Wilco kicked off their third Solid Sound Festival at North Adams, MA’s Mass MoCA last night. After support sets from psych garage rockers White Denim, who continue to inch closer to the jamband universe, and psychedelic gospel group The Relatives, Wilco offered an “all request” aimed at their hardcore fans.

The band asked attendees to submit setlist requests before the show and ultimately decided on a set almost completely comprised of covers. Some songs Wilco have performed before while others were live debuts. Wilco kicked off their show with their debut cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town,” which doubled as a nod to the fact that the band did not host Solid Sound last year, and shocked everyone with a first-time take on Pavement’s “Cut Your Hair.” They moved into slightly more familiar territory with previously performed versions of Big Star’s “In the Street,” a song by bassist John Stirratt, and “New Madrid,” from frontman Jeff Tweedy’s old band Uncle Tupelo.

Comedian John Hodgman took the stage periodically to select requests from an lotto-style machine, the first of which was a tender take on the Grateful Dead’s “Ripple” (which Wilco famously performed with Phil Lesh in 1999). They also busted out classics by the Rolling Stones (“Dead Flowers”), The Velvet Underground (“Who Loves the Sun”) and Television (“Marquee Moon”), among others. At one point they engaged in a game of “stump the band” where fans came onstage to ask for requests. This led to them riffing on The Cranberries and Lucinda Williams songs with audience members and performing a faithful rendition of Daft Punk’s current hit “Get Lucky.” The members of Yo La Tengo, who were at the festival to play a pair of their own shows, joined in on a version of their “Tom Courtenay” and The Modern Lovers’ Massachusetts anthem “Roadrunner” and The Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson sat in on his old band’s “Color Me Impressed.” Lucius sat in a few times as well, most notably on a version of The Band sing-along “The Weight” while the entire band and audience sung happy birthday to guitarist Pat Sansone. Interestingly, Wilco only performed one original song during the set, the Being Here track “Kingpin.”

Friday, June 21, 2013, Wilco, North Adams, MA, Mass MOCA

The Boys Are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy cover)
Cut Your Hair (Pavement cover)
In the Street (Big Star cover)
New Madrid (Uncle Tupelo cover)
Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones cover)
Simple Twist of Fate (Bob Dylan cover)
Ripple (Grateful Dead cover)
Who Loves the Sun (The Velvet Underground cover)
And Your Bird Can Sing (The Beatles cover)
And Your Bird Can Sing (The Beatles cover) (Played twice)
Psychotic Reaction (Count Five cover)
Tom Courtenay (Yo La Tengo cover) (with Yo La Tengo)
James Alley Blues
Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks cover) (with Lucius)
Waterloo (ABBA cover) (with Lucius)
(What’s So Funny ‘bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (Brinsley Schwarz cover)
Marquee Moon (Television cover)
Happy Birthday To You (Mildred J. Hill cover) (to Pat Sansone)
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper (Blue Öyster Cult cover)
Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young cover)
Get Lucky (Daft Punk cover)
Surrender (Cheap Trick cover)
Color Me Impressed (The Replacements cover) (with Tommy Stinson)
Kingpin
Thank You Friends (Big Star cover)

E:
The Weight (The Band cover) (with Lucius)
Roadrunner (The Modern Lovers cover) (with Yo La Tengo)