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Wilco, Richie Havens Headline at Mass MoCA

Lively Summer Program Slated for North Adams

By: - Apr 29, 2010

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With Wilco's Solid Sound Festival on August 13-15 and the ninth annual Bang on a Can Festival on July 14 - 31 headlining the summer, music fans will find plenty to love at MASS MoCA all season. Starting with Carolina Chocolate Drops in concert on Memorial Day weekend and wrapping up with a Reggae Soul Dance Party with Meta and the Cornerstones Labor Day weekend there are sounds for every taste this summer at MASS MoCA.

Carolina Chocolate Drops, a striking trio bringing a modern sizzle to the legacy of classic African American string bands, perform on Saturday, May 29, at 8 PM with The Duke and the King opening. The concert is sponsored by Blue Q.  Earlier in the evening, from 5 to 7 PM, MASS MoCA will open a major exhibition of the work of Petah Coyne, Everything that Rises Must Converge. Coyne's work is imbued with a magical quality to evoke intensely personal associations and seems Victorian in its combination of an overloaded refinement with a distinctly decadent and morbid undercurrent.

Independence Day weekend sees one of the icons of American folk, Richie Havens, in concert on Friday, July 2, at 8 PM.  Since playing the opening set at Woodstock 41 years ago, Richie Havens has been on the road almost constantly, bringing a message that, delivered with burning sincerity and intense acoustic strumming, never gets old.

Bang on a Can, an organization dedicated to commissioning, performing, creating, presenting and recording contemporary music, returns for its ninth consecutive festival of contemporary music on the MASS MoCA campus from July 14 through July 31.  More than sixty festival faculty and fellows mix music written during the previous week with rare and mind-expanding performances of classic experimental music in MASS MoCA's galleries, courtyards, performance spaces, and the surrounding community.  Festival highlights include: daily gallery recitals, free community performances, kids events, and two major concerts -- the first on July 24, a tribute to the music of George Crumb caps off a day of lectures, demonstrations and recitals dedicated to the composer, and the second on July 31, the annual Marathon, six hours of boundary-breaking music.

July 31 will also feature the opening of two new exhibitions from 4 -7 PM. Leonard Nimoy will open Secret Selves, an exhibition of his recent photographic series that explores the lost or hidden selves of the residents of neighboring Northampton, Mass. Artist Michael Oatman will open All Utopias Fell, a three-part exhibition that includes The Shining, a 1970s-era 'satellite' that has crash-landed at MASS MoCA. Visitors will be allowed to climb a staircase and enter into the craft where they will encounter another Oatman work, The Library of the Sun. These receptions are open to MASS MoCA members only. Patrons wanting to attend can join by visiting massmoca.org and clicking on the "Join Now" button at the bottom of the page.

Wilco headlines and curates the Solid Sound Festival, August 13 - 15, a three-day event with music, art, comedy, interactivity and more.   Featuring the band's only East Coast performance of the summer, this new festival also presents individual performances by all the Wilco members' side projects -- Glenn Kotche's On Fillmore, The Nels Cline Singers, The Autumn Defense featuring John Stirratt and Pat Sansone, Mikael Jorgensen's Pronto -- plus additional musical performances, a fully programmed comedy stage, the Solid Sound Stompbox Station (an interactive guitar pedal exhibit created and demonstrated by Wilco guitarist Nels Cline), a concert-poster screening demonstration, film, video installations, DJs and more. 

The summer season winds down with two weekends of music and film.  First, on August 21, Nomadic Wax presents a night of high-energy African film and music beginning with a screening of the award-winning documentary Democracy in Dakar, which explores the transformative role of hip-hop on politics in Senegal. The action jumps from screen to stage as Pan-African rap collective the African Underground All-Stars perform, followed by Group Saloum, Boston's hottest m'balax band.  A week later, on August 28, the experimental roots rock band Califone performs the score to bandleader Tim Rutili's first feature-length film, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, while the film plays on the big screen behind the band.  This dark tale, about a psychic living in an old country house full of friendly ghosts, features music from the album and the band members as characters. 

MASS MoCA celebrates Labor Day weekend with a Reggae Soul Dance Party with Meta and the Cornerstones on Saturday, September 4. Led by the indomitable Meta Dia and with members hailing from the west coast of Africa, North America, Asia and the Middle East, the band creates a unifying and uplifting experience for the audience. Dance instruction arranged by Jacob's Pillow.

The popular Alt Cabaret series continues in the summer, moving outdoors under the stars to the Dré Wapenaar Pavilion when weather permits.  This summer the series features Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey on June 26, comedian Dave Hill on July 10, the Ukuladies on July 17, and Clare and the Reasons on August 7.

Other events include a work-in-progress performance on June 18 by Roomful of Teeth, a reading of the Tony-Award winning play Art in the LeWitt galleries by the Barrington Stage Company on August 4, and two family events:  Singing Games with Roomful of Teeth on June 12 and Uncle Rock in concert on August 7.  Gallery quests for kids will be offered on July 10 and August 28.

Food from Lickety Split (including Herrell's ice cream made fresh on the premises every day) and drinks from the MASS MoCA bar are available at virtually all MASS MoCA events.  Gramercy Bistro, a full-service restaurant and bar on the MASS MoCA campus, is also open before shows. Tickets to all events are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located on Marshall Street in North Adams during gallery hours from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. (closed Tuesdays). Gallery hours from June 26 through September 7 are 10 - 6 every day. Galleries are open until 30 minutes before show time on most Saturday nights.  Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or online at www.massmoca.org. 

Season at a Glance

Saturday, May 29, 2010
Concert
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Opening act: The Duke &  The King
8 PM

Saturday, May 29, 2010
Opening reception
Petah Coyne
5-7 PM

Saturday, June 12, 2010
Family event
Roomful of Teeth Community Sing
1 PM

Friday, June 18, 2010
WIP
Roomful of Teeth
8 PM

Saturday, June 26, 2010
Alt Cabaret
Jacob Fred  Jazz Odyssey
8 PM

Friday, July 02, 2010
Concert
Richie Havens
8 PM

Saturday, July 10, 2010
Alt Cabaret
Dave Hill
8 PM

Saturday, July 17, 2010
Kids Event
Kids Can Too
11:30 AM

Saturday, July 17, 2010
Alt Cab
Ukuladies
8 pm

Saturday, July 10, 2010
Gallery quest
Artists' Toolbox
1 PM

Saturday, July 24, 2010
Culture Break
Closer to George Crumb
3PM

Saturday, July 24, 2010
Concert
Bang on a Can Concert featuring
the music of George Crumb
8 PM

Saturday, July 31, 2010
Opening Receptions
Leonard Nimoy Secret Selves and Michael Oatman: All Utopias Fell
4- 7 PM

Saturday, July 31, 2010
Concert
 Bang on a Can Marathon
4 - 10 PM

Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Culture Break
Reading of ART
2 PM

Saturday, August 07, 2010
Alt Cabaret
Claire and the Reasons
8 PM

Saturday, August 07, 2010
Kids event
Uncle Rock
11:30:00

Friday, Aug 13 - Sunday, Aug 15
Concert
Solid Sound Festival w/Wilco
Various

Saturday, August 21, 2010
film with music
African Underground
8:30 PM

Saturday, August 28, 2010
film with music
Califone: All My Friends
are Funeral Singers
8:30 PM

Saturday, August 28, 2010
Gallery quest
Stomping Grounds
1 PM

Saturday, September 04, 2010
Dance Party
Reggae Soul
With Meta & the Cornerstones
8 PM