Bonnaroo 2009 Daily Schedule Announced! Pros and Cons

31 Days until Bonnaroo...I'm starting to get f'n PUMPED!!! 4 days of live music in the hot Tennessee sun is EXACTLY what I need right now. I just wish it was even closer.


So what made me get so pumped all of a sudden is the fact that the Roo released it's day to day schedule last week. For those of you who would like to see it...check it out here. The schedule is a "rough draft" of when every band is scheduled to play throughout the weekend.


As with any major event like this where so many good bands are slotted to play, there are bound to be some scheduling conflicts. I've been keeping an eye on the Bonnaroo message boards and a lot of people are speaking out about the horrible conflicts this year. So I'm going to list some common complaints here and break them down for you and give you my take as well:


1. THE COMPLAINT: Friday 6/12 -Animal Collective (2:45p-4:00p) and Galactic (3:45p-5:00p) overlap. A lot of people are pissed that these two psychadelic-electronic bands (who, respectively, are very similar bands) are playing almost on top of each other. Not only that, but a lot of roo-ers are mad over the fact that they are playing during the day. Understandable...both bands like to use lighting effects to enhance their shows, but I think that this complaint is coming mostly from the heavy psychadelic users.
MY TAKE: Suck it up. Both these shows are gonna be great. Yes, the lighting effects would be sweet, but seriously...don't let it ruin your weekend. These people gotta try and please 200,000 people and over 100 bands. Can't please everyone, and if you're worried about the 15 minute overlap you're going to run into much bigger problems over the weekend.


2. THE COMPLAINT: Friday 6/12 - Ani DiFranco, Al Green, TV on the Radio, and Lucinda Williams are all playing at the same time.
MY TAKE: Simple as this...go with your mood. You wanna hear some kick ass acoustic guitar by a liberal chick rocker you go see Ani. If you want to hear some R&B vocals you decide between male (Al Green) or female (Lucinda Williams). If you want to hear what many music magazines rated the top album of the year in 2008 ("Dear Science"), you go see TV on the Radio. Me personally...as a fan of acoustic guitar I gotta stop by and check Ani out real quick...then headin to catch TV on the Radio...they kick ass.


3. THE COMPLAINT: Friday 6/12 - No headliner. Beastie Boys take the main stage from 8:30p-10:00p, David Byrne plays from 8:45p-10:45p, and Phish plays from 11:00p-2:00a.
MY TAKE: You say no headliner...I say a double headliner. Clearly Beasties are the headliner, but for those who don't like them can go see some old school David Byrne (one of the founding member of Talking Heads). Phish could count as the double headliner because they're playing on the main stage. Which pleases me because no one is taking My Morning Jacket's historical 1:00am set on the What Stage.


4. THE COMPLAINT: Saturday 6/13 - No one is opposite Bruce Springsteen. Basically, the rest of the festival shuts down so The Boss can take the stage. No alternatives are scheduled for those who are not a fan of Americana.
MY TAKE: Yeah this does suck. I kinda want to see Bruce, but I'm not sure about seeing him for 3.5 hours. Bruce, like many other musicians who have been around for 30+ years, has a lot of hits, but in between those hits are a lot of garbage. But, come on, it's The Boss. He's gonna put on a hell of a show (even if he's not the best singer in the world). Plus his band has the drummer from Conan O'Brien and the guitarist is Silvio Dante from The Sopranos. If he sticks to what people know he'll be fine, but if not, expect people to go back to their tents and get messed up for Saturday nights awesome late shows. Which sets us up for the next complaint...


5. THE COMPLAINT: Saturday 6/13 - The late night shows are INCREDIBLE, but you can't see them all. Nine Inch Nails, moe., Ben Harper, Yeasayer, and MGMT are all playing within the same 4-hour block.
MY TAKE: I have no idea what is going to happen during this time period. I myself would love to see all of these bands, but moe. is definitely one of my favorite bands, so you know where my priorities lie. HOWEVER...I have never seen NIN, so maybe I will catch the beginning of their set, but with a 4-hour moe. set scheduled I may have to get their early to get up front. Either way...this will be the best 4-hour span of the weekend and at least one of these shows will go down in history.


6. THE COMPLAINT/MY TAKE: Sunday 6/14 - OK...this is a personal complaint. I'm not happy that Coheed & Cambria are playing at the same time as Snoop Dogg on Sunday. Obviously I'm going to see Coheed because they are the band I most want to see at the festival, and it'll be a great way to end the weekend, BUT Snoop show is gonna be off-the-hook crazy and LOADED with scantily clad Bonnaroo women (lmao!)! Oh well...I'm sure Coheed is gonna be sick.



7. THE COMPLAINT: No SuperJam is scheduled for this year. Usually, SuperJam is a time reserved on one of the stages late at night for any musicians to come out and jam. Usually there are a few announced musicians who start the jam, but then other musicians from tons of other bands make guest appearances and just jam on their instruments.
MY TAKE: I don't really have a take on this one. I didn't see the SuperJam last year because it was at the same time as MMJ, but I would like to see this happen on Friday night opposite Phish if possible. A lot of people are saying that Phish WILL BE the SuperJam tho, and that many guest stars will play with them Friday night.







So those are the main complaints I'm hearing. I don't think any of them are too major except for maybe the Saturday night late shows, but that's just something that people with eccentric music tastes like myself are going to have to deal with. Either way I am pleased with the lineup. It's not as great as last year, but different years bring different festivals and I can't wait to see what the vibe is like down on the farm this year. It seems like two major changes have happened since the 2008 festival: 1. More jam and electronic bands. 2. Less big name heavy metal and hip-hop acts. This is not the best solution in my opinion, but it should appease the more-hippier crowd and bring back a lot of old Bonnaroo veterans that protested the big acts the last few years (Tool, Metallica, Kanye West).







Either way I'm gettin excited. Hopefully, it is a drama-free weekend, unlike last year (see: Kanye West Bonnaroo Debacle and his response).













Sorry I haven't been posting as much. It's been a long, but good, couple of weeks. Till next time.