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Hello again from Manchester’s Country Inn & Suites, where a bunch of us have temporarily retired from Bonnaroo to escape the drizzle—and Metallica.
We just ate probably the best meal from Wendy’s that anyone could possibly eat, and now there’s some heavy napping going on in preparation for (our July cover subject) My Morning Jacket’s 12 AM set. I’ve seen them once before, at their tropical-themed set during last fall’s Austin City Limits Festival, which involved pineapple-wielding backup dancers and zinc oxide and swimmies—and a lot of sunlight. I’ve got a feeling tonight’s post-sunset start-time will feel a bit more appropriate, and hopefully the rain holds off so we’re not pining for our midnight raincoats.Today I tried not to stay in one place for too long—not to let the dust settle on my feet, as it were, even though that’s kind of a ridiculous goal because dust settles on every single thing at Bonnaroo. I think there is dust in my spleen, for instance. But metaphorically, at least, my goal was achieved.
Adele over at The Other Tent was a bit of a shot in the dark. I’d heard good things about her but found most of her songs inexplicably boring, like Amy Winehouse without the sass or spark. With Mark Ronson involved in her debut album, I couldn’t separate his obvious production touches from her own musical merits, and I wasn’t sold on her voice—until today. Adele can sing, really and truly actually sing, and she absolutely is not a show-off about it. She just opens her mouth and this huge voice leaps out and she stands there and looks totally cool with it all. And I like that. I’ll have to listen again, but I’ve got the feeling her album doesn’t do her justice.
I left right before she covered Dylan, and later I cut out of the Swell Season’s set at This Tent before they got to Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.” In fact, I left right after “Falling Slowly” which probably made me look like an asshole who just wanted to hear the Oscar song. It was beautiful, though, even though Glen Hansard mistook the sound bleeding over from the other stages as his own band’s sound equipment malfunctioning, and stopped the song to protest “that noise”—otherwise, it seemed without a misstep, and rocked a lot more than I expected, given the general lovely sleepiness of the Once soundtrack.
My afternoon shift at the Paste tent on site coincided with the performance of Umphrey’s McGee on the Sonic Stage, which likely lead to Emergency Services treating a mass influx of repetitive head-bob injuries. Jam safe, y’all.
The Raconteurs, who for some reason I used to think were kind of a goofy band (probably because I thought "Steady As She Goes" was kind of a goofy song), played at the massive What Stage early this evening, and I made it over there just in time to watch the very last song ("Carolina Drama") on probably the most cinematographically pleasing Jumbo Trons of my whole concert-going life. And it kind of blew my mind. Maybe it was the sound system, the fact that this was my first show on the festival’s biggest stage, or my first time seeing Jack White live in any form, or the careful angles and deliberate panning of the camera operators, but I felt like I was watching something big, the hot burning center of some musical orb on the verge of explosion—and from a band that, until recently, I considered (ignorantly, and unfairly) a kind of second-rate side-project with a name I could never spell right. All I know is that the last minute or so of "Carolina Drama" not only made my arm hairs stand on end, but gave me outright goosepimples in 85 degree heat. I'm sold.
Then there was Rilo Kiley, back at This Tent, where Jenny Lewis made me wish I was still young and impressionable so she could be my rock ‘n roll lady role model and make me pick up a guitar and also a one-piece pink sparkly jumper and make all the boys cry. Hooray hooray!
Need to go squeeze in a nap now, or at least get back to my room-- am currently sitting out in the middle of the hotel hallways because that's the only place I can get WiFi without heading out to the fake ivy-bedecked lobby. I'm feeling a little like a weirdo. This carpet's pretty nice, though. And not dusty. What a relief.
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great review of the day....fun to read. and so not dusty here in front of my laptop.
"...the most cinematographically pleasing Jumbo Trons."
Oh Rachael. Such a way with words.
I'm sorry, but I think this reporting is kind of juvie. "Jam safe, y'all" ?? Harumph. No, I'm not jealous of the job. I was at Bonnaroo this year and my boyfriend and I agreed that working it as a journalist wouldn't be easy nor fun, but still, reading this I can't help but take PASTE a little less seriously than I usually do. Sure, it's a blog, but it's not very intellectual- sounding for a music journalism piece which is something I expect from PASTE.
Also, by the way, I understand that you left The Swell Season's set early, I can't understand why, but that's probably why you wrote that Glen Hansard didn't understand that the sound bleeding over was from another stage. You left one second before he started discussing the other band playing on another stage/the sound interference. It was actually quite endearing and funny, but you missed it. He got it, you just didn't stick around for it. This was a great show and a highlight for me at Bonnaroo. Hansard displayed some of the best stage presence and witty bantar of any musician I've seen play out. They seemed genuinely grateful to be there and the show benefited from that.
Sigur Ros was the best show of Bonnaroo hands down, with Pearl Jam a close second. I hope this writer mentions something cerebrally felt from Sigur Ros in Saturday's write-up.
Well, just read day three. This writer mentions not a detail, nuance, inspiration, or feeling about Sigur Ros. Can't say I'm surprised, but if you're seriously into music, you wouldn't have made such a misstep.
Sorry! I was there. It was utterly amazing and beautiful from beginning to end, with Sigur Ros coming out a second time to bow and clap back at us. Yes, they clapped for the crowd. Maybe it was a cultural barrier of some sort, but it was fantastic.
I'm sorry it left no impression on you.
Amanda C-- Sorry to leave you unsatisfied. I would have liked to dig deeper into a bunch of the sets I saw (including Sigur Ros), but there was a ton going on and I didn't have as much time or energy as I would have liked to blog-- or even stick around for full sets, as there were so many I wanted/needed to see. The festival atmosphere isn't always conducive to intellectual music journalism, unfortunately, so the idea was to give more of a sampler platter of the event than weigh in heavily on just a few aspects.
(Also, my writing tends to be far more flip when I blog, and I figured people weren't interested in reading a totally heady account of a mostly fun, freewheeling music fest. Thus the "Jam safe" comment.)
For the record, what I saw of Sigur Ros was incredible, though plagued by icky sound problems. It was moving and otherworldly and epic, and I'm still not sure those guys are human. Unfortunately, I decided to cut out early to catch part of Kanye West's performance (I'd seen Sigur Ros before, but not him)-- bad call, as we know how that turned out.
Sorry this left a bad taste in your mouth about Paste-- we certainly pride ourselves on delivering smart, thoughtful content (in the magazine and online) but sometime we like to have a little fun, too.
Agreed. Sigur Rós played the single best set at Roo this year. Leaving their set for KanYe? Big mistake...
I thought this was PASTE, not SPIN.
Rachael - I appreciate your response, thank you. I can see what you mean. I met your colleagues at the PASTE table, so I was just expecting a little more reporting, that's all. We were ALL rushing around trying to see as many bands as possible, but I still would rather read something about the music, but yes, it is a fun and freewheeling fest. I also think, though, since the conversation got started, that Bonnaroo is an important fest for music-lovers almost exclusively, a real music-centered event that music-obsessed people out there would like to read about as far as who rose, who sank, little musical eccentricities. Thanks, again, for your kind and thoughtful response.
The Swell Season set was a highlight of Bonnaroo for me despite the difficulty Glen had in performing quiet songs against the background noise of Les Claypool on a nearby stage. It was mesmerizing and actually rocked pretty hard. I thought the musicianship was amazing and I couldn't help but feel lucky to be catching the set as I am sure this is a very limited tour for Glen and Marketa and some of the songs from Once. No band at Bonnaroo could drag me away from seeing every second of this set!