Post by mccjeff on Nov 1, 2016 12:31:15 GMT -5
I know, I know, tldr. I used to write some but not much anymore. I just came across this today while deleting old emails. Hope you enjoy.
Welcome to the Hippie State Fair!
We are supposed to leave Raleigh early afternoon on Wednesday. However, the Carolina Hurricanes are playing the Edmonton Oilers in game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. Three out of the six of us are season ticket holders. We’re not leaving until after the game. Game 5 could be the deciding game as the Canes are up 3-1. It goes into overtime and we totally suck by giving up a short-handed goal. Damn, series at 3-2 and we have to play Game 6 in Edmonton Saturday night. Oh well, load up the RV and pull out at midnight. My crew for Bonnaroo 06 is my lovely wife Pam; my best friend and bon vivant John; my friend Brad that we know thru our girls going to middle school together; Brads friend Sheldon who made all of the RV arrangements and Brads friend Larry driver and grill master extrordinaire.
We drive all night and get to the massive traffic jam at 8 am. Sitting in traffic all morning is going to suck. The wait in traffic gave us a nice warm-up to start meeting people. We wandered up and down the traffic passing out samples of some fine Belgium’s. Chimay Grand Reserve, La Chouffe Golden Ale, Ommagang Abbey Ale & Unibroue Edition 2005. While we were stretching our legs and trying to keep up with the RV an angry hippie on a bicycle peddles up and starts ranting that they are strip searching people up ahead and we better get rid of all of our dope. He apparently was ready to do us a favor by getting rid of it for us “Uh no not that shit. The purple stuff. Yeah that’s what they are searching for…” We laughed his dumb ass away and were joking that we would be able to buy back anything we gave him once we got inside. That led to the concept of “My dope is on consignment!” Oops the RV is getting too far ahead I better catch up. Waiting in traffic for hours sucks. But it doesn’t because we are parked, set up and ready to go at 10 am. I didn’t talk to a single person all weekend that took longer than 2 hours in traffic.
We are pulling in to park and the last high school parking attendant tries to wave us into a field a decent little hike away from the stages. We give him 40 bucks and he says have a good time and park anywhere except VIP or Handicap. So we promptly drive to the front and set up. PRIMO! Except that it is only later that we realize that it is the handicap overflow lot. We debate (hard) about whether or not we should move. We stay only after we see that the other cars around us are not handicap but have vendor stickers. OK so screw a bunch of vendors. I really didn’t feel that right about our predicament so I did the only thing I knew. I set about helping everyone I came across to set up his or her tent. It was a blatant attempt to boost my karma. I apologize in advance for anything bad that happens to us while camping in the future. It will just be payback for this weekend. But the spot was SWEET! We were 110 paces from our door to the entrance. That’s 110 morning steps. Probably more like 300 4 am steps. After no real sleep and a hard day of artificial karma inflation I was ready for a nap. I laid down and immediately there was a knock on the door. Ok so we’re busted. No big deal we’ll cope. Wrong it’s Slim and Pam!!
What an absolute pleasure to meet MississippiSlim and GypsyEyes. Slim greeted me with a hug and a PBR. I love Bonnaroo. We hung out for a few and then they remembered that they were supposed to go help Bob set up camp. So off we go. Met up with Yelram at his camp and had a great time hanging out with his posse. Great folks, great conversation, great refreshments and I wish I could have stayed longer. We make plans to meet at the swing sets at 7. I head back to an empty camp and try to sleep before show time. I’m only partially successful and then the troops return. All of them return except Pam. That girl goes where she wants, when she wants and does whatever the hell she wants to do. She absolutely lives this shit and I love her for it. It’s show time!
First music at B’roo for me is…
The Motet out of Boulder, CO. Swirling synth, galloping bass, groove guitar punctuated with tenor sax breaks. Nice sound and a very jammy beginning. (Oh wait there weren’t any jam bands at B’roo this year. Must have been some other kind of music that just SOUNDS jammy.) (B+)
Yeah, I tried to rate the shows I saw. I tried to save the A grades for the special stuff. A grade of B or B+ is just a plain old ass kicking great show. I also tried not to go back and censor what I had given as a grade. But some were clearly not correct in hindsight. I did change a very few. Both up and down.
I met this great couple my age named Harry and Eve. I had just sat down at a picnic table they were at when a cute 20 something walked up and asked Eve with a touch of reverent awe “How old are you?” Eve was cool and said “My 50’s”. “Wow, what was it like at Woodstock?”……………………… “It was ok.” “Wow.” And she was gone. We cracked up hard and I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with them. First but certainly not the last time I said “Well, I haven’t heard that today!” We were talking music between sets and the name Jaco Pastorius popped up. Harry tells me he saw Jaco. Cool. With Joni Mitchell. He was part of her backup band that included him on bass, Pat Methany on giutar, Michael Brecker tenor sax, Don Alias percussion and I think Alex Acuna playing drums. HOT SHIT!
Cat Empire followed Motet. They are a six piece Aussie band that tries to play too many styles. I liked the concept but wasn’t I wasn’t impressed by the musicians. Reggae, dance hall, roots, R&B, jam (or not) and so forth. Every song we would say “Oh, they are going to do some of that too.” (C)
Then a parade went by with torches ablaze. That must be some kind of Austalian outback mojo because they suddenly kicked it out hard. Heavy funk jam with hard rapping twin reggae vocals that were flying in an unfamiliar dialect. Apparently the lovely Pam was front of stage with a group of Australian kids that had come to see them. I hope they stayed for the rest of the weekend. Post torch parade. (A)
Devotchka followed. They were really into what they were doing. You could tell they loved the music and they were killer musicians. They play reved up traditional Eastern European/ Slavic gypsy music. The tuba was covered in red lights. Tuba-optics. Too bad it was the wrong venue for them. They were getting saturated with the bass from Tortured Soul. I will go see them if they play anywhere near. (A) for what they were doing. (C) for the show.
We left that and went over to see Electric Eel Shock. They are a Japanese 3 piece metal outfit. “I WANT TO HEAR YOUR SEX NOISE!” Not sure about that. I think there is a vital clue lost in translation. Maybe not. On the big list of things to do in my life, see a Japanese metal 2 sticks per hand drummer wearing nothing but a sock punching himself in the head, I can cross that one off the list because I’ve done seen it. They played an enthusiastic but ultimately crappy version of Iron Man. “Please buy our CD. We need money to get back to Japan.” (C)
Toubab Krewe. My guess as to what that thing he was playing was called was either “ourd” or “kora.” So, is that Jam with a West African vibe or a traditional West African all jammed out? A very deep rolling groove with sprinkles of notes for decoration. I will go see them again. (B+)
A very satisfying first night at Bonnaroo. Went home, crashed hard and woke up just in time to get ready for day next.
Robinella is the first order of business. She has a beautiful COUNTRY voice. She said they all received gift packs from the nice people at B’roo. Everyone except the drummer that is. So he wanted her to tell the crowd he needed some of that French weed that only grows in the Arctic named Padrow. So if anyone in the audience had some if they could just pass it forward it would be appreciated. Beautiful country jammy sound with vocals, fiddle, upright bass, drums, guitar and keys. They did a hot version of Melanie’s “Brand New Key” (roller skate song). (B+)
World Party was the first act on the second stage. “Sorry folks, I forgot to bring my heat resistant Gibson with me.” He has a strong voice in a very English, very mellow, very personal kind of way. It was too disjointed to sit in the direct sun and listen to for very long. (C)
Seu Jorge is the guy from the movie “The Life Aquatic” whose main job is to sit around and play guitar. He opened with a solo Brazilian/Portuguese flavored version of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel.” Then his band joined him. A popping clear bass and serious percussion. One of the best bass solos of the weekend. It is kind of Earth, Wind & Fire Brazilian reggae meets Herb Alpert Samba roots groove jam. He has an unreal vocal range and control. Hypnotic and rolling percussion. Magic on stage. Easily the best show so far. Everyone that saw them will see them again at first chance and I recommend that you do too. A solid (A+)
Donovan Frankenreiter was playing while I was on the way to get a beer. I stood in line and listened. I talked to several people that saw his set and said it rocked. From that and what little I heard it gets a (B-)
A word about the drinks for the weekend. FUCKING GREAT! We had the following brews sold inside the fest…
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale
Sweetwater Blue
Magic Hat # 9
Magic Hat Circus Boy Hefeweizen
And the winner is…
Starr Hill Jomo Lager from Charlottesville, VA
Plus (or minus) Bud & Bud Light and some other swill.
On the cocktail front we were mixing our own…
Brown and Yellow (like a Black and tan but with Bourbon and fresh squeezed lemonade)
Vodka and lemonade (we drank a bunch of these)
And the winner is…
Did you know that if you buy a frozen lemonade (not the strawberry flavored one) and scoop a chunk out into a glass and pour Makers Mark over it, sit and swirl it for a couple minutes you get a nice frothy…
Bourbon Meringue Pie!!!!
Devandra Banhart was someone I wanted to see. My bad. Too slow. Too sleepy. Too stoned. No Passion. Just plain dull. Come on. You’ve got a huge enthusiastic crowd mostly unfamiliar with your music that you can convert to fans and you can’t take the time to wake up. Weak sauce. I sooooo regret leaving Seu Jorge to see this crap. Apologies to any fans but I forget why it’s not an F. It sure is a (D)
Ben Folds was crowded, in the sun and not that interesting sounding to me. We kept walking but friends said it was a very enthusiastic set. For me (C+)
Mike Gordon and Ramble Dove was next on the agenda. BIG cheer from the crowd and MG says “Funny, that’s just the way I feel.” Rocking honky-tonk with a slow riffing deep groove. We found someone playing with the passion again. I saw a guy with the most seriously ratted out baseball cap I’ve ever seen. I defy anyone to wear one in worse shape. It was just threads in a hat shape. A charter member of the “Hats for life” club. Their motto “One man, one hat.” (B+)
G. Love and Special Sauce. Bad mix with too much muddy bass and the keys way too low. But it was a funking good time and they seemed to work out the mix. (B)
Nickle Creek. Clear pure bluegrass sound lovingly played with an experimental side that makes purists crazy. Saw a guy in a t shirt that said “Rude Buddha”. They played a cover of Randy Newmans’ “Short People”. Then Chris Thiele says “ Bonnaroo is upon us again and while we realize it has become a bit of a cliché we thought we would continue the tradition of playing a Britney Spears cover.” And then they played that song. Or maybe it was the other song. I don’t know. (A-)
Bright Eyes. “Singing a song in the morning, Singing it a bit at night. Don’t know what I’m singing about but it makes me feel alright.” When we walked up there were 11 or 12 people on stage. Huge sound with a raw clanky piano. Gillian Welch singing some background. I don’t think this is the normal arrangement but it’s what I saw. “I was a little pessimistic about all this but now the tequila is working.” (B)
Ricky Skaggs (pre bus incident) Fiddle, 3 guitars, mandolin, upright bass and banjo all flying at breakneck speed. Traditional bluegrass with the high lonesome sound. Four part gospel harmonies. “Hot music” is how they term it. KY Waltz and Shady Grove were my highlights. (A+)
Oysterhead. They played out on the main stage and I got there about half way thru the set. They played a fired up version of “Jailhouse Rock”. Les played the one-string-bass-a-thingy and Trey played a guitar with half an elk rack stuck on it. Never seen that before! Tweak the antler prongs to get some strange noises. (that sentence just reeks of joke potential.) Stewart Copeland just thunders on the drums. “There Ain’t No Cure For Suicide” was the hardest rocking closer yet. Copeland said “We’re just a semi-pro band. That’s all we’ve got. I love you people. I want to take off all my clothes and come dance with you.” Trey was shredding hard and Les is just incomprehensible. (B+)
Tom Petty was the first headliner. The question “Can Tom Petty rock?” has been answered with a resounding “Hell yes”. “I’m A Man”, “Oh Well”, “Gloria” and every hit song known to man. Hit after hit and we’re dancing thinking “Oh hell yes! I love that song! He’s played all of his big hits so what is he going to do for an encore? Oh hell yes, I forgot about that one. I love that song. Now he’s played all of the songs I know…. (Repeat for 2 ½ hours). Stevie Nicks for a duet on “Refugee” and “Stop Dragging My Heart Around”! Big time Rock’n’Roll. Unreal on the fly editing for the big screens. I’m sure that this was the live feed and it was seamless. As good as it was it paled in comparison to Pam and I getting to hang out with Slim and Pam and the indescribable joy of meeting Jentsy! What a nice nice nice guy. Now this is living. (A)
After the Petty show Pam and I wandered down to where we knew our peeps were staying in front of the stage. They were gone but there was an ANGRY naked man. And it was HIS universe. We split.
Umphrey’s McGee late night. Pam and I dallied thru Centeroo after Petty so we were a little late getting to the UM show. We couldn’t get close enough to get a clean sound. The bass in the Discotheque Arcade was thumping so hard that Umphrey’s low key beginning didn’t stand a chance. (C)
Art of Such and Such Fire Garden. We wandered away from UM to check out the Fire Garden. Very cool. I think they may have been at Wakarussa too. Large metal and fire sculptures from an ancient civilization, smaller fire breathing sculptures of alien flora and/or fauna plus fire dancers. Very cool. (A)
Umphrey’s McGee late night part 2. After the Fire Garden we went back to UM and came in from the side and got a much cleaner sound. Stayed for 3 songs or so. (B)
Lyrics Born late night. “This situation is getting out of control.” Good sound and this guy is full of himself. Fun crowd. (B)
Common late night. It took WAY too long to set up a turntable. I call bullshit. He never found my groove or I never found his. Talked to fans that said it was a great show. (C-)
My Morning Jacket late night. They were rocking hard on the songs we saw. Pam is fading fast. Need to get her home. From what we heard it was worth seeing more. (A)
Disco Biscuits late night. (All my notes say is) 3 AM not much specifics. Deep dark pool of sound. (B+)
Blackalicious late night. Really good turntablist/dj. Fast hard lyrics. I’m loosing the distinction between here and not here. (B)
Disco Biscuits late night part 2. Close out at 4 AM. Still a (B+)
Not bad for the first full day. Crash hard and wake up in time to prep for day number next. Then I’m off to see…
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. A soulful wail. Spacey hard rocking jams. Her dad is here. His name is Sparky. She plays keys and a Flying V. Lot’s of slide guitar and a good full sound. Good tight band and they’re playing like it means something to them. Hell yes! That’s what I want for breakfast! You’d have to go out of your way to get rocked that hard in the morning. I hope that her being really cute and flashing a lot of leg wailing on a Flying V doesn’t unduly influence me too much. (A-)
Magic Numbers. I walked by on the way to the next show and decided not to stop. It was kind of pop from what I heard. (C)
Neville Brothers out in the sun on the main stage. “Hey Pocky Way”, “Fire on the Bayou”, “Iko Iko” everything you would want to hear. Good energetic show. Thumping version of Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady”. There is a girl dancing joyfully unencumbered. We notice that one is for rhythm and the other is following the bass line. Endlessly fascinating. (B)
A word about the weather. Thursday night turned down right chilly. Friday was a hot one but I stayed under tents for the most part. Saturday was a bit cooler with only about 1-2 hours of serious heat. Sunday was overcast and not a bad day for outdoor music at all. There was a breeze that blew the entire weekend. Really wasn’t too bad at all. If you stayed out at the main stage all day you would be pretty beat down but as long as you stayed hydrated and sought some shade this was a great weekend weather wise.
Bill Frissel. There was a guy in a t shirt that said “I like cats. I just can’t eat a whole one by myself.” Easy flowing liquid groove. But it was inconsistent and the free experimental portions didn’t always click. (B) groove / (C) experimental
Elvis Costello and the Imposters with Allen Toussaint. “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love And Understanding” opener. I think. Rocking hard the first 3 songs. Allen Toussaint was a joy to see. Very smooth sounding on his tunes and played with enthusiasm on the Costello tunes. (B+)
Rusted Root. All the Rusted Root songs you would like to hear. They put out such a happy vibe and there is lots of happy, happy dancing. I know Pam is somewhere at this show and as I watch the happy dancing I’m wondering “Who’s watching my wife dance right now?” Because I know wherever she is she is dancing up a storm and somebody behind her is amazed at how she shakes. “All I want is food and creative love”. Jim (?) the drummer is beat master too. Honorary Rhythm Devil. (B+)
Amadou & Mariam. Rocking harder than any Malian French pop stars ought to rock. You can hear a kalimba sprinkled into his guitar. One of the most under attended shows of the festival. It was only a little over half full. (Maybe ¾). Wonderful voices with a very traditional rhythm that just flows and weaves and dances. Afro-pop at it’s absolute finest. Really hard to leave this. (A)
Gomez entertained us for lunch. We had to stop and chow so we headed to some vendors near the That Stage and listened while we ate. We finished up and headed over for the last 2 songs. Really like these guys. Need to hear more. It could be an (A) show but I only saw enough to give it a (B+)
Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley. “Lively Up Yourself” They sound like any number of Marley cover bands. (C+)
Beck. Part of our crew got to the main stage first thing when it opened and set up a blanket and chairs dead center FOB. A taper actually got to the absolute dead center but that is where he should be. Our backs were right up against the rail in front of the soundboard. I thought he put on a great show. He opened with “Devils Haircut”. There was an accompanying puppet show on stage. 12” tall puppets dressed as the band members (creepily accurate) that rocked out the whole show. Part way into the set Beck did some solo songs. The band didn’t leave the stage. They sat down to dinner. So did the puppets. It turned into 4 or 5 guys using knives and forks beating on cups, plates, bowls, etc into a percussion whirlwind. “A lot of tableware was destroyed for your entertainment.” The Beck puppet started singing “I’m a creep. I’m a puppet. What are these strings doing here?” They did a costumed version of “Loser” (no, not that Loser) with bears rappin’ and wrasslin’. They played a good amount of stuff from all of his releases. Nice mix. There was a short documentary of the puppets wandering around Bonnaroo. They were trying to pick up chicks. “Hmmm, smells like hippie.” Puppet cam and the all puppet encore were pretty tripping too. I know it sounds really kitchy and I would bet there are many dismissing it as a gimmick. From my viewpoint it was a solid great sounding hard rocking show. I enjoyed it much more than I anticipated and Beck put much more energy into rocking than I would have thought. They rocked hard and without the puppets they would have gotten an A grade for the show. The puppets were just icing on the cake and should in no way distract from what a primo show it was. Besides, these were the hardest rocking puppets I have ever seen. (A)
Radiohead was the second night headliner. We stayed in our seats after Beck to for Radiohead. It was impossible to move down in there. So many people. Sheldon, Brad and Larry made it thru the crowd somehow during the show and got to the spot. Alas, Pam couldn’t fight her way to the front. She is too nice a person sometimes. I’ll go ahead and say it. Radiohead was the highlight of the festival. Of the 3 Bonnaroo’s that I have been to only the Neil Young show from 03 was better. They were better than any of the WSP shows, Dead, Trey, Dave Mathews and Friends, Tom Petty and yes they were better than Phil. They absolutely crushed me. They were so much more than I expected. Truly an ultimate trip band. I already hear the skepticism. Too bad. These guys worked really hard and put up a maelstrom of sound. It was thick and wanted to carry you away with it downstream to some unknown fate. I can only compare them to a Pink Floyd show. An extraordinary experience to say the least. Pam was pretty blown away by the front man and his dancing but she’s like that. Very unpretentious guys that just came out and rocked. No mopey sniveling hair in their eyes crybaby emo shit. Just kicking ass music. The slower numbers were very textural and were not a drop-off in quality at all. The WORST comment I heard from anyone was “HOLY SHIT THOSE GUYS FUCKING ROCKED!” I may have just lost all credibility but I don’t care. I saw GREAT Rock’n’Roll. (A+)
Canes lose Game 6 4-0. Now the series is tied up at 3-3 and there is going to be a game7 on Monday night when we get back.
Balkan Beat Box late night. Everyone was at Phil/Mike/Trey/Duo so this was a pretty easy decision. I’ll see that show in a week and may never get to see these guys again. It was pretty much the same show that I sent out. Chicken calls and everything. They put on a high energy set with the crowd in full on “Jump” mode for most of the time. Crazy music that was just perfect for the moment. If I had not listened to the Ram’s Head show so much it would have bee a better grade. As is it was everything I expected but no more. (B)
Bindlestiff Family Circus came on next. What to say? Strip tease hula-hooping, sword swallowing, dominatrix bullwhip artist (Ole!) and spinning a ball on one finger because climbing a ladder that is balanced on a tightrope just isn’t hard enough. Sound like fun? It was. Crazy fun at 2 AM (B)
Dresden Dolls were up next. VERY odd. Punk cabaret. Think 30’s Berlin decadent cabaret. Except instead of Liza Minelli it is Courtney Love and Joel Grey’s love child. My daughter likes these guys. I’m slightly creeped out. Then they give a nod to the festival and play “Iron Man and “White Rabbit”. (B-)
So ends day 2. Or 3. I forget. Crash hard and wake up in time to prep for day number next. Then I’m off to see…
Mike Doughty. I am a big Soul Coughing fan. Self proclaimed Deep Slacker Acid Jazz, with words. He has a distinctive sound and his band reflects it. Not a Soul Coughing clone but his trademark sound is there. It is still easy to tell the difference even when they play a SC tune like “True Dreams OF Wichita”. The sound is there but with a new identity. His solo stuff is good but we are moving on. (B)
Brothers Past. I know a lot of folks liked their set at Wakarussa but it was not a good fit for an early show. It was too loud and the mix was shrill. Maybe another time and I’ll get it. I was ok with what they were doing and they were doing it ok. It just wasn’t grabbing me. A night show would have a better chance. (C)
Codetalkers with Col Bruce. Note to self: NEVER MISS CODETALKERS AGAIN! This was my favorite hard rocking jam so far. (And no one rocked harder all weekend.) This is how every Sunday morning should start. “Aloha, Welcome to Hawaii.” Hardest rocking early show ever. Somebody hook me up with some Codetalkers. Please! The only show to earn the coveted (A++)
We saw Matisyahu and the rest of his band riding around in a golf cart. Pretty surreal sight.
Refugee Allstars from Sierra Leone. 30-40 guys on stage. Really a great story and there is an excellent documentary on them. They all came together in refugee camps as a result of civil war in Sierra Leone. They had a pretty aquamarine guitar. Multi-layered vocals similar to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Ok so there are really only 10 or so on the stage. And in their coordinated outfits they don’t look quite so refugeeish but what the heck. They really can ride a rhythm and they throw down a fine multi-layered groove. It was really hard to walk away from. (A)
Soulive- I only caught the last song as I walked up. It sounded like they were really tight today. I only saw enough for a (B-)
Jerry Douglas. What a gorgeous shimmering sound. Like listening to starshine. His band is tight and I wish I would have seen more. One more song and it would have been an A. Oh what the hell it was an (A-)
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. They are sounding so good. I was way too drunk last time I saw them and for that I apologize. It is like one instrument playing. As we were sitting there, my friend Frank from Raleigh strolled up with his girlfriend. (I didn’t write her name down so I’m clueless) I’ve known him for a few years thru the cheese and beer section at my local Whole Foods but he is also really good friends with my oldest daughter and her husband. Funny world we live in. My buddy John pulls out a half bottle of Vox. The party is on. We managed to mix it with lemonade and catch a nice refreshing afternoon buzz. We decide that we’re really glad we’re friends and that at worst we are congenial drunks. Was that “Welcome Back Kotter” or “Sanford and Son”? Either way (A)
Matisyahu. I was a bit of a skeptic about this guy. It seemed like no one talked about his music. It was all about him being a Hasidic Jew. That’s cool. Everyone has to be something but what about his music? He rocks much harder than I expected. If you close your eyes it is some pretty standard sounding reggae. Standard that is except for his guitar player. This kid is killing it. (B)
We took a break from the music and went and wandered around Shakedown. I missed seeing Steve Earle Sonic Youth and moe. Oh well. We had a grand time. It’s the hippie version of 5th Ave, Rodeo Dr and Michigan Ave all rolled into one.
Phil Lesh and Friends. This is what I came for. There was some RV talk about leaving at set break but John, Pam & I didn’t buy into it. We wandered out onto the field and looked for a likely spot to enjoy some tunes. We got about as deep into the crowd as we wanted and stopped. I said “We should just look for some nice people to sit with. “ That was exactly when Bassy, Pam and Jentsy said “Hi Jeff.” We had stopped right next to them! And then Phil takes the stage. The Uncle Johns Band had some really good vocals but instrumentally was trying to figure out who was doing what but after that odd transition the Cumberland REALLY cooked. The Big River was very Johnny Cash rootsy. Really solid Scarlet with a beautiful transition into Fire. The Watchtower > IKYR was really sweet. The whole first set after UJB was pretty outstanding. Shakedown second set opener was super sweet and Pam was dancing madly in the rain. By this point John is wearing a box on his head. The New Speedway was full on. Really powerful. Then we got drenched and cold but Pam was still dancing. Caution is about as far as we got before we trudged our wet asses back to the RV. Phil’s playing is still first rate. Strong, clear and nimble. Larry and John played really well together and were comfortable with the material. Larry’s vocals are a real good fit. All I can say to all the Joan haters is piss off dickweeds. Joan rocked the fucking house. It was such a pleasure to share that with such good friends. I am a lucky man. (A)
We left the Phil show, walked back to the RV, showered, put on clean clothes and drove off into the night. We were on the open highway within 15 minutes of leaving our spot. Larry drove all night and we got home around 9 on Monday morning. Reality sucks. Monday night the Canes win Game 7 and the cup lives in Raleigh for a while.
I can’t wait for the lineup for next year.
***Turns out I never went back.***
Welcome to the Hippie State Fair!
We are supposed to leave Raleigh early afternoon on Wednesday. However, the Carolina Hurricanes are playing the Edmonton Oilers in game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. Three out of the six of us are season ticket holders. We’re not leaving until after the game. Game 5 could be the deciding game as the Canes are up 3-1. It goes into overtime and we totally suck by giving up a short-handed goal. Damn, series at 3-2 and we have to play Game 6 in Edmonton Saturday night. Oh well, load up the RV and pull out at midnight. My crew for Bonnaroo 06 is my lovely wife Pam; my best friend and bon vivant John; my friend Brad that we know thru our girls going to middle school together; Brads friend Sheldon who made all of the RV arrangements and Brads friend Larry driver and grill master extrordinaire.
We drive all night and get to the massive traffic jam at 8 am. Sitting in traffic all morning is going to suck. The wait in traffic gave us a nice warm-up to start meeting people. We wandered up and down the traffic passing out samples of some fine Belgium’s. Chimay Grand Reserve, La Chouffe Golden Ale, Ommagang Abbey Ale & Unibroue Edition 2005. While we were stretching our legs and trying to keep up with the RV an angry hippie on a bicycle peddles up and starts ranting that they are strip searching people up ahead and we better get rid of all of our dope. He apparently was ready to do us a favor by getting rid of it for us “Uh no not that shit. The purple stuff. Yeah that’s what they are searching for…” We laughed his dumb ass away and were joking that we would be able to buy back anything we gave him once we got inside. That led to the concept of “My dope is on consignment!” Oops the RV is getting too far ahead I better catch up. Waiting in traffic for hours sucks. But it doesn’t because we are parked, set up and ready to go at 10 am. I didn’t talk to a single person all weekend that took longer than 2 hours in traffic.
We are pulling in to park and the last high school parking attendant tries to wave us into a field a decent little hike away from the stages. We give him 40 bucks and he says have a good time and park anywhere except VIP or Handicap. So we promptly drive to the front and set up. PRIMO! Except that it is only later that we realize that it is the handicap overflow lot. We debate (hard) about whether or not we should move. We stay only after we see that the other cars around us are not handicap but have vendor stickers. OK so screw a bunch of vendors. I really didn’t feel that right about our predicament so I did the only thing I knew. I set about helping everyone I came across to set up his or her tent. It was a blatant attempt to boost my karma. I apologize in advance for anything bad that happens to us while camping in the future. It will just be payback for this weekend. But the spot was SWEET! We were 110 paces from our door to the entrance. That’s 110 morning steps. Probably more like 300 4 am steps. After no real sleep and a hard day of artificial karma inflation I was ready for a nap. I laid down and immediately there was a knock on the door. Ok so we’re busted. No big deal we’ll cope. Wrong it’s Slim and Pam!!
What an absolute pleasure to meet MississippiSlim and GypsyEyes. Slim greeted me with a hug and a PBR. I love Bonnaroo. We hung out for a few and then they remembered that they were supposed to go help Bob set up camp. So off we go. Met up with Yelram at his camp and had a great time hanging out with his posse. Great folks, great conversation, great refreshments and I wish I could have stayed longer. We make plans to meet at the swing sets at 7. I head back to an empty camp and try to sleep before show time. I’m only partially successful and then the troops return. All of them return except Pam. That girl goes where she wants, when she wants and does whatever the hell she wants to do. She absolutely lives this shit and I love her for it. It’s show time!
First music at B’roo for me is…
The Motet out of Boulder, CO. Swirling synth, galloping bass, groove guitar punctuated with tenor sax breaks. Nice sound and a very jammy beginning. (Oh wait there weren’t any jam bands at B’roo this year. Must have been some other kind of music that just SOUNDS jammy.) (B+)
Yeah, I tried to rate the shows I saw. I tried to save the A grades for the special stuff. A grade of B or B+ is just a plain old ass kicking great show. I also tried not to go back and censor what I had given as a grade. But some were clearly not correct in hindsight. I did change a very few. Both up and down.
I met this great couple my age named Harry and Eve. I had just sat down at a picnic table they were at when a cute 20 something walked up and asked Eve with a touch of reverent awe “How old are you?” Eve was cool and said “My 50’s”. “Wow, what was it like at Woodstock?”……………………… “It was ok.” “Wow.” And she was gone. We cracked up hard and I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with them. First but certainly not the last time I said “Well, I haven’t heard that today!” We were talking music between sets and the name Jaco Pastorius popped up. Harry tells me he saw Jaco. Cool. With Joni Mitchell. He was part of her backup band that included him on bass, Pat Methany on giutar, Michael Brecker tenor sax, Don Alias percussion and I think Alex Acuna playing drums. HOT SHIT!
Cat Empire followed Motet. They are a six piece Aussie band that tries to play too many styles. I liked the concept but wasn’t I wasn’t impressed by the musicians. Reggae, dance hall, roots, R&B, jam (or not) and so forth. Every song we would say “Oh, they are going to do some of that too.” (C)
Then a parade went by with torches ablaze. That must be some kind of Austalian outback mojo because they suddenly kicked it out hard. Heavy funk jam with hard rapping twin reggae vocals that were flying in an unfamiliar dialect. Apparently the lovely Pam was front of stage with a group of Australian kids that had come to see them. I hope they stayed for the rest of the weekend. Post torch parade. (A)
Devotchka followed. They were really into what they were doing. You could tell they loved the music and they were killer musicians. They play reved up traditional Eastern European/ Slavic gypsy music. The tuba was covered in red lights. Tuba-optics. Too bad it was the wrong venue for them. They were getting saturated with the bass from Tortured Soul. I will go see them if they play anywhere near. (A) for what they were doing. (C) for the show.
We left that and went over to see Electric Eel Shock. They are a Japanese 3 piece metal outfit. “I WANT TO HEAR YOUR SEX NOISE!” Not sure about that. I think there is a vital clue lost in translation. Maybe not. On the big list of things to do in my life, see a Japanese metal 2 sticks per hand drummer wearing nothing but a sock punching himself in the head, I can cross that one off the list because I’ve done seen it. They played an enthusiastic but ultimately crappy version of Iron Man. “Please buy our CD. We need money to get back to Japan.” (C)
Toubab Krewe. My guess as to what that thing he was playing was called was either “ourd” or “kora.” So, is that Jam with a West African vibe or a traditional West African all jammed out? A very deep rolling groove with sprinkles of notes for decoration. I will go see them again. (B+)
A very satisfying first night at Bonnaroo. Went home, crashed hard and woke up just in time to get ready for day next.
Robinella is the first order of business. She has a beautiful COUNTRY voice. She said they all received gift packs from the nice people at B’roo. Everyone except the drummer that is. So he wanted her to tell the crowd he needed some of that French weed that only grows in the Arctic named Padrow. So if anyone in the audience had some if they could just pass it forward it would be appreciated. Beautiful country jammy sound with vocals, fiddle, upright bass, drums, guitar and keys. They did a hot version of Melanie’s “Brand New Key” (roller skate song). (B+)
World Party was the first act on the second stage. “Sorry folks, I forgot to bring my heat resistant Gibson with me.” He has a strong voice in a very English, very mellow, very personal kind of way. It was too disjointed to sit in the direct sun and listen to for very long. (C)
Seu Jorge is the guy from the movie “The Life Aquatic” whose main job is to sit around and play guitar. He opened with a solo Brazilian/Portuguese flavored version of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel.” Then his band joined him. A popping clear bass and serious percussion. One of the best bass solos of the weekend. It is kind of Earth, Wind & Fire Brazilian reggae meets Herb Alpert Samba roots groove jam. He has an unreal vocal range and control. Hypnotic and rolling percussion. Magic on stage. Easily the best show so far. Everyone that saw them will see them again at first chance and I recommend that you do too. A solid (A+)
Donovan Frankenreiter was playing while I was on the way to get a beer. I stood in line and listened. I talked to several people that saw his set and said it rocked. From that and what little I heard it gets a (B-)
A word about the drinks for the weekend. FUCKING GREAT! We had the following brews sold inside the fest…
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale
Sweetwater Blue
Magic Hat # 9
Magic Hat Circus Boy Hefeweizen
And the winner is…
Starr Hill Jomo Lager from Charlottesville, VA
Plus (or minus) Bud & Bud Light and some other swill.
On the cocktail front we were mixing our own…
Brown and Yellow (like a Black and tan but with Bourbon and fresh squeezed lemonade)
Vodka and lemonade (we drank a bunch of these)
And the winner is…
Did you know that if you buy a frozen lemonade (not the strawberry flavored one) and scoop a chunk out into a glass and pour Makers Mark over it, sit and swirl it for a couple minutes you get a nice frothy…
Bourbon Meringue Pie!!!!
Devandra Banhart was someone I wanted to see. My bad. Too slow. Too sleepy. Too stoned. No Passion. Just plain dull. Come on. You’ve got a huge enthusiastic crowd mostly unfamiliar with your music that you can convert to fans and you can’t take the time to wake up. Weak sauce. I sooooo regret leaving Seu Jorge to see this crap. Apologies to any fans but I forget why it’s not an F. It sure is a (D)
Ben Folds was crowded, in the sun and not that interesting sounding to me. We kept walking but friends said it was a very enthusiastic set. For me (C+)
Mike Gordon and Ramble Dove was next on the agenda. BIG cheer from the crowd and MG says “Funny, that’s just the way I feel.” Rocking honky-tonk with a slow riffing deep groove. We found someone playing with the passion again. I saw a guy with the most seriously ratted out baseball cap I’ve ever seen. I defy anyone to wear one in worse shape. It was just threads in a hat shape. A charter member of the “Hats for life” club. Their motto “One man, one hat.” (B+)
G. Love and Special Sauce. Bad mix with too much muddy bass and the keys way too low. But it was a funking good time and they seemed to work out the mix. (B)
Nickle Creek. Clear pure bluegrass sound lovingly played with an experimental side that makes purists crazy. Saw a guy in a t shirt that said “Rude Buddha”. They played a cover of Randy Newmans’ “Short People”. Then Chris Thiele says “ Bonnaroo is upon us again and while we realize it has become a bit of a cliché we thought we would continue the tradition of playing a Britney Spears cover.” And then they played that song. Or maybe it was the other song. I don’t know. (A-)
Bright Eyes. “Singing a song in the morning, Singing it a bit at night. Don’t know what I’m singing about but it makes me feel alright.” When we walked up there were 11 or 12 people on stage. Huge sound with a raw clanky piano. Gillian Welch singing some background. I don’t think this is the normal arrangement but it’s what I saw. “I was a little pessimistic about all this but now the tequila is working.” (B)
Ricky Skaggs (pre bus incident) Fiddle, 3 guitars, mandolin, upright bass and banjo all flying at breakneck speed. Traditional bluegrass with the high lonesome sound. Four part gospel harmonies. “Hot music” is how they term it. KY Waltz and Shady Grove were my highlights. (A+)
Oysterhead. They played out on the main stage and I got there about half way thru the set. They played a fired up version of “Jailhouse Rock”. Les played the one-string-bass-a-thingy and Trey played a guitar with half an elk rack stuck on it. Never seen that before! Tweak the antler prongs to get some strange noises. (that sentence just reeks of joke potential.) Stewart Copeland just thunders on the drums. “There Ain’t No Cure For Suicide” was the hardest rocking closer yet. Copeland said “We’re just a semi-pro band. That’s all we’ve got. I love you people. I want to take off all my clothes and come dance with you.” Trey was shredding hard and Les is just incomprehensible. (B+)
Tom Petty was the first headliner. The question “Can Tom Petty rock?” has been answered with a resounding “Hell yes”. “I’m A Man”, “Oh Well”, “Gloria” and every hit song known to man. Hit after hit and we’re dancing thinking “Oh hell yes! I love that song! He’s played all of his big hits so what is he going to do for an encore? Oh hell yes, I forgot about that one. I love that song. Now he’s played all of the songs I know…. (Repeat for 2 ½ hours). Stevie Nicks for a duet on “Refugee” and “Stop Dragging My Heart Around”! Big time Rock’n’Roll. Unreal on the fly editing for the big screens. I’m sure that this was the live feed and it was seamless. As good as it was it paled in comparison to Pam and I getting to hang out with Slim and Pam and the indescribable joy of meeting Jentsy! What a nice nice nice guy. Now this is living. (A)
After the Petty show Pam and I wandered down to where we knew our peeps were staying in front of the stage. They were gone but there was an ANGRY naked man. And it was HIS universe. We split.
Umphrey’s McGee late night. Pam and I dallied thru Centeroo after Petty so we were a little late getting to the UM show. We couldn’t get close enough to get a clean sound. The bass in the Discotheque Arcade was thumping so hard that Umphrey’s low key beginning didn’t stand a chance. (C)
Art of Such and Such Fire Garden. We wandered away from UM to check out the Fire Garden. Very cool. I think they may have been at Wakarussa too. Large metal and fire sculptures from an ancient civilization, smaller fire breathing sculptures of alien flora and/or fauna plus fire dancers. Very cool. (A)
Umphrey’s McGee late night part 2. After the Fire Garden we went back to UM and came in from the side and got a much cleaner sound. Stayed for 3 songs or so. (B)
Lyrics Born late night. “This situation is getting out of control.” Good sound and this guy is full of himself. Fun crowd. (B)
Common late night. It took WAY too long to set up a turntable. I call bullshit. He never found my groove or I never found his. Talked to fans that said it was a great show. (C-)
My Morning Jacket late night. They were rocking hard on the songs we saw. Pam is fading fast. Need to get her home. From what we heard it was worth seeing more. (A)
Disco Biscuits late night. (All my notes say is) 3 AM not much specifics. Deep dark pool of sound. (B+)
Blackalicious late night. Really good turntablist/dj. Fast hard lyrics. I’m loosing the distinction between here and not here. (B)
Disco Biscuits late night part 2. Close out at 4 AM. Still a (B+)
Not bad for the first full day. Crash hard and wake up in time to prep for day number next. Then I’m off to see…
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. A soulful wail. Spacey hard rocking jams. Her dad is here. His name is Sparky. She plays keys and a Flying V. Lot’s of slide guitar and a good full sound. Good tight band and they’re playing like it means something to them. Hell yes! That’s what I want for breakfast! You’d have to go out of your way to get rocked that hard in the morning. I hope that her being really cute and flashing a lot of leg wailing on a Flying V doesn’t unduly influence me too much. (A-)
Magic Numbers. I walked by on the way to the next show and decided not to stop. It was kind of pop from what I heard. (C)
Neville Brothers out in the sun on the main stage. “Hey Pocky Way”, “Fire on the Bayou”, “Iko Iko” everything you would want to hear. Good energetic show. Thumping version of Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady”. There is a girl dancing joyfully unencumbered. We notice that one is for rhythm and the other is following the bass line. Endlessly fascinating. (B)
A word about the weather. Thursday night turned down right chilly. Friday was a hot one but I stayed under tents for the most part. Saturday was a bit cooler with only about 1-2 hours of serious heat. Sunday was overcast and not a bad day for outdoor music at all. There was a breeze that blew the entire weekend. Really wasn’t too bad at all. If you stayed out at the main stage all day you would be pretty beat down but as long as you stayed hydrated and sought some shade this was a great weekend weather wise.
Bill Frissel. There was a guy in a t shirt that said “I like cats. I just can’t eat a whole one by myself.” Easy flowing liquid groove. But it was inconsistent and the free experimental portions didn’t always click. (B) groove / (C) experimental
Elvis Costello and the Imposters with Allen Toussaint. “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love And Understanding” opener. I think. Rocking hard the first 3 songs. Allen Toussaint was a joy to see. Very smooth sounding on his tunes and played with enthusiasm on the Costello tunes. (B+)
Rusted Root. All the Rusted Root songs you would like to hear. They put out such a happy vibe and there is lots of happy, happy dancing. I know Pam is somewhere at this show and as I watch the happy dancing I’m wondering “Who’s watching my wife dance right now?” Because I know wherever she is she is dancing up a storm and somebody behind her is amazed at how she shakes. “All I want is food and creative love”. Jim (?) the drummer is beat master too. Honorary Rhythm Devil. (B+)
Amadou & Mariam. Rocking harder than any Malian French pop stars ought to rock. You can hear a kalimba sprinkled into his guitar. One of the most under attended shows of the festival. It was only a little over half full. (Maybe ¾). Wonderful voices with a very traditional rhythm that just flows and weaves and dances. Afro-pop at it’s absolute finest. Really hard to leave this. (A)
Gomez entertained us for lunch. We had to stop and chow so we headed to some vendors near the That Stage and listened while we ate. We finished up and headed over for the last 2 songs. Really like these guys. Need to hear more. It could be an (A) show but I only saw enough to give it a (B+)
Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley. “Lively Up Yourself” They sound like any number of Marley cover bands. (C+)
Beck. Part of our crew got to the main stage first thing when it opened and set up a blanket and chairs dead center FOB. A taper actually got to the absolute dead center but that is where he should be. Our backs were right up against the rail in front of the soundboard. I thought he put on a great show. He opened with “Devils Haircut”. There was an accompanying puppet show on stage. 12” tall puppets dressed as the band members (creepily accurate) that rocked out the whole show. Part way into the set Beck did some solo songs. The band didn’t leave the stage. They sat down to dinner. So did the puppets. It turned into 4 or 5 guys using knives and forks beating on cups, plates, bowls, etc into a percussion whirlwind. “A lot of tableware was destroyed for your entertainment.” The Beck puppet started singing “I’m a creep. I’m a puppet. What are these strings doing here?” They did a costumed version of “Loser” (no, not that Loser) with bears rappin’ and wrasslin’. They played a good amount of stuff from all of his releases. Nice mix. There was a short documentary of the puppets wandering around Bonnaroo. They were trying to pick up chicks. “Hmmm, smells like hippie.” Puppet cam and the all puppet encore were pretty tripping too. I know it sounds really kitchy and I would bet there are many dismissing it as a gimmick. From my viewpoint it was a solid great sounding hard rocking show. I enjoyed it much more than I anticipated and Beck put much more energy into rocking than I would have thought. They rocked hard and without the puppets they would have gotten an A grade for the show. The puppets were just icing on the cake and should in no way distract from what a primo show it was. Besides, these were the hardest rocking puppets I have ever seen. (A)
Radiohead was the second night headliner. We stayed in our seats after Beck to for Radiohead. It was impossible to move down in there. So many people. Sheldon, Brad and Larry made it thru the crowd somehow during the show and got to the spot. Alas, Pam couldn’t fight her way to the front. She is too nice a person sometimes. I’ll go ahead and say it. Radiohead was the highlight of the festival. Of the 3 Bonnaroo’s that I have been to only the Neil Young show from 03 was better. They were better than any of the WSP shows, Dead, Trey, Dave Mathews and Friends, Tom Petty and yes they were better than Phil. They absolutely crushed me. They were so much more than I expected. Truly an ultimate trip band. I already hear the skepticism. Too bad. These guys worked really hard and put up a maelstrom of sound. It was thick and wanted to carry you away with it downstream to some unknown fate. I can only compare them to a Pink Floyd show. An extraordinary experience to say the least. Pam was pretty blown away by the front man and his dancing but she’s like that. Very unpretentious guys that just came out and rocked. No mopey sniveling hair in their eyes crybaby emo shit. Just kicking ass music. The slower numbers were very textural and were not a drop-off in quality at all. The WORST comment I heard from anyone was “HOLY SHIT THOSE GUYS FUCKING ROCKED!” I may have just lost all credibility but I don’t care. I saw GREAT Rock’n’Roll. (A+)
Canes lose Game 6 4-0. Now the series is tied up at 3-3 and there is going to be a game7 on Monday night when we get back.
Balkan Beat Box late night. Everyone was at Phil/Mike/Trey/Duo so this was a pretty easy decision. I’ll see that show in a week and may never get to see these guys again. It was pretty much the same show that I sent out. Chicken calls and everything. They put on a high energy set with the crowd in full on “Jump” mode for most of the time. Crazy music that was just perfect for the moment. If I had not listened to the Ram’s Head show so much it would have bee a better grade. As is it was everything I expected but no more. (B)
Bindlestiff Family Circus came on next. What to say? Strip tease hula-hooping, sword swallowing, dominatrix bullwhip artist (Ole!) and spinning a ball on one finger because climbing a ladder that is balanced on a tightrope just isn’t hard enough. Sound like fun? It was. Crazy fun at 2 AM (B)
Dresden Dolls were up next. VERY odd. Punk cabaret. Think 30’s Berlin decadent cabaret. Except instead of Liza Minelli it is Courtney Love and Joel Grey’s love child. My daughter likes these guys. I’m slightly creeped out. Then they give a nod to the festival and play “Iron Man and “White Rabbit”. (B-)
So ends day 2. Or 3. I forget. Crash hard and wake up in time to prep for day number next. Then I’m off to see…
Mike Doughty. I am a big Soul Coughing fan. Self proclaimed Deep Slacker Acid Jazz, with words. He has a distinctive sound and his band reflects it. Not a Soul Coughing clone but his trademark sound is there. It is still easy to tell the difference even when they play a SC tune like “True Dreams OF Wichita”. The sound is there but with a new identity. His solo stuff is good but we are moving on. (B)
Brothers Past. I know a lot of folks liked their set at Wakarussa but it was not a good fit for an early show. It was too loud and the mix was shrill. Maybe another time and I’ll get it. I was ok with what they were doing and they were doing it ok. It just wasn’t grabbing me. A night show would have a better chance. (C)
Codetalkers with Col Bruce. Note to self: NEVER MISS CODETALKERS AGAIN! This was my favorite hard rocking jam so far. (And no one rocked harder all weekend.) This is how every Sunday morning should start. “Aloha, Welcome to Hawaii.” Hardest rocking early show ever. Somebody hook me up with some Codetalkers. Please! The only show to earn the coveted (A++)
We saw Matisyahu and the rest of his band riding around in a golf cart. Pretty surreal sight.
Refugee Allstars from Sierra Leone. 30-40 guys on stage. Really a great story and there is an excellent documentary on them. They all came together in refugee camps as a result of civil war in Sierra Leone. They had a pretty aquamarine guitar. Multi-layered vocals similar to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Ok so there are really only 10 or so on the stage. And in their coordinated outfits they don’t look quite so refugeeish but what the heck. They really can ride a rhythm and they throw down a fine multi-layered groove. It was really hard to walk away from. (A)
Soulive- I only caught the last song as I walked up. It sounded like they were really tight today. I only saw enough for a (B-)
Jerry Douglas. What a gorgeous shimmering sound. Like listening to starshine. His band is tight and I wish I would have seen more. One more song and it would have been an A. Oh what the hell it was an (A-)
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. They are sounding so good. I was way too drunk last time I saw them and for that I apologize. It is like one instrument playing. As we were sitting there, my friend Frank from Raleigh strolled up with his girlfriend. (I didn’t write her name down so I’m clueless) I’ve known him for a few years thru the cheese and beer section at my local Whole Foods but he is also really good friends with my oldest daughter and her husband. Funny world we live in. My buddy John pulls out a half bottle of Vox. The party is on. We managed to mix it with lemonade and catch a nice refreshing afternoon buzz. We decide that we’re really glad we’re friends and that at worst we are congenial drunks. Was that “Welcome Back Kotter” or “Sanford and Son”? Either way (A)
Matisyahu. I was a bit of a skeptic about this guy. It seemed like no one talked about his music. It was all about him being a Hasidic Jew. That’s cool. Everyone has to be something but what about his music? He rocks much harder than I expected. If you close your eyes it is some pretty standard sounding reggae. Standard that is except for his guitar player. This kid is killing it. (B)
We took a break from the music and went and wandered around Shakedown. I missed seeing Steve Earle Sonic Youth and moe. Oh well. We had a grand time. It’s the hippie version of 5th Ave, Rodeo Dr and Michigan Ave all rolled into one.
Phil Lesh and Friends. This is what I came for. There was some RV talk about leaving at set break but John, Pam & I didn’t buy into it. We wandered out onto the field and looked for a likely spot to enjoy some tunes. We got about as deep into the crowd as we wanted and stopped. I said “We should just look for some nice people to sit with. “ That was exactly when Bassy, Pam and Jentsy said “Hi Jeff.” We had stopped right next to them! And then Phil takes the stage. The Uncle Johns Band had some really good vocals but instrumentally was trying to figure out who was doing what but after that odd transition the Cumberland REALLY cooked. The Big River was very Johnny Cash rootsy. Really solid Scarlet with a beautiful transition into Fire. The Watchtower > IKYR was really sweet. The whole first set after UJB was pretty outstanding. Shakedown second set opener was super sweet and Pam was dancing madly in the rain. By this point John is wearing a box on his head. The New Speedway was full on. Really powerful. Then we got drenched and cold but Pam was still dancing. Caution is about as far as we got before we trudged our wet asses back to the RV. Phil’s playing is still first rate. Strong, clear and nimble. Larry and John played really well together and were comfortable with the material. Larry’s vocals are a real good fit. All I can say to all the Joan haters is piss off dickweeds. Joan rocked the fucking house. It was such a pleasure to share that with such good friends. I am a lucky man. (A)
We left the Phil show, walked back to the RV, showered, put on clean clothes and drove off into the night. We were on the open highway within 15 minutes of leaving our spot. Larry drove all night and we got home around 9 on Monday morning. Reality sucks. Monday night the Canes win Game 7 and the cup lives in Raleigh for a while.
I can’t wait for the lineup for next year.
***Turns out I never went back.***
