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!

last one

Grateful Fest

What a beautiful place Nelson Ledges is. If you don't believe me go here www.nlpq.com and look at some of the pictures. We camped under the trees so the sun and heat weren't an issue like they are at Bonnaroo. The quarry was amazing and great to swim in. Chris had a bad sunburn which kept us at camp more than normal, but we still had fun and the kids all loved it. We got to see Dark Star Orchestra Saturday night and they are amazing. They always pick set lists from old Grateful Dead shows and perform the entire set. The kids seemed to like the music, but were pre-occupied building an alien entirely out of glow sticks. They did such a good job people kept giving them more glow sticks and when we got back to camp we hung it up on the shade tent. Keith's friend Kurt who went with us said people kept stopping by all night to take pictures of it and everyone thought it was cool. Sunday night we took the kids down to the beach to play while we listened to Rusted Root, who sounded great. Some guy on the beach started building a Grateful Dead skull out of sand and all the kids who were playing on the beach pitched in and helped finish it. It was such a fun weekend and we're planning on going back at the end of July for their Summer Hookha Weekend. Should be even more fun since Chris's sunburn will be gone. Poor kid, I felt so bad for him. Please, everyone reading this, put sunscreen on your kids. Don't trust them to do it themselves, and if you're in the water, remember to re-apply. Peace out!

Am I a loser baby?

Do any of you who have a blog or online journal ever go back and re-read stuff that you wrote? Or am I the only loser who does this? I just got done reading the Bonnaroo one, and I know I'll read that one again. I just had such a good time and already things are starting to fade, no matter how hard I try to hold on to the memories. I'm glad I wrote that right after the trip so it was still fresh in my mind. But I'll be totally honest, I re-read the random stuff I write too. I do that with my personal journal too. It's a good way to remind yourself of where you came from and what you've lived through. If I had one wish to improve something about myself I think it would be to have a photographic memory. Or even just a better, improved memory would be nice. I would like to remember what I did last week. Oh yeah, I went to Bonnaroo!

This weekend I'm taking my kids and Keith is taking his son and we're all going to Nelson Ledges Quarry Park for Grateful Fest. I'm super excited, I think it'll be lots of fun. They have a beach and you can jump off the cliffs into the quarry and there's hiking trails and lots of kid stuff to do. Plus music is playing all day for your enjoyment should you wish to partake. I know we won't listen to as much music, although I want to see some. I think the kids just want to swim all day, which should make them good and tired at night. Should be fun! Later.

cellar door

I watched Donnie Darko last night. Have you seen it? If not, you must. Be prepared to do some thinking though. In it, Drew Barrymore's character is talking about an author who says that out of all the words and combinations of words in the english language the most beautiful is cellar door. I can't get that out of my head. Do you ever get that? Maybe with a line from a song. Have you ever heard a song lyric that haunts you? Like you can't get it out of your head it's so good. Or maybe it's not that remarkable, but for some reason you can't let it go. Maybe it's the way they phrased it, or the way they sing it. Am I alone in this? Listen to any Rilo Kiley or Jenny Lewis cd. She is an incredible wordsmith. Peace.

tried and tempted

Temptation stared up at me from the sidewalk in front of my work. A lone cigarette rest on the ground without a flaw in sight. Now, I just got back from Bonnaroo where nearly everyone was smoking, not once did I feel the need to bum a smoke. But just like that, I felt tempted to pick it up and smoke it on the way home. 10 months since I quit and I felt tempted. I think it was the fact that it was just one, I didn't have to ask anyone for it and I didn't have to buy a whole pack. What was one cigarette? No big deal, right? So I picked it up, walked a few feet and threw it in the trash. Big pat on the back for me. Then, I shit you not, about a half hour later I walked in the stockroom and there was an open pack of Camels left by the floor clearners. Don't you find that bizzare? Why am I being tempted by cigarettes? I don't want to smoke, I feel better not smoking and to be honest I thought I was totally over it. I guess there'll always be those little temptations, it just how you deal with them. I deserve a cookie. Peace out.

To Bonnaroo and back

Bonnaroo '06 was the best Bonnaroo EVER! I know I said that last year, and at the time it was true, but this year blew last year out of the water. I didn't think it was possible to have a better time, but this year was the best time of my life. We had a great group of people (me, Keith, Kelby and Ian) and the music was fabulous. Every band there was pulling out all the stops for a killer performance. The best show of the weekend was Umphrey's McGee and the Disco Biscuts late night set on Friday night. 4 1/2 hours of ridiculousness that could have gone on all night and I wouldn't have minded. This show also takes top spot for my favorite concert of all time, which is saying alot since the old number one was Pink Floyd. I can't say enough about it and I don't think any show could beat this one. Let me walk you through my Bonnaroo:

Thursday June 15th, 7am Manchester, TN time. We rolled into the site without having to wait in line on the highway. In fact, we probably only waited about a half hour to get into our campsite, which is nuts. To give you an idea of how nuts, the first year I went we waited 12 hours in line to get in. This was much better. We had our entire camp set up and were sitting back with some cold beers by 8:30am. Which made for a strange day, since we really had nothing else to do we drank and whatnot until 8ish pm then we made our way down to the Wood Brothers set at This Tent. This was the first Bonnaroo show that I went up close for and I'm so glad we did. They were amazing and a great way to start the festival. They also covered the Beatles Fixing A Hole, which I loved. After that show, and without telling too much, most of our group went back to the tent to pass out, Keith partied all night withToubab Krewe and Moonshine Still sets, which I'm sure I'll be hearing about for months. I just couldn't do it at the time, but at least I got some sleep that night.

Friday June 16th, woke up and got moving kind of slowly, listedned to Keith rave about the 2 shows we missed and headed down to World Party around 12:30. Went up front after them for Ben Folds, we were what would be considered 2nd row (just Keith and I). I've seen Ben Folds many times and unfortunately many short sets, but he sure makes the most of them and this was no exception. Great songs, great energy, great fucking time all around. After the I went to Nickle Creek by myself and the rest went to Mike Gordon, which they said was just alright. NC was amazing though and I was glad they changed the schedule around and I got to see them. They are a great live band and if you ever get a chance check them out. After that was Oysterhead, which was good, but would have been better after the sun had gone down. At that point we were hot and gross and tired from the sun. But after that we cleaned up and headed out for a long night which started at 8:30 with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with special guest Stevie Nicks. Not as good a show as I expected and they cut 1 1/2 hours out of their set, but no matter because after that was Umphrey/Biscuits which made up for Petty. Ended up sleeping under a tree that night, or rather that morning, for a couple hours and then went back to camp.

Saturday June 17, 12:15, reguardless of the late night we were up and at 'em with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals which I had never heard, but am so glad I went. They rocked out loud and I highly recommend them. Then it was on to Buddy Guy at 2, which I think I fell asleep for, but what I heard was good. Then I went alone to Gomez, stayed for about 6 songs and went back for Damian Marley, who sounds just like Bob when he does his songs. 5:30 was Beck, which was great and they had puppets that were dressed like the band and did everything the band did. Then a few minutes of Cypress Hill, who had a giant Buddha taking up most of the stage. That night was Radiohead from 8:30-11 and let me tell you, they were amazing. I can see why people say they are one of the best live bands, because this show was probably #2 for the weekend. After that was Dr. John, then Superjam (which was Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Phil Lesh and assorted others), then Ivan Neville's Dumstaphuck, which was fucking great. They just kept on playing and we kept on dancing, then we headed on over to Sasha which was like this trance DJ stuff that made me want to constantly move, but at that point the sky was already starting to get light and my body was giving up.

Sunday June 18, 12:15, it was harder to get up this morning than any other. Last day, not as many shows, but still wanted to get the most out of it so we bounced from Mike Doughty to Brothers Past and ended up at the Codetalkers feat. Col. Bruce Hampton which was at the mainstage and we got up super close and the bass is still ringing in my chest. Amazing set. Then Keith and I went from Refugee Allstars of Sierra Leone to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones to the Streets where we fell asleep for 3 hours and woke up to Atmosphere. We realized that we had missed the first half of moe, so we decided to listen to them as we walked back to camp to get ready for the evening. Which was a good idea, because everyone was there and we got our favorite spot in the back to watch Phil Lesh and Friends. What a way to fininsh Bonnaroo, they sounded great, played great songs and the energy of the crowd was awesome. Joan Osborne sang probably half the songs and she was superb. It started raining and we went back to camp early, but we could hear it just as clearly as we could sitting down at the stage.

We left the next morning and got back to Waterville right before 10pm. I can't believe it's over and I can't wait for next year. I wish everyone in the world could have the openmindedness to enjoy a trip like this, because there's so much love at Bonnaroo and so much great music and friends and new people to meet. I'm left with a feeling of peace and love in my soul that I hope can continue until next year. I love everyone! Peace out.