Archive for the ‘Bonnaroo 2009’ Category
The Final Bonnaroo Post
June 28th, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009, Local Music
When you first saw this post you probably thought to yourself, “Oh God…another Bonnaroo post. Just get over it man!” But the truth is that Bonnaroo becomes an obsession for many…could be hundreds, maybe even thousands. Just pay a visit to Inforoo anytime of the year, the unofficial Bonnaroo messageboard, and you’ll see that I’m not the only addict of the festival who constantly has it on their mind.
Although the festival has been over for nearly two weeks now, I don’t think I made a post yet where I really got some things I wanted to say off my chest. Basically what I wanted to write about was how when you leave Bonnaroo, or any festival for that matter, you leave either as a new fan of some bands or a bigger fan of one’s you already knew about. Festivals are really the best music experience, because when you have a ton of bands, in this case over a hundred-and-twenty, you’re gonna find types of music that you may not typically have given a chance. In the three times I’ve attended Bonnaroo combined, I’ve walked away knowing about hundreds of new bands. Some are my favorites today, some were my favorites for a little while, and some may even be among my favorites a year or two from now.
I’ve also noticed that I’m often a little late on picking up on some bands. For instance, at this year’s festival I’d have to say that I became a big fan of both Passion Pit and Chairlift. While Passion Pit has been growing over the past year or so, even just a year can mean all the difference. A year isn’t really long when you think about it, but in music it feels even shorter. Passion Pit had played at Northside Tavern sometime last year, sorry I don’t know the exact date, could’ve been early in the year, could’ve been late. But I remember hearing the buzz grow about that show even before it happened, and I’d like to think that they’ve become much bigger since then and probably don’t stand a chance playing in a tiny venue like that again, although they played the Mad Hatter just days after I saw them at Bonnaroo. One of the biggest shows of their careers, they reached an audience of somewhere around 5,000 people at Bonnaroo, in what served as the best dance party on opening night.
When I left the Peter, Bjorn and John concert at the end of April, they played at the Southgate House, I actually left feeling more interested in what I saw with the opening band, Chairlift. I guess it mostly had to do with hearing new sounds to my ears, as I had been listening to PB & J for at least the past couple years. Not that I had become bored with PB & J, but I’m always in search for new music, or new to me music. I’ve got over 5,600 hundred songs on my iPod and I have to tell you that sometimes I feel like that’s not enough music to satisfy me.
Another band who really impressed me on that first day of Bonnaroo was Hockey. I’d never heard of them, not sure I had even read about them on one of the twenty or so music blogs I check out on a weekly basis. I went in thinking they’d be alright, but left thinking wow, they’re really fucking good!
I love females that can rock, especially those who do it acoustically. The four ladies of Katzenjammer, who hail from Norway, are versatile, multi-instrumentalists who mix everything from folk and bluegrass to pop and punk, along with each’s vocal harmonies.
As a big Neil Young fan, it’s no surprise that I left Bonnaroo as a fan of Everest. Opening for Neil on his last tour, and then with My Morning Jacket on theirs, you can certainly hear a Young-inspiration there, as they’re full of both fuzzy and acoustic Americana rock.
Although I first heard Nickel Creek only some three or four years ago, which doesn’t say much considering they had been around for nearly twenty years, I’m becoming much more impressed and intrigued with the playing of both Sean and Sara Watkins. They both joined Switchfoot frontman, Jon Foreman, for a newer project called Fiction Family. Not much of a stretch of what I was expecting, it’s amazing to see a brother-sister relationship so closely knited while having played music together for so long. I’m a sucker for the violin (or if you want to call it a fiddle) and Sara, along with her angelic voice, will just make your heart melt.
I even came away from the festival as a bigger fan of the Heartless Bastards. Maybe that sounds bad because I’ve lived in Cincinnati my entire life, but I hadn’t seen them in a couple years and I think The Mountain is their best material yet.
Dancing in the Mud at Bonnaroo 2009
June 25th, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009
The weather on the first day of Bonnaroo 2009 was absolutely terrible. That morning, Thursday, June 11 to be exact, myself and almost a hundred or so others had been waiting outside of the Fantasy 101.5 radio station for hours when the black clouds rolled in around 10 am. I looked up to the sky and said to myself, “Oh God…not now. Please don’t do this. Not here, not at Bonnaroo, not this year.”
It wasn’t that I was concerned about getting wet at that moment…it’s not like I would melt or mulitply like a mogwai. My main concern was what condition would the farm be in when I arrived. Would I be stuck setting up my tent in a giant ass mud puddle?
Over the course of the entire day, the storms were quick and hard, as it rained more times than I could count on all of my fingers and toes. But a little rain won’t hurt you, and it certainly would not put a halt to a music festival. In fact, it seemed like most welcomed the rain and mud.
For the most part, my first day of music at Bonnaroo 2009 consisted of a shit load of indie rock bands.
I spent most of my time at This Tent, where I saw bands like White Rabbits, Hockey, Chairlift, Passion Pit and Delta Spirit. A couple times during the night, I managed to check out some other music going on at some other tents, like a little bit of Portugal. the Man in That Tent and Those Darlins at the newly designed Troo Music Lounge. But because of the lineup and the kind of music I like, I kept getting drawn back to This Tent. I think one of the things that kept me coming back to This Tent was the fact that most of these bands had a sound dominated by keyboards and synthesizers.
I had never heard of the band, Hockey, but I have to say that I was quite impressed. The Portland, Oregon band mixes dance, new wave and punk for a sound that has drawn comparisons to the Strokes and LCD Soundsystem. They’re currently signed with Capitol Records here in the U.S. and will release their debut album, Mind Chaos, on August 24. Look for their two singles online, entitled “Too Fake” and “Learn to Lose.”
I had really wanted to check out this band I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about, called the Low Anthem. However, I chose to stick with Chairlift because I had seen them a couple months back when they opened for Peter, Bjorn & John at the Southgate House, and I have to say that I enjoyed them much more than PB&J. Chairlift will be coming back to Cincinnati in September, when they play the 2009 MidPoint Music Festival.
Indie, folk-rock band, Delta Spirit, almost didn’t make the festival. They were stuck in a Dallas airport earlier in the day, but managed to pull off a stellar, energetic set despite having jet-lag.
But the best show of the day belonged to the electronica Boston act, Passion Pit. With only one full-length album out, Manners, which was released not even a month before their show at Bonnaroo, Passion Pit first hit their breakthrough with the six-song EP, Chunk of Change. With three of the band’s five members playing keyboards and synthesizers, Passion Pit provided for a great soundtrack for those who wanted to dance in the rain and mud at Bonnaroo 2009.
Wilco at Bonnaroo 2009
June 23rd, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009
As Gov’t Mule was nearing the end of their cover of the Beatles “Helter Skelter” on the Which Stage, I phoned a friend back home just to let him know what was currently happening at the ‘roo. He was watching their live web cast on the AT&T Blue Room, as I was making my way to get a good spot for the soon-to-be Wilco show on the What Stage. Still on the phone, my friend said to me that his wife liked the cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”, at which point I was devastated to have missed. But there was no turning back now. I was already nearing the center of the field of the What Stage, where Wilco would be taking the stage in about ten or fifteen minutes. Did I leave Gov’t Mule much too early? Sure, but what can you do. Come to find out later, Grace Potter and Scott Tournet (of her band the Nocturnals) had joined Mule onstage for a cover of Neil Young’s “Southern Man.” Damn!
Looking back at my history of some of the music festivals I’ve attended, it seems as if I always pick the worst times to leave a show. At Bonnaroo 2005, I left the Allman Brothers set early to regroup at camp before the Dave Matthews Band show that night. As I was walking back to my camp, I could hear their long, instrumental jam, “Jessica”, off in the distance. Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks were completely tearing it up - in a good way! I also missed quite a few things at Bonnaroo 2007, like the Flaming Lips late night set, where they ”landed” a giant UFO onstage, Gov’t Mule’s late night set which was going on at the same time, in which they brought out guests like Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, several members of Hot Tuna, and Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, now with the Black Crowes. But worst of all that year, I missed John Paul Jones join Ben Harper and his Innocent Criminals for a really long cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused.” I think that song nearly went on for half-an-hour. I had left to catch Keller Williams set, which let’s just say, was okay. I think the worst thing I missed at Bonnaroo 2009 was Phish’s encore from the first night, in which they covered the Beatles “A Day in the Life.”
But there’s always going to be something you’re going to miss at a music festival, especially when you put Wilco up against bands like the Mars Volta, the Decemberists, Elvis Costello backed by Jenny Lewis and her band, and the David Grisman Quintet. These were all bands I was hoping to see (before the schedule came out), but my choice seemed rather easy because I simply love Wilco and had only seen them twice prior. The first time that I saw them was at Bonnaroo 2007, and in fact, they were one of the very last bands I saw that year – I also missed nearly all of the White Stripes as well. Wilco was also my favorite show that year, so I also choose to see them this year because I knew they could do nothing but get better, if anything be just as good. It was now time for my third Wilco show.
They kicked things off with “Wilco (the song)”, which I’m having a really hard time understanding. What kind of band writes a song named after them? Maybe it’s not a big deal, maybe I’m making it a bigger deal than it should be or maybe I should just focus on the music rather than the lyrics. Maybe it’s just a song to let people know who they are. I don’t know. I guess it won’t be bad after I hear it several times. Lucky for me the song was short and simple and over before I knew it. Maybe they just wanted to get it out of the way because right after the song ended, they quickly began creating some feedback and harmonics, later joined by drums, clocks and a strumming acoustic guitar, which you may know as the beginning of “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.” As one of the first Wilco songs I fell in love with, what I love is the experimentalism of it. Kind of how everyone’s instruments seem to not be playing exactly the same thing, especially towards the end – and somehow it works very well. Drums and cymbals pounding and crashing, fingers sliding up and down the piano keys. A noisy sound almost ugly yet full of so much beauty at the same time.
Next came “Company In My Back”, powered by synth-like outerspace sounds, clean acoustic guitar picking from Tweedy and some short riffs and soloing from Nels Cline on the electric guitar. After the song Tweedy told the crowd that it was “good to be back”, and while I’m sure he meant it, we all know that this Chicago band’s favorite festival has to be Lollapalooza. Who cares or really knows though…Tweedy immediately began strumming his acoustic, followed by John Stirratt adding some depth with a bass line riff. The song was “Handshake Drugs” and it was amazing. Mostly because Nels Cline is a fucking genius and madman on the electric guitar. Whether he’s playing slow or fast, he knows what he’s doing and he is perfect for this band. After this they went into a new song called “Bull Black Nova”, which starts off with a psychedelic, electronic, trance-like riff, bringing to mind one of those famous ’80s bands like the Talking Heads. But it doesn’t last long, and not even two minutes into it, the song switches to a rock sound when the guitars and drums kick in. And what’s a rock song without a solo? That’s right. Nels Cline comes in and takes over although the song finds its way back to that electro-psychedelic riff, in which Tweedy tries to sing over and Nels tries to play over, but I just can’t help feeling like I’m caught in a trance of “my style” of dancing, which mostly consists of tapping my feet, moving up, down and side to side and bobbing my head.
I won’t bore you to death with a track-by-track analysis, but I will say that these are some of the best versions I’ve heard of most of these songs. These highlights included several songs from the Sky Blue Sky album, like “Impossible Germany”, “Hate It Here” and “Walken”, as well as some older favorites like “Shot in the Arm”, “Jesus, Etc”, “California Stars”, “Misunderstood”, “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”, “Hummingbird” and “The Late Greats”, and a little more of a taste of the new album with songs like “One Wing” and “You Never Know.” They finished their set with “Hoodoo Voodoo” from the Billy Bragg collaboration album, Mermaid Avenue.
The Setlist:
Wilco (the Song)
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Company In My Back
Handshake Drugs
Bull Black Nova
You Are My Face
One Wing
Pot Kettle Black
Side with the Seeds
A Shot in the Arm
At Least That’s What You Said
Jesus, Etc.
Impossible Germany
California Stars
Misunderstood
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Hummingbird
You Never Know
The Late Greats
Hate It Here
Walken
I’m the Man Who Loves You
Hoodoo Voodoo
Ben Harper Does Bonnaroo…Again
June 22nd, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009
Ben Harper was back again at Bonnaroo this year. This time he was with his new band, Relentless 7. It was the fourth year he’d been on the bill, however, this year marked the fifth set that he would have played at the festival. At the very first festival in 2002, Ben played a solo set, while in both 2003 and 2007 he was joined by his backing band, the Innocent Criminals, along with a special latenight SuperJam slot in 2007 that featured John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of the Roots.
There’s no question that Harper has become a crowd favorite at the festival, as well as the festival being one of his favorites. In past years, Ben has been spotted walking around the grounds, chatting it up with fellow concert attendees and waiting in the lines to grab something to eat. But there’s a lot of artists you could say that about. Hell, even the Boss himself was spotted several times this year, watching sets like Band of Horses and MGMT. I also heard that Fishman, the drummer of Phish who seems to always wear that black dress with the red circles, was even spotted buying a t-shirt this year from a vendor on Shakedown. But it’s not about them right now. I wanted to write something specifically on Ben because he’s one of my favorite musician’s of all-time.
I first discovered the music of Ben Harper some ten or so years ago, when he was opening for the Dave Matthews Band at Cincinnati’s Riverbend Music Center. Although I’m still young and it doesn’t seem like that long ago, I can’t exactly recall what I remember from that show, seeing that I’ve been to nearly thirty DMB shows since 1997. I do remember though when I first became a die-hard Harper fan. It was in the early 00’s, when I heard his disc, Live from Mars. That double-live album showcases a nice mix of the two seperate personalities of Ben the musician: the electric, harder rock disc that features songs like “Glory & Consequence”, “Ground on Down” and “Faded/Whole Lotta Love” and the soft and gentle acoustic disc that features songs like “Waiting on an Angel”, “Walk Away” and “Another Lonely Day.”
I’ve always enjoyed both the loud and quiet music that Harper creates, but for this year’s Bonnaroo set, I would only be getting the harder, louder side. Although Relentless 7 didn’t actually come together until late last year, Ben had met Jason Mozersky (who would become Relentless 7’s other guitar player) in the late ’90’s. Mozersky was working as a driver in Texas for a local music promoter, when he got up the courage to hand over his demo when he was driving Ben around town. In Harper’s own words, “I was blown away.” To make a long story short, Harper helped Jason and his band land a record deal, and several years later in 2005, Ben asked Jason and some of his friends to lay down some tracks on his album, Both Sides of the Gun. The very first show Relentless 7 played was to 10,000 people with the Beastie Boys on 2008’s Rock the Vote Tour, in support of then-Presidential hopeful, Barack Obama.
Their debut album, White Lies for Dark Times, was written and recorded during the winter months of last year, and released on May 5, 2009. Aside from Ben on vocals and guitar and slide guitar, Relentless 7 also features Mozersky on guitar, Jesse Ingalls on bass and Jordan Richardson on drums. The eleven-track disc quickly gained mass critical acclaim, earning spots like #9 on the Billboard 200, #6 on the French Album charts, going Gold at #7 on the Italian Album charts and #19 on the Top 100 European Album charts.
Ben would once again be returning to rock the latenight scene at Bonnaroo 2009, with a scheduled slot from 1 to 2:30 am. Nine Inch Nails were also scheduled at 1 am, and although I’m not exactly a fan of NIN, I wanted to catch the first few minutes of their show seeing as that was their last U.S. show ever – or at least until Reznor realizes he’s a musician and it’s what he does.
As I was standing there watching the smoke and lights take over the Which Stage as NIN was coming out (though I couldn’t see them, I was so far back), I thought to myself, “what the hell am I doing here? I love Ben Harper…not NIN!” It was at that point when I knew I had to high tail it over to the Other Tent to catch Ben. As I got closer to the Other Tent, I first noticed how packed it was, although it wasn’t quite as packed as the SuperJam in 2007. But somehow I managed to get a spot right up front, against the guardrail (again), just a little to the left. Luckily though I could see Ben and most of the band. The only member I didn’t see during the whole show was the drummer because I kind of had an obstructed view because of the giant speaker.
I arrived to the area of the tent when they were playing their hit single, “Shimmer and Shine”, and I later found out that I had missed the first two songs, “Comin’ Up Easy” and “Number With No Name.” It seems like for the first time ever, I had actually gotten to the show at exactly the right moment in time (as opposed to leaving shows at the wrong time) because the second song I actually got to see them play was a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times.” It seemed like a much shorter set than usual for Ben, as they ended up only playing ten other songs, nearly all of which came from the new album. Though I have yet to hear the album, some of the new song highlights for me included “Why Must You Dress In Black”, “Fly One Time”, “Keep It Together” and “Boots Like These.” Some of the other great memories I have of that show include original Harper songs like “Another Lonely Day”, which sounded great as a full band version rather than a quiet, acoustic tune and the show closer, “Serve Your Soul.” However, the greatest moment of the show was the cover of David Bowie’s “Under Pressure”, easily the crowd favorite.
Bon Iver Gives Life to Bonnaroo 2009
June 22nd, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009
When 3:20 pm rolled around on Saturday, June 13, I wasn’t exactly ready to leave the show I was watching on the Which Stage – the legendary Booker T. Jones (as in Booker T. & the M.G.’s) was playing with the Drive-By Truckers. Take the raw and dirty, Southern rock of the Truckers, add Booker’s signature sound on the Hammond B3, and you’ll get quite a pairing. Playing mostly instrumental jams from their latest collaboration together, Potato Hole, I wound up leaving the show right before they went into the song that made Booker T. famous forty-seven years ago at the age of seventeen, “Green Onions.” You may not recognize the song title, but trust me…you know this song.
In about ten minutes, the indie-folk band known as Bon Iver (pronounced “bone evare”) would be taking the stage, and I would’ve never forgiven myself had I missed this show. I was lucky enough to land a spot right up front against the guard rail just before the show kicked off.
Led by Justin Vernon, the term “bon iver” comes from the French “bon hiver” meaning “good winter.” And it was during winter when Justin, who was bedridden from mononucleosis in his father’s remote Wisconsin cabin, wrote a bunch of songs unintentionally, while recuperating. These songs would come to make up his debut, For Emma, Forever Ago, which was almost not released, but rather would be used as a demo sent out to record companies. His friends encouraged him to release the album as it was, which was released on the independent label, Jagjaguwar, on February 19, 2008. Garnering massive critical acclaim, the buzz of the album spread mostly by word of mouth, landing spots atop charts like Rolling Stone (#29 on Top 50 of 2008), #31 on Spin, #8 on Last.fm and #4 on Paste’s Best Albums of 2008.
Bon Iver took the stage to a very lively crowd, who were giving some of the best cheering and clapping I had seen yet at Bonnaroo 2009. They started things off right with “Creature Fear”, a tune that starts out rather quiet and somber, but immediately becomes loud and energetic during the chorus in the matter of a second. While it constantly goes back and forth from quiet during the verses to loud during the chorus, the song ends with an experimental jam session of noise and beauty, in which everyone just seems to go off in their own little rants, most notably the drummer who eventually brings the direction of the song back closer to the end, followed by ecstatic cheers and Vernon saying, “thank you guys so much.”
Vernon quickly introduces the band before going into their hit “Skinny Love”, which sees amazing crowd participation very early on with clapping and singing of the lines, “my, my, my…my, my, my, my, my” and ”I told you to be patient and I told you to be fine and I told you to be balanced and I told you to be kind…” and so on and so forth.
Things slow down and become somber-like once again, with “Lump Sum”, which you’ll come to find as a continuous mood on his album. The next few song selections are newer, all of which are new to my ears. “Blood Bank” starts out with an instrumental jam, feeling much harder and heavier, driven by pounding drums and various feedback and echoes from the guitars. This mood continues on throughout most of the song, even with Vernon’s high-pitched vocals wailing away, as the enthused crowd becomes part of the show almost, with their never-tiring energy. “Beach Baby” is a short and quiet song about, in Justin’s words, “a dream that you have…you’re on the beach with someone making out…” while “Brackett, WI”, from the Dark Was the Night compilation, was dedicated to those from Wisconsin.
Before going into the next song, a member of the Bon Iver entourage asked the crowd who had seen Grizzly Bear and Phoenix, noting that “there’s a few good acts on the premises.” My question to those who attended Bonnaroo 2009 would be, “who saw Bon Iver!?” The next song was “Flume“, which starts out with only Vernon on guitar and is perhaps the one song where you’ll find the most soul captured in his voice, singing lines like “only love is all maroon…gluey feathers on a flume…sky is womb and she’s the moon…” The song soon after adds some rim shots from the drummer, a nice little electric riff as well as plenty of reverb and feedback from the electric guitars. You would think that the song would be over when you first hear the roars of the crowd, but not before they take their little experimental jam session back into the chorus of the song.
I hate to say it, but when Vernon announced they’d be doing a Yo La Tengo cover next, I was pretty much left feeling clueless. Now, I know of Yo La Tengo, but I’m really not all that familiar with this band. So while I don’t know how the original sounds, I have to say that I enjoyed and connected very well with Bon Iver’s version, especially since the horn players from Elvis Perkins’ band had joined them onstage. This song, “I Feel Like Going Home” was probably a little too melancholy, maybe more than I needed to feel at the moment, seeing that I had traveled to Bonnaroo alone, and often felt alone though I was among 75,000 strangers. But the song was honest, it spoke loudly and just hit me, and I could relate. For a moment, I had wished I was home. That’s a huge part of what music is about for me. Bonnaroo’s great and all, but it’s much better when you have people their to share it with.
It may have brought me down a little bit, but the next three songs would bring me back up high again, which was probably the climax of the entire Bon Iver show.
“For Emma” may also be a downer, but I have to tell you that I didn’t even feel that way with the bright sounding horns from the Elvis Perkins in Dearland boys and the crowd singing along. While the story seems to actually be about a girl Justin may have lost, the lyrics don’t reflect the upbeat and happy vibe the song gives off. This song was definitely the second greatest part of this Bon Iver show.
Justin asked the crowd if he could do another quiet one, which they seemed not to be against at all. He did “Re: Stacks” alone, a song he said was kind of about “the devil’s hand” in the game of cards. After reading through the lyrics online several times, I couldn’t exactly put together what he meant, nor do I really understand card games or what the devil’s hand may be. But I love the song, it’s one of my favorites from the album.
The full band joined him back up onstage for the last song on the set, a song that only seemed right to end with. After hearing various downloaded shows of Bon Iver, I knew what better way to end their Bonnaroo performance than with a song which pretty much relies on crowd participation. For “The Wolves (Act I & II)”, Justin asks the crowd to join in by singing the line “what might’ve been lost” towards the end. When Bon Iver began playing out live, Justin realized that this was a song that needed the crowd to participate because the band simply cannot recreate what thousands of people are able to do. As the song goes on, the crowd continues to build up that lyrical line, buidling it up so much, that it gets to the point where the entire audience ends up screaming and making as much noise as possible, as the members of Bon Iver go off into a very loud and noisy experimental rant, which I realized was one of the great, most energetic moments of Bonnaroo 2009, or any concert I’ve ever been a part of for that matter.
Although they only played eleven songs during their set and ended earlier than scheduled, Bon Iver managed to draw nearly ten-thousand people to This Tent, including celeb couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. From the get-go, I immediately noticed a certain energy in this crowd that I hadn’t seen at any other tent show yet, actually any show for that matter. After Bonnaroo was over, this energetic crowd participation/reaction seemed to match that of both Phish’s and Bruce Springsteen’s shows.
Celebrity Sightings at Bonnaroo
June 19th, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009, Uncategorized
Not that it matters or anyone really cares, but…
It’s come to my attention that aside from the musicians, there were a number of celebrity sightings at Bonnaroo this year. I didn’t exactly have any run-ins with anyone that famous, although I did watch Bela Fleck and Toumani Diabate’s set side stage while standing about ten feet away from Phish’s Mike Gordon and I’m not sure but I also believe I was watching a set on Saturday afternoon (maybe Elvis Perkins) while standing about the same distance from the drummer of My Morning Jacket, although they didn’t play but I’m about 90% sure it was him.
Other than that, I ran into Beatle Bob and said hey to him (still not sure who he is, maybe I’ll google it) and I also noticed Grace Potter a number of times watching shows near me, as well as some trumpet player (maybe from Perkins band) but he joined several bands during their performances.
Aside from that, the first celebrity sighting came early last week when either one or both of the Olsen twins were spotted at a Waffle House outside of Manchester. Other celebrities people noticed at Bonnaroo 2009 include Drew Barrymore (painted up like an Indian chick) and Justin Long, Cameron Diaz and Natalie Portman. I’d also like to note that Springsteen was spotted watching many bands side stage including Band of Horses and MGMT.
What I Missed at Bonnaroo 2009
June 18th, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009
It may be hard to believe, but there is one bad thing about music festivals: two or more bands you want to see who play at the same time. Making the schedule is obviously a hard task, but maybe not as difficult as picking who you want to see and who you’d have to miss in order to see that band.
Looking back on the festival, and after hearing certain things about certain sets, I really wish I would’ve caught some of these bands, although I’m still very happy with what I did happen to see at Bonnaroo 2009.
Here are some sets I missed:
Al Green
As I was making my way over to the Which Stage where TV on the Radio would be playing, I passed through the field of the What Stage where the legendary Al Green was already on. Because of the size of the field, I was able to catch a couple songs including “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)”, which would later become known as an unofficial Bonnaroo 2009 theme song – if you were there you’d understand what I mean…You could hear this song playing all around the festival grounds, mostly over the speakers before nearly every band took the stage. After seeing Green’s setlist, which included covers of Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles and the Temptations, I wish I would’ve stuck around to see a little bit more. Who knows if I’ll get another chance to see a legend amongst tens of thousands of people.
Erykah Badu
Friday Latenight which included Paul Oakenfold and Girl Talk
After the Phish show I just felt like I couldn’t go any longer, so I backed out and headed back to camp. Dance and techno aren’t exactly my favorite types of music (I”m not much of a dancer anyway), so it’s not like I really missed hearing a couple of DJ’s remix tracks from other artists.
Elvis Costello
Before Bonnaroo even happened, I was assuming that the backing band Costello would be using would be the same lineup who performed on his latest disc, which included the likes of Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan. Not so…On Sunday I was talking to the guy camping next to me and was told that Costello was backed yesterday by Jenny Lewis’ band, as well as Allen Toussaint. Meanwhile, as this super jam fronted by Costello was happening on early Saturday evening, I was at the Wilco show. I’ve seen Wilco a couple of times, and they are one of my favorite bands of all-time, but I think I would’ve rather have seen a once in a lifetime chance at Costello’s lineup.
The Decemberists
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
of Montreal
Jenny Lewis
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Citizen Cope
Ben Sollee
William Elliott Whitmore
Grizzly Bear
The Low Anthem
Tobacco
Erick Baker
Bonnaroo 2009 on AT&T Music
June 12th, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009
Miss the bus to Bonnaroo? Join in the fun and catch some amazing shows on AT&T Music. See the schedule below and enjoy… Currently the schedule doesn’t show anything for later in the evening, but earlier today there was a listing To Be Announced for Fri. Let’s all hope for a suprise showing of Phish…
Friday June 12th 2009
12:45PM – Gomez
2:00PM – People Under the Stairs
2:45PM – Animal Collective (Critic’s Pick)
4:00PM – The Low Anthem
5:00PM – Passion Pit (Critic’s Pick)
6:00PM – St. Vincent
6:30PM – Ani Difranco
8:00PM – King Sunny Ade
9:15PM – Galactic
Saturday, June 13th 2009
12:15PM – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
1:30PM – Heartless Bastards (Critic’s Pick)
2:30PM – Lucinda Williams
3:30PM – Rodrigo y Gabriela (Critic’s Pick)
5:00PM – Gov’t Mule (Critic’s Pick)
6:30PM – Kaki King
6:45PM – Elvis Costello (Critic’s Pick)
8:15PM – The Del McCoury Band
9:30PM – The Decemberists
11:00PM – Paul Oakenfold
Sunday, June 14th 2009
12:30PM – Cage the Elephant
1:15PM – Raphael Saadiq
2:15PM – Citizen Cope
3:30PM – Booker T and the Drive By Truckers (Critic’s Pick)
4:15PM – Andrew Bird (Critic’s Pick)
5:45PM – of Montreal
6:30PM – Coheed & Cambria
8:00PM – Snoop Dogg
9:30PM – Ben Harper and Relentless 7 (Critic’s Pick)
Bonnaroo or Bust
June 11th, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009
Well kids, I’ve made it. As we speak, I’m sitting outside a Krystal Burger on Hillsboro Road in a totally happening Manchester, Tennessee. I began the 300+ mile trek just after 6 pm and made it right after five hours. I started the journey off listening to Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Hits and I have to say that “Born to Run” really captured the mood. As the drive continued and I picked out albums from my CD collection, it was if the songs appeared to tell a story of my journey.
Upon my passing through Louisville, I figured it would only be appropriate to listen to Louisville’s band, My Morning Jacket. I won’t give you all the details of the ride down here, because I’m sure you know that passing through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee, that’s it’s rather boring. However, it’s very beautiful.
As I approached the Tennessee border, guess what band was in my CD player? The Grateful Dead. That’s right. Unfortunately there will be no Dead presence at this year’s Bonnaroo, the first time in the festival’s seven years. I had everything synced up so that “Tennessee Jed” would be playing exactly as I crossed the border…“Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain’t no place I’d rather be, baby won’t you carry me, back to Tennessee…”
The first destination upon arriving in the small town of Manchester, was to locate the radio station I’ll be going to in the morning to pick up my media pass. I found the place even though it was rather dark, and the station appeared to be locked up for the night. Much to my surprise, the infamous Walmart was only about two miles down the road. I pulled in the lot but wasn’t really surprised to see only what appeared to be somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people. I have no way of knowing exact numbers, but that’s my best guesstimate.
I asked around for places to find WiFi and I was told the Huddle House. I’m sure they have Waffle House’s down here, but this place appeared to be the poor man’s version. However, the food and service were great, unfortunately, the WiFi connection was absent. So I headed next door to Starbuck’s but they were closed. I ran into J.B. from France who was getting WiFi outside of the store. We talked for a bit, he tried to get a connection on my computer, but nothing was working. He told me of Krystal Burger, and here I am.
Well I guess it’s getting kind of late, although I’m sure the partying will go until the sun comes up in the Walmart parking lot, so maybe I better head back to get some sleep. I won’t be partying quite yet, I need my beauty rest.
Bonnaroo 2009: June 11-14 – Manchester, TN
June 10th, 2009
Posted in Bonnaroo 2009
Alright…the time has finally arrived. I’ll be leaving today for my third trip to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN. It should be a little bit different this year though, as it’s my first time going to the festival as a music writer. However, at the same time, it’s still Bonnaroo and it’s still arguably the biggest and best music festival in the country. You might even call it the official kickoff to the summer festival season as well.
There’s so much I’m looking forward to seeing and doing down there this year, mostly the bands, nearly all of which I’ve never seen perform live. I’ve got a few interviews set up with some personal favorites of mine, and I’m really stoked and nervous because all of this is quite overwhelming. I know for a fact that the experience this year will truly be like a dream coming true.
I just wanted to check in one last time while I’m still here in Kentucky, to let you know that I’ll be updating the blog on a daily basis, with pictures, video, reviews, audience encounters and whatever else may happen. Aside from covering the music and comedy, my goal is to capture the essence and spirit that is Bonnaroo.
Make sure to also check out Cincinnati.com and CincyGroove.com, as they’ll both be using some of my coverage for this year’s festival. It’s great to be working with both of them, and after meeting a couple of people who work for them, I have to say that they seem like really great people.
If you’re not going to the festival, you can also check the AT&T Blue Room, as they’ll be showing some of the performances over the weekend. Fuse TV will also be onsite, so if you get that channel you may want to check that out as well. I also hear that on the weekend of the 19th-21st, Fuse will be rebroadcasting some of this year’s performances.
So to everyone out there who has made my dreams come true by covering music, both at Bonnaroo, the Cincinnati music scene, MidPoint and any other events, I say thank you, although I can’t thank you enough for giving me these opportunities. I’ve met a lot of incredible, passionate music fans (and bands) like myself in the Cincinnati area, and I hope to be working with them for a long time.
I’ll be heading out probably in a few hours, and tonight I’ll be hanging out with the other hundreds of Bonnaroo fans who are already down at the infamous Walmart in Manchester. Apparently people have been there for a couple days now.
To everyone else,
see you in Manchester!
