocals and Ohmme, etc., on backing vocals)

Give Back The Key To My Heart [Doug Sahm] (w/Scott McCaughey on acoustic guitar and backing vocals, Sima Cunningham on backing vocals, Nels Cline on electric guitar, John Stirratt on backing vocals, Glenn Kotche on percussion, Mikael Jorgensen and Josh Kantor on keyboard, Pat Sansone on maracas and backing vocals, Tommy Larkins on percussion and Todd Reynolds on violin)

I Shall Be Released [bob Dylan] (w/ensemble on backing vocals and various instruments)

[Albert Tatlock]

Ta (and for the other 2).

 

Interesting only Summer Noon from TWEEDY's Sukierae. Anyway, moving on to more important things: any news of Jonathan Richman?

Tried to find some solace in Glastonbury on the tele, but found it lacklustre this year to my taste. The Beeb didn't feature Nick Low and Friends on Friday night, and it went downhill from there.

[bböp]

Ta (and for the other 2).

 

Interesting only Summer Noon from TWEEDY's Sukierae. Anyway, moving on to more important things: any news of Jonathan Richman?

Tried to find some solace in Glastonbury on the tele, but found it lacklustre this year to my taste. The Beeb didn't feature Nick Low and Friends on Friday night, and it went downhill from there.

 

World Away and Low Key, as well, from Sukierae.

 

Unfortunately I had to miss Jonathan (and Tommy Larkins) this go round — their set was delayed a bit by weather and possibly other factors — so others shall have to chime in. I was told JR was as charming as ever, however, and danced his way into the audience's hearts. A certain Scotsman who frequents these parts raved about the JR set, so I'm sure he can add something at some point...

[Albert Tatlock]

World Away and Low Key, as well, from Sukierae.

I have handed my Wilco Fanclub ID Card (Level 2) into the authorities of my own accord before I got the dreaded knock on the door. To be honest it was a forgery anyway.

[theashtraysays]

Todd Reynolds and his violin took a beautiful song and made it absolutely gorgeous. Took my breath away.

[knotgreen]

I almost always leave the festival Sunday morning, but we we decided to stick around this year. I’m so glad we did so, as we caught Buck Meek’s set, which was great (he’s got a little band in tow), and then Jonathan Richman’s set prior to Tweedy. I have to admit that I didn’t know any of JR’s music but found myself grinning ear-to-ear during his set. What a performer! Moments like those are what make SSF such a special event. And the people, of course. So good seeing so many familiar faces.

[bustedafternoon]

How would the attendees say this year stacked up against others? I went 2013, 2015 and 2017, with 2013 being the best (covers show, first time, etc.).

[Yaz Rock]

How would the attendees say this year stacked up against others? I went 2013, 2015 and 2017, with 2013 being the best (covers show, first time, etc.).

 

I'm kinda forgetting which year was which at this point. I think I had the most fun/best vibe in 2015, but as far as performances go... I would say, and with this weekend still fresh in my mind... 2013 both nights, the 2017 album show, especially Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and the 2019 Karaoke night are the most memorable Wilco performances. As far as Jeff shows go, I think I liked 2010 the best. (I missed all of 2011 and this year's Sunday show, for the record). 2013 was good because it also introduced me to Lucius who I have now seen many times since. 2013 also had Neko Case and David Hidalgo, so that may have been my favorite festival lineup.

 

Short answer - each year has been great in its own way.

[TCP]

Sunday ended up being a pretty good day of music for me, despite some questionable weather early on. I too also caught the Buck Meek performance, which was his lone performance at SSF yet was done as a pop up performance in the middle of B4's gallery. His vocals (and guitar?) were pushed out though a lone PA speaker and everything else was just amps and natural acoustics. Couple that with the location and a lot of the audience sitting on the floor, it ended up being a pretty cool and unique experience that you can only really get at a fest like Solid Sound.

After that we caught the Autumn Defense with strings. String quartet led by Todd Reynolds who later appear in Jeff's set. Plus, sound courtesy of legendary Wilco FOH man Stan Doty. It was my first Autumn Defense show, so it was really cool to see John and Pat up on stage as leaders. The music was great and hopefully a recording gets released.

Lastly Jeff's set was great. As a first time SSFer I knew what to expect a lot of the time but not with Jeff's set. While I've listened to previous year's Jeff and Friends Roadcases, what doesn't completely translate into the audio recordings is how jolly it is, especially at the end. Sometimes I think the non-Jeff Wilco guys get unfairly labeled as "guns of hire" but here you can see there's a lot of friendships throughout the adjacent Wilco community. It was a fun set to watch. I went in with the attitude that it couldn't possibly top night 2's Wilco performance but it ended up being something totally different.

[50footqueenie]

World Away and Low Key, as well, from Sukierae.

 

Unfortunately I had to miss Jonathan (and Tommy Larkins) this go round — their set was delayed a bit by weather and possibly other factors — so others shall have to chime in. I was told JR was as charming as ever, however, and danced his way into the audience's hearts. A certain Scotsman who frequents these parts raved about the JR set, so I'm sure he can add something at some point...

 

I only remember Jonathan Richman for his hits in late 70's British poptasm, so went to see him more out of curiosity.  The show was delayed by the rain and 15 minutes after the supposed new start time there was no sign of JR or indeed anyone at the FOH sound booth.  He then wandered out with guitar case in hand and followed by trusty conga player Tommy, pulls out his guitar and goes into a long demented conversation with himself about how the rain had messed with his sound check - he was running the whole shebang from the stage himself!

 

What followed next was a masterclass in engaging an audience, drawing them into his world and sheer entertainment - crazy dancing, beautiful guitar playing, 'stupid' (but actually really clever) songs and even though he only did 45 minutes it was just perfect for that slot in the festival.

 

The ovation and encore were totally deserved.  And I'd love to bring him to Edinburgh for a full show.