Like I said, Andrew Fischler made the trip to Bonnaroo...

I should probably preface this by saying I'm a multi-year vet of Bonnaroo. Since 2003 I've been making a trip to Manchester, TN a part of my summer. That includes the 17-hour, 900-mile trip from my Weehawken, NJ home. I'm part of that sick breed of people who like road trips, driving, and find camping a joy. The life of the festival outside the stages is just as much a part of the experience as what you'll find inside the gates.

Now while the drive down was nothing of major consequence (unless you're a big fan of trees, hills, mountains, cows and 18-wheelers - then, oh boy was it a big thing!), this was actually the first time in years that I actually hit any semblance of traffic getting in. Maybe it was because this was the first year the festival was officially 4-days long (though they've been having Thursday night acts for years), or maybe it speaks to the sold-out attendance of 80,000 which made this the 6th largest city in Tennessee for the duration (with the highest unemployment rate in the state, I might add ^_^).

The National

The National @ That Tent: First band on the to-see list was one I had never heard until the trip down when my friend started playing them through his iPod. What sounded so sullen and morose on my car stereo had so much more pop to it live - not as lively as their fans though. Hell, I almost lost my hearing on the first night, and not from any amp, but from some guy flipping out and screaming his head off when they played "Secret Meeting". Unfortunately, consideration for the proximity of someone's ear is usually the last thing on a festival-goer's mind.

Clutch

Clutch @ This Tent: To say the crowd was amped for this show would be a mild understatement. So eager was everyone that the sound tech testing the mics had no problem getting the crowd to respond in sing-song fashion to everything he said. This was also the first time I can ever remember seeing mass crowd surfing at Bonnaroo -- a first time for everything I guess. The band has grown since the last time I saw them - that includes the number of members (organist Mick Schauer joining the core of Neil Fallon, Tim Sult, Dan Maines and Jean-Paul Gaster), and the size of their catalog (with their new release "From Beale Street To Oblivion").

The highlights of their set were the classics like "Big News" and "Pure Rock Fury", but the new stuff - especially "Electric Worry - not only held up, it was as strong as the old stuff. "Beale Street" could be one of the best, yet most underrated, albums of '07.

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CLUTCH tour dates HERE. Andrew took the Clutch picture. His pictures of the Decemberists are HERE. Woxy took the National picture, and someone else took the pic at top. Even more Bonnaroo pics HERE and HERE. Stay tuned for day two.

DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - Ultimatum (MP3)

The Long Winters' John Roderick blogged Bonnaroo this year.

In all fairness, I should probably recuse myself from reviewing the Decembrists. They are a band I know, we’ve toured together and I’ve appeared in one of their music videos. Also, Decembrist Chris Funk guested on the Long Winters’ most recent album. I can’t possibly review their show impartially, because I like them too much.

On the other hand, I’ve been in a “fake feud” with them for several years, involving some “smack talking” and pranking, which despite my best efforts has failed to catch fire mostly because they reciprocate too passively. (I think they’re holding out for a fake feud with Sufjan Stevens or something). So I can’t really be trusted not to call them a bunch of fruity, Vaudeville, pirate-song-singing sissies just to burn their britches a little.

But in this instance I’m acting as a professional journalist and I must honor my caste by reporting the news without adornment. They played their epic song, "The Tain," which was a bold choice, and their kitchy theatricality played exceptionally well with the big crowd.

At one point Colin led the audience in bidding the sun to set, and the effect was like a pagan ceremony — 15,000 people all motioning in unison toward the sun. In the end Mavis Staples joined them for a song, which was a little like... Like... Well, there is no better analogy for an unfathomable incongruity than: Like Mavis Staples jamming with the Decembrists. [John Roderick]

These fellows have a rabid popularity that leaves me deeply conflicted. Although their live show is undeniably full of energy, full of engagement, and full of whimsy, their music is full of s--t.

More Decemberists photos (by BV Bonnarooo correspodent Andrew Fischler) below....

Continue reading "Long Winters vs the Hold Steady & Decemberists @ Bonnaroo"

The four-day Bonnaroo music festival kicks off in Manchester, Tennessee tomorrow (June 14, 2007) (schedule here), and BV correspondent Andrew Fischler will be among the thousands on hand to witness sets by "indie" bands like The White Stripes, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, Franz Ferdinand, The Decemberists, Spoon, Hot Chip, Lily Allen, The Hold Steady, Feist, Gogol Bordello, and The National. Stay tuned right here for his reports, and stay tuned to AT&T blueroom for live streaming sets by many of the bands.

Like Bonnaroo, BV correspondent Andrew Fischler (who is going to kill me after reading this) used to be a hippy - well, both of them sort of still are - there's still more than enough hippy bands to keep the hippies happy at Bonnaroo (Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident, Bob Weir & Ratdog, and Gov't Mule to name a few), and I'm sure Andrew will see at least some of them.

Now in its sixth year, Bonnaroo is too young to have ever hosted the biggest hippy of them all. That's because Jerry Garcia (RIP) passed away in 1995. Do you like how I transitioned from Bonnaroo to the fact that I'm giving away (courtesy of FADER) one limited edition Jerry Garcia poster and one limited edition Jerry Garcia t-shirt? Details below....

Continue reading "stream BONNAROO this weekend ++ win stuff"