Items tagged with 'MASS MoCA'
Punch Brothers at MASS MoCA
The Punch Brothers are set to play a show at MASS MoCA March 16. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, November 16 -- they're $39 ahead / $49 day of.
The group features a lineup of progressive bluegrass stars, including Chris Thile. (He's now the host of Live from Here, the reformulated and retitled A Prairie Home Companion. And he was a MacArthur "genius" grant winner.) They released a new album this past summer.
The opener for the MASS MoCA show is Gabriel Kahane.
photo: Josh Goleman
LEWITTx10 at MASS MoCA
"Wall Drawing 999"
It's been 10 years since the installation of the massive Sol LeWitt exhibit at MASS MoCA and on Saturday, November 17 the museum has a day of talks, performances, and other activities related to the display.
The daytime events -- including a panel discussion about some of the questions LeWitt's work prompts about art and collaboration, pop-up performances, and treasure hunts and art making -- are free with museum admission. There's also an evening dinner and performance with Quindar and Jason Moran that's ticketed separately.
The scale of Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective at MASS MoCA makes it a remarkable art experience. Blurbage:
Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective comprises 105 of LeWitt's large-scale wall drawings, spanning the artist's career from 1969 to 2007. These occupy nearly an acre of specially built interior walls that have been installed--per LeWitt's own specifications--over three stories of a historic mill building situated at the heart of MASS MoCA's campus.
The exhibit is on display for another 15 years. But if you've never seen it, don't wait -- go check it out sometime soon. (Or go see it again.) It's worth the trip over to North Adams.
(And, of course, MASS MoCA is huge, with many other exhibits.)
Tune-Yards + U.S. Girls at MASS MoCA
Tune-Yards. / photo: Eliot Lee Hazel
The art pop acts Tune-Yards and U.S. Girls are set to play a show at MASS MoCA October 30. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, June 15 -- they're $25 ahead / $35 day of.
Both acts released new albums earlier this year to positive reviews. (And they're both on the same label -- 4AD -- which is backing the tour.)
By the way: Tune-Yards is also the opener for the David Byrne show at The Palace September 9.
The Decemberists
The sold-out Decemberists show scheduled for MASS MoCA this Friday, June 15 has been postponed to October 4 because Colin Meloy is suffering from vocal strain. (Their Mountain Jam appearance has been canceled.) Tickets will be honored for the new date, but if you can't make it, contact the box office.
Bonnie Prince Billy
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy is lined up to play a show at MASS MoCA October 13. Tickets are $30 ahead / $40 day of.
Angel Olsen at MASS MoCA
Indie rock singer/songwriter Angel Olsen is set to play a show at MASS MoCA September 29. Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 4 -- they're $30 ahead / $40 day of.
Olsen's 2016 album, My Women, got strong reviews -- it that includes that song "Shut Up Kiss Me". And she followed it up with a collection of B-sides, demos, and covers last year that was also well received. From a Village Voice profile last November: "Olsen has that rare gift -- perhaps the gift that matters most in popular music -- that only the truly profound talents do, of writing songs that are both specific enough to feel personal to her but general enough that almost anyone listening can sing along and think, 'This happened to me.'"
The opener for the MASS MoCA show is Julianna Barwick
Fresh Grass Festival 2018
Trampled by Turtles. / photo via Trampled By Turtles Facebook
The Fresh Grass Festival is back at MASS MoCA September 14-16. Festival passes are currently $115 for adults / $99 for students / $46 for kids (under 6 free). The passes include admission to the museum's galleries.
Headliners for this year's festival include Trampled By Turtles, Yonder Mountain String Band, Indigo Girls, Ricky Skaggs, and Rhiannon Giddens. Here's the full announced-so-far lineup...
Blondie at MASS MoCA
The band Blondie is set to play MASS MoCA August 3. Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 30 -- they're $55 ahead / $65 day of. (There's a also a pre-sale starting Thursday.)
It's been more 40 years since the influential new wave group first got together. And Debbie Harry is now 72 years old. The band released a new album just last year.
Let us all have the longevity and verve to rock like that.
The opener for the MASS MoCA show is And The Kids.
By the way: The Youtube auto suggest column on Blondie's popular songs is a deep rabbit hole of 80s new wave pop and its descendants. Take that as either a warning or an enticement.
Grizzly Bear at MASS MoCA
The indie rock band Grizzly Bear is set to play a show at MASS MoCA June 16. Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 9 -- they're $32 ahead / $40 day of. (There are also various pre-sales between now and then.)
The band released an album last August, its first in five years, and the MASS MoCA stop is a tour for that album.
By our recollection, this is the closest Grizzly Bear show to the Capital Region their show at Skidmore in 2009. They also played two warm-up shows for the new album last August in Kingston. We wouldn't be surprised if this MASS MoCA show sells out.
Speaking of MASS MoCA
Here's how its spring/summer concert slate is shaping up...
Ray LaMontagne + Neko Case at MASS MoCA and Ommegang
Ray LaMontagne and Neko Case are teaming up for a tour this summer and they're making stops at two venues around here...
MASS MoCA
LaMontagne and Case will be at MASS MoCA June 29. Tickets go on sale March 9 -- they're $52. (There's also a pre-sale that starts March 7.)
Brewery Ommegang
The two singer/songwriters will then be at Brewery Ommegang July 4. Tickets go on sale March 5 -- they're $55.
The tour bill has LaMontagne as the headliner and Case as "a very special guest."
Ray LaMontagne played a sold-out show at the Troy Music Hall last October. And, as you know, Neko Case has a voice like she's from Asgard or somewhere like that (and she just recently played a show at The Egg). So getting tickets sooner rather than later is probably a good idea if you'd like to go.
LaMontagne photo via Ray LaMontagne Facebook | Case photo via Neko Case Facebook
Courtney Barnett at MASS MoCA
Indie rock singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett is set to play a show at MASS MoCA July 12. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 23 -- they're $27 ahead / $37 day of. (There are also various pre-sales this week.)
Barnett's been riding a wave of critical acclaim since her "Avant Gardener" track in 2013 and subsequent debut album in 2015. In the time since she's collaborated with Kurt Vile, and she has a new album set for release this May.
The opener for the MASS MoCA show is Vagabon.
The concert will be on the museum's courtyard stage. It says it expects tickets to sell quickly.
The Decemberists at MASS MoCA
The Decemberists are set to play a show at MASS MoCA June 15. Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 19 -- they're $45 ahead / $55 day of. (There are also MASS MoCA member and Spotify presales starting Thursday.)
The band will be touring in support of a new album that's out March 16. Show/album blurbage:
With I'll Be Your Girl, the Decemberists--lead vocalist and guitarist Meloy, guitarist Chris Funk, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, bassist Nate Query, and drummer John Moen--explore new approaches to making music and broaden their sonic range. Previous Decemberists' records, such as The Hazards of Love or The Crane Wife, have been structured around thematic or musical concepts, though Meloy maintains that ultimately it's always "our frame of mind that ties them together." This time, he says, the songs share a mood that's steeped in our current times and condition-- "exuberant nihilism, an apocalyptic dance party was what we envisioned."
We're guessing this show will sell out, and probably quickly. So if you'd like to go, well, you know, don't wait.
Speaking of MASS MoCA concerts
+ The Bon Iver shows in March are sold out.
+ As is the Sylvan Esso show March 31.
photo: Autumn de Wilde
High Mud Comedy Festival 2018
The High Mud Comedy Festival is set to return to MASS MoCA March 16-17. Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 15. (The museum's website doesn't list the price, but a two-day pass was $42 last year.)
This year's headliner is Mike Birbiglia, of My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, Sleepwalk With Me, Don't Think Twice, and This American Life fame. He's made multiple stops in the area in the past, many of which have sold out.
Also announced for the festival: singer/songwriter/comedian Nellie McKay. More acts will be announced later.
The festival is, according to the blurbage, "stacked with comedy-club kings and queens, funny film, uncommon workshops, half-brewed beer tastings, mocking museum tours (and whatever else we can think to poke fun at)."
photo: Brian Friedman
Bon Iver + TU Dance at MASS MoCA
Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.
Bon Iver is set to play MASS MoCA March 24 and 25 as part of a collaboration with the dance company TU Dance. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $25 ahead / $35 day of.
Bon Iver is, of course, the singer/songwriter Justin Vernon. And TU Dance is a company from Minnesota. Show blurbage:
Repeat Grammy Award-winner and endlessly influential balladeer Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver, visits MASS MoCA to perform a work-in-progress score alongside dance company TU Dance. The company's co-founder and "incredible polyrhythmic genius" (Star Tribune) Uri Sands guides his troupe through movement that lilts and tumbles alongside Vernon's expansive sound.
There's a good chance these two shows will sell out, so it's worth getting tickets sooner rather than later if you'd like to go.
The show are part of the winter/spring slate at MASS MoCA, that also includes:
Sylvan Esso at MASS MoCA
The indie pop duo Sylvan Esso is lined up to play a show at MASS MoCA March 31. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 10 -- they're $28 ahead / $35 day of.
Here's a new video the act playing "Die Young." The stop in North Adams is one of a string of dates for the band after returning from a tour in Australia.
Sylvan Esso played at show at Jupiter Hall at the Lucky Strike at Crossgates this past May. It sold out ahead of time. So if you're interested in going to this show, getting tickets sooner rather than later is a good idea.
Also recently announced...
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is set to play MASS MoCA March 10. Tickets are on sale this Friday, November 10. They're $26 ahead / $33 day of.
photo: Shervin Lainez
Fresh Grass Festival 2017 lineup
Brandi Carlile
The Fresh Grass Festival is back at MASS MoCA September 15-17. Festival passes are currently $110 for adults / $98 for students / $48 for kids.
Headliners for the festival include Brandi Carlile, Railroad Earth, and The Del McCoury Band. And the festival just added a handful of acts to the lineup, which is below.
RISK! at MASS MoCA
The RISK! storytelling podcast will be at MASS MoCA July 1 for a live show. Tickets are on sale now -- they're currently $18 until May 3, when the price increases to $24.
RISK! is hosted by comedian Kevin Allison. Show blurbage:
RISK! is a live show and podcast where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share in public, hosted by Kevin Allison of the legendary TV sketch comedy troupe, The State. The award-winning live show happens monthly in New York and Los Angeles and has featured people like Janeane Garofalo, Lisa Lampanelli, Kevin Nealon, Margaret Cho, Marc Maron, Sarah Silverman, Lili Taylor, Rachel Dratch, Andy Borowitz and more, dropping the act and showing a side of themselves we've never seen before. The weekly RISK! podcast gets over two million downloads each month. Slate.com called it "jaw-dropping, hysterically funny, and just plain touching."
The stopped in this area back in 2012 with two shows at The Linda. The first was that spring and apparently so successful that the show came back that same fall.
Mad Max with live score
Speaking of summer events at MASS MoCA... On July 15 the museum will be hosting a screening of Mad Max with a live score performed by the ensemble Morricone Youth. Tickets are $20 ahead / $26 day of / $16 students.
My Morning Jacket at MASS MoCA
Coming to MASS MoCA this summer: My Morning Jacket on August 12. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, March 17 -- they're $46 ahead / $56 day of.
This is an outside, rain-or-shine show. The opener is The Districts.
Other announced summer outdoor shows at MASS MoCA...
Solid Sound 2017 lineup
The lineup for the Solid Sound Festival this summer at MASS MoCA is out.
It's headlined by Wilco, as usual. The band will be playing two shows at the festival, as usual. A few others from the lineup: Television, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Robert Glasper Experiment, Dawn of Midi, Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin with the Guilty Ones, Kevin Morby, Joan Shelley, and Big Thief.
John Hodgman will be back with another comedy showcase. And Mark Bittman -- "Real Food Crusader" -- is also mentioned under "eat and drink."
The full announced lineup below.
This year's festival is June 23-25. The ticket currently on sale is the advance 3-day pass -- it's $159 plus service fees. There's also a kids pass (ages 6-10) for $50 (under age 6 is free).
CAKE at MASS MoCA
The rock band Cake is set to play an outdoor show at MASS MoCA May 28. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $35 ahead / $45 day of / $55 for preferred tickets.
Cake is still kicking after all these years. Blurbage:
CAKE made its mark flying in the face of convention -- an anti-grunge, post-pop band who scripted smart lyrics, stripped away the original over-engineering of its live shows in order to broadcast those lyrics with laser beam precision -- and above all, always have fun doing it. This high-minded, low-tech approach manifested an impossible-to-pin-down, witty and gritty, yet wildly welcoming and familiar sound -- and a mainstream following of cult-like devotion.
That weekend is also the opening weekend for MASS MoCA's huge new expansion, Building 6.
(They're building it bigger, they're widening the corridor and adding more lanes... Are they now accepting callers for these pendant key chains? Maybe in the gift shop.)
CAKE at OMMEGANG
And, as pointed out by grandmastergus: Cake will also be playing an outdoor show at Brewery Ommegang May 26. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 17 -- they're $50 ($15 for camping).
High Mud Comedy Festival 2017
The High Mud Comedy Festival returns to MASS MoCA March 31-April 1. And tickets are on sale now -- they're $42 for a two-day pass ahead / $32 for students / $55 day of.
The headliner for the upcoming festival is comedian Phoebe Robinson, who's gotten a lot of attention this year for being the co-host of the popular 2 Dope Queens podcast with Jessica Williams. It's been near (and at) the top of the iTunes most popular podcast chart. Robinson has also appeared in a bunch of other media, and her book -- "You Can't Touch My Hair (And Other Things I Still Have to Explain)" -- was published this fall.
General festival blurbage:
High Mud laughs don't stop at stand-up: comedy films, funny museum tours with performers, a joke cam, workshops, and perhaps a comedian-led beer tasting and tour of Bright Ideas Brewery on the MASS MoCA campus will leave your sides aching. Post-mainstage, late-night gigs at local venues --including Desperados and the Freight Yard Pub -- will feature local talent.
The festival is hosted by "charmingly deadpan comic/writer/actor/guitar hero/man-about-town" Dave Hill.
photo via Phoebe Robinson Facebook page
Mavis Staples at MASS MoCA
Powerhouse singer Mavis Staples is set for a show at MASS MoCA March 25. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $35 ahead / $45 day of.
Staples has had a long career and an R&B/soul/gospel singer, starting with her family's group, The Staples Singers, before moving onto a solo career. And in recent years she's collaborated with a bunch of different artists. Show blurbage:
Mavis Staples is one of the great alchemists of American music, crossing genre lines like no musician since perhaps Ray Charles, and weaving her voice into the very fabric of gospel, soul, folk, pop, R&B, blues, rock, and hip-hop. From her time in the legendary Staples Singers, to her Grammy-winning 2010 collaboration with Jeff Tweedy, You're Not Alone, to her recently released Livin' on a High Note, produced by M. Ward and featuring contributions by Neko Case, Justin Vernon, Ben Harper, and Tune-Yards, Staples is a classic artist who is as vital today as at any point in her legendary career.
Just this month she was part of the new class of Kennedy Center Honors awardees.
photo via ANTI- Records
Solid Sound 2017 dates set
A heads-up for next summer: The Solid Sound Festival is set to return to MASS MoCA June 23-25 of 2017.
It is, of course, the festival that prominently features Wilco and friends. Blurbage:
Spanning three days and four stages, Solid Sound includes music by Wilco and its members' side projects, as well as many other (soon-to-be-announced) musical performers. It also features a full comedy lineup programmed by festival alum John Hodgman, family fun for all ages, local food, craft beer, camping, naturalist activities and more.
If you're interested in updates, the festival has an email list that sends out updates about tickets, acts, and associated whatnot. (In the past, there have been early-bird tickets in November and December, so something to keep an eye out for if you're interested in going.)
photo via Solid Sound Festival FB
Dinosaur Jr., Magnetic Fields, Big Thief coming to MASS MoCA
Dinosaur Jr.
A handful of shows on the schedule for MASS MoCA this fall:
November 5: Big Thief
The folk rock act released its debut album to good reviews earlier this summer. $12 ahead / $18 day of / $10 students
November 18-19: The Magnetic Fields: 50 Song Memoir
Stephin Merritt and a 7-person band will be at MASS MoCA for the world premier of new album 50 Song Memoir, with one song for each year of his life (and with the band collectively playing 50 instruments). They'll play songs 1-25 the first night, songs 26-50 the second. $35 ahead / $45 day of / $65 ahead for both shows
December 10: Dinosaur Jr.
The influential 90s alt-rock band has been around so long that it's now 10 years into its comeback. And they released a new album this past summer to good reviews. $28 ahead / $36 day of
photo: Levi Walton
Fresh Grass Festival 2016 lineup
Old Crow Medicine Show
The lineup for this year's Fresh Grass Festival at MASS MoCA is out. And the top of the bill includes Old Crow Medicine Show, Glen Hansard, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, The Devil Makes Three, Rosanne Cash, and The Infamous Stringdusters.
The full lineup (announced so far) is after the jump. The festival also includes events like a silent film screenings with live scores.
Fresh Grass is September 16-18 this year on the grounds of MASS MoCA over in North Adams. Early bird festival passes currently $96 for adults / $86 for students / $46 for kids 7-16.
Chris Gethard at MASS MoCA
Comedian/TV host/writer Chris Gethard will be at MASS MoCA this Saturday (January 30) for a stand-up show. Tickets are $16 ahead / $22 day of / $10 students.
Gethard's done a little bit of everything: authored a Weird New York book, done improv with Upright Citizens Brigade, appeared on late night shows, and hosted a public access/internet talk show. He's recently been producing episodes of the show for Fusion, and will be back for another run this spring.
The MASS MoCA show will be hosted by Joseph Greene, and include an opening set from NYC-based comic Josh Carter. It starts Saturday at 8 pm in the museum's Club B-10.
Free Day
By the way: Saturday is the annual free day at MASS MoCA. It's what it sounds like -- admission to the museum is free from 11 am-7 pm. There will also be a series of events and tours that day.
photo via Chris Gethard Show FB
High Mud Comedy Fest with Tig Notaro at MASS MoCA
Tig Notaro
MASS MoCA has a two-day comedy event -- The High Mud Comedy Fest -- lined up for March 11 and 12. The headliner is comedian Tig Notaro. Festival tickets are on sale now -- they're $42 ahead / $55 day of / $32 students.
Notaro is a standup comic and writer who's appeared a bunch of places, including Comedy Central and This American Life. In recent years, she's been recognized for a set in which she announced she had breast cancer -- Louis C.K. called it one of the "truly great, masterful standup sets." And she has a new semi-autobiographical TV series -- One Mississippi -- coming out on Amazon Prime later this year.
The festival lineup also includes Ophira Eisenberg as host (she's a comedian and host of NPR's Ask Me Another), Sean Patton, Dave Hill, Thomas Attila Lewis, Seth Brown, and Mark Jagiello. There will be stand-up comedy in the evenings, and screenings of comedy films and shorts in the afternoon.
photo via Tig Notaro FB
The National at MASS MoCA
Update: Pre-sale tickets for MASS MoCA members go on sale Thursday, December 17 at 11 am. Tickets for the general public go on sale Friday, December 18 at 11 am.
____
Indie rock kings The National are set to play a show at MASS MoCA June 11. Ticket info is still sparse (the museum says it will be updated soon) -- but it looks like early bird tickets will be $49.
It will be an outdoors, standing room show, rain or shine. And it's a good bet it will be very popular. So keep an eye out for when tickets go on sale. (We'll update the info here.)
photo: Shane McCauley
"Our only real desire was to make a festival we wouldn't be miserable at"
The quote in the title is from Wilco's Jeff Tweedy in the trailer, which is embedded above.
Wilco's Solid Sound Festival returns to MASS MoCA this coming weekend. If you've attened in the past, or just been curious, you might be interested in a new documentary about the festival -- Every Other Summer -- that was released last week. Blurbage (emphasis added):
Directed by Christoph Green and Brendan Canty, Every Other Summer is a documentary about the Solid Sound Festival, Wilco's three day music and arts gathering that takes place once every two years at MASS MoCA. Shot in 2013 and featuring performances by Wilco, Neko Case, Yo La Tengo, The Dream Syndicate, Lucius, Foxygen, Sam Amidon, Sean Rowe, The Relatives and appearances from Reggie Watts, John Hodgman, Jen Kirkman and others, Every Other Summer offers a peek into the festival's utopian vibe, and the positive transformative impact it has had on the small rust belt town of North Adams, MA.
The doc is available to rent for $4.99 via Vimeo.
Solid Sound 2015 lineup
The lineup for the Solid Sound Festival this summer at MASS MoCA is now out.
It's headlined by Wilco -- because, you know, it's Wilco's festival. The band will be playing two shows, one each on Friday and Saturday of the festival. A few others from the lineup: Mac Demarco, Parquet Courts, Real Estate, Shabazz Palaces, Cibo Matto, and John Hodgman.
The full announced lineup is post jump.
This year's festival is June 26-28. The ticket currently on sale is the advance 3-day pass -- it's $149 plus service fees. (The festival is also taking reservations for camping.)
Neutral Milk Hotel at MASS MoCA
Indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel is set for a show at MASS MoCA's Hunter Center April 17. Tickets are $36 ahead / $45 day of -- they go on sale this Friday (December 12).
The show will be the second stop for Neutral Milk Hotel in this wider region over the last year. The band played a show at Brewery Ommegang this past September. (And Neutral Milk Hotel founder Jeff Mangum played at MASS MoCA back in 2013.)
As you know, Neutral Milk Hotel wasn't hugely popular during its first run -- but it has ended up being very influential. You can hear strains of its 1998 album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea pop up in a bunch of indie rock over the last decade plus.
The opener for the MASS MoCA show is The Dot Wiggin Band.
photo via Neutral Milk Hotel FB
Solid Sound 2014 early bird
Believe it or not, ticketing is already starting for next year's slate of summer music festivals around the region. And 2015 will mark the return of the Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA.
The Wilco festival is back June 26-28 after skipping 2014. Early bird tickets go on sale this Friday, December 5 -- a 3-day pass is $124.
A lineup for the festival hasn't been released yet, but in years past it's included a range of musical acts, comedy, and of course, Wilco.
Mountain Jam: The Mountain Jam festival is back at Hunter Mountain June 4-7. And it's already sold through its first presale. Tickets will be back on sale when the lineup is announced, which usually happens in January.
Iron and Wine at MASS MoCA
Another summer show: Iron and Wine is set to play MASS MoCA June 22. Tickets are on sale now -- they're $29 ahead / $35 day of.
Iron and Wine is the stage name for a guy, Sam Beam. The indie singer/songwriter is now on his studio fifth album. (And it's been 12 years since that cover of "Such Great Heights" that got passed around so much.)
Iron and Wine played MASS MoCA in 2011. That show sold out, so this show will also probably be popular.
And just two days later, on June 24, Beck will be there.
photo: Craig Kief
Beck at MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA announced today that Beck will be playing at the museum June 24. Tickets go on sale this Saturday (March 15) at noon -- price info hasn't been posted yet, but they'll only be available through the MASS MoCA box office and there's a six-ticket limit per order update: tickets are $50 ahead / $54 day of.
The MASS MoCA show is part of a Beck summer tour announced today. He recently released a new album, Morning Phase. It's gotten strong reviews. (It's been described as a "companion piece" to Sea Change.)
There aren't a lot of details posted about the MASS MoCA show, but it sounds like it will be outside ("rain or shine"). We're guessing this will sell out, and quickly. So if you're interested in going, don't wait.
photo via Beck FB
Beasts of the Southern Wild -- with live score -- at MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA will be screening Beasts of the Southern Wild on August 10 -- with the score played live by composers Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, accompanied by the Wordless Music Orchestra.
As you might know, Zeitlin also directed the much-praised and Oscar-nominated film. Here's a clip from a Zeitlin interview with ASCAP about both directing and scoring the film:
While it's a lot more work, creatively it helps because it's always a delicate thing for a director to agree to what music takes the forefront in a film. Oftentimes, if the music is taking the lead too hard it can feel over-scored. To me, "over-scored" is what happens when there is a different creative energy actually taking over for the primary creative vision. So scoring my own films helps us to use music in a really strong, leading, forefront way. Because it's coming from the same imagination, it never feels like it's interrupting or cutting against the overall texture of the film.
After the jump is a video clip from a performance of the score by Zeitlin and Romer in LA last November.
The MASS MoCA screening/performance starts at 8:30 pm on August 10 (a Saturday). Tickets are $15 ahead / $19 day of.
Wham City returning to Troy; Dan Deacon at MASS MoCA
Wham City
The Wham City comedy tour will be back in Troy April 17 at 51 3rd Street. Blurbage:
The Wham City Comedy Tour is a two-hour cross-genre variety show, showcasing the very best from Baltimore's award-winning artist collective and fabled party starters. Expect stand-up sets, videos, dramatic monologues, and ensemble sketches in a tightly-run, visionary performance.
Wham City is a Baltimore-based arts collective that includes Dan Deacon. Or, as it was described in a SPIN article a few years back, "a collective of hilarious weirdos that dig on the absurd." The group was last here in 2011.
Show starts at 8:30 pm. There's an $8 suggested donation.
Speaking of Dan Deacon...
He's playing a show at MASS MoCA April 20 at 8 pm. Tickets are $12 ahead / $16 day of / $10 students.
Deacon also now has a mobile app, which reacts during his shows. (He used it on Jimmy Kimmel in December.) From an interview with the Phoenix New Times last fall: "Culturally, phones are there. There's no way we're gonna remove them and people aren't gonna not use them so we might as well find a way to incorporate them into our work rather than pretend they don't exist."
Or, as the app's page at iTunes remarks: "For the first time, having your phone out at a concert is not a jerk move."
photo: Josh Sisk
How Phoenix took flight
Over at the MASS MoCA blog there's an interesting backstory on how Xu Bing's massive Phoenix installation made the long journey from China to the museum. Here's a clip:
The boat ultimately arrived in Philadelphia. It docked there because the crates into which the phoenixes were packed do not conform to containerized standard dimensions. There are very few ports left in the country that can deal with non-containerized sea cargo. Those crates then had to clear customs. MASS MoCA employed a shipping broker to expedite that process. We also hired a trucking company based in New Jersey, which seemed to take its time making its way to MASS MoCA. (I put that as politely as I can.) When something like that--on top of shipping issues and even weather issues--is outside of your control, the frustration really builds up. Once we finally got the art here and started to wrangle with the various components, it was incredibly hard work and a challenge and a test, but that was welcomed after a protracted period of frustration.
The whole story includes a "slow" boat, the Panama Canal, trucks, cranes, huge crates squeezed through doors, chains, and instructions translated from Chinese.
photo: Jane Burns / MASS MoCA
Solid Sound 2013 lineup
Neko Case
This Solid Sound Festival is announcing its lineup one... act... at... a... time. Which is... a... little... something. But, the upside: the lineup is looking good.
A few of the announced acts so far:
+ Low
+ The public radio show Radiolab with a live soundtrack by On Fillmore
+ And Wilco (of course)
The festival will continue to update its lineup throughout Thursday. The comedy lineup is already out.
Solid Sound is June 21-23 at MASS MoCA. Three-day passes are currently $124.
Update: Here's the full music lineup...
Solid Sound 2013 tickets
Solid Sound -- the Wilco "envisioned" festival at MASS MoCA -- will be back at the museum June 21-23 after skipping last summer. And "early worm" tickets go on sale Friday (November 30) at 10 am. A limited number of three-day passes will be available for $99.
After those sell out, early bird passes will be $124. And after that, regular passes will be $149. Passes for kids 7-10 are $50. Under 7 are free. Camping is available for an additional fee.
MASS MoCA says there will be a "very limited number" of single day tickets available early next year.
About what's on the slate for this time around:
Envisioned by Wilco and presented in collaboration with MASS MoCA, the weekend features two headlining Wilco concerts, a comedy cabaret programmed and hosted by John Hodgman, additional musical performances on four stages selected by Wilco and including Wilco-related side projects, a wide array of all-ages programming, and of course, world-class modern art.
This will be the third Solid Sound festival. The first two have gotten good reviews.
[via @SarahLaDuke]
Jeff Mangum at MASS MoCA
Jeff Mangum
Updated
Jeff Mangum -- of Neutral Milk Hotel fame -- is playing a show at MASS MoCA February 16. Openers are The Music Tapes, and Tall Firs. Tickets go on sale this Thursday (November 15). MASS MoCA says price is still to be determined.
So, if you're a fan of Neutral Milk Hotel, there's probably a fair amount of squeeing right now. The band was popular during the 1990s as indie acts go, though not big in a general sense. But the people who loved them, loved them. And as sometimes happens with bands like that, Neutral Milk Hotel has ended up being very influential during its afterlife. Its 1998 album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (album cover, right) is an inspiration for many current acts.
The MASS MoCA show is the last stop on the currently announced tour. That it includes the Music Tapes is like a double NMH shot -- Julian Koster is a former member of the band.
photo: Cory Greenwell
Han Solo, frozen in LEGO
"You're made of LEGO." / "I know."
This made us laugh: it's a (more-or-less) full-size replica of Han Solo frozen in carbonite -- made of LEGO.
We wandered into the Kidspace section of MASS MoCA this weekend, and after gawking at the mammoth skeleton, our eye immediately was drawn to LEGO Han. Both pieces are part of the new "Curiosity" exhibit there.
LEGO Carbonite Han is the creation of Nathan Sawaya -- he's a professional LEGO artist whose work has been exhibited all over the country. His pieces range from re-creations -- like Han -- to works that are more philosophical (a man ripping open his own chest, LEGO bricks spilling out). As Sawaya told Stephen Colbert a few years back, he was working as a lawyer before becoming a full-time LEGO artist.
The Han piece is made of about 10,000 bricks. Larger photos are post jump.
Earlier on AOA:
+ LEGOmania at the Albany Institute
+ Trinity Church, reconstructed
Wilco at Ommegang, Wilco at MASS MoCA
Wilco at MASS MoCA in 2010.
There's no Solid Sound Festival this year, but Wilco will be playing two shows in the region this summer:
Brewery Ommegang
Wilco is playing outside at the Belgian-style brewery in Cooperstown July 28. Tickets go on sale this Friday (April 13) at 11 am. The Lee Ranaldo Band opens.
Tickets are $42 ahead, $50 day of (kids under 12 free). Camping is another $15. It's a rain or shine event.
MASS MoCA
Wilco is playing a benefit show for the museum July 31. It will be indoors, in the museum's Hunter Center, with a capacity limited to 1000 people.
MASS MoCA members get first crack at the tickets this Wednesday and Thursday (April 11 and 12) -- a limited allotment will be made available at the price of $113 (limit 2 per member) -- by calling the museum's box office (413.662-2111 x1) between 11am and 5pm . After that, the tickets will go up for a public auction/lottery that starts Friday. Details for that are after the jump.
And, if you're planning way ahead, the next Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA is June 21-23, 2013.
No Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA this year -- but there will be Wilco
Wilco announced today that there won't be a Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA this summer. The annual music and art festival, which was first held in 2010, will return next year -- specifically June 21-23, 2013.
The band's manager told Nippertown today that they still love the idea of the festival, it's just that touring and promotion for its new album was going to keep them from organizing the festival this year.
But Wilco will be playing a benefit for MASS MoCA this summer. The date is TBD. The museum sent out an email to members today announcing they'll get first crack at the tickets when they go on sale. The museum says it's expecting tickets to "sell out almost immediately" for the "limited capacity" show.
photo: Flickr user Jeremy D. Goodwin
How do you accessorize a dress made from wristbands?
This is fun: the dress in the photo on the right is made out of wristbands from the Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA. (It's for sale in the museum's shot -- $600.)
The designer -- Phyllis Criddle -- works at the museum. As she explained on the MASS MoCA blog:
There were thousands of wristbands left over from the two Solid Sound Festivals that we've had, and no one wanted to see them go to waste. The Box Office Manager approached me about making something with them, and I thought it was a brilliant idea! I was only too happy to accept.
She's created a few other items from museum materials, including a dress from museum logo t-shirts.
photo via MASS MoCA blog
Upright Citizens Brigade, Wanda Sykes
Two comedy shows this weekend worth mentioning:
Upright Citizens Brigade The touring company of improv troupe Upright Citizens Brigade will be MASS MoCA Saturday. UCB has turned out a bunch of now-famous comic actors over the years: Amy Poehler (one of its founders), Ed Helms, Rob Corrdry, Horatio Sanz, Rob Riggle, Jack McBrayer, Aziz Ansari, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Aubrey Plaza, and on and on (the list of former members and guests is impressive). The show at MASS MoCA starts at 8 pm on Saturday. Tickets start at $25 ($20 for students).
Wanda Sykes Also on Saturday, stand up comic Wanda Sykes (that's her on the right) will be at the Palace. You've probably seen her on TV or in movies. Show's at 8 pm. Tickets start at $20.
All Utopias Fell
Worth the bout of acrophobia.
We were out at MASS MoCA recently and finally had a chance to check out All Utopias Fell, Michael Oatman's outdoor installation there. We're glad we did. It's fun.
The installation is a collection of three elements. From the MASS MoCA blurbage:
The Shining is a 1970s-era 'satellite' that has crash-landed at MASS MoCA. This beautifully reflective, repurposed Airstream trailer - with large parachutes and active solar panels - is inspired by an earlier era of pulp aeronauts like Buck Rogers, Tom Swift and Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, as well as the works of Giotto, Jules Verne, NASA, and Chris Marker's 1962 film La Jetée. Visitors will be allowed to climb a staircase and enter into the craft where they will encounter The Library of the Sun. Hybridizing a domestic space, a laboratory and a library, it has the feel of a hermitage, where the occupant will 'be right back', only it is 30 years later. ... Once inside the craft, visitors will also be able to view Codex Solis, a massive field of photovoltaic (PVs) or solar panels. At 50kw, the field will generate 7% of the power consumed by MASS MoCA. In addition to this 230-foot long grid, mirrors are interspersed in the middle of the field, and suggest an absent text. The arrangement of mirrors and solar panels is based on a specific quote by an unnamed author, and will not be revealed by the artist; instead the public will be encouraged to spend time with the piece, watch the reflected sky, and solve the riddle as birds and planes, inverted, fly by.
The trailer is great. It's like something from an alternate reality, in which you could have gone camping in space during the 1960s -- and the owner of this particular trailer was a bit on the obsessive side. The inside is a meticulously constructed world, down to the jars of tomatoes.
All Utopias Fell is a seasonal exhibit. It's perched at the top of a few flights of metal stairs outside the old power plant for the factory that preceded the museum at the site. The exhibit is open through October.
After the jump: an interior pic, plus a few bonus pics.
Solid Sound Festival 2011 tickets
Tickets for the second Wilco-curated Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA go on sale this Friday at 11 am. The festival site says there are a limited number of "early worm" tickets for $99.50. The regular price is $124.50. (You can also buy single day tickets.)
This year's Solid Sound is June 24-26. There still isn't a lot of info about the lineup -- though the website mentions two "headline" concerts by Wilco and a "comedy cabaret" hosted by John Hodgman.
Last year's festival drew 5000 people -- and the reports were all pretty positive.
Earlier on AOA: Mountain Jam 2011 tickets and lineup
Solid Sound Festival recaps
The Solid Sound Festival -- the three days of music and art at MASS MoCA curated by Wilco -- was this past weekend.
And it sounds like it went well. So well that MASS MoCA and the band might give it another shot next summer.
Secret Selves
MASS MoCA has a new exhibit opening this weekend -- and you might recognize the artist: Leonard Nimoy. Yep, Spock.
From the MASS MoCA blurb for Secret Selves:
Inspired by Aristophanes' theory that humans were once double-sided creatures with two heads and multiple limbs before Zeus cleaved man in two and left him forever struggling to be whole again, Nimoy's photographs reveal his subjects' other half. Shooting in nearby Northampton, Massachusetts, Nimoy recruited volunteers from the local community with an open call for portrait models willing to be photographed posed and dressed as their true or imagined "secret selves." From the popular rock star and superman to the more unexpected dog lover and Pan, these various secret identities (off-line avatars as they might be described) offer an intimate, sometimes humorous, and often profound new look at the residents of Northampton and the inner yearnings and fantasies that we all share.
Nimoy apparently has been a serious photographer for decades. From a NYT article this week about the exhibit:
Solid Sound contest
The Solid Sound Festival, the three day festival at MASS MoCA "curated" by Wilco, is coming up the weekend of August 13. Tickets are $91 for all three days. But here's a way you might be able to score a free pass. From the promoters:
"Wilco has announced the return of their semi-regular photo contest. 1st round begins now through July 7 and is open to any quality photographs with the theme "Summer + throwing in a little Wilco can't hurt." A group of 15 finalists will be selected and posted on the Solid Sound website on July 11 for final round democratic voting, July 13-19. Winners will be announced shortly after voting closes. Prizes range from shirts & mugs to weekend Solid Sound Festival passes + hotel.
The lineup for Solid Sound includes Wilco (of course) and bunch of other musical acts, plus other performers such as comedian Kristen Schaal.
Wilco Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA
Wilco
Wilco will be "curating" a three day festival at MASS MoCA in August. From the museum's blurb:
The SOLID SOUND FESTIVAL is an independently promoted and ticketed three-day event of music, art, comedy, interactivity and more. Wilco headlines the weekend, in the bandʼs only East Coast performance of the summer. This new festival also presents individual performances by all the Wilco membersʼ side projects including Glenn Kotcheʼs On Fillmore, The Nels Cline Singers, The Autumn Defense featuring John Stirratt and Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensenʼs Pronto.
SOLID SOUND FESTIVAL at MASS MoCA also plays host to additional musical performances, a fully programmed comedy stage, interactive installations and exhibits (including the Solid Sound Stompbox Station, an interactive guitar pedal exhibit created and demonstrated by Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, a concert-poster screening demonstration, planned workshops by luthiers and more), plus film, video installations and djʼs.
The festival is planned for August 13-15. Tickets go on sale Friday -- they're $78 until May 31, $91 after that date. Tickets include access to the entire MASS MoCA campus.
Road Trip: North Adams & MASS MoCA
The trip to MASS MoCA is part of the art
One of the good things about living in the Capital Region is that there are a wealth of cool places within a short distance.
Such as MASS MoCA and North Adams.
After the jump -- the virtual road trip.
Sol LeWitt charts well at MASS MoCA
The exhibit is a collection of wall drawings.
The most recent NY Mag includes some high praise for the recently installed Sol LeWitt retrospective at MASS MoCA. The mag's "Approval Matrix" calls the installation "one of the best single-artist exhibits ever." (That would be in the upper right corner, for "highbrow" and "brilliant.")
The LeWitt retrospective is massive -- it covers 27,000 square feet. It'll be on display until 2033.
The Approval Matrix also charted Taking Woodstock, though the film didn't fare so well. The word "boring" was used.
Earlier on AOA: The Sol Lewitt retrospective at MASS MoCA
photo: Flickr user albany_tim
The Sol Lewitt retrospective at MASS MoCA
A frame from the time-lapse for "Wall Drawing 1152"
Check out these cool time-lapse videos of the wall paintings being installed for the "Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective" exhibit at MASS MoCA (LeWitt bio). The exhibit is massive -- it covers 27,000 square feet over three floors -- and took a small army to install. From MASS MoCA's site:
The drawings at MASS MoCA were executed over a six-month period by a team comprising twenty-two of the senior and experienced assistants who worked with the artist over many years; thirty-three student interns from Yale University, Williams College, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and fourteen other colleges and universities; and thirteen local artists and recent graduates and post-graduates from many of the nation's leading studio-art programs.
PBS's NewsHour has posted a slide show of some of the works with audio commentary by the director of the Yale University Art Gallery (he was also a friend of LeWitt).
And here's a Flickr pool of photos from the exhibit.
If you're interested in checking out the exhibit in person, you have a little bit of time. It's scheduled to be up for the next 25 years.
screengrab: MASS MoCA
Stephen Malkmus at MASS MoCA
That's him, in the front, post-Pavement.
To serve the AOA crowd better, we've split this post into age-specific sections. If you're closer to 45 than 20, here's your section. And if you're closer to 20 than 45, here you go.
Free Day at MASS MoCA
An installation by Spencer Finch at MASS MoCA
There's a bunch of free stuff going on at MASS MoCA tomorrow (February 9) from 11am to 8pm. Admission to the galleries? Free. Guided tours of the galleries? Free. Behind-the-scenes tours? Free. Kidspace? Free. Samples of freshly made ice cream (including "Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Swirl")? Free.
There's also a "Bollywood Dance Party" in the evening, with dance lessons arranged by Jacob's Pillow. That, alas, is not free (it's $14 in advance, $18 day of).
photo by Flickr user megananne, used under a Creative Commons Attribution / Share Alike license
... said KGB about Drawing: What's something that brought you joy this year?