We kicked the weekend off in style by staying at the Loews in Nashville on Thursday night and after grabbing Lauren at the airport on Friday morning, we were off to Manchester. Upon arrival, first stop was at the local hotel I booked- a very quick stop after checking in and seeing the digs. After experiencing Manchester and the surrounding area last year, I knew it was going to rank high in the “worst hotels ever” list but I had at least hoped for clean sheets and towels. That hope was quickly dashed as we walked into our “suite” – my first thought was why the hell didn’t we grab pillows and towels at the Loews, especially since we were going back there 2 nights later. It was one of the most disgusting places I’ve ever seen, much less stayed at- not to mention it was missing a toilet in one of the bathrooms. I’m kicking myself now for not taking pictures of the “abortion bathroom” complete with a bloody tub- you had to see it to believe it but I’m pretty sure at least one took place there.
After a quick stop we got the hell out of dodge and I headed over to the fest with Andy- my partner in crime for Friday afternoon. After checking out the guest area, we decided to cruise into the Main stage area where we saw a massive amount of people on the other side of the gates. I pointed over at them and said they must be watching a good show, not even realizing they were all waiting to be let in- they hadn’t opened up the gates to the general public yet. Had we wanted to, we could have set up prime real estate on the rail, but instead we decided to hang out by the venders to watch everyone run in. I grabbed my phone and caught video of the “running of the bulls”. It was definitely a “had to be there” moment and a great way to kick off Bonnaroo.
So… then we decided it was time to see some music. Our first act of the day was catching Brazilian Girls where we easily met up with our friends Jen and Alicia under a tree in an attempt to find some shade. We stayed for a couple songs- enough to get a decent feel for them- my verdict is still out while Andy called them “cheesy”. Tortoise was next on our list and they rocked it. I discovered them at Coachella a few years ago and they are just a really solid band to hear live. Playing after Tortoise in the same tent was Hot Chip. Holy shit- these guys threw down. The main comment I kept hearing all weekend about them was- “too bad they had such an early slot” because their tent was going off- just a sick dance party- totally unexpected so early in the day and while their tent was packed, I know a lot of people missed out on that gem of a set. Definitely a new discovery of mine and one of my favorite shows of the whole fest. After Hot Chip we caught a little bit of Manu Chao. I had been hearing great things about him lately but it just wasn’t happening for us so we met up with Lauren who wanted to check out Lily Allen. Miss Allen is another one I’ve been curious to see what all the recent hype is about and I missed her at Coachella so I was psyched to see her in action. Lots of energy and she sounded great.
We had a nice break after her set, grabbed some food and found friends in the bleachers to watch Tool. We also caught Tool at Coachella so I knew what I was in store for. I was a little surprised that everyone around us was sitting on their asses for the entire set- definitely a different vibe than Coachella, but I’ll blame the heat and long day of music for that one. I’m still not familiar with any of Tool’s material but again they had me dancing the whole time and their light show is amazing- definitely one of the best around. We decided to give String Cheese one last shot since this is their last tour and would be our last opportunity to see them before all is said and done. I’m glad I can say I caught SCI in their prime because they were playing no where near that level and it was pretty sad to see them go down so hard, especially after seeing them almost 50 times in the last 9 years. People around us seemed to be having a good time though so we bailed instead of killing their buzz. We definitely found our groove at the SuperJam which consisted of John Paul Jones, Ben Harper and Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, playing Zeppelin and other covers, including a sick version of Superstition. Despite being a fairly short set considering they ended a good hour before allotted, it was a great way to end the night and it was back to the nasty ass hotel for us.
I tried to forget where we were laying our heads and after taking a shower with my flip flops on and using a T-shirt as a pillow cover, I woke up in the morning overhearing people talking outside of our room. I opened the door to find the “maids” talking about towels so I asked if we could get some clean ones. They actually made me hand them the 2 in the room so they could wash them and bring them back. When I explained that there were 3 of us, and we had paid extra for a 3rd person, they finally agreed to bring us 3. Right then we got a call from Lauren and Ash who were staying at one of the “festival run” hotels through The Police and they told us there was an extra room we could stay in over there since some of the bands had already checked out- thank you Kings of Leon!! We quickly packed up and ran out screaming, literally.
After “checking in” to our new room and hitting the Waffle House for a quick bite (ok Ash- you were totally right.. it’s much better than I had thought), our Saturday was off to a good start. A late start, but a good one nonetheless. Our first act of the day was Ween- it was hot and I’m not just talking about the heat. I met Dave, the bassist, the night before so it was cool to see him doing his thing. Even cooler was seeing our friend Chip in action who works for them. Mike met Chip when he and Jay Arch were hitchhiking after the Phish show on 8/10/96 and I met Chip the night Mike and I connected at a show in 2000 so he definitely shares a special in our hearts. I love seeing my friends doing their thing, especially when they do it well. Lauren, Ash and I ducked out of Ween a little early and caught a couple songs of Franz Ferdinand’s set- I’ve yet to actually listen to their catalogue but they are a fun band to see live. After FF, we grabbed a bite and it was time for The Police. The bleachers were packed but Mike managed to grab a spot in the aisle where we enjoyed the show. The Police are one of those bands I never thought I’d have a chance to see live, so despite the nostalgia and Andy Summers forgetting how to play the guitar, it was definitely a great moment in my own personal music going experiences. We were sitting next to some hard core Police fans and it was pretty awesome to hear them call songs and break everything down, including the solos- some of which were cool, some of which we could have down without. It made me realize “other” bands have obsessive fans as well- as Mike likes to say- same amusement park, different ride. Again, I was shocked at the amount of people sitting down for their entire 90 minute set- everyone but a handful. Dodger Stadium last weekend put these people to shame- and no one dances in LA (although LA was a longer and better show).
After the Police, we regrouped in the Artist tent, connected with some new and old friends and then headed over to catch Girl Talk. On the way there we had to cruise by where the Flaming Lips were playing- I saw them open for Beck in 2000 and wasn’t all that impressed, but I hadn’t seen them since. The sound was horrible and you couldn’t see a thing on stage because there was such a huge crowd watching them so we kept cruising to our desired destination. We managed to catch the last 20 minutes of Girl Talk and he was incredible- definitely my new favorite DJ after Coachella and once again he had a ton of fans getting down on stage with him to close his set- the guy knows how to lay it down. Wish we had gotten there earlier and wish he played longer- what can you do? We then closed out the night with Sasha & Digweed who more than made up for some of the other performers short sets as they were still going strong when we walked back to the car around 5:30AM.
Sunday was another late start for us but Lauren and I made it to the festival grounds in time to catch the last acts of the weekend. We started the day by watching Wilco from sidestage- not a bad way to catch a band for the first time. Wilco has always been one of those bands that I’ve had certain friends be really into yet I’ve never heard or even given them a chance. Needless to say, I was impressed and already picked up tickets to their LA show in August.
We cut out of Wilco a bit early to catch Feist. I hadn’t even heard of this band until Ash dubbed them as “vagindy rock” at the beginning of the weekend but it was cool to take in a bit of their set. After a couple songs we snagged a ride on a golf cart (something much easier to do when you’re hanging out with people that work for the fest) and checked out Ornette Coleman. Never in my wildest did I think I’d have the chance to see the living legend perform, much less that I’d catch him at a festival like Bonnaroo. Right before we were about to head out, we witnessed him passing out on stage mid-song. Not that shocking considering he’s 77 years old and was wearing a full suit in the 100 degree weather- but still scary watching him be escorted off- definitely an indicator of how hot it actually was over the weekend. I caught Marc Ribot in the crowd as we were leaving making me wonder if I had missed him playing a set or sitting in with anyone but I have yet to hear otherwise. That’s one of the coolest things I find about Bonnaroo- just randomly seeing musicians, comedians and filmmakers hanging out and catching different acts- from Jim Jarmusch kicking it in the Artists tent to Lewis Black sidestage watching Panic.
The White Stripes were up next and they did not disappoint. We actually caught their set from behind the stage because it was so crowded up front but the sound was surprisingly good since we had monitors facing us. They definitely made me want to see more of them so we’ll hit their LA show in September. And last but not least was Widespread Panic who closed out the fest on the main stage playing 30 minutes over their timeslot. We were also able to watch that show from sidestage and it rocked- the perfect ending to a fantastic weekend.
All in all- an amazing festival and an incredible weekend of music shared with good friends and phenomenal musicians. Once again I left feeling inspired by new discoveries and awakened by old stand-by’s. Only 4 months until Vegoose... I can’t wait.
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