BONNAROO WEEK 2009!

Well...it's officially Sunday morning. Sunday of Bonnaroo week!!!!! I can't believe that in 4 days from now Rob, Bob and I will be on the way down to Manchester.

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!