Bonnaroo 2010 (Saturday)

Jay-Z images by my new friend Julia Stanley (julia.amber18@gmail.com). Thanks Julia!

I just got back from my 6th Bonnaroo. This year I wussed out and only went on Saturday. Real life got in the way of an entire weekend on the farm (and a weaker than usual line up too imo). Of the shows I was interested in seeing on Friday, the reports I heard: Jay Electronica was the shiz-nit. Flaming Lips were as expected - interesting take on Dark Side with the same production they have had the past couple years. Daryl Hall and Chromeo was OK. Kid CuDi was good but short. LCD Soundsystem was awesome.

I arrived at the farm early on Saturday to sunshine and that Bonnaroo heat and humidity we have all come to love. I tried to stay under the moving clouds to no avail and went to check out Baba Maal. It was really hot around noon, and I think the early hour and the heat made it difficult for people to get down to the African rhythms. The USA/UK World Cup match drew a huge crowd to the movie tent, and the air was filled with excited energy (1-1 tie sweet!). After a short break, I went to see Dave Rawlings Machine in a nice shady tent. This is the third time I've seen the band this year (and the second time in two weeks), and the novelty has definitely worn off. The Delfest show was a perfect way to close out a festival. This one was in the middle of the afternoon and was the exact same setlist in the same order as Delfest (minus a few tunes). Queen Jane set closer, etc. etc. Maybe if I hadn't seen it two weeks ago, I would have liked it more. Though Dave Rawlings' archtop guitar was still cool to see and hear.

After Dave Rawlings Machine, I made my way over to the Avett Brothers. I was dreading their 4:45 set time on the Which stage (second biggest - no shade), but, lo and behold, it just so happened to be one of those crazy synchronistic days and the weather cooperated. Immediately preceding their set (as in in the time it took me to walk from That Tent to Which Stage), amazing cloud cover moved in. It looked for a minute like it was going to dump rain on us. Then, about four songs into their set, it seemed as though it was going to pass. BUT, it didn't pass. The clouds parked themselves right over the edge of the festival, blessing us with shade, coolness, and a little bit of rain during what turned out to be an amazing show.

The band seemed really into it and went all out for their Bonnaroo 2010 set. I love it when bands are still growing really fast and seemingly feel the need to blow up the huge festival sets. Their sound was loud, out of key, intense, and focused. There seemed to be a lot more electric guitar than I'm used to. It saddens me a little to see them so obviously changing their image and sound as they grow, but, hey, change is the only constant, right? And it spread... Highlights of the set for me were The Fall opener (again), Colorshow (can't get enough), and Laundry Room. For some reason Laundry Room was especially beautiful yesterday, and they had the crowd eating from their hand. A little rain sprinkled down on us during the break down at the end, which added to the energy.

Break this tired old routine
And this time don't make me leave
I AM A BREATHING TIME MACHINE
I'll take you all for a ride.

Another really short break after the Avetts before I went to see Jeff Beck. I had never seen Jeff Beck before (scratch another legend off the list), and he pretty much made me an instant fan. His show was super high energy with such an amazing clear, loud guitar tone. Even though he's an older force in music, something about his show sounded so modern and relevant, like he's able to transcend time and generations to speak to us with his guitar. Covers I remember - Sly Stone's Wanna Take You Higher, Beatles' Day in the Life (normally so cliche, but surprisingly worked here), Lilac Wine (I'm familiar with Jeff Buckley's version, not sure who wrote it).

After Jeff Beck, a really quick walk got me a good spot to the right of the soundboard for Stevie Wonder (living legend number 2 of the day). He came on stage rocking out on the keytar, and things started out really hot (as in good). He ran through his greatest hits and threw in a fair amount of covers. By the end of his set though, I have to admit, I was ready for him to take a bow and make way for Jay-Z (no disrespect Stevie - I just wasn't feeling it).

Getting into the pit for Jay-Z on the right side (stage left) of the What Stage was one of the more challenging things I've done at the Roo. The line was borderline dangerous, with people falling and being nearly trampled as probably 5000 people tried to push their way in. Luckily, somehow I didn't pass out and made it in. And I say luckily because I think I was one of the last ones, as the pit did not fill in any more once I got my spot on the middle rail with a clear view down the catwalk. My guess is that it was getting so dangerous with everybody pushing that they closed it off and said 'no more pit for you.'

Jay-Z's show was great. It was a little boring at times, but the production was top notch. His backdrop is like the skyline of New York City (and indeed is during Empire State of Mind), and it is covered with LEDs (I think). When SCI first started using these things, we jokingly called it the Lite Bright, but man oh man have they made improvements in this technology in the past five years. He ran through his greatest hits and most of Blueprint 3. The bass was full and loud, Jay-Z was intelligible, and the band was tight. He was high energy and that translated into most of the crowd being stoked on the show. Surprisingly, Young Forever was a huge highlight for me. I generally think Dylan's Forever Young is super cliche and thought I couldn't stand the Jay-Z song. Somehow, though, the cheesiness translated into a sense of unity or something as the crowd sang along. It seemed especially fitting and poignant considering the general make-up of a Jay-Z crowd at Bonnaroo, and people seemed to be feeling it.

Fear not when
Fear not why
Fear not much
While we're alive


After the spectacle that was Jay-Z ended, I rushed over to catch the last few songs of Dan Deacon's Ensemble. Though I love Dan Deacon's sound and originality, the band seemed a little disjointed and loud. No matter, because I knew deadmau5 was next, and I was excited.

HOLY SH*T!! deadmau5 was insane!! Absolutely mind blowing!! I'd watched the video of the show from Coachella and knew what I was getting into, but...woah. That looked so cool. His light show is designed by the same people who did the Daft Punk Alive tour and the Kanye West Glow in the Dark tour, and this one is far and away the craziest production yet. Everything from his LED mau5head to his DJ stand (for lack of a better term) had me hooked with glorious eye candy until about fifteen minutes past 4AM. And I actually thought the music was awesome too! After being seriously blown away by deadmau5 (seriously.), I stumbled over to the Disco Biscuits for a little while. Although the music was not awful, it definitely felt like amateur hour in there after what I had just witnessed at deadmau5, and I left around 5AM for bed.

Another amazing Saturday at Bonnaroo. I understand all the criticisms (not my thing, too hot, too many people, not enough jambands, too mainstream, blah, blah, blah), but year in year out AC Entertainment and Superfly put together an event that will be talked for the rest of the year. Though this lineup was a little light, this year is no different. Thank you to the farm and thank you Manchester - see you in 2011 for the 10th Anniversary (can you guys believe it's been 10 years - a whole decade - since the first one?!?!)!

Just a picture perfect day that lasts a whole lifetime...

Del Yeah!! Hail No!!

THURSDAY

My first Delfest was an absolute hoot!! The drive through WVA was really nice, and it felt great to be back in the Appalachians. It's true there's great people everywhere, but I love everything from the kindness to the accents of the Appalachian souls. I arrived at the festival Thursday night just in time for Railroad Earth headlining.

I hadn't seen the band since New Years Eve in Portland, and I was wondering how the transition had been for them. Not that they sounded that winded on the NYE run, but I honestly didn't have the highest hopes. Of course, they blew me away. The setlist and the playing were just spot on. The crowd was loving it, and the new bass player (sorry, name escapes me) kept a good groove going on the whole night. He has that laid-back-but-slightly-serious style that Grubb brought to the band and seemed like a good replacement. I tend to like the rarer songs, and this set delivered in that category. My personal highlights were Walk Beside Me, Happy Song, Hunting Song, and Where Songs Begin. Ronnie McCoury came out for Cuckoo's Medley, and the Railroad Earth set closer was icing on the cake - 'you know I'll be where my heart feels free.'

After the show I was feeling great as my former favorite band had just played a killer show, so I went on a little walkabout. What I found was maybe the most surprising thing to me the whole festival - everywhere I went I found great pickers singing great songs with great families of people in tow. Bluegrass festivals rule!! It probably is true when they say the best band of all time will never be heard...

FRIDAY

The next morning I awoke to an amazing campsite (also full of amazing people) in the shade. The festival grounds are almost identical to High Sierra, especially considering the fact that they are both on county fairgrounds. The main stage was positioned in the middle of a dirt racing track. It dawned on me that my first festival ever was an SCI fest on a racetrack, with, of course, Del McCoury Band on bill. Universe in shaped exactly like the earth...

The Hillbilly Gypsies were a great traditional-ly bluegrass band from Morgantown, and a great way to kick off my first full day of the festival. I caught a little Joe Craven before it became obvious that we were going to get rained on. The mood turned serious as everyone remembered the storm that came through the previous year, and the music was cancelled briefly during the afternoon. I took cover in the Grandstand and watched the lightning and rain quench Delfest's thirst. After a few hours we were back in business.

Greensky Bluegrass had been rained out of their mainstage set, so they extended their pickin' workshop in the Music Hall to include some Greensky songs. The set was good, with the Cornmeal, McCoury, and Railroad Earth boys joining for a few tunes. Greensky had a new tune which was pretty good, and they seem to be expanding to a more psychedelic rock sound. Unfortunately I missed Bobby Osborne's set but caught a little of Del before the band I wanted to see the most - the Avett Brothers.

The Avetts put on a great set with excellent flow. They opened with the Fall and closed with Traveling Song. From the new album, they played January Wedding, I and Love and You, Head Full of Doubt. Offering was beautiful, as was Shame. Yard Sale was mildly psychedelic and profoundly deep lyrically. Who am I kidding? I loved them all. I know most other people do not feel the same way, but they can do no wrong to me right now.

Following the Avett Brothers, I got ready for Railroad Earth late night show. After the night before, I was sure they were going to blow it out of the water. And they did...with all their heavy hitters. People seemed to really like it, but other than the Saddle of the Sun set opener, I thought it was average. Again, probably a subjective thing from seeing the same band too many times. Ronnie McCoury (see a pattern forming?) showed up for Long Way to Go and Old Dangerfield I think.

SATURDAY


After a good long day Friday, I was surprised to see such a great lineup on Saturday. I started out the day with Larry Keel and Natural Bridge. Man oh man do I love me some Larry Keel. I hadn't seen him since moving to the West Coast four years ago, and I couldn't have been happier. Jenny Keel looks great as did Larry. His mandolin player really impressed me as well. Cover songs I remember were Mother Nature's Son and Wind Cries Mary. Larry is the best flatpicker I think I've ever seen with unending energy. Joe Craven sat is and lending some mouth noises and percussion which worked really really well here, and Larry passed around a jar of shine (all over the place here - gotta love those Appalachians!). As the sun continued to swelter the fans, I took a little break to rest up for Cornmeal.

Cornmeal on the mainstage was too damn hot to really have a good time. I couldn't tell if it was the band or the heat, but it seemingly never really clicked, at least not for me. They played Naive Melody and had one really good disco sounding jam, but failed to impress overall. John Cowan Band got skipped due to the heat (though we could hear all the music from our close campsite even without the radio). I caught a little bit of Del and sat through all of Yonder Mountain String Band's set. I thought they were pretty good this particular night and had Daryl Anger play with them the whole set. The light show was the only one that was brought in for the festival, and it was a nice change of pace. The McCoury boys and Larry Keel's banjo player joined them for some of the set. I liked Left Me in a Hole, but the set lacked the strong jamm-y highlights they are capable of. Still, I thought it was solid and had a good time.

The late night on Saturday was the Travelin' McCourys, which had such tremendous possibilities. Instead it was mainly the Lee Boys (not good imo) and the McCourys playing some average music. It was cool to see and hear Del so late at night, but it generally was not my thing.

SUNDAY

Anyone who knows me knows I'm usually ready to go when I wake up on Sunday and I've been at a festival for a few days. Del No!! Sunday was probably my favorite day of music all around. I hid out from the sun all day before catching Larry and Jenny Keel's duo set. I wandered over to the side stage a little early (during Adam Aijala and Ben Kaufmann's set and was pleasantly surprised to see Larry Keel and Daryl Anger picking up a storm with them. Adam and Ronnie McCoury followed by joining in with Larry and Jenny. Again, I cannot stress how happy I was to be seeing these guys again. Larry is one of a kind and just puts an ear to ear grin on my face when ever he sings or plays the guitar.

After a quick jaunt to David Grisman Quintent, I caught a little of the guitar workshop, which was Scott Law and the guitarists from Greensky Bluegrass and Cornmeal. Though I didn't want to, I went to Keller & Friends b/c I knew Larry Keel was going to guest and I still hadn't gotten my fill. The core of the band was Keller, Jeff Austin, and Keith Mosely. Scott Law, a mandolin player, and, of course, Larry Keel joined as well. The set was mostly Dead covers (puke - Keller sucks the depth out of these songs imo), but there was an awesome Erykah Badu cover (Tyrone) that made the set worth it.

Next up was one last set from Del, who was joined by Dave Grisman. Then, probably the consensus highlight of the festival (who I had been stoking to everyone who would listen all weekend), was Dave Rawlings Machine. The band consists of Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, and some of the guys from Old Crow Medicine Show (and maybe one other guy?). After a good, long weekend of inspiring tunes and great communal times, I knew this would be a beautiful way to close out the main stage. And it was. The guitar he plays has to be 50+ years old, and the vibe was so pure and clean all night. They played I Hear Them All with This Land Is Your Land in the middle of it, most of the album, and The Band's Wheels on Fire. Miss Ohio was very pretty, and the Ryan Adams song encore was great. I'll get to check them out one more time this summer, but at night closing an amazing festival will probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity for everyone lucky enough to catch it. One of my friends had described Old Crow Medicine Show to me as a post-modern hoe down, and I think the name definitely fits this band.

I caught the Cornmeal late night (lame) and did my best asleep-while-standing-up moves at the Bridge. After Ronnie McCoury played with them I couldn't handle it anymore and went into a deep sleep full on bluegrass picking and moonshine.

Next up for me is Bonnaroo (with a little Neil Young Ryman before that). See you freaks out there. One love.

I'm an old time telegraph man. I came here with a simple job to do.