DAY THREE
09:30am - Well going to bed early last night was a great decision. I feel rested and ready to go after once again being sweated out of bed. Apparently Paul Oakenfold was spinning records until 6 this morning....that's some endurance (but nothing compared to what you'll hear about later). A lot of talk around Tent City this morning is about last night's late night shows and how dissappointing they were compared to last year's Friday (My Morning Jacket's historic set, MSTRKRFT, Super Jam, Disco Biscuits).
But enough of that...it's time to pre-game for JIMMY BUFFETT! Bob is up and ready to go...Rob takes a moment to get his ass out of bed, and then the drinking begins. This mornings breakfast menu includes a hearty dose of Yuengling (for Pennsylvania!), Jagermeister (for manhood!), Red Bull (for wings), and beef jerky (for...protein and salt?). We continue the morning ritual of mapping out the days events and discussing the previous night.
11:30am - Our stomachs full of wheat, barley, and beef we begin our stupor towards Centeroo. Bob was in a lot better shape than Rob and I. We drank a good amount (when I say a good amount...a mean a generous amount) of Jager and the Bull so we're balls to the wall at this point. We're keeping a steady pace until we get towards the gate and begin to hear "Cheeseburger in Paradise"...Jimmy started early, WTF!?!?!? As we stand in line to get in we begin to get upset we're missing the show. Then (by the grace of God himself) the security at the front gate blows the whistle and they let EVERYBODY thru the gates (this is a rarity at the Roo...it happens only once a day and it is a real treat if you get it)! We walk as fast as we can over to Which Stage and push our way as far up as we can.
Jimmy played an awesome set for such a short time...he only had an hour (plus fifteen cause he started early...jerk...he coulda told me at least). He played pretty much his greatest hits, "Pirate Looks at 40", "Fins", "Cheeseburger in Paradise", "Son of a Son of a Sailor", "Get Drunk and Screw", and "Margaritaville" as an encore. Rob and I tried to get a "salt! salt! mother f*ckin salt!" chant, but no one joined...looking back now...probably because we were wasted. The crowd was very into his show...a lot of people still had no idea he was playing that day because it was so last minute and were later severly dissappointed when they found out. Sucks to be those guys.
[This is a really good video of "Fins"! A Parrothead favorite!]
1:30pm-2:30pm - The sun is beating down...best day so far...90 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. This is not the best time to be drinking heavily (don't wanna get dehydrated), but this doesn't stop Rob and I. We grab a quick slice of pizza (I Love Spicy Pie!) and continue to pound beers for an hour while watching the Wailing Souls...a true Jamaican Reggae band...on the main stage. Not bad...they did a cool cover of "Casey Jones" which got the crowd rockin.
["Casey Jones" by the Wailing Souls]
2:30pm-5:00pm - Beers keep on coming (it really is amazing I remember so much of this)...Rob and I spend the next hour standing in line for the pit on the main stage. We want to be as close as possible for Rodrigo y Gabriella.
(If you don't know who they are you must check them out. They are a man/woman duo that play nothing but acoustic guitar...no singing...no drums...no bass...just acoustic guitar and slapping guitar. It is AMAZING how good they are.)
So Rob and I befriend some people behind us and pass the time away bullshitting about music for a while. I have no idea where Bob went during this time period...I really don't...maybe Bon Iver? I know he came back and saw some of the show, but I seriously have no idea what happened to him. Finally the time comes to open the pit...Rob and I end up two rows back against the railing...sweet! They start the show off with their version of Metallica's "Orion"...which is intense to hear on an acoustic Mexican guitar. Then Rodrigo gets on the mic and says that Gabriella's birthday was yesterday and the ENTIRE crowd sings "Happy Birthday" to her...never seen that one before. The show is very crowd interactive...lots of clapping and what not...definitely what you need to be doing while intoxicated. Great show...Rob and I are pleased...time to meet up with Bob and check out some rock shows. All in all a good afternoon though...Tropical/Country music followed by Reggae beats followed by Mexican guitar...very diverse, gotta love Bonnarooooo!
[Rodrigo y Gabriela jam...this shit takes serious skill...trust me!]
5:00pm-6:30pm - Very diverse acts playing over the next hour and a half. On the Which Stage is Gov't Mule (headed by the infamous Warren Haynes...of Allman Bros. fame), on This Tent is Of Montreal (probably the strangest band out there), and on That Tent is Jenny Lewis (sooooo hot). We decide it's time to take a break from the sun and head to the beer tent to grab some shade (and more beer) and listen to Gov't Mule rock for a while. Warren Haynes was belting out some sweeeet solos...however, it was time to roam by myself for a few and check out Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley fame). Jenny Lewis' music is not bad at all. The crowd (mostly chicks) loved it and I pushed my way up front to get a good look at her...smokin as always. I thought about going to check out Of Montreal, but then I decided that I should probably go meet up with Bob and Rob because it was almost Mars Volta time.
07:15pm-08:45pm - This show kicked major ass. I was very excited to see this group, however I don't push my way up front due to the fact that it's packed and the beer tent is not easily accessible in the field. But I can hear them loud and clear. Omar Rodriguez Lopez is a SICK guitarist...maybe the best to have played at this point in the weekend (sorry Trey and Warren, but this guy has the need for speed!) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala sings like no other man I've heard.
SIDENOTE: I first became a fan of this band thanks to my old roomate, Sherman, who got me into At the Drive-In...a small indie band that later became Mars Volta. So to see this band grow over the years from a southwest college bar band into a Bonnaroo main act was quite exciting. Props to Sherm and his good musical tastes.
So Volta plays a bunch of their older stuff off of DeLoused in the Comatorioum including one of the greatest guitar songs off all time (according to Rolling Stone...who is wrong most of the time except in this case), "Drunkship of Lanterns". I was waiting to hear this song and am now pleased...which is good because I need to go check out Wilco and Elvis Costello.
[Here's a decent vid of TMV...no good Drunkship videos...hard to get close at Which Stage apparently.]
Wilco is playing on the main stage so I'm heading there first...alone. I've already missed most of their show thanks to beer forcing me to break the seal, the long wait for the portos, and an awesome Mars Volta performance. I catch one song and head over to catch a living legend, Elvis Costello. I stay for two songs this time and then go meet up the other dudes and head over to the main stage to get ready for "The Boss".
09:00pm-01:00am - The crowd is enormous for Springsteen! Bigger than any I saw last year...even for acts like Pearl Jam and Metallica. I think a lot of Nashville came down to see this one. Cool to see Max Weinberg made the trip down after being in L.A. for Conan the night before. Silvio Dante (Van Zandt) was also at the show ready to bust heads if anyone got out of control. Bruce was pretty sweet...he basically played anything the audience asked him to. Literally people are writing on the back of signs and holding them up. It's like karaoke out there...until some moron writes "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on their sign around 11:30pm. Bruce says "it's too fucking hot for Santa," which was sweet...until he actually ACTUALLY played the song. This was our cue to get up and leave...screw the rest of the concert. The Boss is cool, but not cool enough to play christmas songs in early June.
[The Boss and his best song ever "Born to Run"...the guitar has got to be just for looks.]
So the next decision took me all weekend to decide. The night shows on Saturday were all acts I would love to see, but I had to pick one. It was between Nine Inch Nails (Which Stage), moe. (That Tent), MGMT (This Tent), and Ben Harper (The Other Tent). All of these shows were getting big hype, but the guitar jammer inside of me needed moe.. Bob and Rob decided that Nine Inch Nails was the act they wanted to see weeks ago...wasn't a big decision for either of them. I like all of these acts so this was a hard decision, but in the end I made the right one. So we parted our separate ways for the night(literally...I didn't see the two of them again until after I woke up on Sunday).
So it's 11:45pm and I'm standing in line for moe...alone...front/second row with the other hardcore fans (they all agreed...it's better than seeing the rest of Springsteen). I meet some really cool people at this show. Two people in front of me are from Massachusetts so we talk New England for a while, and then these two dudes next to me are huge moe. fans and we just started sharing stories from the weekend. Then we all become part of a shared story from this show. Just 20 minutes before the show starts some dude clearly rolling on X rushes towards the stage and face plants on the ground before our eyes. His eyes are rolling and he's shaking. New England guy screams "Medic!". The security guard in front of the stage hands us a bottle of water to give the guy, and thankfully he gets up on his own two feet and walks away. Scary, but at least he was okay. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief as the show gets ready to begin.
01:00am-06:00am - Shortly after 1:00am moe. takes the stage. The show starts off great for me. Right as Chuck comes out on stage he picks up a guitar pick on the ground and "chucks" (oh!) it into the audience. It hits me right in the chest, and being as drunk as I am at the time, I look around thinking that somebody threw something at me. To my surprise I look on the floor and pick up the signature Chuck Garvey pick...I immediately look at the stoned guy next to me who just says "No fucking way mannnn!" My sentiments exactly! Im bouncing off the walls at this point and moe. starts to jam. When I say jam I really mean JAM! Chuck and Al (Schnier) are pretty much going back and forth on the guitars for the first two hours of the show. They're playing a lot of songs from their newer albums The Conch and Sticks and Stones. I love both these albums so I'm doing my jammy dance (not many people get to see this...if you ever do you must be a very good friend and I must be verrry drunk).
[Great vid of moe. playing "Seat of My Pants"]
Around 3:00am something strange happens. Vinnie (Amico...the drummer) is playing a beat when all of a sudden a long haired drummer comes onto the stage and takes his place. Then Chuck, Al, Rob, and Jim all leave and are replaced...by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Clearly moe. needed a break after how hard they jammed in the first two hours (but they were far from done). Grace Potter (super hot) and the Nocturnals jammed for a good 45 minutes before moe. comes back on stage (to much applause...not that GP&N were bad, but moe. fans wanted more).
[Here's Grace Potter (HOT!)takin the stage over!]
So it's like 4:00am when moe. comes back on stage. All the other acts are just about finished for the night and they're just getting started for their second set...awesome! As they continue it truly becomes an endurance test for me. 1. I've been up for about 19 hours straight now. 2. I'm dancing around between dirt and the steel rail (part of the barrier) and my feet are killing me. 3. I've been drinking for 14 hours. 4. I havent had a beer in 3 hours and I'm starting to get hungover. HOWEVER...nothing can stop me at this point. I've made it this far and I'm not going anywhere. moe. finishes with a double encore of "Rebubula" (personal favorite) and "The Pit". As the 400 or so survivors all leave the tent we all exchange "Holy Shit!"'s and "That was fucking incredible!"'s... completely satisfied with a historic show. The walk to the tent in the morning fog as the sun was coming up was my "magical" moment of this years Bonnaroo (last years was during My Morning Jacket when Kirk Hammett and them played "One Big Holiday" in a slow rain). I treat myself to two 1$ garlic grilled cheeses on the way back after truly one of the best days ever...
[The "survivors" jammin to "Rebubula" at 5:45am as the sun comes up!]
Stay tuned for the final day...I'll tell you all about the other night shows and how they went...
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