Neutral Milk Hotel with the Dot Wiggin Band

Neutral Milk Hotel

Indie rock giants awaken

NORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS — The return of Jeff Mangum and Neutral Milk Hotel — who influenced a generation of songwriters with a string of records in the ‘90s, culminating with In the Aeroplane Over the Sea — is one of the most welcome re-births in the history of indie music. Mangum was at MASS MoCA in 2013 in what was one of his first shows in public in over a decade. This time, he’s back with the whole band. The original Neutral Milk Hotel lineup arrives at MASS MoCA on Friday, April 17, 2015, armed with its trademark nonsense lyrics, fuzzy pop experiments, eclectic instruments, and air of mystery.

Considered indie rock’s J. D. Salinger, Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum is perhaps the music world’s favorite loner. Just a year after the release of the band’s critically acclaimed 1998 opus In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, the group disbanded, despite its burgeoning popularity, following Mangum’s alleged nervous breakdown. For the duration of its indefinite hiatus, the band reduced its activity to infrequent surprise appearances and scattered releases of music written several years prior.

Neutral Milk Hotel’s popularity did not dissipate but increased during this hibernation. Mangum’s retreat from the public eye and the band’s subsequent elusiveness raised Neutral Milk Hotel’s status from indie darlings to mythic music legends. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, an immediate critical success but initially a commercial non-event, went on to sell 300,000 copies in the years following its release. The rarity of Jeff Mangum and his bandmates’ public appearances only made listeners covet Neutral Milk Hotel’s music even more fiercely. In 2012, to the delight of fans across the nation, Mangum announced a yearlong solo tour, during which he was frequently accompanied by Julian Koster, Scott Spillane, and Jeffrey Barnes onstage. Mangum’s solo tour included many high-profile appearances, including Zuccotti Park for Occupy Wall Street, All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, Coachella, Primavera Sound, and Calgary Folk Music Festival. His tour concluded with his February 2013 stop at MASS MoCA. Now he’s back, with the whole band, for another Hunter Center romp.

Neutral Milk Hotel reunites on MASS MoCA’s stage on Friday, April 17, 2015 at 8 pm. Fresh salads, hearty sandwiches, and burritos the size of your head are available from Lickety Split before and during the show. A full bar serves Berkshire Brewing Company beers and Berkshire Mountain Distillery spirits. Tickets are $36 dollars in advance and $45 dollars day-of.

Tickets for all events are available through the MASS MoCA box office located on Marshall Street in North Adams, open 11am – 5pm Wednesdays through Mondays; closed Tuesdays through spring 2015. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during box office hours or purchased on-line at massmoca.org. All events are held rain or shine.

Sponsorship
This event is sponsored by the Porches Inn at MASS MoCA.

Images
High-resolution images of MASS MoCA’s fall 2014 events are available through this link: http://bit.ly/1ByVwVx.

About MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA is one of the world’s liveliest (and largest) centers for making and enjoying today’s most important art, music, dance, theater, film, and video. Hundreds of works of visual and performing art have been created on its 19^th-century factory campus during fabrication and rehearsal residencies, making MASS MoCA among the most productive sites in the country for the creation and presentation of new art. More platform than box, MASS MoCA strives to bring to its audiences art experiences that are fresh, engaging, and transformative.

MASS MoCA’s galleries are open 11am to 5pm every day except Tuesdays. The Hall Art Foundation’s Anselm Kiefer exhibition is open seasonally beginning spring 2015. Gallery admission is $18 for adults, $16 for veterans and seniors, $12 for students, $8 for children 6 to 16, and free for children 5 and under. Members are admitted free year-round. For additional information, call 413.662.2111 x1 or visit massmoca.org.

Download the Neutral Milk Hotel press release