BONNAROO: The Weekend in Review: Day Two

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...