I awoke sometime shortly after sunrise on Friday morning, to what I’d imagine is the same feeling you would have if you were stuck inside of an oven. With it being this early and already topping ninety degrees, we were still several hours away from the music beginning for the day, so I spent the next couple hours struggling to fall back asleep. Eventually I gave in, unzipped the door of the tent, and crawled outside into the Bonnaroo world like a newborn exiting the womb.
I found my neighbors were already waking and baking (or still baking for that matter), so I grabbed a seat next to them and ate a breakfast that consisted of sour cream and onion Pringles, a cup of peaches and chugging the warm iced tea that I had left in my trunk. Not long after, I decided it was time to fresh up, so I washed wiped my face with a moist towelette, grabbed a fresh set of clothes and went back in the oven-like tent to change. If you’ve never camped out at a music festival, you would know that changing your clothes inside a tent is not an easy process by any means, especially when your tent sits only about four feet high.
After I was as cleaned up as I could’ve been, I made the trek towards Centeroo, where I would grab some real breakfast (ham, egg and cheese burrito and a banana) and relax in any number of shaded areas backstage in the press compound. Soon after I was done, I found myself fighting for a spot inside the air-conditioned press tent for orientation, where a number of personnel went over the rules and regulations of covering the festival. But the tent was so crowded, that it felt as if all the cold air was sucked out of the room and I ended up missing much of what these rules and regulations were. Not much later, I saw the members of Dr. Dog awaiting nearby, because they were gearing up for their “secret” performance in the tent at 11:30 am. The tent actually cleared out a bit, and I was able to grab a spot up close, for their three-song, acoustic performance that featured all newer material from the album Shame, Shame.
High noon was approaching, and it wouldn’t be long before the music would begin on several stages throughout the 100+ acre concert grounds. I probably should’ve mentioned this before, but the main stages and tents have odd names like What, Which, This, That and the Other, like something out of an Abbott and Costello skit. People often joke about this, saying that they’re always getting lost trying to find the band they want to see, but end up discovering some band or sound that they had never known about. My hope is that they’re just kidding around, because locating where all of these stages and tents are is just about the easiest thing in the world you can do.
Before I made my way to an actual stage, I headed over to the air-conditioned smoking lounge, to pick up some American Spirit coupons. They’re no longer giving away free cigarettes at Bonnaroo (bummer!) because of some type of law that was recently passed, but they will give you a couple of $5 off coupons that you can use to purchase these cigarettes in the general store. The bad thing is that you can actually only use two of these coupons at a time, and with cigarettes priced at $15, you’re not really saving any money.
After I got my coupons, I made my way down a dirt/gravel road, where I could here the young, twenty-something Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews leading his band, Orleans Avenue, in a New Orleans-style version of the Black Eyed Peas “Let’s Get It Started.” I later found out that earlier in their set, they covered songs like the Guess Who’s “American Woman” and the White Stripes “Seven Nation Army”, and of course the obvious, “When the Saints Go Marching In.” After just a brief stint watching them, I made my way back up that same road where Diane Birch was playing alone on the piano on the Sonic Stage. She again covered Hall and Oates “Rich Girl”, and even put a slowed down, soulful spin on the popular dance song, “What Is Love”, which you probably remember from the movie A Night at the Roxbury.
I began making my way towards the Other Tent for indie-dance rock band, Tokyo Police Club, but was side tracked when I heard former Nickel Creek member, Chris Thile, tearing up the mandolin for the Punch Brothers in That Tent. I grabbed a spot up close on the side of the stage, and ended up catching most of their set, which included covers of Bill Monroe’s “Brakeman’s Blues” and Radiohead’s “Morning Bell.” I later found out that they also covered The White Stripes “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and The Strokes “Reptilia.” I ended up missing all of Tokyo Police Club’s set.
I roamed the grounds, taking in the scenery a bit, before heading all the way back down to the opposite end of the farm to catch the Gaslight Anthem on the Which Stage. I’ve been following this band for a couple years, ever since I first heard their album, The ’59 Sound. A punk band often described as “the hottest thing in Jersey since the Boss”, they’re often compared to Bruce, although I can hardly find any spec of that (or punk rock) in their sound. They played a fifteen-song, hour long set, which featured almost equal parts The ’59 Sound and cuts from their new album, American Slang, which was also the song they started out with. They also added in a couple of older songs and rarities, like “Blue Jeans and White T-Shirts”, which pays homage to Tom Waits, and “We Came to Dance”, which pays homage to Dylan and the Boss. I didn’t stick around for the entire set, but did catch most, and my favorite moments ended up being tracks from The ’59 Sound like “Old White Lincoln”, “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” and the title track, “The ’59 Sound.”
I had to bolt all the way back down to the other end of the farm, because one of the shows I had been looking forward to for a very long time was about to begin. I was struck with awe when I arrived at the Other Tent to see such a massive crowd gathering for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s 2:30 pm show. I wasn’t expecting so many people this early on in the day, but was happy that the band got such a great response. I couldn’t even manage to get anywhere near the inside of the tent or by the stage, but enjoyed the show from afar, watching the free-spirits around me dance and hula-hoop to songs like “40 Day Dream”, “Janglin’” and “Home.”
After their performance, I was once again headed to the opposite end of the farm, where Umphrey’s McGee were just taking the Which Stage. They kicked things off with “All in Time”, which featured teases of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile”, while the rest of the eleven-song, hour-and-a-half set played out like an extended jam session. I managed to work my way to the front just in time to see the last few jams, which included “Preamble” transitioning into “Mantis” which eventually led into “Glory” and back into “Mantis” to end the show.
By this point I was starting to get a little hungry, so I ventured over to the vendors by the mushroom fountain to grab a cheese quesadilla and check out some of She and Him’s set. Once again, here was another set that I could not manage to get anywhere in close proximity to (I was hoping to get a good close look at the actress and singer Zooey Deschanel). But I only stuck around for a couple of songs, which included “Change Is Hard” and “I Thought I Saw Your Face Today”, both from the album Volume One.
I only left M. Ward and Zooey’s set early because I wanted so badly to grab a spot up close for The National, who would be taking the stage at 5:45 pm. I managed to grab that same spot that I had for Umphrey’s, right up front by the barricade. Being from Cincinnati like The National, you would think that I’ve had a lot of chances to see this band perform, but actually I’ve only seen them once, which was at the free Obama Rally on Fountain Square in late 2008. I was expecting their Bonnaroo show to be very good, but little did I know, just how far off the handle this performance would fly.
From the very first notes of the opener “Start A War” until the last of the closer “About Today”, I was high on the tips of my toes. They played an hour-and-a-half, twenty-song set, which featured mostly songs from their albums Alligator, Boxer and High Violet, which (as hard as it is to believe) I think is the strongest work to date.
As well aware as I am of the genius of this band and what they put into writing their songs, they put just as much, if not more, into working the crowd and becoming one with their fans. On several occasions, vocalist Matt Berninger left the stage and walked what I like to think of as the “plank”, a little platform about six feet high that extended well off the stage to the front of the audience. Berninger’s got a way with hunching over just a little bit and grasping the mic stand, almost like he’s making love with his baritone voice and poetic words. Near the end of the set, he even left the stage completely, climbing over the barricade and going off well into the crowd, taking the mic with him mind you and singing the words to “Mr. November” as he was bum-rushed by some very fortunate fans. I still stand by it that this was by far the best non-latenight performance I saw at all of Bonnaroo 2010, and maybe even one of my favorite Bonnaroo sets ever.
After The National finished, I went back inside the nearby press compound for a brief moment, to recharge my batteries (not my actual batteries, I just needed a moment to recoop). I think I stocked up on some free ice-cold water from the press tent cooler and hung out in the shade for a moment, where off in the distance I could hear Jack Black of Tenacious D belting out “Tribute.” While I would have liked to have seen the D play, I was certainly not going to miss any of The National or even make the trek to the always-over-crowded What Stage. I left the press compound moments later, and began making my way up that same dirt road I had been down so many times before.
By the time I got to the end of that road, actor/comedian/musician Steve Martin and his band, The Steep Canyon Rangers, were already well into their set at That Tent. Once again, I was able to grab a spot on the side of the stage, where I was able to get a closer look at the celebrity playing the banjo. Not too much later, I found my head turning and eyes looking at the back exit of the tent, where none other than Jack Black himself had walked inside, fresh from his set. Not even two minutes later, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips also walked in. And if that’s not enough, not even another two minutes later, Chris Thile also walked in to take in the show from the side of the stage. At one point during their set between songs, Martin introduced Black, who came running on stage to a roaring crowd, waving around his white, sweaty towels, and quickly exiting to return to the side stage area to finish watching the show.
After being star struck at the Martin show, I headed back to my camp to get a little rest before the latenight shows would begin. I eventually fell asleep inside my tent to the sounds of Kings of Leon off in the distance, but was awoken sometime after midnight to hear the Flaming Lips playing “She Don’t Use Jelly.” I wasn’t planning on sleeping that long, but the moment I heard that the Lips had already begun, I jumped out of my tent, gathered my belongings and headed back inside Centeroo.
Because I had been taking the entrance near the Other Tent and ferris wheel all along, I first stopped at the Other Tent to find the electronica act, Chromeo, tearing it up with Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates. I arrived a little more than halfway throught their set, only catching a few songs like “Bonafied Lovin’”, “100%” and my personal favorite (the one I really was hoping to see), “Private Eyes.” As much as I hated to do it, I had to get out of there because the Black Keys were already well into their set at That Tent. I wasn’t sure how much longer they would be playing, and ended up sticking around for five or six songs, none of which I recognized. I also did not recognize (and still can’t to this day) who the other musicians were that were playing with them. Yeah, that’s right. The Black Keys performance at Bonnaroo was not just the typical Dan Auerbach on guitar and vocals and Patrick Carney on drums; they had a couple of guests, one on guitar and one on bass. Not knowing where the Lips were in their set all the way on the other side of the farm (and as much as I hated to do it), I had to leave the Keys set because I was highly anticipating my first Lips show ever, especially one where they were covering Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon.
As I was approaching the Which Stage (where the Lips were playing) I could hear them closing out their regular set with one of their most popular songs, “Do You Realize?” They took a short five or ten minute break before coming back on stage, where they were engulfed on stage with all kinds of psychedelic lights and lasers shooting out over the crowd and probably the world’s biggest fog machine. I thought they did a decent job at putting their own spin on the Floyd tracks, although stopping after every song (rather than have every song run into one another) I think really killed the vibe of these songs. I was also hoping that Mr. Coyne would have skipped past the rants and raves, but I guess no Lips show would be complete without Wayne speaking his mind on subjects like the legalization of pot, and how in just one year, it will be legalized. Good luck with that.
So that’s where I decided to end my first full day of Bonnaroo 2010. On my way going back into the camping grounds, I did pass a couple of tents where I could hear Kid Cudi rapping the night away, and New Orleans jam-funk band, Galactic, ripping it up with an all new psychedelic light show.
Top 5 Shows of the Day
Because I saw so many sets during the course of the day, I decided to narrow down my choices to the sets that I saw half, most or all of. I saw bits and pieces of some really great sets, but because I might have only seen fifteen or twenty minutes of those sets in some cases, I just thought it would be fair not to include those here. I will, however, list some of those partial sets as honorable mentions.
1. The Flaming Lips performing Darkside of the Moon with Stardeath and White Dwarfs
2. The National
3. Umphrey’s McGee
4. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
5. The Gaslight Anthem
Honorable Mentions
Daryl Hall and Chromeo, The Black Keys, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, The Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile