I was worried about the weather all weekend, because in Tennessee ‘scattered thunderstorms’ can mean just about anything. Luckily for us, that evening we watched the storm pass south of us toward Chattanooga. And I will say, overall, it was perhaps the best weather Bonnaroo has ever experienced. The heat was very bearable, there were no thunderstorms and the rain on Friday night helped to keep the dust down all weekend. Unfortunately, the rain also kept my camera in the car for a good part of the weekend.
Thursday, the HeadCount crew made a large breakfast and then headed down to setup the booth and begin our work to register 1,000 voters over the weekend. But wait — did I mention I got to see some fantastic music too?
My Bonnaroo musical experience started with listening to a little bit of Knoxville’s own, Superdrag. When working at the booth we got the opportunity to hear most of the music from ‘This Tent,’ so that made the experience even better. Where else can you dance while registering people to vote? While working my shift, I also heard a little bit of MGMT and Electric Feel got the festival started out right for me. I ended my shift at 10pm and headed down to the ‘Other Tent’ for my first choice of the evening, The Felice Brothers.
I had been looking forward to seeing the Felice Brothers for quite some time now. I have a couple of their albums and had missed an opportunity to see them in April when they came through Nashville. The Felice Brothers did not disappoint me.Whiskey in my Whiskey, Where’d You Get The Liquor and Frankie’s Gun were all top notch. The highlight of the show though was The Devil Is Real. Then I went and checked out a little bit of Lez Zeppelin just to be a part of Bonnaroo’s little joke of not actually booking Led Zeppelin. I’m sorry but AC/DShe was way better when I saw them open for moe. on Halloween in 2003. So I moved on to another cover band — Dark Star Orchestra. They played Tennessee Jed of course (what would a Bonnaroo be without one?), and they ended up closing the evening out for me.
Friday was a huge day for HeadCount. I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to make a trip to Wal-Mart for some much needed supplies for the booth, then made it back in time to start my first shift of the day. After my shift, Marc Brownstein spoke on a Rock the Earth panel about HeadCount.
[Rock the Earth Panel, Solar Stage]
After the panel and a round table discussion with several HeadCount leaders and volunteers from all over the country I headed to my second musical choice of the weekend — Umphrey’s (of course)! I arrived in time to witness the awesomeness of “Wizard Burial Ground” an obvious homage to the Metallica performance later that evening. The set was a little standard otherwise but who doesn’t mind a Jeff Coffin sit-in? I headed back to the booth to work one more shift for the evening and then over to the Sonic Stage for Umphrey’s second performance, in support of their new double-disc release, “Jimmy Stewart 2007.”
[Umphrey’s McGee, Sonic Stage]
After the set, I went to see a little of Chris Rock and then back to the camp site to rest and prepare for the late night performances.
My Morning Jacket and the Superjam were on tap for me on Friday night. My Morning Jacket was nothing short of epic, and I wish I had stayed for the whole show. Instead, I opted to check out the Superjam. After a long wait in the rain, the Superjam started and I was a little bummed. I mean, I’m sorry — but how many Superjam’s need to involve Les Claypool? A Tom Waits tribute is awesome in itself, but I know Superfly and AC Entertainment have the ability to get the real Tom Waits to Bonnaroo. So the Superjam was a little of a disappointment to me, especially when compared to past Superjams.
Saturday morning is when I started to feel a little ill. After some hot tea, I managed to catch an awesome performance by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings to start off the day correctly. Do yourself a favor — go see this band and purchase ALL of their records, not in mp3 format but on the warm, warm sound of vinyl. If they don’t make you shake your hips then you have some serious problems.
[Voters register at the HeadCount booth]
After Sharon’s set I headed back to the HeadCount booth to work another shift. Then I caught a couple of Iron & Wine songs, and headed to Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road. I saw the end of the set and watched the sunset as The Weight was performed. To me, that moment was the definition of beautiful.
After basking in that moment I headed over to listen to a bit of Jack Johnson, and I got there just in time for the Eddie Vedder sit in. Then I waited for my friend to get off work to go to my third choice of the weekend — Pearl Jam. I’ve never had the opportunity to see Pearl Jam, but they’ve always been a favorite. I went through two analog cassette copies of Ten before upgrading to a CD of the album.
The Pearl Jam show was the most packed I’ve ever seen any show at the Bonnaroo main stage. It was a full on rock show. Unfortunately, we had to leave a tad early to head over to my fourth choice of the festival — Chromeo. And oh what a dance party it was — Fancy Footwork indeed! I managed to sneak a peek at Ryan Stasik getting down a few rows in front of me (all dapper in his all white outfit). Everyone was enjoying the Chromeo, as they should. And as the evening progressed my illness got worse — so after Chromeo, I had to call it a night.
Sunday, I spent the day resting at the campsite because my allergies and cold were in full effect. The HeadCount team stepped up and recruited more individuals to help cover my shifts and to help reach our goal of registering 1,000 voters at the festival. From the campsite I heard a bit of Yonder Mountain as well as Robert Plant & Allison Krauss. By the afternoon I had the campsite packed and was in better spirits so I headed down to the booth to help a bit where I found out that not only did we register 1,000 new voters, but over 1,100 new voters — that is total better than the two previous Bonnaroo Festivals combined! Basically, HeadCount kicked ass at Bonnaroo — hands down! The evening and festival closed with Widespread Panic of course — and I’m finding myself enjoying their new material as time progresses.
So, overall, the festival was fantastic and had I not been ill I don’t think I’d be out of line if I’d say this was perhaps my favorite Bonnaroo besides the inaugural festival.
And while, this may not be my normal LoC post or political rant it was very apparent that politics were at a forefront at Bonnaroo this year, more so than ever. Everything from the “Obamaroo” truck, to artists and performers making statements (see: Chris Rock), the individuals wearing McCain or Obama t-shirts (yes, I saw McCain supporters), or even just the conversations I had with individuals while they were registering. It was everywhere. I think Eddie Vedder said it best:
“There’s a time and place for this kind of talk, right?…It is welded into the Constitution that people have not only the right, but the responsibility to make change. It can’t get any worse. We’re right here in the middle of America. We can change the whole world. Do you agree that this is the time and place for this kind of talk?”
Yes, Eddie, it’s ALWAYS the time and place for that kind of talk.
