You know how, with the cicadas here in the Chicagoland area this summer, sometimes you can't step without the crunch of the bugs under your feet? As you waited for bands to start at any of the five major stages at Bonnaroo last weekend, it was kind of like that, only with hippies.
As I slowly expunge the metric ton of dust from my lungs (it was very hot and very dry down in Tennessee), let us look back at the weekend...
6.15 friday
Cold War Kids (That Tent)
We quickly learned that you can't get very close to the stage after a set has started, and also that it's pretty impossible to see a band in one of the tents from outside that tent in the daytime. Plus, the couple of songs we heard weren't all that impressive. Me: "You know how I said I could take it or leave it with these guys? Not so much with the take it." I'm paraphrasing, of course.
RX Bandits (Which Stage)
Only caught the last two songs from this California band, but they were pretty good.
Brazilian Girls (Which Stage)
Fun set from the New York multi-culti electronica outfit, with the band's singer sporting what looked at first like an oversized backpack, but expanded into this reflective, circular accessory that made it look like she had a spotlight on her despite the broad daylight. It probably would have looked pretty cool had she actually been lit with a spotlight, too.
Tortoise (This Tent)
I've seen this band a ton of times, and while they haven't really shown me anything new lately, watching them weave their intricate, noir-ish textures can still be fascinating. Especially in the middle of a crowd that might not have ever seen them before. This show sort of debunked that earlier notion of having to get to the stage well beforehand for a good spot, but I think that's more a function of the band's niche following.
Kings of Leon (What Stage)
After Lollapalooza last year, I was somewhat critical of Wolfmother -- who also performed at Bonnaroo -- for being too enamored with the schtick of big 70s hard rock, complete with ironic hairdos and t-shirts one size too small. Kings of Leon, on the other hand, do the 70s thing right. They're a throwback without being explicitly "retro," which was refreshing, although I haven't quite bought into their recorded output the way some critics have.
The Roots (What Stage)
The best live band in hip-hop took about twenty minutes to really get burning, picking things up with a fantastic mini-set from the four-piece horn section, ?uestlove on a compact drumkit on the side of the stage and guitarist Kirk Douglas. Later on they pared it down further with a pretty riveting interpretation of "Masters Of War" from Bob Dylan from just ?uestlove, Douglas, and the guy playing the sousaphone (!) from the horn section.
Tool (What Stage)
Seeing ?uestlove and Tool's Danny Carey back-to-back almost made me want to quit playing drums. This was probably my fifth time seeing the band, and the set was pretty much identical to the earlier 10,000 Days tour stop at the Allstate Arena. On the one hand, I would have liked to hear them mix things up a bit. On the other, the band's execution was flawless and the sound was fantastic, making for a very powerful show. Maynard James Keenan seemed to be reveling in the irony of songs like "The Pot" and "Lost Keys (Blame Hoffman)" in this particular environment. Tom Morello's guest spot on "Lateralus" showed off all of Morello's usual bag of tricks, including some licks that were lifted almost directly from Rage Against The Machine tunes, not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. It also dawned on me that the opening riff from "Vicarious" borrows heavily from King Crimson's "Discipline," not that there's anything wrong with that, either.
SuperJam featuring ?uestlove, John Paul Jones and Ben Harper (The Other Tent)
With a midnight start time, I mistakenly thought the crowd for this after-hours set might be a little sparser. To say I was wrong would be a bit of an understatement. We were far enough away that the Led Zeppelin bassist's sound wasn't quite making it to our vantage point to overcome the bleed from one of the other stages. So after two Zep covers (of four that would open the band's set), we decided that was enough for one day and headed back to the hotel. What, you thought we were actually camping?
6.16 saturday
Annuals (That Tent)
We were kind of hoping for a pleasant surprise from a band we knew nothing about, but the six-piece indie outfit struggled with sound problems early and never quite got on track.
Gogol Bordello (This Tent)
Made it across the festival grounds in time for the last song from the gypsy-punk collective from New York City, and it sounded like quite the party.
Fountains of Wayne (This Tent)
Not exactly the kind of band you'd expect if you were still clinging to the hippy vibe this festival began with, and they acknowledged this with the expected self-deprecating flair. You can't not like this band's pop songcraft and harmonies -- I defy you to not start singing along in spite of yourself. And they're so quintessentially Jersey, despite claiming to be a "New York" band. You've got three guys who look kind of nerdy, and then the drummer and lead guitarist overcompensate in the opposite direction. Spotted during their set: a Goose Island "312" beach ball, which is harder to get a picture of in motion than you might think. Also, two of the band's roadies came on stage to add percussion to "Hey Julie" while looking bored beyond belief, and then one of those roadies tried throwing a beach ball over the main lighting truss right at the close of the set only to get it stuck on top.
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals (What Stage)
Once again, I have to point out how immaculate the sound was on the festival's biggest stage, and that certainly helped capture Harper's dynamic range. I was worried that some of his more intimate stuff might get lost in the big field, but that was unfounded. I haven't seen Ben Harper in quite some time, and this set was a strong reminder of why I saw him nearly every chance I got through his first four records or so. And you won't find a more appropriate audience for "Burn One Down" anywhere -- I'm not sure the contact high has worn off yet. The set also included guest spots from John Paul Jones on a marathon version of "Dazed and Confused" (that still may have clocked in a little shorter than the previous night's SuperJam version, from what I heard), and then Ziggy Marley for the obvious version of "Get Up, Stand Up." Sometimes I think Ben Harper is more the heir apparent to Bob Marley than the reggae legend's own son.
The Police (What Stage)
I am a lousy judge of the size of crowds, as we clearly would have gotten into the front section of the crowd area, which was cleared out between each act on the main stage. But I was being all risk-averse, and thought there was a chance we might be denied access and then have lost our earlier spot to boot, so we watched from the front of the section behind that enclosed area. Not the worst thing in the world, and when that's running down, you make the best of what's still around. Stewart Copeland clearly lost the battle to have the band embrace the jam-band spirit (in the material world?) and play four songs for twenty minutes each, as the set list seemed pretty close to what has been reported on the tour to date. I was struck with how good the material from Synchronicity sounded, particularly the percussion-driven "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "Walking In Your Footsteps." And with the mixed crowd not necessarily the kind of die-hard Police fans you would see on the proper reunion tour, I was amused at how few people sang along with songs like "Truth Hits Everybody" -- which was kind of excruciatingly slow -- and "The Bed's Too Big Without You." At times, Stewart Copeland looked every bit his age, and Andy Summers seemed almost reluctant to stretch his jazz muscles, but that wasn't enough to diminish the performance from, let's face it, one of my favorite bands ever.
The Flaming Lips (Which Stage)
After leaving the What Stage area, we were surprised to hear activity on the Which Stage. Apparently it was just the Lips doing a soundcheck to "War Pigs" from Black Sabbath, which was a good indicator of the political subtext of quite a bit of the psychedelic band's set and Wayne Coyne's between-song banter. Overall, it was pretty similar to the Lollapalooza set from last year, with a pack of dancing aliens on one side of the stage balanced by Santa Clauses and the occasional superhero on the other, Coyne rolling into the crowd in a big ball, and lots of confetti and streamers and laser pens in the audience.
6.17 sunday
The Decemberists (Which Stage)
I'm not sure how it's possible for a band to sound like NPR, but The Decemberists pull it off. Maybe that's because I saw head Decemberist Colin Meloy share a stage with the likes of Sarah Vowell and Dave Eggers last year, but it still seems to be the most apt thumbnail sketch of the almost baroque, chamber pop that this band puts out. Any time a set opens with the lead singer asking the crowd to scream like they're being swallowed by a whale, you know you're in for something a little bit different.
Wilco (What Stage)
Just a fantastic set from the Chicago mainstays. I've never been a huge fan, so maybe the opportunity was ripe for me to be really impressed, but I don't want that to detract from the band's performance. The slow tunes ached in all the right places, the more uptempo material picked things up -- the songs presented themselves as they were meant to be. It was just an overall enjoyable experience that I don't want to over-analyze.
The White Stripes (Which Stage)
I've had a bit of a Jack White conversion in the last year or so. It's easy to dismiss him as schtick, as trying to glom onto some sort of faux-retro style, but he throws himself at it with such passion and conviction that he either really means it, or it really doesn't matter.
All in all, a great weekend for music. And having caught at least parts of sets from seventeen different bands, I think I can lay off the "woe is me, I don't go see shows anymore" crutch for at least a couple of months.
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