Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
Manchester, Tenn.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
In some odd way, I think my body is getting used to only three-and-a-half hours of sleep each night… sadly. And I always wondered what I looked like with three days of facial hair growth — sadly, much like hot water and indoor plumbing, there are no mirrors around. Anyway – let’s get to the music:
My day started at noon with the hip-hop infused Latin grooves of Bomba Estereo. They describe their music as electro-tropical, and that’s a fair description. Singer Liliana Saurnet has the energy of M.I.A. — and the sense of style, too.
Next up was the mellow African sounds of Baaba Maal. It took him a little while to warm up and start smiling and dancing…
I finally got to see Brandi Carlile and was impressed by everything I saw. She started off the set with something she said was an experiment — her and her band singing with only a ukelele accompanying them. It worked perfectly and Carlile later said in a press conference that she was moved by the experience of having so many people be quiet to listen to them.
On a hunch I next checked out Circa Survive in This Tent. Holy shit! Singer Anthony Green — formerly of Saosin — was off his rocker, to put it mildly. He was all over the place, sweating profusely mid-way through the first song, screaming his head off, singing in a high-pitched voice and asking the crowd to throw all of their clothes at him. “You don’t need them!” he yelled. “I want it to rain a sea of cotton and polyester.” He also spent a good amount of time… well, I’ll say molesting himself on stage, thrusting his hand down his pants. The band puts on a helluva entertaining show and I’m hoping they pass through Charlotte so I can catch the whole thing.
In a stark contrast, Norah Jones was next up on Which Stage. Her voice sounded fantastic as she opened with “What Am I to You.”
Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff shook, shimmied and danced his way around the main stage, What Stage, next.
At 4:45, The Avett Brothers took to Which Stage and performed to a massive crowd. Sure, some may have been there early for Weezer, but there sure were a lot of people singing along and no one was leaving til the last notes rang out.
The guys seemed a bit toned down — maybe the addition of a drummer, supplementing their usual foot-stomping has taken away some of the energy? Or maybe it just took them some time to warm up. Either way – sonically, the boys haven’t changed a bit and their emotional lyrics are still delivered with as much heart as possible.
Almost an English version of the Avetts, Mumford & Sons played in That Tent. The singer, with acoustic guitar and kick drum is just one similarity, but clearly a different sound and vibe to the stage despite the Americana leanings.
The Dead Weather stormed onto What Stage. As Jack White hammered away on the drums, singer Alison Mosshart showed off her best frontwoman energy. It’s stunning how she commands attention and you nearly forget White is even there.
Mosshart whips her hair with a fury, crawls around, stares you down and lets every word sink in.
Jeff Beck was next in This Tent and his lack of pick as he strums and plucks with his thumb is almost as impressive as the riffs he tears into. He may have had a large, empty stage to work with, but filled it with every note that resonated out of the speakers.
Stevie Wonder was definitely the highlight of the night and weekend so far. His music and talent are timeless. He walked on stage ripping into — of all things — a keytar and proceeded to play hit after hit. At the end of his set, he had a conglomerate of drummers — African, Native American, Japanese, etc. — hammering away for what seemed like a thankful eternity. Simply amazing.
Jay-Z was up next, with a massive skyline-like LED backdrop, he seemed to soak in every ounce of energy from the massive crowd. Rumors of an appearance by Beyonce and/or Lady Gaga went unfounded.
Thievery Corporation brought their eclectic music to That Tent at midnight.
Clutch hit The Other Tent and threw everything they had at the crowd — a far different experience from the toned down blues jam of The Bakerton Group.
Deadmau5 performed in This Tent and proved that I am not a fan of techno. Seriously, I’m sorry, but it all sounds the same to me and every song is incredibly repetitive. He had a fantastic light show — but then again, who wants to stand around and watch a guy with two turn tables for an hour and a half? No photos to share because he set was so high I only got this photo of his DJ stand.
GWAR was in The Other Tent, in the meantime, spewing blood and various liquids onto the crowd. Again, no photos, but that’s because I didn’t want to ruin my camera in whatever said liquid was. Entertaining to watch, but after a while, the bad metal and launching of fluid gets a little old.
I’ve been trying to check out as many bands as I can, but still don’t make it to all that I’d like to. I missed out on a great set from Langhorne Slim… didn’t get to see Imelda May… and missed Charlotte’s Paper Tongues. I also heard great things about a band called Dawes…
This article appears in Jun 8-14, 2010.
Thanks for the write-ups. I was up front for Jeff Beck and absolutely amazed at the sounds he coaxed out of his guitar. His band was incredible as well. Funny thing though, my 19 year old son was also at the show, and he found it “boring”. Said it was just a bunch of notes. Must be a generation gap. On the other hand, he loved GWAR, mainly for their cheesiness.
Love reading your blogs about Bonnaroo!!
The caption under the picture of Anthony Green of Circa Survive is an outrage. Circa played for an hour and rocked that full tent of rabid fans with every song they played. The crowd sang along, of course, knowing every word to every song, but you would never know any of this actually went on. Poor JH didn’t get what was going on so he focused on would he thought was important to know. For anybody who wants to really know what went on in the “This Tent” during Circa’s hour go to the link below. Like I said, an outrage. http://www.youtube.com/user/bojo15#p/u/4/0W27kO3LcPQ
How is it an outrage? Do you deny that he was doing what I said?
You can see it in your video and my photo:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bojo15#p/u/10/UNt4pHIyJFk
Dear Jeff: You asked two questions. 1) “How is it an outrage?” It’s an outrage to me as a Circa Survive FAN. You only went to the tent “on a hunch,” you didn’t know the band, you didn’t even know that Anthony Green sings in a high pitched voice—always! But you started off your thread of photos and captions with “let’s get to the music,” and all you did in that caption was paint AG as a degenerate lunatic. Did you notice how he expends more energy connecting with and entertaining a crowd than any front man around? You could have mentioned for Circa, as you did with the Avett Bros, that “there sure were a lot of people singing along and no one was leaving til the last notes rang out.” But you didn’t. AG scratched his nuts a few times—“molested” himself!–and that was the big story? You could have said, as you did with the Avett Bros, that “their emotional lyrics are still delivered with as much heart as possible,” because, like him or not, NOBODY sings with more emotion than AG. But you didn’t. AG was “off his rocker.” Right. He was crazed with a burning desire to give Circa’s fans a great show. You could have said, as you did re: Alison Mosshart, that it was “stunning” how AG “commanded attention” and “showed off his best frontman energy,” because it was true. But you didn’t. He screamed his head off. So, yes, nothing about the music at all. Nothing about how into it the Circa fans were. It was about your sensibilities being offended. An outrage. 2) “Do you deny that he was doing what I said?” Yes and no. What you call molesting himself I call scratching his nuts. In Journalism 101 students are taught to avoid “overgeneralization.” You dwelled on your interpretation of what you saw as negative, and described only YOUR reaction and ignored how much the fans enjoyed it. In your other captions, you did your job by giving a taste of how each performance was received by the people that REALLY matter. The fans. I would invite anyone to not only look at the video link I posted above, but the other 10 or 12 songs posted there as well. All I’m really asking for, Jeff, is fairness. At the very least you could have said, I don’t get AG or Circa, but their many fans sure do. Thanks for at least caring enough to respond. JB
You’re right – those remarks could be taken negatively. I meant it more as a — my jaw dropped and I couldn’t stop watching to see what crazy thing he’d do next. Didn’t mean it to say I didn’t enjoy it or wasn’t entertained.
If the band comes through Charlotte, I’d be interested in catching an entire show.
Hey Jeff,
I’m really impressed that you care enough to actually respond like this. Had you added: “Despite all this I enjoyed the show and was entertained” you wouldn’t have heard from me at all. I like most of the other artists pictured on your thread, and have been to hundreds of other shows, so I’m not just a Circa “fan boy.” Having seen them live about 10 times I can only say they are one of the best live shows going. Musically they’re outstanding and AGreen is one of the most entertaining performers I’ve ever seen. If there’s any way to amend or extend the caption, it would be much appreciated. If not, I’ll be satisfied with your fair-minded comments above. Thanks much for giving a damn, Jeff!