Wilco and Billy Bragg — 26 June 2026, North Adams, MA (Mass MoCA [Joe’s Field]) [Solid Sound Festival – Day 1 of 3]

[note: Your humble correspondent did not attend four shows following the previous post: 17 June (Bethlehem, PA); 18 June (Vienna, VA); 20 June (Forest Hills, NY); and 21 June (Portland, ME)]

By the time Nora Guthrie remained on stage to put a joyous bow on Wilco and Billy Bragg’s long-awaited first-ever joint performance of songs from the Mermaid Avenue project, the thousands gathered in Joe’s Field at Mass MoCA on the first day of this year’s Solid Sound Festival — not to mention the countless more listening at home via live stream — had already gotten just about everything they could have asked for.

Pleasant weather conditions (following a passing rain shower earlier in the day)? Check. A surprise appearance by Natalie Merchant to reprise her role on the original Mermaid Avenue albums? Check. Deep cuts from the deluxe Mermaid catalog? Check. Several mass singalongs, including a show-closing This Land Is Your Land with members of the Guthrie family? Check.

Flanked by Jeff on one side and Bragg on the other, the beaming 76-year-old daughter of Woody Guthrie — some of whose unrecorded lyrics were set to music by Wilco and Bragg more than a quarter century ago in the Mermaid Avenue project, in case anyone reading this didn’t know — quipped, “I waited 28 years to have Billy on one arm and Jeff on the other.” Then after the two leading men left her alone to have the final word, Guthrie added, “This has really been a moment I’ve been waiting for for a long, long time to see my boys all together here. Thank you for loving the album. Thank you for loving my dad. Let’s get to work, OK?”

And with those simple words, which came on the heels of rousing ensemble singalongs to California Stars and This Land Is Your Land, a show that was years in the making finally drew to a satisfying and touching close. It had started nearly two hours earlier with Airline To Heaven, the first song from Mermaid Avenue Volume II, and when Wilco and Bragg were joined by members of Jeff’s actual and musical families — Spencer on percussion and Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham on backing vocals and handclaps — you knew it was going to be one of those special nights.

After Airline, Bragg took the lead on a couple of his best-loved tunes from the original Mermaid Avenue album. Walt Whitman’s Niece got continued backing vocals from Sima and Macie, while Jeff turned into a harmonica soloist as he held the instrument close to the microphone as he blew into it instead of how we conventionally see him playing it with a rack while strumming a guitar. Then came one of the more underrated Mermaid tracks, in my opinion, with I Guess I Planted. Once again, Sima and Macie remained on stage for backing vocals while Bragg belted out the rousing chorus, “Union song/Union battled/All added up/Won us all what we got now.”

For me, one big question was just how deep into the Mermaid catalog would Wilco and Bragg go? After all, both of the artists involved in the project have regularly performed songs from it live over the years in their own sets. So there were a number of songs that you knew would almost certainly get played tonight. But just seven songs in, when Bragg sang the Mermaid outtake Give Me A Nail (which wasn’t formally released until 2012 when the “Complete Sessions” box set came out), there was some indication that there would be at least a few deeper dives. Another one came in the encore when Wilco and Bragg — with an assist from Sima and her brother Liam — finally tackled The Jolly Banker live. I could have sworn I had heard Jeff and Co. play that one live at some point, but apparently they hadn’t until now.

Of course you could nitpick some of the songs that were left out, including several that Wilco has played occasionally such as Feed Of Man, Blood Of The Lamb and Someday, Some Morning, Sometime, and others like Joe DiMaggio Done It Again that have still never been played live. But you knew they’d never be able to get to them all. And with just a couple days of rehearsal all together, it wasn’t a totally flawless show — which probably wouldn’t have been in the spirit of Woody anyway. There were a few misenunciated lyrics and other minor hiccups, and the two frontmen had to confer several times before starting songs to make sure all were on the same page. But with the help of some teleprompters and the musicianship of the band, few in the audience probably even noticed and even less cared.

Another question surrounding this performance was whether Merchant, who played a small but vital role on the Mermaid sessions, would make an appearance to complete the reunion. That question was answered pretty quickly when she suddenly emerged at stage right five songs in, dancing along to She Came Along To Me. Perhaps she wasn’t supposed to come out that early because she seemed to disappear almost as suddenly as she appeared. But eventually she re-emerged, first to add backing vocals on Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key (along with Macie on violin), and then to take the lead vocal on Birds And Ships in a beautifully tender and touching version with just Bragg — who sat in a chair to accompany her on acoustic guitar — and Sima contributing harmonies.

From there, the main set came to a rousing conclusion with Merchant dancing along uninhibitedly to Jeff’s lead vocal on Hoodoo Voodoo and Guthrie taking the vital cowbell role. “None of this would be happening without Nora,” Jeff said, introducing her, before the two shared a big hug and kiss. She then embraced Bragg, while Jeff sang the closing line, “Brush my hair and kissle me some more,” the latter of which Guthrie was more than happy to do with a mischievous grin. This wasn’t the extended raved-up version of Hoodoo that Wilco fans have probably become accustomed to over the years, but it was still a non-stop smile fest.

And then came the song that many had come to hear, All You Fascists, which Jeff introduced simply by saying, “Sadly, this song is wildly appropriate once again.” He then asked if any of the Mekons were around, and that band’s two central figures — a cowboy hat-wearing Jon Langford (who came over and kissed first Jeff, then Bragg and for good measure Glenn, joking that “this has turned into a kiss fest”) and Sally Timms — both came out to aid Bragg with the vocals while Jeff played harmonica and the rest of Wilco provided the driving beat.

I think most everyone would’ve been more than satisfied if the set had wrapped up then, but of course there was an encore that started with Jeff making a heartfelt statement about the late Jay Bennett’s contributions to the Mermaid Avenue project. “I’d like to say we should remember Jay Bennett at this moment,” Jeff said of his former bandmate and collaborator, who passed away in 2009. “(He) was a huge part of all these songs. We miss him. We wish he was here. We hope you all continue to remember him and enjoy his music.” Continued Jeff: “These songs wouldn’t be here, a lot of them wouldn’t be here, without Jay. He was a big champion of this project at the time. He made it happen, and we miss him. I kind of feel like if he was still around, he’d be here, and I wish that could have happened.” Then Jeff, accompanied just by Mikael on keyboard, proceeded to sing the elegiac Another Man’s Done Gone. Wilco has played the song this way occasionally over the years — most of those performances coming in late 2004 and early 2005 — but hadn’t done so since a Winterlude residency show in Chicago in 2014 (12 December, to be exact). That song also features probably one of the most-loved lyrics in the entire Mermaid catalog — “But I feel like this scribbling might stay,” — which drew applause from many in the crowd.

After that came an even rarer number, The Unwelcome Guest, which I was afraid they wouldn’t have time to get to but am so glad they did (as I know was at least one regular reader of these recaps). Macie played the violin part, while Nels — as he did for much of the set — added really poignant work on lap steel. Unless I’m mistaken, it was the live debut of the closing track from the original Mermaid Avenue record and, yet again, it made you feel lucky to be witnessing this wondrous event in person, which saw the band ultimately perform 14 of the 15 songs on the original Mermaid Avenue album (with only Eisler On The Go left out).

From the huge backdrop featuring Woody’s handwritten lyrics and drawings that was commissioned specially for the show to the train that chugged by halfway through the set (as it is wont to do at Joe’s Field) to Jeff and Billy’s humorous exchange about the garish white double-neck electric guitar that Nels used for Secret Of The Sea and My Flying Saucer — Jeff, to the audience: “This is Woody’s guitar. You think that guitar doesn’t kill fascists?” Billy: “It’s heavy enough.” Jeff: “It makes them like it,” — you felt Guthrie’s spirit in the air all night long.

And if you didn’t feel him before, the physical manifestation of his legacy emerged for the final song of the evening — This Land Is Your Land — in the form of maybe a dozen of his relatives, including daughter Nora, granddaughter Sarah Lee Guthrie and a number of Woody’s other grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They joined the children of Wilco members, other musicians who had performed earlier in the day and God knows who else for a poignant singalong to Woody’s most famous composition, including several of the lesser-known verses. That song, of course, wasn’t a part of the Mermaid Avenue project, but on a night celebrating Guthrie, on which old friends finally came back together and the 250^th birthday of America loomed in just over a week, it felt like the only fitting way for the show to end.

Will there ever be another one like it? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. But one thing is for sure — just about everyone crammed into Joe’s Field on this special night felt fortunate to be there. “(This) might be my favorite thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Jeff declared at one point during the set.” Added Billy, perhaps speaking for us all: “Amen to that.”

Here was the complete setlist, as played and with lead vocalist and guests noted in parentheses (there were no changes/omissions from the printed setlist):

1. Airline To Heaven (Jeff Tweedy, with Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart on backing vocals and Spencer Tweedy on percussion)

2. Walt Whitman’s Niece (Billy Bragg, with Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart on backing vocals)

3. I Guess I Planted (BB, with Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart on backing vocals)

4. One By One (JT)

5. She Came Along To Me (BB)

6. When The Roses Bloom Again (JT)

7. Hesitating Beauty (JT)

8. Give Me A Nail (BB, with Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart on backing vocals)

9. At My Window Sad And Lonely (JT)

10. Ingrid Bergman (BB)

11. Christ For President (JT, with Spencer Tweedy on percussion)

12. Stetson Kennedy (BB)

13. Secret Of The Sea (JT)

14. My Flying Saucer (BB)

15. Remember The Mountain Bed (JT)

16. Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key (BB, with Natalie Merchant on backing vocals and Macie Stewart on violin)

17. Birds And Ships (Natalie Merchant, with Sima Cunningham on backing vocals)

18. Hoodoo Voodoo (JT, with Nora Guthrie on cowbell)

19. All You Fascists (BB, with Jon Langford and Sally Timms of The Mekons on backing vocals)

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    Encore:

20. Another Man’s Done Gone (JT)

21. The Unwelcome Guest (BB, with Macie Stewart on violin)

22. The Jolly Banker (JT, with Liam Kazar and Sima Cunningham on co-vocals)

23. California Stars (JT, with ensemble on backing vocals)

24. This Land Is Your Land (ensemble, including JT, BB, Nora Guthrie, Natalie Merchant and Sarah Lee Guthrie)