BONNAROO: The Weekend in Review: The Final Day

DAY FOUR-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...]



1:30pm-2:45pm - The crowd clears out after CtE and Rob and I push up to the gate for Dillinger Escape Plan. The only thing I know of this band is that their former drummer is now the current drummer for Coheed, so they must be pretty sweet. We wait around and meet some of the peeps around us. Rob tells me, "I sawthese guys at GiganTour a couple years ago and they totally kicked ass (have to say that in a Carl voice)!"These guys take the stage and immediately start the thrashing. They are really like nothing I've ever heard. A lot of screaming that's for sure. The pits opened up behind us and the crowd surfing began. These guys are totally trashing the stage. Kicking over amps, jumping off of the amps, throwing ENTIRE CASES of water into the crowd. Towards the end of the show the lead singer stage dives into the crowd and then the guitarist follows...STILL HOLDING THE GUITAR (and playing it!)! It's pretty sweet...the crowd loves it. Their music isn't really my thing, but they put on one hell of an entertaining stage show.

[Here's Dillinger Escape Plan...lots of screaming...but decent stage show.]



2:45pm - 4:15pm - Rob tells me to go grab some waters for the rest of the day because we're already sweating our asses off from the mass amounts of thrashing. I oblige and we wait around for the next show...High on Fire. No one has ever heard of these guys. So they take the stage and Rob says to me, "Their lead singer looks like Dell Preston (from Wayne's World 2!)." It was incredible...he really did. I thought it was a stage hand, but nope...he was the lead singer/guitarist ("So Ozzy wanted 5,000 brown m&m's or he wouldn't go on stage the night..."). The band starts playing and it is straight speed metal. The pits grow large. No one knows the music, but it doesn't matter. Dell Preston pulls off some impressive solo's, but all in all I was not too impressed by them ("We got past the bengal tiger...but the shop keeper and his son...well that was a different story altogether...we had to beat them to death with their own shoes.")





4:15pm - 6:00pm - Now I'm starting to get pumped. I at least know these next guys. Shadows Fall is up next. They are from Springfield, Massachusetts (45 minutes from where I live now) and apparently their lead guitarist is dating one of my best friend's friends (shout out to Ro!)...so you know...there's at least some small connection there...not! Regardless...Rob and I are ready to go. We've got front row seats for this show...wait...NOPE! All of a sudden some 15 year old kid in an electronic wheelchair drives up behind us wanting to get front row for this show! Are you kidding me?! A wheelchair!? In the pits of a metal show!?!?! This kid could get killed! They specifically have sections directly NEXT TO THE STAGE for these individuals. Props to the kid, but still...this pushes me out of my place and I am not pleased at this point. However, this just fuels me up for the show.



Shadows Fall takes the stage to great applause...the crowd fucking loves these guys...they really have a great fan base here. The lead singer (who has 8 FOOT LONG DREADLOCKS!) grabs the mic and says the best line of the weekend, "We are Shadows Fall! And we bring you thrash metal!". They immediately start off with their most popular song (of Guitar Hero 2 fame) "The Light That Blinds". The crowd surfing begins...as do the biggest pits I've ever seen in my life! It was AWESOME! I don't know a lot of their songs by heart, but it doesn't matter...this music is fucking great! Their lead singer is a great frontman and knows how to give the crowd what they want. He gets on the mic and says, "Alright we're gonna set a Bonnaroo record here today. We're gonna set the record for the most crowd surfers ever in one song. So get your asses up here! That's right I'm talking to all of you back there! Get the fuck up here!" To this the already sweating security guards (they have to catch all the people once the get up to the barriers) say in unison "FUCK!" Excuse the capitalized profanity, but it was hilarious. Rob and I later said there had to have been at least 40 people who surfed up to the front...several of them receiving "high-fives" from the lead singer as they got up to the front. All in all...the show was incredible, but nothing compared to what came next. Oh and by the way...the wheelchair kid survived...barely. He almost got kicked in the head by several crowd surfers because there was a gap...again not being mean...it just wasn't a smart idea to begin with.

[Couldn't find all the stage diving...sorry. I'll keep looking.]



06:00pm-08:30pm - It's Coheed time! The chants start as soon as Shadows Fall leaves the stage. Coheed has a LARGE underground fan base...which includes Rob and I. The chants are off and on for a good 20 minutes while the stage set up continues. "Claudio (Sanchez...the lead singer/guitarist), Claudio!" "Coheed, Coheed!"



Finally the time comes. Claudio leads the band onto the stage and they belt out their epic first song off of In Keeping Secrets... the song shares the title. I've never seen anything like this...almost the entire crowd (including me) is singing the lyrics to the song word for word with Claudio. This is heard of at say, a Neil Diamond concert (right Braband?)...but at a metal show like this?! UNREAL!

["In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth"...webcast rips...good quality]


The band then jumps into some stuff of their most recent album, No World for Tomorrow including "Ten Speed" and the title track. In between these two songs they play my favorite song, "Apollo I: The Writing Writer".

["Apollo I: The Writing Writer"!!!!!]


Then they jump into a couple cover songs (which were also awesome before immediately jumping into some of their more popular sing-a-long songs including "A Favor House Atlantic", "Blood Red Summer", and "Welcome Home".

["A Favor House Atlantic"...another personal favorite!]


Finally they've come to their final song. (All of their albums tell a story and they all end with epic songs. And for this concert they end with the final track off of Good Apollo I entitled "The Final Cut". ) The original album version of this song is 7:42 in length...this version turns out to be a bit longer...well over 30 minutes in length!!!!!!!!! The song starts off then Claudio and Travis Stever break into some dueling guitar solos, then just Claudio solos (then he leaves the stage), then Travis solos (then he leaves the stage) then Michael Todd breaks into a bass solo (then leaves the stage). Finally it's just Chris Pennie up on the drums...and he breaks out into a 10-15 minute long drum solo! It was MIND BLOWINGLY AWESOME! Then they all join back up on stage and finish the song! The crowd went fucking nuts! One of the best shows I've ever seen and it wasn't even a headlining show (but then again...neither was My Morning Jacket last year). I wish they wouldv'e played an encore...but Phish was about to play and the sun was down already.

[The last part of "The Final Cut" (it's split in 3 lol)...drum solo and finale!]


08:30pm - 11:30pm - Alright...my heart is still pumping after a day full of metal. I've sweated through my outer layer of clothing...so I decide now is the best time to buy my festival shirt. Last year I bought one for $15 off a illegal shirt vendor on the last day, but the writing is starting to fade from the shit-ily made t-shirt. So this time I decide it's time to support the festival for all it's done for me and I buy an official t-shirt (the money goes to charity...instead of some crackhead).

Anyway it's time to grab a bite to eat and relax for a Phish concert. I am ready for this concert. I passed their Friday show up because there was so much else going on, but I am pumped to see them this time. Bob, Rob and I pick out our "groove" zone in the stage right-center of the field. This is unreal! I've never seen fans like this. People are just grooving. You can tell just by looking around the amount of psychadelics that some of these peeps are on. I don't mind it though....as long as they're havin a good time and not stealin my beers that's all that matters. Glow sticks are flying and the mood in the crowd is happy! Phish concerts really are quite peaceful. Their fans are incredibly nice. No rudeness or nothing...just fun loving people hula hooping, jam dancing, and grooving. We begin to lay back and enjoy the light show (seriously...their light show was SICK! Best I've ever seen...hands down!). We get about halfway through the show when Rob gets up to leave. He doesn't explain why...he just leaves his stuff and goes. Bob and I have no idea whats going on. Anyway...about halfway through, Trey starts telling a story about his childhood hero and brings him out...Bruce Springsteen! The weekend's big draws combine and play 3 songs together including "Mustang Sally" (which Bruce KILLED! It was great!) and "Glory Days"! It was really cool. Then they took a break.

["Glory Days"...Phish and Bruce!]


It's been like an hour since we've seen Rob (yes...their songs are really long...they're a JAM band...they JAM). We start to get worried so we send him a text. Turns out Rob's phone must've dropped out of his pocket at some point when we were lying down in the field. Some guy picked up his phone and turned it in (God bless you whoever you are nice Phish-head!). They turned it into the beer tent and Bob gets the text "Lost Phone...Center Beer Tent...Tell Owner". Who does this?! This is a festival with over 75,000 people! At any other smaller show some asshole would've taken the phone and run. This just tells you how great the people at this festival are. Bob and I collaborate on a search party for the phone...we take turns. Bob goes first and I stay put to look for Rob in case he comes back. Bob comes up empty handed. I went a little further left and finally found it at the wayyyy center beer tent (turns out my bearings were way off...that field is much bigger than I thought). OH and by the way...weaving in and out of people tripping their balls off in the dark is not a good idea...I can't tell you how many hipsters I must've stepped on or ruined their jamming (sorry dudes!).

Anyway...Bob and I decide to leave the show a couple songs early since we figure Rob must be upset because he thinks he lost his phone. We get to the tent and wake him up (he was pissed so he drank a couple beers and passed out...I wouldve done the same). He is very gracious. We stay up for a few hours drinking in celebration of a weekend well spent. We've all seen some great shows and there is much to talk about. We pass out about 3:00am...Phish phinished around 1:00am. Tomorrow we get up, pack up the tents and head back to Erie. What an amazing weekend!

And so ends Bonnaroo 2009...what will Bonnaroo 2010 have in store for us? Keep tuning in to O-Nation to find out! Same O-time! Same O-channel! Till next year....BONNAROOOOOOOOOOOOO!