Wilco have announced the full line-up for this year’s edition of their Solid Sound festival, with two dozen acts spanning a diverse range of genres and formats. Joining the alt-rock icons will be a slew of their contemporaries both established and emerging, with acts like Japanese Breakfast, Sylvan Esso, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Iceage and Hand Habits all billed high.
Riding hot on the heels of this month’s Sky Blue Sky – the four-day Mexican festival that saw Wilco play three separate shows, as well as a solo set from frontman Jeff Tweedy – Solid Sound will take place at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) over the extended weekend of May 27-29.
Tweedy will also play a special set with a range of as-yet-unannounced guests, billed on the poster as ‘Jeff Tweedy & Friends’.
Elsewhere at the festival, John Hodgman and Jean Grae will host a showcase of stand-up comedy, with guests like Negin Farsad, River Butcher and Nick Offerman.
Other standout inclusions are a set by the Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen, a performance by Nels Cline’s Consentrik Quartet, and the ‘On Fillmore’ installation led by Finnish pop singer Jonna Tervomaa.
Tickets for Solid Sound will include full access MASS MoCA – hailed as the US’ most expansive gallery of contemporary art – with current attractions including installations by the likes of James Turrell, Laurie Anderson, Sol LeWitt, Jenny Holzer, and Anselm Kiefer. Three-day passes can be purchased from the festival’s official website.
Meanwhile, Wilco were recently inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. The honours ceremony was aired on PBS earlier this month, and featured a guest-heavy performance including appearances from Japanese Breakfast, Sheila E, Margo Price, Jason Isbell and more. The band were honoured alongside Lucinda Williams and Texas singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo.
Wilco’s last studio album was 2019’s Ode To Joy, which was widely praised by the critics, with the NME referring to it as “a quietly triumphant return to form.”