Bonnaroo 2009

I spent this past weekend in the middle of Tennessee. It took me 24 hours to get there via plane, and I spent the next 24 hours without any luggage. But I’m not going to talk about that here, I’ll save that for a future post about how American Airlines could have used Social Media to get my business again. I want to talk about Bonnaroo, the best music and arts festival in North America.

The music lineup was top notch. I have extremely eccentric tastes in music. My philosophy when someone asks me what I listen to comes from Duke Ellington, “there are only two kinds of music in this world, good and bad.” So yes, there was one band that made me buy a ticket to the festival, Phish. But it was the diverse and deep lineup that made it a great weekend. In just two hours on Sunday I bounced between Merle Haggard , Erykah Badu, Andrew Bird and Okkervil River. My ears are constantly open and Bonnaroo does not disappoint.

The highlights:

My name is Brad and I like Phish. I used to hide myself as a Phishhead, I was tired of being pigeonhold but since Phish has come back, I just don’t care anymore. I was awfully excited to see them on Friday night. I utilized my semi-secret way to get down to the front of the stage, ending up 40 feet back on Fishman’s side. These guys are hot right now. They had a 3 hours to play, so I assumed we would hear 2 sets with a short break in between. That turned out to not be the case. We we’re given 3.5 hours of both classic and new songs. The jams were contained to the right songs and the right places. When I would find my mind wandering, someone would always come through and bring my attention right back. This was a good show. The new songs, Kill Devil Falls and Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan are good tunes with lots of opportunity to grow into being classics. I had never been so close to the stage during Divided Sky, so it was neat to see the silent jam that close. I’d only heard that at the Gorge, while the sun was setting so I can’t exactly complain. Harry Hood, YEM, Silent in the Morning and Down with Disease all were awesome. They were hitting everything with authority and meaning. It sounded like Phish, it didn’t sound like they were trying to be a pop band or a funk band or a cover band. This is the band that I grew up on, and this is the band that I know. They’re going back to being themselves, and everybody should be happy about that.

I love Wilco (the band). Last time I saw them, I believe I said, “this is a band I’m looking forward to getting old with.” Everything they put out is great, and the new album is no different. I was lucky enough to be down in front for the show again. You could tell that everyone was having lots of fun. Nels Cline is one of my favorite guitar players, and did not disappoint. Jeff Tweedy was very chatty, at one point he said, “we’re pretty happy about playing before Bruce, because if you boo, we can’t tell a difference.”

Grizzly Bear translated their lovely new album to the stage perfectly. Wish I could have seen their whole set, but I was transitioning from seeing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, on my way to see King Sunny Ade and Santigold. All were excellent and they were all at the same time. That’s the wonderful and frustrating thing about these festivals, you can only see so much.

David Byrne brought the house down. I’m looking forward to seeing him again next week in Seattle. He had a number of interpretive dancers on stage with him, they were fun to watch. I wish the drunk assholes from Jersey next to me weren’t yelling every lyric. Then again, I think drunk assholes from Jersey make the world go round (yin ‘n yang?).

The last time at Bonnaroo, I neglected to go to the comedy tent. This year I opted to go to see the Daily Show cast; John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Wyatt Cenac, Kristen Schaal and some others. All the standup sets were hilarious and a nice change of pace.

It would be wrong to neglect the excellent set from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. I’ve never been a big fan of The Boss, but I’ve always respected him and his band. They’re hard working and lots of people are devout fans, so who am I to judge? That man knows how to put on a show. The only other person I’ve seen work so hard and fill such a big stage without any doubt of who is in charge is Mick Jagger. He puts performers half his age to shame. The other memorable part was watching Max Weinberg’s 18 year old son take over the kit half way through the set, this kid has a future.

The disappointments:

MGMT had the crowd at the tip of their fingertips. That Tent was as overflowed as I’ve ever seen in my two years of going to Bonnaroo. Everybody was asking for a dance party, but sadly, they didn’t deliver. Maybe I was too far away, and the sound wasn’t loud enough. I don’t think so though. These guys need to tour some more and work out their live show. Take a lesson from the jambands and pull the song out a little. The crowd was ready.

I’m bummed that I missed these shows; moe. (they played until 7am), MURS, Passion Pit, Public Enemy, Phoenix, Femi Kuti, Al Green, Galactic, Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis, David Grisman, Citizen Cope, Neko Case and Band of Horses.

The roundup:

I’ve been to a number of festivals, all around the country, some better than others. For the most part, I generally get discouraged by the organization. Having to sit in a line for hours on end to get anything is not the way that most people want to spend their time at a festival. The good folks that run Bonnaroo know what they’re doing. Everywhere you go, the lines are manageable, the food is good, the beer is reasonably priced and the stages offer good sight lines, even if you show up late. You can tell that the organizers think about the experience and not just how they can make money. They’re taking the bet on the long term, not the short term. If they continue doing what they’re doing, Bonnaroo is going to be around for a long time. In the middle of June, there is no city I’d rather be in than Manchester, Tennessee.