Bonnaroo 2010

Here's my Bonnaroo breakdown: 16 half sets (either late from a show or left early for another show), 6 full sets (a couple unintentional, but so good I couldn't bring myself to leave), 5 only heard while walking or at camp (but we could see the Which Stage from our camp so you could hear it pretty well, listened to Regina Spektor while I took a shower on Sunday) and 2 comedy shows (Aziz Ansari is the funniest man alive!), all totaled that's 27 shows, not bad for a free Media pass ticket:)

I won't go into every detail, I'm not up for that much typing, but I saw some amazing shows this weekend that I wanted to share. There was way more music than there used to be on Thursday, my first show was Fanfarlo, which is a band that Wes burned for me, so I had heard them a couple times before, they were great live. The female fiddle player (heck yeah, fiddle!) was wearing a vintage Paul McCartney concert t-shirt, I don't really have a comment for this, just found it note worthy:) They have an Arcade Fire-esque sound to them, maybe not quite as big though, Dre, I think you and Al would like them:) Next was Miike Snow and this was my second time seeing them, I had a horrible spot at the very back because I got there late, but they sounded good, they're a fun live band and the crowd really got into it. That was all the music that night, I was very tired and hot, went to the comedy tent and watched 1 so so comedian and 1 horrible comedian open for Margaret Cho, who I used to like, but after about 15 minutes I was tired of hearing her talk about how many guys she fucks, and left and went to bed. The next morning (and every morning) we went to breakfast outside of the festival, this might have been the best part about where we were camping, the fact that we could leave. That and the free showers, which I used on average twice a day:) The first show I saw on Friday was Carolina Chocolate Drops, I had only read about them and never heard them, how good were they you ask? The one guy played a jug, for real, so obviously, they good as fuck! 3 piece blue grass band, the female singer was ridiculous, even if you aren't into blue grass you should check them out, very fun high energy show. Next was my first difficult discussion, Umphrey's McGee or The Gossip, 4 years ago I would have picked Umphrey's without even thinking, but I've heard Gossip alot at work and really like them, they pretty much won out because they were in a tent and I could stay in the shade and I was going to leave early and catch the end of Umphrey's, but it ended up being my favorite show of the weekend. If they ever come around here I'm going, so open invite for whoever wants to go with me. The leader singer, who I be live is named Beth Ditto, has some crazy pipes and sings and dances her ass off, and in between every song she would banter, totally hilarious, I ended up staying for the whole set:) Later that day was Tori Amos, if you don't know how much I love Tori you don't know me very well, I've seen her a bunch of times and have listened to her for well over a decade, Christ, I have her tattooed on my arm! I was so stoked for this show, I even showed up early to get a good-ish spot, my only regret is leaving before the end to watch Les Claypool (which I only watched for 2 songs, should have stayed:( Anyway, she was amazing, as always, she played some of my favorite old songs, Leather, Precious Things, Mr. Zebra, etc. I skipped KOL so I could take a shower and get a good spot for Flaming Lips. You really have no idea how much a shower helps, even if you get sweaty and dirty right after, to get that initial layer of filth off feels so good, and the sun was starting to set so it was the perfect time. Have you seen the Flaming Lips before? Then you'll know how that show was, but if you haven't then you really can't appreciate what a spectacle it is, it's ridiculous in the best way. There's a huge LCD screen behind the band with a door in the middle where the band enters the stage, they set off big confetti cannons and there's giant balloons everywhere, I'll have to get my pictures up soon so you can see, it was, in a word, ridiculous:) LCD Soundsystem was that night too, I was sooo looking forward to this show, and when I got over to that tent it was already full, and I was exhausted, but I made myself stay for at least half of it and with a heavy heart I went home for the night and crashed. The first show the next day was Circa Survive, again, I didn't think I'd stay for the whole set, but I couldn't bring myself to leave, they put on such a great show. The lead singer was telling people to take off their clothes and throw them onstage, said they wouldn't be needing them this weekend, and a ton of people did it, it was raining clothes, pretty funny. On the last song he crowd surfed/swam into the middle of the crowd and stood up, and then swam back to the stage, it was great. The next notable band was Weezer, and I actually used the credentials I was wearing to get in the bleachers, sooo much better than being on the ground. It was at Which stage, the second largest, and it was packed. They were awesome! I've seen Weezer before, and I like their music, but I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, they were so fun to watch. Maybe it's because I could actually see them, that definitely helps, being 5'3" at a festival (or any concert really) kind of blows, but I digress. Stevie Wonder was that night, and now I can say until I die that I got to see Stevie Wonder:) He was flawless, sounded so good, and he came out playing a key tar, how can you beat that? He played all the hits and they had the sound cranked to 11 on the What stage, I bet people at Wal-Mart in town could hear it. Doesn't it figure I was wide awake this night, I didn't give a shit about Jay-Z so I walked around and ended up at Thievery Corporation. There's always at least one band that I'll see at roo that I have to immediately go out and buy when I get home, Thievery Corporation is that band this year, they played from midnight to 2:15am and I saw most of it, even though there was alot more going on I kept coming back to that tent, stay tuned for a new musical obsession to form. Deadmau5 was also that night and I watched him for a while, really just electronic dance music, but it was good, and he looks awesome up on his lit podium with his LCD giant mouse ears on:) GWAR was at 2:30am and I walked down with Bryan who was going to shoot them, I really didn't care about seeing them, but I stood to the side of the stage where I could see and watched them spray the crowd with fake blood, and I have to say, it was kind of awesome. Bryan looked like he stabbed someone when he came out of the photo pit, and the rest of the weekend we were saying how people got GWARed. The fountain was reddish pink the next day from people washing off, or trying to, it didn't come off very well. Carrie, who also camped with us, has very blond hair and it looked like she streaked it pink the next morning, she got GWARed ;) I was so glad Sunday was the last day, it was the most difficult as far as dealing with the heat went, I was out in the sun alot more and probably lost 5 lbs. sweating that day, sat in the shade alot instead of standing at the stages. Martin Sexton was my favorite show of the day, I love how positive and happy he is, and he played Beast In Me which is my favorite. I also finally got to see They Might Be Giants, which I've listened to since high school and they were very entertaining. They did a little thing about Avatar and how they were at war with James Cameron, which made me chuckle and think about Avatron, my boss' robot rock song about said movie. The very last thing I went to see at Bonnaroo was Aziz Ansari in the comedy tent, I would like to thank Buddy for showing me his stand-up special before I went, it made this show that much more enjoyable. He is my new favorite comedian, so very funny, I want to hang out with him.

So that was my weekend in a nut shells, at least the shows, we stayed in Nashville on Wed. and Sun. nights with Gretchen's aunt and uncle (Bryan's wife) and they were the coolest, I had a great time with them. They can talk more than anyone I've ever met;) Other than that it was mostly driving, which wasn't too bad either. Next year is the 10 year anniversary and I'm serious about getting a group to go, I don't even care what the line-up says, although for 10 years you know they're going to do something crazy. I'm think they might raise someone from the dead, Jimmy Hendrix maybe? You don't want to miss that! So start saving money and vacation time now, you have a year warning:) Peace!