Notes from Bonnaroo

[stevGNR666]

So we made our way over to Centeroo after a good rest the night before and steak for breakfast (yeah, we brought disposable grills). Gogol Bordello was playing at 3:30 and we didn't want to miss that. At the Which stage I made my way through the crowd and moshed and shoved my way all the way to the railing and the view was awesome. I got stage dived on, I got a microphone to scream into, I got to shake Eugene's hand (the singer), and I also got to see his backside when he and a dancer threw a bass drum into the audience on top of my head and crowd surfed out to it and stood up on it. I have pictures of his gypsy ass to prove it! Notable performances with somewhat discernable lyrics are The Wonderlust King, Start Wearing Purple, and Alcohol. The rest kind of blended together in one constant Eastern European stomp. Though the music was rather one dimensional they put on one hellova stage show and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. (8/10)

We made our way over to the What stage, met the rapper/bongo guy from Gogol and I got to shake his hand. That was pretty cool. We saw fifteen minutes of B.B. King, wasn't too impressed, 15 minutes of Zappa plays Zappa, wasn't too thrilled, then headed over to This Tent for Iron & Wine.

Iron & Wine simply transcended time and space. While most jam bands have their roots in psychedelic, southern, prog, or electronica, Iron & Wine kick folk music into high gear and gradually flesh out simple folksy riffs into extended jams that climax in a gradual lush fashion layered through bongos, slide guitars, xylaphones, and beautiful harmonizations. The affects were trance-like and kept me in a dreamy glaze for the entire set. Lots of my favorite songs off Our Endless Numbered Days like Sodom, South Georgia, Cinder and Smoke, and Upward Over the Mountain from The Creek Drank the Cradle were highlights. I need to get their new album! It felt like I was on opium. One of the best acts of the festival. (10/10)

So we made our way over to What stage for Jack Johnson and Pearl Jam. By the time we got to Jack Johnson half his set was finished and Eddie Vedder had just walked on stage for a duo on "Constellations." That was the highlight of the set. I've never been a fan and this performance didn't give me any incentive to become one. The audience, as far as I could tell, was comprised of estatic sorority girls, belligerently drunk frat boys, middle aged mellowed out hippies with their kids, and bored Pearl Jam fans. I suppose I was in the last category. (6/10)

Pearl Jam delivered the goods in a huge way. This was my second time seeing them and their set was pretty much on the money every step of the way. Eddie was drunk as hell the whole time and tore up the set like he was still in his twenties. McCreedy delivered the ripping solos as usual and everyone was damn tight. At one point, I could have swore they were turning into a jam band with extended jams during Crazy Mary and Betterman weaving in and out of brilliant and self-indulgence. By far, the most impressive tune was Release, a personal favorite of mine and I went nuts. Other noteworthy tracks were Black, Love Reign O'er Me, Life Wasted, WMA, and All Along the Watchtower, which closed out the show. Here's the setlist:

Set 1 Hard To Imagine, Corduroy, All Night, Why Go, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Down, Who You Are, Severed Hand, 1/2 Full, Animal, Even Flow, Daughter, Gone, Love Reign O'er Me, Do The Evolution, Rearviewmirror

Encore 1 W.M.A., Better Man(Save it for Later), Black, Life Wasted, Crazy Mary, Porch

Encore 2 No More, Release, Alive

Encore 3 All Along The Watchtower

Pearl Jam ended about 1AM and Omar and I decided that we wanted to see Kanye West for kicks, but instead of waiting at What we decided to go to That for Sigur Ros to rest up for Kanye. (10/10)

At Sigur Ros we found some friendly hippie chicks and laid down next to them and let the waves of sound wash over us. It was pretty damn intense despite some technical difficulties which resulted in some unpleasant feedback. I really dig Sigur Ros and I've been listening to my collection of them moreso since I got back. The songwriting is kind of simple but on the same token, really well layered and I've got to respect that. The one song that I was familiar with was Hoppípolla. (8/10)

At about 2:30 we got up and headed back to the What stage to see the meltdown that was Kanye West. For the next two hours we sat and watched his crew set up the stage and wait while delays kept being announced and a mini-riot was brewing right in front of us. People were leaving by the thousands, everyone was cursing Kanye's name, booing in unison, throwing thousands of lightsticks at the stage and trashing the field. I spent most of my time cracking jokes and guessing what his grand entrance was going to be (I said that he was going to come down in a rocket ship and out of the rocket ship would come the original Noah's Ark and all of the animals cryrogenically frozen and walking out while a kangaroo sat on the top of the mast with Kanye naked on its shoulders covered in phosphoros paint). But alas, he just had some stupid teleprompter with galaxies flashing behind him while he wore a space suit and rapped his way through a lame story plot about being on an unknown planet that his ship's crashed into. How Gold Digger works its way into the plot is beyond me. Anyways, after witnessing this epic atrosity for 15 minutes and on the verge of hyperventilation from laughing so much we staggered our way back to camp for the second day in a row as the sun rose. From my tent I could hear the music go silent and I looked at my watch and it said 5:30 and I laughed and laughed knowing that Kanye cut short his set knowing that his glow in the dark theme was rendered completely useless with dawn creeping up on the stage. For the entire absurd experience I will give Kanye the respect he deserves because he has now provided Omar and me a punch line to every joke for years to come. Kudos Kanye. And Kudos for not even apologizing to the crowd for being so late or even acknowledging anyone but himself. (11/10)

[Spoon87]

Pearl Jam delivered the goods in a huge way. This was my second time seeing them and their set was pretty much on the money every step of the way. Eddie was drunk as hell the whole time and tore up the set like he was still in his twenties. McCreedy delivered the ripping solos as usual and everyone was damn tight. At one point, I could have swore they were turning into a jam band with extended jams during Crazy Mary and Betterman weaving in and out of brilliant and self-indulgence. By far, the most impressive tune was Release, a personal favorite of mine and I went nuts. Other noteworthy tracks were Black, Love Reign O'er Me, Life Wasted, WMA, and All Along the Watchtower, which closed out the show. Here's the setlist:

Set 1 Hard To Imagine, Corduroy, All Night, Why Go, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Down, Who You Are, Severed Hand, 1/2 Full, Animal, Even Flow, Daughter, Gone, Love Reign O'er Me, Do The Evolution, Rearviewmirror

Encore 1 W.M.A., Better Man(Save it for Later), Black, Life Wasted, Crazy Mary, Porch

Encore 2 No More, Release, Alive

Encore 3 All Along The Watchtower

Pearl Jam ended about 1AM and Omar and I decided that we wanted to see Kanye West for kicks, but instead of waiting at What we decided to go to That for Sigur Ros to rest up for Kanye. (10/10)

Lucky fucker! That setlist is near perfection but... which PJ setlist is not near perfection

I wish I could've been there, or at any other US show this tour.