Bonnaroo 2009

[bobbob1313]

While I agree with the throw out the headliners thing, in my experience it is still easy to see earlier bands on the main stage. So I would throw out Bruce (who i'll still see, but from far back), Phish and Beasties, assuming those are the bands that get the headliner spots. Beside that Byrne, Wilco, & Al Green won't be too difficult to get a little closer for. I had no problem being close for Beck or Elvis in '06 or Wilco in '04

 

I got in line maybe 45 minutes before Wilco's set in 07, and was about 15 people back from Pat in the pit. It's not that difficult.

 

Well indie music has been popular with a lot of the jam band crowd for a long time. That's one thing I don't think that crowd gets enough credit for. I have been turned on to far more diverse music from Deadhead and Phishhead friends and media than of all other music combined. Sure there are certainly some myopic fans out there, but by and large, they are very open-minded music fans. I would argue the same can not be said for, say, Pitchfork, for example. I guess what I am trying to say is that lineup would hold a lot more appeal for jam fans than it would for indie fans because the indie fans aren't as likely to be open to variety, so I still see it as being true to its roots. /huge generalizations

 

You should check out the inforoo message boards. A lot of jam band people hate that "their" fest has been taken over. A lot of them are even bitter that Bruce is listed above Phish on the lineup.

[theashtraysays]

Jun 11-14 Manchester, TN

Jun 22-25 Minneapolis, MN

 

That leaves SEVEN WHOLE DAYS to stop in Louisville or Cincy. Or Lexington (too much to ask?). Or Indy. Yeah, that'd work too.

[mountain bed]

That leaves SEVEN WHOLE DAYS to stop in Louisville or Cincy. Or Lexington (too much to ask?). Or Indy. Yeah, that'd work too.

I like the way you think!

[Moe_Syzlak]

You should check out the inforoo message boards. A lot of jam band people hate that "their" fest has been taken over. A lot of them are even bitter that Bruce is listed above Phish on the lineup.

Vocal minority methinks. Even if not, the jam scene I knew when I was growing up (musically) in the '80s and '90s was VERY open minded and that has served me well. I care not for qualifying music by genre, but rather by unprejudiced quality (subjective, of course). Most everyone I knew felt the same way.

[mountain bed]

Vocal minority methinks. Even if not, the jam scene I knew when I was growing up (musically) in the '80s and '90s was VERY open minded and that has served me well. I care not for qualifying music by genre, but rather by unprejudiced quality (subjective, of course). Most everyone I knew felt the same way.

I agree. Especially with the GD scene, there seemed to be a very eclectic and varied group of musical interests - the one common denominator being quality in the taste department. Those folks were partially responsible for turning me onto country, bluegrass, jazz, etc.

[dagwave]

freakin love that lineup: a perfect mashup of both me and my 14 year olds music tastes.

 

maybe our version of "motorcycle maintenance"

 

roadtrip from York, Pa to Tennessee, tennesse

 

(ain't no place i'd rather be!)

[mountain bed]

freakin love that lineup: a perfect mashup of both me and my 14 year olds music tastes.

 

maybe our version of "motorcycle maintenance"

 

roadtrip from York, Pa to Tennessee, tennesse

 

(ain't no place i'd rather be!)

Nice!

[MattZ]

And to take Moe's point one step further beyond the fans themselves, Phish opened me up to a ton more music. I went out and bought VU's Loaded after Phish covered the album for halloween. Phish has covered everyone from Taj Mahal to Talking Heads to Chuck Berry to Led Zeppelin Stevie Wonder to ZZ Top to Son Seals. The list is pretty doggone impressive.

[tangara]

I agree. Especially with the GD scene, there seemed to be a very eclectic and varied group of musical interests - the one common denominator being quality in the taste department. Those folks were partially responsible for turning me onto country, bluegrass, jazz, etc.

 

Agree, agree, agree. I hate to see the jammy folks pigeonholed, because in my experience they know a hell of a lot about a lot of different kinds of music, and are open to listening to a really wide variety of things, much more so than the indie purists.

 

So while there aren't a ton of definitive jam bands on that list, I saw a lot of stuff that would appeal to the jam crowd. I'd include the country, bluegrass and world music acts on that list.

[Analogman]

From Billboard.com:

 

Phish Jams With Springsteen On Bonnaroo's Closing Night

June 15, 2009 08:14 AM ET

Jeff Vrabel and Troy Carpenter, Manchester, Tenn.

 

Headliner met headliner on Bonnaroo's final evening as Bruce Springsteen joined Phish on stage Sunday to close out the four-day festival in grand fashion.

 

After being introduced by Phish frontman/guitarist Trey Anastasio as his "boyhood hero and still hero," Springsteen first handled vocals and guitar on a rollicking "Mustang Sally." The group then turned its attention to Springsteen's catalog: Anastasio contributed speed-fingered guitar work to a jangly, sweet "Bobby Jean," and Springsteen, who assumed the role of bandleader by steering a rough-start "Glory Days" back into calmer waters and calling for "a little more keyboard" for Phish's Page McConnell, led the tens of thousands in the crowd in a massive summertime singalong. It was the song's second appearance in two nights; Springsteen and the E Street Band performed it in their Saturday night slot as well. And for his part, Springsteen was busy on Sunday, having been spotted earlier in the day taking in sets by Neko Case and Band of Horses.

 

Bruce aside, Phish's festival-closing slot Sunday was a two-set performance that brought a sense ofclosure to an epic, jam-packed weekend. Unlike the band's last festival headlining experience five years ago in Coventry, Vt. (which marked the start of the group’s latest, just-ended hiatus), Sunday's Phish set was more celebratory in nature, a good-times exploration through the band’s bag of tricks that pulled out plenty of hits and brilliantly embellished covers.

 

"AC/DC Bag" and "NICU" got things off to a jaunty start, riffing on the uptempo rock grooves and then winding their way through longer compositions "Punch You in the Eye" and "Run Like an Antelope" before the big surprise just prior to the end of the first set.

 

Set two started with a rollicking cover of the Velvet Underground’s "Rock and Roll." An old fan favorite, the three-chord nugget got the royal Phish treatment with an extended jam alternately ebullient and meditative. Other second-set highlights were a boisterous take on new track "Backwards Down the Number Line" and the funky instrumental "First Tube." A relatively short encore of "Suzy Greenberg" and "Tweezer Reprise" brought the show and the festival to a close.

 

On the whole, Sunday proved to be a day for wandering, as differing styles abounded: While the Lovell Sisters displayed their progressive bluegrass stylings at This Tent, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists rocked the Other Tent with reckless abandon, presenting a hard-edged indie-rock accented with an Irish-by-way-of-Jersey brogue. Leo's set included a smattering of new songs, including the feisty "Where Was My Brain."

 

Elsewhere, Citizen Cope's head-nodding grooves soothed an afternoon crowd; quick-wit folkie Todd Snider regaled his audience with an autobiographical tale of his own prep-sports history that led into the wickedly sharp "Conservative Christian Right-Wing Republican Straight White American Males" and Austin, Tx.-based rockers Okkervil River turned "Unless It's Kicks" into a full-tent clapalong.

 

On the main stage, sporting a Public Enemy hoodie, the regal Erykah Badu spun a soulful web, dribbling bits of "Rapper's Delight" and NWA's "Gangsta Gangsta" into "Love of My Life," while the legendary Merle Haggard’s classic country rock provided a stark contrast from This Tent across the Bonnaroo compound. In between, Andrew Bird whistled merrily through a 90-minute set on the Which Stage.

 

Neko Case was joined onstage by the seemingly ubiquitous Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, who sang backup on "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" after delivering a series of rapid-fire jokes involving Case's work with animals and Bonnaroo's archetypal odors ("I love the smell of weed mixed with Axe body spray," he said, but he kids). When not sharing stage space with an angry puppet, though, Case dedicated a song to Badu ("She's so bad-ass," reported Case, correctly) and glowed on rockers like "This Tornado Loves You" and a breathtaking cover of Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me."

 

Elsewhere, just a word from Snoop Dogg caused a massive crowd at the What Stage to get its hands in the air, especially on well-aged tracks like "Gin and Juice," "Who Am I (What's My Name)" and a cover of "Jump Around," before being joined by Badu for a spare, simmering take on "Lodi Dodi" - one that found Snoop cleaning up his language in deference to his guest. Snoop also delivered in closing what might have been the line of the day: "Anybody ready for some motherf---in' Phish?"

 

And although this year's festival lacked the traditional semi-secret "super jam," it did stuff a relentless series of music into four not-nearly-enough days, an overgenerous stretch of overlapping set times and sleepless nights (it helped if you could sleep through bass). But Phish was a more than fitting choice to bring it to a close and send the satisfied throngs out into the night back to the actual world, drained but entertained.

[dontknownuthin]

I posted mp3s of Phish and the Boss on you send it. Link here.

 

Listen after Antelope ends to hear Trey's intro of Bruce.

 

Trey: "When I was 12 years old I went to my first concert ever. It was in Chadwick Gym in Princeton University, about a 3000 seat venue. I can't say that that concert has ever been rivaled in my mind for...I saw that concert and I thought every concert was going to be like that...exploding with energy for three straight hours, and, uh, it turned out that that wasn't always true!

 

Tonight, all of us are going to have the incredible opportunity right now to share the stage with my boyhood hero, and still my hero today, Bruce Springsteen..."

 

Crowd: BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE

 

Mustang Sally, Bobby Jean, Glory Days

[bobbob1313]

Oh man, Nas performing with the Beastie Boys had to be one of the top moments of the festival for me.

[okp greg]

Oh man, Nas performing with the Beastie Boys had to be one of the top moments of the festival for me.

 

It's one thing to have guests who are already at the festival come out together, but it always throws you for a loop when someone random comes out. In '06 Tom Petty brought out Stevie Nicks and that was ridiculous to me.

[tongue-tied lightning]

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/video-bruce-springsteen-jams-with-phish-at-bonnaroo/

[rareair]

highlights for me:

 

1. Phoenix - wow. very fun live. sounded great and i love their new album. (played midnight to 1 am ish on friday)

 

2. Wilco - was able to sit on the stage above the band, which was a great spot for the show. they really seem to enjoy playing bonnaroo and sounded great.

 

3. P.E. - was not expecting the entirety of It Takes A Nation and flavor flav really seemed coherent which was a plus

 

4. Springsteen - sitting in the structure where they were recording and mixing the performance was an amazing vantage point. free tall boy budweisers only helped. i had only seen bruce once and it was a revival-type last hour or so for me. max wineberg's 18 year old son played some mean drums.

 

5. tv on the radio

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

highlights for me:

 

1. Phoenix - wow. very fun live. sounded great and i love their new album. (played midnight to 1 am ish on friday)

 

2. Wilco - was able to sit on the stage above the band, which was a great spot for the show. they really seem to enjoy playing bonnaroo and sounded great.

 

3. P.E. - was not expecting the entirety of It Takes A Nation and flavor flav really seemed coherent which was a plus

 

4. Springsteen - sitting in the structure where they were recording and mixing the performance was an amazing vantage point. free tall boy budweisers only helped. i had only seen bruce once and it was a revival-type last hour or so for me. max wineberg's 18 year old son played some mean drums.

 

5. tv on the radio

I thought I saw a picture of Bruce's set at Bonnaroo, and Max was on drums, not his son.

 

Am I wrong?

 

EDIT: Definitely Max. http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/28658721/bonnaroo_2009_shots_from_the_stag/photo/19

[trentasaurus]

I thought I saw a picture of Bruce's set at Bonnaroo, and Max was on drums, not his son.

 

Am I wrong?

 

EDIT: Definitely Max. http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/28658721/bonnaroo_2009_shots_from_the_stag/photo/19

 

Max did play for about the first half, but then his son came on for the rest. I'm not sure why he played since Max was there.

[RainDogToo]

Does anyone know if the Bonnaroo webpage archives their webcasts? Don't remember if they do or not. I would love to watch the Heartless Bastards set again, because my feed got cut of a couple times.

[dmait]

>I'm not sure why he played since Max was there.

 

They generally have been sharing time at shows when Max is available. During the US leg of the tour, the band had been preparing for Jay taking over behind the drums when Max would have take time off for his gig with Conan. They split time at most of those shows. Jay played all the shows himself in Europe. I guess with Max available at Bonnaroo he could have played it himself, but they split it, maybe figuring Jay will return full time over the next few weeks.

[bobbob1313]

Jay wasn't nearly as tight as Max, but it brought an infectious energy to the whole band as they tried to keep up with him.

 

He reminded me of Dave Grohl in both looks and sound.

[tangara]

Top sets:

 

1. Bon Iver. The singalong on The Wolves (Acts I & II) finally worked. The crowd was totally into it. The Dearland horns were a beautiful addition. And he covered "I Feel Like Going Home" by Yo La Tengo...greatness.

 

2. Al Green. He can still lay it down. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a bunch of Bonnababies conceived after that set.

 

3. Phish Friday. Incredibly tight set and so many great tunes. Sunday was kind of Bonnaruined by Bruce, IMO...he killed the flow of the set. Did we really need to hear "Glory Days" AGAIN?

 

Good times. I'd go again next year.

[DAngerer09]

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at Bonnaroo

probably the best Triumph performance since his time at the Star Wars convention/opening movie night.

[augurus]

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at Bonnaroo

probably the best Triumph performance since his time at the Star Wars convention/opening movie night.

Triumph The Insult Comic Dog: I'm here with TV On The Radio. How would you define your music? And please keep in mind that crap is already taken by the Decemberists.

 

Bwahahaha!

[DAngerer09]

there are so many great lines in that thing. i love it.

[ThisIsNowhere]

Phish Friday. Incredibly tight set and so many great tunes. Sunday was kind of Bonnaruined by Bruce, IMO...he killed the flow of the set. Did we really need to hear "Glory Days" AGAIN?

They had an awesome jam though.