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Bonnaroo Saturday night special.
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moe. kept the party going until the sun came up.
What’s the best way to wake up at Bonnaroo? Jimmy Buffett and a Bloody Mary. This was a genius move, as many artists could kick off a day quite as well as Mr. Buffett. It was the kind of show that you could bring a lawn chair to, and just enjoy the sounds as you soak up the Southern sun. If I had to pick five people, living or dead, that I would trade placed with, you can bet Jimmy Buffett would be on that list. He closed the set at 1:00 with “Margaritaville,” to which the crowd happily sang along. I even had enough time to catch the country-blues icon Alejandro Escovedo over in one of the tents. A fantastic way to start the day. Speaking of icons, there wasn’t a lot of downtime before it was time to head over to That Tent to see Allen Toussaint. I’m not surprised that a lot of people at the festival were unfamiliar with Toussaint’s body of work, and it seems that he attracted a sort of hyper literate musical fan base to the tent. In case you haven’t heard of him, Allen Toussaint is simply a legend in the New Orleans music scene. At 71 years old, he’s still producing some of his best work. It was a real delight to have to chance to see him play, one that most people would never have if it weren’t for a festival like Bonnaroo. The next two stops on my list were Raphael Saadiq and the flamenco guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. Saadiq, a former member of 90’s R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone!, reminded everyone that he’s not only a silky smooth operator, but also an extremely talented guitar player in his own right. My only criticism of him is his apparent desire to be seen as an abstract minded rock star rather than an R&B crooner. To prove it, he threw in an interesting array of covers, including The Stooges’ “Search and Destroy.” I hate to say it, but it sounded at times like he was trying out the song for the first time while playing Rock Band on Nintendo. His best material was his older stuff, and that worth seeing. Rodrigo y Gabriela was expected to be a good show, but I wasn’t sure how it would play out on the main stage. There are only two people in the group, and their shows definitely benefit from a sense of intimacy. To my surprise, they rocked it like an 80’s hair band. The crowd seemed more interested in the improbable skills of Gabriela on her acoustic guitar and strummed, tapped, and beat enough noise to cover an entire band. What can I say? The girl’s got chops. Gov’t Mule had their work cut out for them when they took the stage at 5:00. They were competing for the attention of the crowd with the bizarre stage performers Of Montreal, the lovely Jenny Lewis, and bluegrass hall-of-famers The Del McCoury band. Montreal startled by wearing animal masks with white suits, but definitely packed in the indie music crowd. Or at least, everyone that wasn’t over at That Tent, catching Elvis Costello sitting in with Ms. Lewis. She played a lot of her newer solo material, but the crowd erupted when she broke out an acoustic rendition of “Silver Lining,” a song by her other band, Rilo Kiley. So back to Gov’t Mule. Warren Haynes, lead singer and guitarist for the band, is the unspoken father of Bonnaroo. He has been from the beginning. No one has taken advantage of playing with the caliber of musicians at Bonnaroo like he has. So why mess with a good thing? The mule was joined by guests throughout the set, and had people talking well into the night. 6:00 presented several other conflicts of interest for me. Wilco, The Mars Volta, The Decemberists, Elvis Costello, and The David Grisman Quartet all played simultaneously. I made the decision that I would catch a little of each. That’s my job, right? Wilco was expected to be a great show, and they didn’t disappoint. At one point they joked that if anyone booed them, they would assume that they were chanting for Bruce Springsteen, a reminder of what the night had in store. A few hundred feet away, The Mars Volta were raging in all their experimental prog rock glory. I go back and forth on these guys. When they’re on, they’re just as good as a live show as Led Zepplin must have been in the 70’s. However, it seems that they let their desire to be different get the best of them sometimes, as their sound gets away from them. Take a cue from Sonic Youth, sometimes you’re just making noise for the sake of challenging people. What’s the point of that? Nothing too crazy to report about The Decemberists, Elvis Costello, or Grisman. Pretty much what expect from those guys, which is great music. So this brings us to the big moment. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Now I’ve already read everyone else’s review of the show, and people seem to quick to glorify Mr. Springsteen’s shtick. I, on the other hand, am not buying it. If I could summarize the entire experience, I would say that it had all of the cheesy elements of Springsteen’s halftime Superbowl show, sustained for 2 ½ hours. Springsteen would constantly go on about the hard times we’re all facing. At one point, he stated that he didn’t come to Manchester to rock but to build a house, a house of hope. Excuse me if I’m the only one that feels that this is a little self serving. Everyone knows that Bruce Springsteen is the champion of blue collar new jersey, and that he speaks for the working man. Except, of course, when he’s photographed with his daughter at a horse show. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not hating on Bruce for being a good father. I’m on board with that. It’s just they way that he plays to this image that we have of him, that I feel like the sincere Bruce Springsteen, the one we used to know, is lost somewhere in the stage antics. It’s like watching a sad clown. Pulling a windmill with your guitar? Maybe if you’re Pete Townshend. Pulling three in a row while letting out a Howard Dean scream? That’s a little much. Springsteen would also benefit from trimming down the band. A 20 piece ensemble only seems to work if your name is Van Morrison or you’re in The Polyphonic Spree. Am I coming across a little negative here? Probably. I just hate it when artists come to Bonnaroo 8 years in thinking that they’re the ones who are going to change the world. Bonnaroo, while it has it’s political moments, is at it’s best when people are just enjoying themselves and the music. That being said, everyone else seemed to have a good time. If I had to describe the late night shows in just one word each, I would have to say they were: 1. Powerful (Nine Inch Nails) 2. Legendary (moe.) 3. Classic (Ben Harper) 4. Unexciting (MGMT) Obviously, one of these things is not like the other. Nine Inch Nails delivered an amazing performance, winning over skeptics left and right. I’ve been saying it for awhile now, NIN is one of the best live shows today. I was feeling particularly vindicated on this night. Moe., a jamband from New York, were actually the first band to play a late night show at Bonnaroo back in 2002. While this night didn’t exactly match that first performance in terms of “once in a lifetime” moments, the boys did manage to play until 6:30 in the morning, and even jammed with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Yes, the entire band. Ben Harper seemed to get back to basic, playing a lap steel guitar while sitting band. I love the sound of his new band, and am excited to see that Harper is still able to keep old tunes fresh by changing up the cast. I’ll miss the bass playing of Juan Nelson, but that’s what memories are for. Then there is MGMT, who happen to be one of my favorite bands at the moment. It wasn’t that they were particularly bad, but they just seemed to play the songs as though you were hearing them on the radio. There was nothing in the performance to suggest that the band considered this different from the other gigs. The played, they were done, and it was time to call it a night. At this point, sleep becomes perhaps the most anticipated moment of the weekend.
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