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Saturday, June 13, 2009
Photos / Live Reviews / Blogaroo / News Blogaroo from Bonnaroo ’09 - Friday
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 12:09 PM
(Once again, Internet service in the farmlands of Tennessee is horrible... Some photos uploaded, more to come. Please check back.)
What started out as an overcast day gave way to the sun in a beautiful rain-free Friday at Bonnaroo.
My day began with Tift Merritt – who is shorter than I imagined, but just as sweet as could be. Gomez rocked the Which Stage to kick of the weekend of large stage peformances.
Animal Collective… yeah, I don’t get it. Two DJs and a kind of screaming guitarist… I’ll have to give the band’s album a listen as the crowd appeared to love every minute of the odd music. Not nearly as odd as Crystal Castles, but I’ll get to that.
St. Vincent’s mellow rock soothed those in That Tent while Grace Potter rocked the hell out of This Tent. I saw Potter recently at the Visulite Theatre, but it didn’t compare to the energy that exuded from her here.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs were impressive to watch as singer Karen O dramatically held the microphone and stroke poses non-stop.
Grizzly Bear rocked This Tent with their rock, but it was Al Green on the What Stage that impressed everyone with his “he’s still got it!” vocals.
TV on the Radio — I don’t get the appeal here either. I mean, it’s unique and experimental rock, but I just can’t get past the falsetto vocals, no matter how hard I try … There’s a song or two that are bearable, but other than that, I’m just not a fan.
Beastie Boys tore up the What Stage as the night’s headliner playing hits from all their albums, ending with “Intergalactic” and “Sabotage.” The trio played instruments as well as focusing on vocals over the work of Mixmaster Mike. They were also joined by Nas for a song from the band’s upcoming album, Hot Sauce Committee.
David Byrne, dressed in all-white, drew a large crowd at Which Stage, ending with a number of Talking Heads songs – closing with “Burning Down the House.”
An entertaining moment took place near the press tent before Phish as Flavor Flav was interviewed by Triumph the Insult Comic Dog for an upcoming Conan O'Brien segment.
Phish was the closer on the main stage as they jammed their way through a three-hour set that left phans pheeling satisphied. Trey Anastasio, singer and guitarist of the band, appeared to enjoy every moment.
Late night sets featured Femi Kuti in The Other Tent while Public Enemy performed their album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, in its entirety. Their set opened with “Bring the Noise,” and ended with “Can’t Truss It” and “Fight the Power.”
Crystal Castles... I'm not even sure how to describe it. A DJ and drummer play music while "singer" screams. Literally, screams. She jumped into the crowd and strobe lights lit up the tent... and she never really looked like she was having a good time. In fact, she looked pissed off - granted, there were some technical problems, but she seemed more bothered by that than the fact she was getting groped all over when she dove into the crowd.
Girl Talk played a late night set that had the stage teeming with fans as they jumped the barricade to join the DJ on stage.
Public Enemy Setlist
Countdown
Bring the Noise
Don't Believe the Hype
Collampin Flavor
Terminator X to the Edge
Mindterrorist
Louder than a Bomb
Caught Can I get a Witness
Show Em Watcha
Zero Channel Zero
Baseheads
Black Steel
Security of First World
Rebel Without a Pause
Prophets of Rage
Party for your Right
Can't Truss It
Fight the Power
Phish Setlist
Chalk Dust Torture
Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan
The Divided Sky
Possum
Down with Disease
“moist panty jam”
Down with Disease
Alaska
Stash
Golgi Apparatus
Wolfman’s Brother
Poor Heart
Kill Devil Falls >
Free
Wading in the Velvet Sea
Harry Hood >
Highway to Hell >
2001 >
You Enjoy Myself >
Wilson >
You Enjoy Myself
E: A Day in The Life
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