6/15 930am
Never did I think the strains of the Rolling Stones' "Let It Bleed" album would be so unwelcome as 8am Sunday morning at Bonnaroo...some really clever fellas (who brought a bounce house to put next to their trailer) had a pretty nice PA system, and decided to finally use it (apparently they started closer to 7am, but I must've slept through that somehow). Luckily it was on the opposite side of the guest camping area, but it was certainly loud enough where we were to prevent us from getting back to sleep (and I had planned on "sleeping in" til 9am today before my on-air shift at 11!). And once that classic album (one of my all-time favs, mind you) was over, it was onto the first Police album...when I heard the strains of "Gimme Shelter" at 8am, I thought they might be listened to Radio Bonnaroo, since I knew Jaclyn took over DJ'ing at that point. But it's a much mellower, oldies-centric playlist from Jac and Marty from WXRT in Chicago this morning on 101.5. Not sure how many people actually tune in to Radio Bonnaroo in the greater Manchester/Bonnaroo area, but it's fun for the radio folks to indulge our personal favorites a bit...
So to recap yesterday, I'll try to be brief since my Metallica tangent was kinda long yesterday...plus, I didn't take very good notes throughout the day...lotsa good pics though :) Tad & Jaclyn have been taking great pictures too. Look for those all in one place (hopefully soon) on 1061thecorner.com. We tried to upload a few yesterday morning, but our website doesn't like my laptop for some reason :( Hopefully the detailed blogging is helping :) We did post the pics Music Allies have been taking, so check those out at least.
Slow getting going in the morning...but the catered lunch of sushi and tuna and rice sure hits the spot and helps energize us. By the time we headed out into the fray, it was about 1pm and we caught Matt Morris and Charlie Sexton in an intimate setting on the Sonic Stage. Matt is a childhood friend of Justin Timberlake's (I think he's the first signee to JT's new label) and his album (coming out later this year) features Patty Griffin and Edie Brickell. Even though we only caught the last couple songs, you could tell it was pretty good, soulful stuff.
Then it was onto the even more intimate Troo Music Lounge where the up-and-coming band Carney played a set that started slow, but really kicked in a couple songs in. Early Radiohead/Yardbirds/Jeff Buckley sorta vibe, and they did a smokin' version of The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"...looking forward to hearing what they sound like on record.
Elizabeth wanted to be up fairly close to catch part of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings' set, while Tad and I were content to listen to part of it as we wandered toward Centeroo. Great to see such a great live band (Sharon Jones) getting such a great reaction on such a big stage (the 2nd biggest Which Stage). Great, great, great :)
Walked through the Fuse TV barn (some couches and TVs showing Sharon Jones and a painting on the wall and that's about it), and picked up complimentary Fuse battery-powered mini fans which would feel nice (for the few minutes the batteries lasted) later in the mix-of-sun-and-clouds day. The grounds definitely are showing the effects of a night of steady rain. The grass isn't too muddy (one good thing about the warmth), but the main paths for the golf carts are definitely mud pits in places. Against Me! was pretty impressive in That Tent, then Tad and I ended up in the photographer pit for the start of the Abigail Washburn & Sparrow Quartet set featuring Bela Fleck at This Tent. Such a great mix of bluegrass and classical. Ok, I'm going to start using another word besides great...difficult to avoid, though, at Bonnaroo! We'll get to see them at The Paramount in Charlottesville soon hopefully, so we met back up a little after 3 with Elizabeth at the Sonic Stage, where Mason Jennings played to one of the biggest crowds we saw in that spot all weekend. Looking forward to playing his My Corner Playlist when I get back Tuesday!
It was off to the What Stage for Ozomatli, whom Tad especially was excited to see, never having seen them before. One of the highlights of the festival for me, Tad & Elizabeth, no question! We ended up staying for the whole set and had plenty of room to move, even though we were right up close in the pit. And there is always lots of moving and crowd participation at an Ozomatli show, although we were a bit disappointed at the end they didn't do their trademark move of taking the show INTO the crowd at the end (esp. since I assured T & E it would happen :( Oh well, a good time was had by all, and then we moved over to the 2nd biggest stage for the gypsy punk stylings of Gogol Bordello, who had their crowd worked up into a similar frenzy.
We wandered over to This Tent to catch a bit of Cat Power (whom Eddie Vedder name-checked later in the evening during Pearl Jam's set) and The Avett Brothers (huge crowds for both, by the way). Seems like a lot of the This, That & The Other Tent shows this weekend are even more packed than I remember from Bonnaroos past. Maybe more people are sitting down and relaxing (and taking up more room), so it looks like it's fuller than it is, or maybe they just sold more tickets this year. I thought they decided last year to cap it at 80,000 though. Because the one year they tried 90,000 it was just too much. Maybe more people are just into the music this year, and not doing as much in the Centeroo or camping areas, dunno...not an uncomfortable-crowded vibe at all, just interesting to note differences from year to year. If anything, the crowds help to make the performances even better with their trademark Bonnaroo energy!
On our way back to the media area, we checked in with our Charlottesville pal Sherrie, who is here as an art designer/Cinema Tent organizer. She's been here a couple weeks already, and will stay about a week after the festival's done, helping with the teardown. It was really cool to see what I believe she called The Boneyard, esp. her office with AC! She was excited about some of the costumes that would be involved in the annual midnight parade through Centeroo.
After snagging some sandwiches in the media area for dinner, en route to Iron & Wine we caught a bit of Ben Folds' Which Stage set. His piano tech made an impressively quick switch of a piano string (I was trying to imagine Ben's piano teacher when he was a kid - "quit banging the keys so hard, son!" haha) and then Ben announced his final performance of the fan-favorite Dr. Dre cover he actually recorded a few years back. Elizabeth & I didn't shed any tears, and it made our decision even easier to head out to This Tent for a typical mellow but moving Iron & Wine set. Standing way in the back (conserving our walking energy at this point), I interviewed a couple guys in the crowd for their perspective on the festival.
OK, I'll try to blog about Jack Johnson and Pearl Jam and Kanye West while I'm on the air...just about to do my first Corner "Live from Bonnaroo" b'cast in a few! Cheers for now!
