Wilco threw their Mexican resort music festival Sky Blue Sky this past weekend at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya. Though Cameron Winter had to drop out, presumably to get ready to play SNL with Geese this coming Saturday, the lineup was still stacked with all your indie dad-rock faves. The headliners and MJ Lenderman both made good use of Dinosaur Jr.’s presence at the event, with each act welcoming J Mascis to the stage for a Neil Young cover.
Wilco’s set Sunday night concluded with a guest-speckled encore. Lenderman popped onstage to play Being There rocker “Outta Mind (Outta Sight),” and a couple songs later Mascis emerged for a run through “Cortez The Killer,” a song Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline covered in Brooklyn a few months back. It’s an oft-covered song, including by Mascis himself, who has performed it many times over the years, both solo and with Dino Jr. Tweedy’s side project Golden Smog also played the fest, and they too covered Neil Young — specifically “Revolution Blues,” which they seem to perform a lot.
During Lenderman & The Wind’s Friday set, Mascis showed up to cover Young’s “Lotta Love.” That’s one Mascis has never done live before, to our knowledge. Lenderman also brought out Waxahatchee to sing the Karly Hartzman parts on “She’s Leaving You,” a collab they’ve done onstage before. (I myself witnessed it at last year’s Nelsonville Music Festival.)
It wasn’t the only time Lenderman and Katie Crutchfield shared the stage over the weekend. Their supergroup Snocaps with Allison Crutchfield and Brad Cook also made a rare appearance. And during their live interview with the How Long Gone podcast, Lenderman and Crutchfield were joined by Dr. Dog’s Eric Slick for covers of the Lemonheads’ “It’s About Time” and Gin Blossoms’ “Alison Road.”
Lenderman and Spencer Tweedy, who was also apparently quite in-demand, also joined Yo La Tengo Saturday for their performances of “From A Motel 6” and “Ohm,” a song Lenderman says he listens to at least once a day. Lenderman previously performed with YLT at their 2024 Hanukkah residency.
Check out footage of a bunch of these moments below.
