Keller came out with an acoustic jam that segued into Heart’s Barracuda with some killer whistling and vocal styling that had everybody moving. He broke out festival favorites like Portapotty, Freeker by the Speaker and Best Feeling (where he sang, “For a moment, I felt like a kid on an All Good day…”) throughout the show but the highlight was his Breathe > Cadillac > Nirvana’s All Apologies > Cadillac > Loup > Breathe jam that seemed like it was never going to end (and I wish it didn’t). He set the tone for what the rest of the weekend was going to be like.
[Listen to Keller’s set at the Live Music Archive]
Friday, July 10th
Hill Country Revue (with Jackie Greene on keyboards during the entirety of the set) came out on fire with some good ol’ southern rock ‘n’ roll that was straight from Beale Street. The band covered Zeppelin’s Good Times, Bad Times and Solomon Burke’s Everybody Needs Somebody with their own twang but Cody Dickinson stole the show with his incredible skills on the electric washboard for Psychedelic Sex Machine.
[Listen to Hill Country Revue’s set at the Live Music Archive]
Jackie Greene stayed on the All Good (main) stage and did a set with his band. I guess I have been hiding under a rock because I hadn’t heard Jackie Greene before and am wondering why no one told me about him. The guy is incredible and seemed like a mix of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jason Isbell or at least that was my first impression. I was unfamiliar with his songs but he did play a kick-ass cover of New Speedway Boogie.
[Listen to Jackie’s set at the Live Music Archive]
I grabbed some lunch on Shakedown Street so I only caught the tail end of the Galactic set where they ended up bringing up any girl that wanted to come on stage. That had got the crowd pumped up and got them ready for Robert Randolph and the Family Band who came out next. The song that stood out the most from their set was an incredible cover of Billie Jean during which Randolph summoned the spirit of MJ as he wailed on his pedal steel. It was a magical experience.
Claypool came out in his usual quirky style with a band that looked like they were straight out of Bodhi’s surf crew from ‘Point Break’. They broke into some old school Primus and The Les Claypool Frog Brigade with Southbound Pachyderm sandwiched between David Makalaster. Jay Lane, of Primus/RatDog, came out for a great version of Riddles Are Abound Tonight.
After a 45 minute set by The New Mastersounds, RatDog came on the All Good stage and went with some popular Dead songs in playing Truckin’, Eyes of the World and Morning Dew. They also covered The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows and Dylan’s Maggie’s Farm (the latter with Claypool on stage). During the last two songs of the set, RatDog had Al Schnier of moe. join them to continue the classic Dead with the pairing of China Cat Sunflower and I Know You Rider. It was definitely a relaxed atmosphere on Marvin’s Mountaintop for the whole set.
[Listen to RatDog’s set on the Live Music Archive]
As soon as RatDog walked off stage, the Golden Crane (side) stage exploded with Bassnectar’s incredible beats and earth-shaking bass which turned the relaxed atmosphere from RatDog into a psychedelic circus with a glow stick frenzy as everyone in the crowd starting heaving them in the air. I can truthfully say that I have never seen that many glow sticks in the air at one time. It was amazing to say the least. Not quite my scene but still something awesome to witness.
After Bassnectar finished tipping the Richter scale, moe. came on for the late night show and shredded for about three hours with some heavy, rock-oriented jams that included Californ IA, Skrunk and Meat. My favorite part of their set was the Buster > George jam. It was that funky rock ‘n’ roll that I love so much. I know the moe.rons were loving every minute of it.
[Listen to moe.’s set at the Live Music Archive]
Saturday, July 11th
I woke up a little late and was able to catch the last three songs of The Bridge’s set after being face deep in a massive chicken burrito while sitting Indian-style in the grass. I hadn’t seen them in a few years but, from the songs that I heard, they had shown a lot of improvement and I can’t wait to catch them the next time they are in my area. I was pumped that I caught Country Mile as I wiped sour cream and lettuce from my two day scruff.
[Listen to The Bridge’s set at the Live Music Archive]
Steve Kimock & Crazy Engine followed immediately after The Bridge and they were quite impressive. It was my first time seeing anything Kimock and watching him play the guitar was like watching Matt Damon solve that equation in ‘Good Will Hunting’… I have no clue what he was doing but it was genius.
[Listen to Steve Kimock & Crazy Engine’s set at the Live Music Archive]
Buckethead was next on the All Good stage. It was my first experience at one of his shows and, for the umpteenth time that weekend, I was blown away by a performer that I had never seen before. It took me a minute to get used to the look but his guitar skills were phenomenal and his stage presence might have been even better. I was hesitant about it before he went on but I don’t think I would miss another performance if I had the chance to be there. My favorite part of his show was something called The Embalmer. It was so weird but so cool.
Yonder Mountain String Band took the main stage next. I hadn’t seen these guys before either but have been an avid listener of their albums. It was a great show. The band looked like they had just rolled out of the tent /sleeping bag/cot and fit in with the rest of crowd at the festival. The highlight of their set for me was Trouble Mind > 20 Eyes > Troubled Mind and the incredible dust storm that came from all of the dancing in front of the stage. They put a lot of heart and soul into their music and you can tell that the crowd appreciates it.
[Listen to YMSB’s set at the Live Music Archive]
STS9 came earlier than I expected on the line-up (8:30PM) and I have heard that the light show was a heavy part of their live experience. I was glad to see that the sun was going down just in time for their show so I could get the full experience. The twilight actually made it kind of surreal. From the moment that they started blasting beats from the stage, I was spellbound. They played a good amount of songs from Peaceblaster including New Soma and Beyond Right Now. I had never heard these on any live recordings but I was digging the sound. Their set was definitely one of the high points of the festival.
[Listen to STS9’s set at the Live Music Archive]
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk came out on the Golden Crane stage and served up some of the dirtiest Southern funk that I have heard in a long time. They were one more band that I had never seen before that I thoroughly enjoyed. Ben Harper followed Dumpstaphunk on the All Good stage and brought out Relentess7 with him which is his new band with a new rock sound that I think slipped away from him after the sub-par Burn to Shine album in ‘99. All in all, I think Ben Harper and Relentless7 put on a good show but I just feel that they were out of place in the line-up…if not the entire festival.
[Listen to Dumpstaphunk’s set at the Live Music Archive]
Umphrey’s McGee completely torched Marvin’s Mountaintop and anything that stood in their way. They snagged songs from so many of their studio albums including a heavy emphasis on their newest album, Mantis. They pulled their infamous cover of Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond and one of my favorites, Bright Lights, Big City, that was written by one of Cinninger’s old band mates from Ali Baba’s Tahini.
They finished up the show with a Nothing Too Fancy > Resolution > Nothing Too Fancy encore which had some Snoop Dogg, Warren G and The Beatles jams/teases intertwined in the Resolution. It was sick and the end came too quickly as I found it necessary to drag my ass back to the tent to conserve enough energy for one or two Sunday sets and the six hour ride back.
[Listen to Umphrey’s McGee set at the Live Music Archive]
Sunday, July 12th
I had to make a game time decision on whether to pack up all the gear in the car and scoot up a little closer to the gate anticipating the traffic getting out of the festival. Luckily, I didn’t have to make a decision…my friend did. I missed Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave and the majority of Donna the Buffalo. I really wanted to see both bands but I was still able to catch the last song Tara Nevins was singing.
The Rex Jam hosted by The Bridge took place over on the Golden Crane stage in between Donna the Buffalo and Tea Leaf Green. It was a nice 25 minute jam session featuring The Bridge and Scott Murawski of the Max Creek and Rob Koritz of Dark Star. It seemed like a laid back jam session that would have taken place in a garage or something like that but with some incredibly talented musicians. The jam was a benefit that helped raise money for the local area’s public school music and arts program.
[Listen to the Rex Jam at the Live Music Archive]
The last band that I got to see before I left was Tea Leaf Green. I had been listening to a lot of these guys before I came and they did not disappoint. It was a warm day and they congratulated all of us that had made it this long in the festival and I feel like they might have said something about zombies but I can’t remember. Josh Clark came out wearing some crazy “bling” and showed it off to the crowd. The band played great with a sick Las Vegas > Sin City > Las Vegas jam which was a pretty badass with the AC/DC cover tucked in between one of my favorite songs by TLG. Trevor’s pedal broke on his keyboard and no one seemed to give him a hand with it. It was impressive because he just unplugged it and kept on playing. It was an awesome way to end the festival…
[Listen to Tea Leaf Green’s set at the Live Music Archive]
…but I wish that I had taken Monday off of work, too, so I could have checked out BK3 and Dark Star. I guess I am going to have to do it next year.
The festival experience was incredible and I am so glad that I made my first up on Marvin’s Mountaintop at All Good instead of the sweltering heat of Manchester, TN where everything seems to be all commercialized. I still can’t believe that Jimmy Buffett played at Bonnaroo. I am guessing that Kenny Chesney will be there next year but I won’t. I will be getting All Good in 2010.
8 Responses
wow. so this is your first festival experience, but you didn’t comment on any of the festival amenities or the overall setup? just the music, which was your typical jamband rotation. then after that subpar review, you go on to blast Bonnaroo for being commercialized? that generic critique is so played it’s become a beacon for people who have no clue what their talking about. Bonnaroo’s lineup is by far the most diverse lineup out of any festival in the U.S. period. I’m not so sure what’s “commercial” about it. X-Box? Fuse? Bud Light? MLB? All of these things I’ve fairly sure are corporations thousands of hippies contribute to in some way. You cannot win with the commercialized argument. On top of that, it is the most fan friendly festival I have yet to attend, and unlike you, i’ve been to countless festivals. The fact that you haven’t even been to Roo, and then fluff All Good w/o mentioning any of the non-musical attributes, exposes you as a pathtic reveiwer of anything. Nice try.
Jeff,
Thanks for the response. I tried to focus my review on the music that was played because that was the reason that I went. I guess I could have commented on the ubiquitous drug scene. That seems a little played out though and seemed to be more of a nuisance at the festival.
I didn’t really delve to far into the camping scene because I spent the majority of my time by the stages listening to music and only hung out in the camping area for a few hours each day.
As for amenities, the festival taxis were pretty cool. I would have loved to interview one of those guys/girls for a feature piece because they have seen a little bit of everything and even travel with the festivals. I just didn’t get around to it. All Good offered $5 showers and the money went to the local firefighters. They had a really cool painted school bus that people got water from and washed their faces.
I am sorry that I didn’t hit the aspects that you were looking for in the review. Maybe I can do it on the next one.
– CB
Whoa. Charlie! Thanks for the write-up. Hope you enjoyed the frenzy.
Hey good review. Had a great time myself.3rd year in a row. Also been to Roo and its not nearly as enjoyable (as a whole experience).
Don’t listen to douches who get all agro over which bands people do/don’t like, which fest is the best etc. Some of the best I’ve been to (and if you count 3 day phish,widespread, etc runs is alot Jeff) have been small regional fests. I got married at one actually. So to get back to my original point, good writing, keep checkin out new fests and enjoy the experiences. 🙂
Hahaha, dang Jeff. For being a festival pro you’d think you’d be a bit more peaceful. Yeah, there are a lot of fests that are fantastic, he made a little jibe at one. It’s all good 🙂
^Amen brotha… Don’t talk shit on Bonnaroo unless you have gone yourself, because I can tell you as an experienced festival goer that it is a wonderful festival, one of the best in the country, Second only to Rothbury. I understand the vibe might be a little different, but to say All Good is a better festival is a false statement.
This will be my first year skipping Bonnaroo in the last 5 years…