Saturday, June 27, 2009
BONNAROO: The Weekend in Review: The Final Day
10:00am - Holy shit am I still...tired. If you thought I was going to say hungover...that wore off about 5:30am during moe.'s encore. But it's cool...because you know what today is, right? Today is COHEED DAY! I wake up bursting with energy because of this. Yes...it is the last day. Yes...I am sad to leave tomorrow morning. Yes...it is depressing to see people leaving early throughout the day. Yes...I am sad tonights 1$ garlic grilled cheeses will be last until June 2010. BUT FUCK IT! One of my favorite bands is playing at 6:30pm and I could not be any more excited. Rob is 100% with me on this...we've been talking about this concert since the day the line-up was released.
10:30am - Rob rolls out of his tent...ready to thrash! Today is also Metal Day here at Bonnaroo (another true showing of the festival's diversity...which is what makes it the best festival in the world...a true music lovers fest)! Rob and I have made a pact to stay at That Tent all day long so that we can be in the front row for Coheed & Cambria. We are going to miss a couple cool acts today, but it will be worth the sacrifice. Among the list of bands I will be missing are Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg, Andrew Bird, and Band of Horses...but, like I said...it will all be worth it in the end. Trust me!
11:45am - I contemplate drinking some beers to get "metal-ed" up since there is the possibility of mosh pits at Bonnaroo (If you don't believe me you should've seen the pits last year for Mastodon). However, to drink all day means buying beers inside and Saturday drained my wallet quite a bit. So we enhale some jerky and head to the gates.
12:30pm-1:15pm - We all grab some lunch while listening to the end of Cage the Elephant's set. They're a pretty awesome band (you may know their single "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked")! At one point during this show the lead singer jumps into the crowd. The crowd puts him down on the ground and then lift him up into a standing position as he continues to sing...what fucking showmanship, right? Cool band...wish I would've seen more of them...definitely going to download more of their shit. It's time to part ways with Bob, who is going to check out Citizen Cope, Erykah Badu, and all those other bands I said I was going to miss out on.
[Here's the showmanship...]
Michael Jackson 1958-2009
From his early days with the Jackson 5...to one of the most acclaimed albums of all-time (Thriller)...to his last studio album (Invincible)...Michael could easily be called the most popular solo entertainer of all time (move over Elvis). Although much of his good music was popular in my older brother's generation...those of us born in the early 80's were fortunate enough to catch the end of his era. We caught the tail end of his popularity when he left his "cool" phase and quickly drifted into his "weird" phase (much like Elvis with his "young, skinny" phase to his "old, fat" phase). Awesome beats like "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" paved way for crappy songs like "Heal the World" and "You Are Not Alone" (despite setting the world record for the only song to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts...it still sucks).
Still his best in my opinion...(that picture at the beginning is terrible though)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
BONNAROO: The Weekend in Review: Day Three
[This is a really good video of "Fins"! A Parrothead favorite!]
["Casey Jones" by the Wailing Souls]
[Rodrigo y Gabriela jam...this shit takes serious skill...trust me!]
[Here's a decent vid of TMV...no good Drunkship videos...hard to get close at Which Stage apparently.]
[The Boss and his best song ever "Born to Run"...the guitar has got to be just for looks.]
Sunday, June 21, 2009
BONNAROO: The Weekend in Review: Day Two
10:00am - After Thursday night's torrential downpours I wake up to the hot, and humid Tennessee sun. It's so hot you can't sleep in your tent past 10:00am...unless you literally want to bake like a burrito in your sleeping bag...mmm...burrito.
11:00am - Wash the mud off from last night at the tent then proceed to pre-game with Rob and Bob with a few beers while mapping out the days activities. HUGE NEWS...Bob gets a text that Jimmy Buffett has been signed on to make an appearance on Saturday with ILO and the Coral Reefer Band. I immediately send a text to my everyday multimedia mastermind, my roomate Pat, who (within minutes) confirms the alleged rumor. Rob and I text all of our friends who are Jimmy Buffett fans in our sudden rush of excitement. However, a long day ahead of us before Jimmy tomorrow.
01:00pm-01:45pm - We gather our belongings and head into Centeroo. It's a bit overcast, but the temperatures are scorching...the humidity is insane...it feels like 95. First show we check out is a band named Gomez, who has played on stage with moe. before so I figured they must be pretty jammy. By the time we get over to Which Tent (the big stages are open now) we only catch the encore, but it was pretty damn good. Wish I could've seen more of them, but no regrets at Bonnaroo...there's always next year.
02:45pm - 03:30pm - I am anxiously awaiting moe.'s acoustic set...it's all I can talk about, but they don't play until 4:00pm so we decide to float for a while. First stop was the Which Stage for Animal Collective, an electronic band that is getting pretty big (they put on an awesome performance on Letterman back in May). AC is an awesome band, but a 2:45pm set time did not fit them. Their music would've been better for a night show under a tent with lasers and shit. Their loops and beats were off a bit, I think the sun may have gotten to them. Decent though bad timing.
We decide to split up for the first time. Bob goes to the main stage to see Galactic, Rob goes to get a cup of coffee cause he's still feeling the lack of sleep from Thursday, I head over to see St. Vincent on That Tent. I heard a lot about her in a recent issue of Spin Magazine, but I was not too impressed. Annie Clark's vocals were great, but the crowd just didn't seem into it. This time I'll blame conflict of interest. A lot of her crowd was probably at Animal Collective or Galactic.
03:30pm-05:00pm - I left St. Vincent early to get a good spot for moe. I end up two rows back. They're playing on the Sonic Stage...which is very small...and reserved for artists who want to play more than just their normal set. moe. requests to play there everytime they play Bonnaroo...cause they rock. An acoustic moe. set is something I've always dreamed of, because those who know me know I love music unplugged. I believe it shows an artists true raw potential. Rob meets me with his cup of coffee.
The show begins with moe. fans everywhere chanting "we want moe.!" The band suffers from some early set up problems from their roadie who had the monitors up to loud...the feedback was heard in a couple songs. However, their set list was phenomenal and the feedback only came through when Al got too close to the mic. Couldn't have picked any better songs from their catalog to play acoustically. The fans sang along word by word until the last song ("McBain") where the feedback was too much and they played it without vocals. Despite feedback, the best show I've seen so far. Left me wanting more...can't wait for Saturday's late night set.
[No video, but slideshow is from show...one of my favs, "New York City"]
05:00pm - 06:45pm - I leave moe. full of energy after an amazing show. It's time to check out the afternoon shows...Yeah Yeah Yeahs are up next!!! We meet back up with Bob back at the Brooers Tent and grab some beers before the show. Bob had only great things to say about Galactic's show.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs come out to great applause...people are pumped for this show. Their stage consists of a giant eyeball directly behind Karen O. I can't see her too well from where I am sitting, but I can tell she's wearing something strange (I saw pictures later...not as bad as I thought, but still her typical weird garb). They play a lot of songs off their new album (which is fantastic) including "Zero" and "Heads Will Roll". I like what I see, but have to leave to go check out a new interest of mine...the NYC indie-rockers Grizzly Bear. I arrive just in time to hear some of their new songs off of Veckatimest...a CD I had downloaded just weeks before the concert. Their music is strange, but catchy. I really don't have a better way to describe it. They'd be huge in 1986, but then again they say the 80's are back. Anyway, Grizzly Bear ends after a very good set and I head back over to meet Bob and Rob. I missed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs play "Maps" acoustic...total bummer....what a great tune.
[I may have missed it, but you can check it out below]
06:45pm - 08:30pm - Time for the last set of shows before the Friday dual headliners of Beasties and Phish. On the slate is Al Green, TV on the Radio, Lucinda Williams, and Ani DiFranco...a lot of soul going on. Kind of dehydrated...staying put at the beer tent where we can here TV on the Radio and chill for a bit. Crowd isn't as big as for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but then again the Reverend is playing 100 yards away. Not a big Al Green fan myself...maybe if I ever bring a girl to this thing I'll go check out the classy soulful acts, but for now I'm gonna keep rockin. I decide to part ways with Rob and Bob again. I leave and check out Ani DiFranco for a little bit. She is a great acoustic guitarist and I've never seen her before. I head over to That Tent and stay for a couple songs, but her music isn't really getting me going. Very talented, but wasn't feeling it after hearing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I'm pretty drunk at this point and am ready for a big act. Bring it on Beasties.
08:30pm - 10:45pm - Nice to see the main lawn completely packed. People are pumped. Beasties have been gettin slack lately by the press because the media says that Mix Master Mike plays their records in the background and they don't play their own instruments. Beasties make it a point to address this in their show. They get the crowd going with "Super Disco Breakin" a couple songs in and then just go off...they barely took time in between songs to appease the crowd. Then they bring out a special guest...Nas. All I heard from people around me was, "No f*cking way!" Pretty sweet...they all do some freestylin' back and forth, but it seemed like Nas couldn't keep up with the grey-ing (literally they all have grey hair now...gettin up there) Beastie Boys. It was quite entertaining. Anyway, they play all the hits and then finish off with "Sabotage" (as expected), but unexpectedly they purposely screw up the beginning to show the crowd that they do play their own instruments and the critics once again have no idea what they're talking about. Awesome show...Beasties finish shortly before 10:00pm and the crowd flocks over to David Byrne.
Byrne...if you don't know...is the former frontman for the Talking Heads. Not a big fan myself, but we did get to hear "Burning Down the House" which is a great song. All anyone is talking about is the upcoming Phish show...
[Listen to Mike D tell the critics whats up before "Sabotage"..."There is no tape...this is LIVE MUSIC!"...awesome.]
11:00pm-04:00am - Phish time...the vibe has gotten very happy, very friendly. The hula hoopers are out in the field and glow sticks are everywhere. When Trey speaks his first words of "Chalkdust Torture" the crowd goes nuts! Rob, Bob and I are enjoying the sights...Phish-heads are crazy peeps...like you gotta see it for yourself. There's not a sober person there. Anyway...we stay for about half of the show until about 12:15pm...it's time to see the legends...Public Enemy.
[Check out the glow stick war when Phish took the stage...]
P.E. comes out...with FLAVA FLAV!!!!!! He's sportin a new mini-fro, but still has the clock around his neck...what a freak...hahaha. Still he's a legend and he's hilarious. Chuck D announces they have a special treat for the audience tonight...they're gonna play the entire It Takes a Nation of Millions... album from beginning to end. The fans are on their feet...these guys are totally working the crowd...and the crowd loves it. Awesome show (from what I remember).
So it's like 1:30am...Rob heads to bed anticipating we'll be up at 8:00am to start drinking for Jimmy Buffett. Bob and I stay up for a bit and check out Crystal Castles. I'm about 99% certain that at LEAST 3/4 of this audience was on some serious hallucinogens. The laser light show had to seriously make them all trip hardcore because I had a few beers in me and I was getting dizzy watchin the lights. Straight electronic/techno music...not bad, but not my scene...Bob and I decide to adventure back to camp and drink until we pass out...not before stopping to get some $1 garlic grilled cheeses (a Bonnaroo staple)...delicious, but not as good as last year (smaller, less cheese...another sign of an economy in shambles).
The beer and Jager is on ice...we're ready for Jimmy...just wish we had some Heinz 57...stay tuned to hear the debachle that ensues Saturday...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
BONNAROO: The Weekend in Review: Day One

05:45pm: First stop food...the Samosa tent...we all decided to try them last year and they were awesome...been craving them for a year. They're like hot pockets, but a million times better. After satisfying the hunger we decide to head over to the first shows.

BONNAROO FUN FACT: Thursday night is usually reserved for more Indie bands. This is usually because a lot of the crowd doesn't come until Friday because of work. Thursday is truly for the Bonnaroo elite. The main stages are still closed down as the staff sets up for the weekend. It's a magnificent day to just relax with a much smaller and more chill crowd.
06:00pm-06:30pm: The three of us decide to stick together for most of the day due to the fact that we know little of the bands on Thursday, with the exception of a few. We decided to grab a few beers and check out Alberta Cross (That Tent) and Janelle Monae (The Other Tent). Alberta Cross was not bad...we stayed for a couple songs...they sounded very folky, but with more electic guitar...I would compare them to Kings of Leon. Not bad.
Janelle Monae had some interesting music. She was a great singer, but what made her act special was that during the one song she painted on canvas as the music played, and then showed the painting to the crowd at the end of the song. Kind of a cool gimic, but not my type of music.
06:45pm-07:45pm: We left Janelle Monae a bit early to drink some more beers. Then the rain started again...not just a little bit. It was like a good 10-15 minutes of solid downpour. The weekend was looking muddy. We sucked down a few brews and headed over to see the White Rabbits (This Tent). I heard about this band the day before when I was researching some bands to see on Thursday. I like what I heard from them. Solid sound, lots of energy. They're a New York Indie band. If I had the chance to see them again in this area I would.
08:00pm-11:15pm: The rains continue. We decide to hang out in the Brooers Festival (The Microbrew Tent...awesome!) for a few hours until the rain subsides. We hear most of Hockey's set on This Tent from inside the beer tent. I liked what I heard from Hockey...they're supposedly the next big thing in music. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it was very energetic. Chairlift followed them up, but we were too busy drinking exotic beers and bullshittin. Missed that one. We decide that tonight is the best night to see a comedy show so we grab tickets in advance to go see Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

11:15pm-01:45am: Passion Pit takes the stage on This Tent, which is 30 yards away from where we're waiting in line to get into the comedy tent. Passion Pit was by far the best show of the day. Their music was very energetic...mostly electronic with some electric guitars. If I could compare them to any other band of the weekend I'd say they had an MGMT kinda feel...more on that later. Either way...Passion Pit was very good. I'd love to see them again.

Anyway, before the show ends we're in the comedy tent. Triumph (of Conan fame) brings along with him a few guest comedians tonight...Kumail Nanjiani and Amy Schumer. Triumph himself is hilarious...lots of jokes on hippies and smelly people in the audience. Kumail takes the stage and sucks it up. He got really nervous when he got heckled and reverted to making jokes about the signer (for the hearing impaired) standing up front. Forcing her to sign some VERY obscene things which was actually hilarious. Overall though his material was garbage and the signer jokes saved him. Amy Schumer was a lot better...and pretty cute. A lot of female jokes...reminded me of a young Kathy Griffin/Chelsea Handler (check her out Ro!). Overall a lot of laughs, but not the best stand up I've seen.
We've had enough by 1:45am and call it a night. It sucks to leave shows early, but we had been up for almost 36 hours...and the weekend was only just beginning...
STAY TUNED FOR FRIDAY'S RECAP...
Sunday, June 7, 2009
BONNAROO WEEK 2009!

I hear that nothing will ever compare to your first Bonnaroo...except for your second! From what I heard from the festival goers last year, they said that most people don't know what to expect the first time around, and that the second year is the best because now you know exactly what it's all about.
I find this to be pretty true so far. I'm already a lot more confident than I was last year...I know where everything is (bathrooms, showers, tents, stages, food, the 1$ garlic grilled cheese stand), I know how to get around, and I'm a lot less concerned about the schedule this year. I love the bands that are on the schedule, but last year I tried too hard to see everybody. This year I've narrowed down the bands I can't miss, but besides that I'm just gonna take it easy and float around. All in all I'm pretty damn excited.
Now since the Bonnaroo '09 hasn't started yet...I'm going to take a moment and re-live some of the greatest moments of Bonnaroo '08:
Top 10 Moments of My Trip to Bonnaroo 2008
10. The trips down and back. On the way down getting pulled over by cops in Kentucky on the way down and getting a speeding ticket...not fun, but memorable. We were excited to get there and were definitely putting the pedal to the metal. On the way back we randomly met some dude from our hometown in a Cracker Barrel in Kentucky...it was very strange...especially since he was a local high school teacher...HA!
9. Missing two-thirds of the Jack Johnson concert. Somehow I came up with the idea that the 3 of us should each slam 4 beers before going to see this show...all in a row...one after the other. I did it...with ease. So we march in about halfway into the main stage (about a 5-10 minute walk thru straight people) to get good seats for the show. About 20 minutes into the show I realized I had to break the seal...real bad! I'm practically pushing people over on my way out...I get to the portos...and surprise...25 minute wait just to use the pisser! I heard most of the show standing in line to use a porto-potty, but hey...when ya gotta go, ya gotta go.
8. Mastodon. Rob and I sat for an hour waiting for them and were 1 row back from the stage. It wasn't until the concert started that I realized I was wayyyyyyyy undersized to be standing that close during a Mastodon concert. After getting sucked in by a massive whirlwinding mosh pit I told Rob, quote: "F*ck this! I'm out!". I then proceeded to go watch Gogol Bordello which was some crazy ass Hungarian punk show. I still have trouble describing how weird and cool this show was.
7. O.A.R. I came into this show knowing that I was going to see them a month later up in Hartford. The Hartford show was much better (AND I GOT TO HANG OUT WITH THEM ON THEIR TOUR BUS...thanks Mudd!), but the Hartford show didn't have crazy Ohio-ans who traveled 600 miles just to wave flags all over the place in support of their favorite band. Their set list was flawless at Bonnaroo last year and it got me really pumped to see them again. However (Pat will agree), nothing could ever compare with when we saw them in Hartford last summer.
6. Zach Galifankis' stand up comedy show = one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my entire life. Many of you probably know him now from "The Hangover", but I knew him from my old cameraman Larry who used to always show me his stand-up routines and told me I had to go to the show for him. I did and it was incredible. His "Man in the Mirror" sketch at the end is still saved on my cell phone and it still makes me laugh a year later.
5. Grupo Fantasma. Rob, Bob, and I had no agenda at all on Thursday night when we arrived. Thursday is usually the quitest night because alot of people don't arrive till Friday. So we're just walking around and we hear this awesome Latin music coming from one of the smaller stages. We heard them rock out for like an hour and they kicked major ass! So good in fact that we got up early the next morning to see them play an acoustic set at noon...which also kicked ass.
4. Death Cab for Cutie. Definitely one of the best shows of the weekend. I had only known a few of their songs going into this show, but as soon as I got home I downloaded their entire discography and listened to it straight for like a month! These guys have a lot of energy and were the perfect way to end the weekend. It sucks that they played on Sunday cause their music can be kind of a downer at times, but it fit the vibe of the day. Everyone was depressed they had to go home the next day...and they made it work for them.
3. I finally got to see Pearl Jam live, and it was one of the greatest concerts I've ever seen. NOT ONLY did they play for 4 hours, but they played so many great tunes, Eddie got VERY political (and drunk...off wine of course!), and they ALLEGEDLY forced Kanye West to miss his set at 4:00am...which got postponed till 5:00am...which got postponed till 5:30am...which caused people to throw things on stage and go to bed when he finally showed up around 6:00am...which caused his whole rant...and so on, and so on, and so on...
2. Metallica. Wow...I always wanted to see these guys when I was growing up. After the whole Napster thing and the horrible album (St. Anger) I lost a bit of respect...and so did America. They basically removed themselves from playing in the US for several years. They played only in Europe while working on their newest album (which kicks ass...I don't care what anybody says...totally old school). This was their comeback show and they came prepared. I remember at one point in the concert James Hetfield told the crowd how happy they were to be back in America and they wanted to make sure that their first concert back was in front of true music fans...the whole place exploded. It was awesome! They knew that their genre of music was not the most popular at a festival of Bonnaroo, but they were amazed by the reception. They played one song off of "Load", and the rest was all old school Metallica. Watching them play "Fade to Black" on the Bonnaroo DVD still gives me chills (they never play that song live).
1. My Morning Jacket. The setting helped, but the music was where it was at. They had the historic Friday night 12am-4am spot (this year taken by Phish since they are currently taking some time off from touring). It was right after Metallica and the crowd was fired up still. It was still about 80 degrees outside and it was a steady warm rain off and on throughout the whole show. They played a lot of their new tracks off of "Evil Urges" (which was released 3 days prior to the show) plus they had several guest appearances. The moment of the whole weekend for me was when Jim James goes, "I'd like to introduce a very special friend who's gonna come out and play a song with us. Ladies and gentlemen...Kirk Hammett (the guitarist of Metallica)." And what song did they play...my favorite..."One Big Holiday"...in the pouring down rain. AND it was the final song of the first set! Watching 3 of the greatest guitarists in the world (Hammet, James, and Carl Broemmel) jam out for 10 minutes was incredible! I'm telling you...this performance is what made My Morning Jacket probably my favorite band in the world right now!
WATCH IT...the best part is right at the end of the whole thing...you'll hear what I mean...lol...my sentements exactly buddy!
So that's it...there's a look back at my favorite moments from last year. Being as I'm heading back home tomorrow I probably one be able to post again until after the festival. I'll be coming back with a full review and plenty of pictures. So wish me luck! Bonnarooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Also...a big thanks to Ashley for teaching me how to embed video!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Dave Matthews Band Week
