Day 21: North Adams
Welcome
Yesterday we performed at Here & There Festival in northwest Massachusetts.
I took the best that the Hampton Inn & Suites Syracuse North Airport Area had to offer at their breakfast buffet and served up my small paper bowl with oatmeal, melon, banana, and yoghurt.
At 8.30 we hit the road, back on the i90 which follows the Mohawk River, a tributary of the Hudson, as it winds its way east between the Catskill and Adirondack mountains. We skirted around Albany to the north and passed through the town of Troy, crossing the Hudson River. The remainder of the drive was a gorgeous route that took us over the Taconic Mountains which lie astride New York’s eastern border with Massachusetts
One of the old brick buildings at Mass MoCA. This campus originally housed a textile print works, and following that an electronic components manufacturer.
At midday we were passing through North Adams, and shortly after that we arrived at Mass MoCA, the huge contemporary art museum set in a series of old brick factory buildings. The reason we were in North Adams was ‘Here and There Festival’, a touring music festival curated by Courtney Barnett and taking place in fifteen locations around North America. This was a beautiful location to stage a music event and contributed to the generally laid-back feeling of the day. There was only one stage and only six acts so everyone could park themselves on a picnic blanket and enjoy the warm afternoon without having to worry about running around constantly.
We spent a bit of time relaxing in the Susan Gold Dressing Room and there was time for a few overs of cricket before the show kicked off. Opening the afternoon was LA-based singer-songwriter Hana Vu who was followed by Washington-based Bartees Strange. Carolina Rose played a solo set to fill in for Men I Trust who sadly had to pull out after contracting COVID 19.
Then it was our turn to play after a festival-fast setup and line check in front of the waiting crowd. Our performance was exhilarating and nerve-wracking. The audience were so fun to perform for but at the same time I could see Lucy Dacus watching me from side of stage, trying to vibe me out. I think Courtney was watching too and definitely trying to intimidate us.
Waiting to go out while the team finishes our setup.
PictureThatMike took some cool shots of the festival on Polaroid. You can check them out here but I’ll post a few below.
The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art were generous enough to put on tours for all the musicians performing so we got to see several of the incredible exhibitions there. James Turrell’s ‘Into The Light’ exhibition played tricks with your perception of colour and depth, using light as a sculptural medium. Kelly Rae Adams ‘Forever in Your Debt’ uses a thousand handmade bowls to provide a sense of scale for the student debt existing in the US.
📷 massmoca.org
The rest of the evening was marked by exquisite performances by Lucy Dacus, and then Courtney Barnett. Both acts were first class and provided a superb conclusion to this great event.
Please enjoy some more dramatically unstabilised videos that I shot while I was enjoying these performances.
With the crowd gone the real work begins.
We arrived at our hotel shortly after midnight and unpacked the van ready to crash after such a long day. It was then that disaster struck. Booking.com had dropped our hotel booking and there was nothing else available in North Adams. A quick decision was made to make a dent in tomorrow’s drive and find a hotel a couple of hours away. Gabe and Liz hopped on the blower and with their combined efforts we found a few rooms in Utica and got back on the road after repacking the van. Two and a half hours later we pulled up outside our Hampton Inn and Suites and piled out of the van, ready to collapse after a long drive. But we were over-confident and should never have taken this reservation for granted. The Hampton Inn and Suites central command had made us a booking but the concierge had no rooms available. Gabe and Liz jumped on the phone again and this time we saw success. Across the road was a Best Western with three free rooms. We made the 2 minute trip and finally it was time to rest.