Solid Sound Festival

This Friday, fellow Tastemaker Chris Stoppiello and I, along with two friends, will venture west to North Adams, MA for the Solid Sound Festival. When it became clear that All Point West, the two-year-old festival that was held in Jersey City, NJ, would not be happening this year due to booking and budgetary issues, Chris and I began to look for a replacement. We stumbled upon Wilco-curated Solid Sound, and were sold.

Taking place at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (more commonly known as Mass MoCA), this three day festival combines music, art, comedy and film to cover the sprawling grounds of the museum. With each artist hand picked by Wilco and around 6,000 attendees, I am looking forward to a mellower atmosphere than other summer festivals.

In the past two years that I had attended All Points West, there were always artists that I didn’t know of, and before each festival began, I would do my best to brush up on the majority of the lineup. This time, despite only knowing 1 of the acts, and having very limited knowledge of two of the other twenty acts, I’m going to wait until I get there to experience them. This festival is wholly new for me, as this is the first year it is being held, and I would like to keep it that way until I get there.

I’m looking forward to all aspects of this festival minus one, which is the camping. All Points West possessed a unique festival quality that made me love it even more than I already did: there was no camping. It was a strictly commuters-only festival. I am not outdoorsy. I don’t like nature. However, for a band like Wilco, I am beginning to believe that camping is the only way to best experience Solid Sound.

Stay tuned for updates throughout, via Twitter (@arysssa and @christ_oh_fur) for up to the minute news, and reviews of each day with photos and reviews.