Report: Solid Sound Festival – Day 2
Day two of Solid Sound featured many of the weekend’s biggest names, including sets from Yo La Tengo, Low, Neko Case and the reunited Dream Syndicate. Upon arrival early Saturday afternoon, Mark Mulcahy was midway through a set at the Courtyard C stage. Mulcahy is best known for this work in Miracle Legion and Polaris, the house band of the mid-90s TV series The Adventures of Pete & Pete. With a band that included Wilco’s Pat Sansone and an unexpected appearance from Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, Mulcahy breezed through a set of his signature jangle-pop.
Over at Courtyard D, Brooklyn’s Lucius was on next. The band was led by the twin vocal performances of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, who could easily pass for twin sisters if one didn’t know any better. Together, the duo are a powerful vocal presence. Watching their set, it was no wonder that Tweedy had called on them to take his place singing lead on “Waterloo” during Wilco’s set the previous evening. Lucius’ set blended synths, guitars and lots of drums into pleasantly percussive pop songs.
I caught a folksy song or two from singer-songwriter Sean Rowe at Courtyard C, but soon ventured indoors to investigate some of the Mass MoCA exhibits that looked particularly intriguing from outside. One building, which overlooks Courtyard D, houses two enormous, impressive metal phoenixes by Chinese artist Xu Bing. If grand-scale installations fascinate you half as much as they do me, these things are worth the museum admission on their own. Also of note was an installation by Jeff Tweedy specifically for the festival, which displayed a number of unique instruments and artifacts from Wilco’s Chicago studio, The Loft.
Back outside, California’s The Dream Syndicate were preparing for their first set on U.S. soil since 1988. The enthusiasm with which Steve Wynn and the rest of the band tore into these songs could’ve fooled anyone into thinking they’d been written months, rather than decades, ago. The Dream Syndicate fall somewhere between R.E.M. jangle and early Velvet Underground skronk, translating to catchy songs that indulged in just the right concentration of feedback-laden dueling guitar meltdowns. A fiery and totally engrossing set from a largely unheralded band deserving of a wider audience.
I stuck around the Courtyard D stage to secure a spot for Jersey indie rock mainstays Yo La Tengo, who are generally the highlight of whatever bill they appear on. Saturday’s set didn’t offer many surprises, but watching the band perform is a joy regardless. They weaved together subdued cuts from their latest LP, Fade, with classics like “Autumn Sweater” and a truly epic set-closing “Blue Line Swinger.” From lively garage-rockers to searing extended guitar jams and songs so quiet you could’ve heard a pin drop, the band offered up something for just about everyone. Yo La Tengo’s chameleonic nature is a large part of their charm, and it’s always impressive to watch how deftly they navigate from one extreme to another, still managing to sound unmistakably like themselves.
I missed out on most of Foxygen’s set once Yo La Tengo wrapped up, but reports suggest that it wasn’t the weekend’s smoothest performance. I hung near the Courtyard D stage once more, awaiting Duluth, Minnesota slowcore pioneers Low. I had only seen the band perform once before, in an opening slot for Death Cab for Cutie. Needless to say, a beautiful afternoon at Solid Sound surrounded by a reverent crowd was a far superior environment in which to absorb the band’s mellow tunes. The seemingly ageless Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker traded off vocal duties for a set that was heavy on this year’s Tweedy-produced The Invisible Way, but reached back through their past several records as well. Low do not make happy music by most people’s standards, but their live performances are arrestingly beautiful. This one was no exception.
Following Low, it was time to migrate toward Joe’s Field for the day’s two biggest acts. Singer/songwriter/New Pornographers member Neko Case brought a five-person backing band along for her set. Case’s music is rooted in alt-country, and anchored by her powerful voice. With guitar, banjo, lap steel, upright bass and a capable backing vocalist, Case’s set sounded gorgeous. The performance also served as a first preview of Case’s new record, which is due out in September.
Once again, Wilco closed out the day as headliners. This time, they treated the crowd to a two-and-a-half hour set of their own classics. Spanning all the way from A.M. to 2011’s The Whole Love, and touching on nearly every album in between, it was truly a career-spanning endeavor. The many sides of Wilco were on display during this set, from the country strummers to the experimental rockers. Reliably excellent live songs like “Impossible Germany,” “Shot in the Arm” and “Via Chicago” (whose noisy breakdowns have only gotten more atonally intense over time) received their due, and the band even broke out a few rarities, including an encore-closing “Dreamer in My Dreams.” Though it lacked a bit of the excitement of the previous night, the set was a satisfying, well-paced excursion through the band’s discography, and a great way to finish off an amazing day of music.
