Overview
- Wilco and Billy Bragg performed the Mermaid Avenue material together in a full concert at the Solid Sound festival in North Adams, delivering songs from the original project with surprise guest Natalie Merchant and family members of Woody Guthrie joining for the closing numbers.
- Billy Bragg opened with a solo set that foregrounded Guthrie's political thrust and included songs that referenced union solidarity, trans rights, and resistance to ICE enforcement.
- The Mermaid Avenue set leaned on the first disc from the late 1990s project that paired Nora Guthrie’s unearthed lyrics with new music, and the performance ranged from tender ballads to pointed protest songs.
- Earlier and concurrent festival highlights included a thunderous main-stage set by post-punk veterans Gang of Four featuring Ted Leo and Gail Greenwood and a theatrical onstage moment with vocalist Jon King smashing a microwave.
- The event drew larger-than-usual crowds that created long lines for food and drink and tested MASS MoCA’s logistics even as critics praised the night as a meaningful, cross-generational realization of Guthrie’s work.