'Gone Gone Gone To Bonnaroo' • Beatking Reporting Live From The Festival*

[DudeAsInCool]

Thurs. June 14th Manchester, TN

My Bonnaroo experience doesn't begin in the usual place one would expect. It doesn't begin at the festival gates nor at the airport but rather the night before my departure. My experience begins Wednesday June 13 Hollywood, California. Hot Chip is performing a flawless set at the Henry Fonda Theatre. I am unwisely draining my body of needed water for the Tennessee Sun while endlessly dancing. I'm not really thinking about my thirst or for that matter my 7am flight to Nashville the next day, no, at this moment I am in a state of awe as Hot Chip blend "No Fit State" from their new album The Warning with a popular New Order song. I am also thinking about how good this is going to sound at Bonnaroo next Friday afternoon.

The show is over now and I've eaten to my hearts content at 101 cafe. Reality begins to set in...I still have to pack, its 2 am. I finally get to bed at 3 am for two hours. 5 am, Its GO TIME! Off to Burbank Airport and I am in Nashville five hours later. Here at Nashville Airport (BNA) to all you air traffic controllers I pick up my VIP package. Let me tell you now, if you are considering Bonnaroo for next year get the VIP Camping Pass. I promise you will not regret forking over the extra $500 for it. Most camp sites are 1 to 2 miles away from the event and it can be a good twenty to thirty minute walk to and from the main entrance.

The proximity of the VIP camp site however had not entered my mind yet nor of the KFC Buffet we pass on the way to Manchester. At this point I leave the airport on board the event shuttle which all on board are pretty certain is under the control of a very lost, very drunk bus driver. Oh we had the occasional swearving pass around slower vehicles, one or two...or three missed exits and of course the classic near smash of the SUV IN FRONT OF US! We stopped a few feet short.

The line getting into Bonnaroo can take up to five hours to pass through. The VIP pass comes to the rescue again! With the pass we enter a back entrance which stops in front of the VIP camping area. Looking at a site map I begin to realize how immense this event is. Yes I've been to Coachella six years running and that festival is large...this is immense. The festival ground is about three times larger than that of coachella boasting twelve stages a daily cinema running some days from noon to 11:30 pm showing films from Little Miss Sunshine, HBO presents Flight of the Conchords and yes, Commando. This years Bonnaroo sold out with 80,000 tickets sold online.

I decide to do a walk through of the event after camp is set up without the aide of map and schedule, this is not recommended to first timers. Again I remind you this event is immense.

The bands don't begin until about 7:30pm. First up are Los Angeles own The Little Ones. I have to say I am a little proud that this event in Tennessee is kicked off by an indie band from my native town. They perform a solid set of infectious powerpop drawing in listeners by the dozens. The singer/guitarist Ed Reyes mentions that this is the largest crowd they have performed for and you can sense the bands enthusiasm especially since Ed greets the audience between songs with, "Happy Bonnaroo Everyone!" Yes it is and the crowd is happy to be here, as am I.

Next up The National playing a set mostly consisting of songs from the new album Boxer. I'm going to say this now so you can thank me later after you see them in a smaller club. This band is going to be big! Their songs reminisce of Joy Division, New Order, The Jesus and Marychain and a hint of Springsteen. The band performs with an intensity and timing that may not be rivaled for the rest of the weekend. The violinist scoring most of the applause as he screams through notes wearing out his bow he opts to strum the violin. I was sure he was going to smash the violin like a guitar or at the very least set fire to it Hendrixesque.

Closing the evening those Mexican darlings, although not to the federal government apparently as Rodrigo Sanchez of Rodrigo y Gabriela was almost denied entrance into the states for sharing the same name as a known terrorist. This pairing of acoustic guitar talent bring a performance on par with The White Stripes. After playing a few original numbers such as Diablo Rojo, one of my favorites, Rod and Gab break into a meddely of cover songs by Tool and Rage Against the Machine and then in a hush begin to pluck and strum out "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd accompanied by audience for vocals. Rodrigo uses a half full not half empty beer bottle he has been nursing to play out the slide guitar solo portion of the song.

That's it for Thursday night. With that I head back to my tent because really, how do you top that? On two hours of sleep I dont want to know. Backatcha, tomorrow - in the meantime, check out the performances of Regina Spektor, Black Keys, Hold Steady, and String Cheese Incident at ATTs Blueroom.

Sonicifyouwantit, reporting live from the Festival - 6/14/06

[DudeAsInCool]

Friday, June 15th Manchester, TN.

Getting inside Bonnaroo today was no so easy as I had expected. Apparently, and this has not been confirmed, Tool made a request that professional cameras not be allowed inside the festival. This is a reasonable request and is often asked for by artists. Unfortunately security took this request to mean no cameras of any kind professional or disposable should be allowed in. This leads us to another reason why VIP camping kicks ass. Management's trailer is in the VIP camping lot so you're trusty correspondent along with a photo journalist and one angry mom made a complaint. One hour later cameras were allowed in.

I started the day at the sonic stage, a small intimate setting to see a band which performed earlier in the day play a short set half hour set. The band playing and once again opening the day were The Little Ones. Nothing was new with their set from the previous night but it is a great chance to see your favorite bands up close at the sonic stage. Saturday I will be watching a repeat performance by Ralph Stanley. He was playing the banjo when some of your grandparents were still in diapers. More on him and others tomorrow.

Brazilian Girls

For the opening song a jazz infused tantrum ensues after which the singer asks the audience in thick accent, "Who here is a dick?" followed by, "who here is an asshole? Either way you are sexy." The crowd agrees with a roar. Brazilian then break, ironically, into "Pussy" a sultry techno chant. She is wearing some sort of backpack which makes me wonder if I'm supposed to be impressed when all of a sudden a sun beam (a large golden flat disk) seemingly shoots from her ass. Well it shot from her backpack anyway...I'm impressed. She wears the golden disk on her back as though some goddess of the sun. Inviting audience members on the stage to dance (only one guy gets by security) they close out the set with high energy latin influenced electronica. I can only handle so much sexyness from a sun beam wearing sultry voiced lady and so I move on to some shade or the giant mushroom shaped fountain, which by the way I just found out is simply recycled water. Which means you are basically standing in everyones sweat mixed with ground water...ah the south.

The Roots

They march onto the stage in a New Orleans Dixieland procession and begin to blend the march into a slow jam and then into a punching aggressive movement, Tuba player holding sway on the audience attention...the audience is listening...The Roots are playing. Seeing The Roots at other events I've noticed they seem to play up to the audience with covers and reworks giving what they think the audience wants and not what they want...which is a set inspired completely by soul, jazz and funk. I think The Roots only really release their full energy and passion under the heat of the south, that and in New York City. The Fields of Tennessee seem to do the job in bringing out their best. Flawlessly seaming each song together they bring the audience down a Roots journey not the listeners journey. Believe me, The Roots journey is much more compelling than the listeners in this case. Of course what I said about not doing covers is no longer valid as they opt to play in its entirety "Roxanne". Well The Police are playing after all and they are The Police.

Manu Chao

How do hippies and punk rockers get together in harmony? Manu Chao. Why have I never seen this guy live?? His music effortlessly intertwines South American/Carribean, gypsy and punk. Although his band tends to bleed into a jam they transcend anything jam rock can offer. I truly regret missing Manu at Coachella but I am very glad I stumbled upon him at Bonnaroo!

Bonnaroo is now oficially sold out at 80,000 tickets sold only online.

Sonicifyouwantit, reporting live from the Festival - 6/15/06

[Umma]

Tent city somehow looks like it has a bigger population than 80,000

Will Mute Math play with the Police... that's what I want to know. :)

[DudeAsInCool]

Saturday June 16th

Old Crow Medicine Show

Today starts off a little slow, first up Old Crow at 1:45pm. It was a long wait considering the sun wakes you up at 7am regardless of how tired you may be but after some coffee and breakfast and nice conversation with friendly festival goers from Canada, Australia and Louisiana it is time to see Old Crow. Sons of Tennessee and the greater Dixie area Old Crow are reconquering the South one stage at a time and Bonnaroo, well may be an exception. After all this is Old Crows back yard and they play as though it is. Recollecting past heart breaks in the area "Mancatcher" (Manchester, TN) and inviting us all into their club or should I say rebel army? Vocalist/Guitarist Ketch Secor lets us know they "don't care where we are from, today we are all from Dixie!" and break into bluegrass classic "Cottonwood Blues" in which we are told, "don't you ever let no woman mess with your mind"...I agree. Other crowd favorites, "I'm stickin' with the union" and of course "Wagon Wheel" stir the audience to some hootin' & Holerin'. Old Crow perform with a classic bluegrass form but incorporate modern lyrics such as in the song "Take a Whiff on Me", its about cocaine. Its a great combination, modern lyrics and old timey music. The crowd demand an encore, only the second I've witnessed including Hot Chips encore performance. The Crow go with "Lay Lady Lay" by Bob Dylan for their very accurate cover encore, and Bravo!

Franz Ferdinand

The lads from Scotland have never visited Tennessee before and they know they'll have to win over many unfamiliar with their work. I call it work because that is what it is, strenuous and timed for effect. Singer Alex Kapranos slides across the floors on his knees pick aimed to the sky. He twists and jolts with every major chord change. At first the crowd doesn't quite know what to make of them, not many are moving except the few fans up front. Soon though more and more begin to dance...Franz has the audience in their hands at one point swaying there hands left and right to "Take Me Out" a hit from their first album. By the end of the set "encore" is screamed by the now vast crowd. Unfortunately no encore is performed.

The Hold Steady

If given the choice a of music or lyrics when deciding what moves me the most in a song I typically move toward music. Let's face it after all half the time you can't even understand the lyrics in a live setting and only bother to memorize the chorus of a song on the way to work. Music however always remains with the listener. In the case of The Hold Steady we are showered with lyrics so vivid and clear that the listener may forget that he is listening to a performing band instead he may believe he is listening to and audio novel. This wouldn't be a good thing if the accompanying music was not so moving as is the case with The Hold Steady's music. Imagine a modern Walt Whitman with great rock moving the stories along to an even greater emotional height.

The Police

As the lights dim on the "what" stage, (Bonnaroo's largest outdoor stage) 80,000 people begin to cheer. Stewart Copeland approaches a large gong set behind his very extensive drum kit. He lightly hits the gong over and over creating a soft rumble then striking it he turns triumphantly to the crowd. Unfortunately the set was not quite as triumphant. The Police may be better in theory than in practice. Yes they are great musicians and their timing is right on point but they lack a chemistry that is so imperative to an exciting show. None the less they perform a set covering all of their hits turning three minute tunes into seven. Opening with "Message in a Bottle" and closing with "Every Breath You Take" and of course playing my favorite, "So Lonely" off their first album.

Sonicifyouwantit, reporting live from the Festival - 6/16/06

You can watch today's show (Saturday) live at ATTs Blueroom . Police video courtesy of

[DudeAsInCool]

ATT BlueRoom Schedule for Sunday - Watch the show live HERE

12:30 PM Robert Glasper Trio

01:00 PM John Butler Trio

02:00 PM The Flaming Lips

03:00 PM Bob Weir & Ratdog

04:30 PM Wolfmother

05:30 PM Wilco

07:15 PM The White Stripes

08:45 PM Widespread Panic

Photos: Bob Weir and Ratdog/Wilco

[DudeAsInCool]

The White Stripes are now playing live at the ATTs BlueRoom. Mr. Boo is watching - he thinks the Stripes rock! And...it was a knockout performance... Southern rock band Widespread Panic are playing now - pretty impressive guitar playing...

[Warflower]

Mr. Boo looks High!!!! ahahhaaa

Hey Dude...thanks for posting this I really enjoyed the play by play... ;)

[DudeAsInCool]

Mr. Boo looks High!!!! ahahhaaa

Hey Dude...thanks for posting this I really enjoyed the play by play... ;)

check sonicifyouwantit's blog later for an update on sunday...he's driving back from bonnaroo and will be filling in some details

[Warflower]

Will do

[DudeAsInCool]

Sunday, June 17 • 2007

Girl Talk

Girl Talk's set at Bonnaroo was played to the largest crowd in his short time performing around the world even beating his performance at Coachella. At first I didn't know how this audience would respond to the boy and his laptop but from the first mashup to the last the crowd grew and continuously danced. I could hear party goers (because it was a party) mentioning over and over how good Girl Talk was and much fun this set was. Although only perfoming an hour, which passed far too quickly, everyone was impressed with his performance at one point having the crowd turn to face each other and dance whether you knew the person behind you or not. My little group of strangers was made up of six people, not so strange to each other after the show.

Pete Yorn

Its hard to believe I've seen Pete Yorn perform six times now and even more difficult to imagine his debut album was released seven years ago. Pete kicks off his set, by dedicating his song "Feel Good Again" (about a man trying to move back with his wife) in honor of his father for father's day . Next he performs a cover of Warren Zevon's "Splendid Isolation", a jam band crowd favorite. Meanwhile, I feel something wet dropping on my feet... i'ts the bong water from a nearby listener. Next up, Pete performs "Strange Condition", noting that "walking around Bonnaroo is like being in a strange condition... compared to other fests, everyone here is so nice." He then dedicates another song to his father, entitled "The Man", off his Nightcrawler cd. After an amazing cover of the Smiths "A Lght That Never Goes Out", the crowd sings along on the chorus for his closer, "For Nancy, Cuz it already is."

Ralph Stanley

Ralph Stanley has been involved in, "Old time mountain music...what they call bluegrass" according to Mr. Stanley, for over 60 years. He has been awarded three grammys for the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and earned an honorary doctorate from Lincoln University, TN. He has also been awarded medals for his involvment in the arts by both President Ronal Reagan and George Bush. Tours with his son, whom has been nominated for three grammys himself, and his grandson (age 14), a chip of the old block who has released two albums on his own. Last but not least, he has been awarded "Living Legend Status" from the Library of Congress, and most important to his grandson, "he's a real deal man of Jesus Christ." Seeing this man perform live you can't help but think of how fortunate you are to see the living legend first hand. At his age, Mr. Stanley may not be able to hold on to his Living Legend status for much longer, so we cherish every moment and every sound that eminates from the stage in front of us. Stanley performs two songs from Oh Brother, "Oh Death" and "Man of Constant Sorrow". He also performs "Little Birdie", a bluegrass classic, "Pretty Polly". The appreciative crowd calls him back for two encores. Later in the day, I catch him again at the sonic stage, where he performs "Hard Times", a song he wrote in the 50's about the hard times taking place in the bluegrass music scene, fighting a losing battle with a little thing called 'rock and roll'. It 's an amazing feeling being surrounded by the latest and greatest in modern rock and roll in the year 2007, and here this man is performing a song he wrote in the fifties about the birth of it...

The Decemberists

Leaving Ralph Stanley I stumble across The Decemberists. They are playing "Valencia" from their new album The Crane Wife. Afterwords, someone in the audience screams "FREEBIRD!" Lead singer Colin Meloy responds, "No...No don't do that...come on now. I'm a member of M.AC.O.F. (musicians against the calling out of freebird)" and then breaks into "A Perfect Crime", encouragng the attendance to do jumping jacks to along with the song...which surprisingly, most in the audience do. Then they break into a cover of "The Weight" by The Band...for some reason certain songs like "The Weight" just sound so great in the South. They settle into a jam...each guitar player riffs on the other's guitar, and then Colin tries to play his acoustic guitar on his head...but he doesnt succeed. For the song "Chimbly Sweep", Colin gets the audience to sit in the grass as his band mates pretend to sleep...in the end, the band and crowd jump to their feet as the song cresendos to a close. Then they close the set with a Smiths cover, "Ask...", which once again brings the crowd to its feet.

The White Stripes

The crowd rushed the stage as Jack and Meg begin to play "Dead Leaves", followed by their new single and title track of their new album, "Icky Thump". In a flurry of pyrotechnics, Jacks fingers slide across the organ and back to his guitar in a single beat, his guitar note sustaining. They follow up with "Hotel Yorba" and the crowd sings along. "1 2 3 4 take the elevator, hotel yorba have to see ya later". Next they play "Jolene" as a mysterious strange smoke circle forms high up in the air behind them. After their next cut, "I can tell we're going to be friends", Jack reads a message from the stage...someone is about to propose marriage, Jack gives the man a moment and then plays "Just don't know what to do with myself"...the audience quietly sings the chorus, almost in a whisper. As the song explodes hundreds of water bottles are thrown throughout the crowd and the crowd jumps in unison.

With that my Bonnaroo is over, one night left to sleep out here and I'm home. It was... a surreal experience