Attention, Mixers! The lineup for Bonnaroo 2010 was disseminated in an agonizingly slow process over at the Tennessee festival’s MySpace page all day today. (Every six minutes, an animated cuckoo clock went off, and another artist was spit out into a floating cloud.) That lineup is now final, and can be seen, along with my increasingly nutso updates, after the jump.
Who’s going? Who’s excited? And which of your dream acts got left off the list?
It’s about 8 p.m. on Sunday night, and I am waiting to shoot Phish again, taking this opportunity to start my final Bonnaroo post (unless I get ambitious and do a wrap-up later). Your festival correspondent is very tired, and if given the choice would prefer not to stay up all night, what with real life resuming tomorrow. For the thousands of filthy, sunburned, exhausted people about to leave the Oz of these gates, I suspect the culture shock is not gonna be fun.
Thanks to Band of Horses, though, we’ve come down a bit. Like methadone to the Bonnaroo heroin, their set at sunset tonight was the perfect way to take the edge off, with unassuming yet highly motivated tunes ringing across the fading field. After the jump, not all that many pictures or words from a day that included Andrew Bird, Okkervil River, Merle Haggard, and more Phish. It does not include much of anything about “Hip-Hop Time” All-Stars Erykah Badu and Snoop Dogg, both of whom lollygagged in getting to the mainstage, throwing a wrench into my carefully calculated scheduling plans. And as we learned last year with Kanye, “Festival Time” and “Hip-Hop Time” are not good friends.
UPDATE, 11:30 PM: When you get to the end of this post, you will learn that Springsteen sat in with Phish on three songs this evening. I encourage you to read on!
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Unfortunate announcement for all bands who played Bonnaroo on June 13, 2009: No matter how good you think you were yesterday, Bruce Springsteen was better. It’s just a fact. Bon Iver, your songs gave me the chills; Springsteen was better. Elvis Costello, I’d walk to the ends of the earth to hear your voice; Springsteen was better. Trent Reznor, I know last night was your final show in the U.S. as Nine Inch Nails; Springsteen was… well, okay, Trent Reznor. I’m gonna put you in your own category, “Legends Who Are Going Out Of Business Maybe,” and call it even. But there is a very good chance that Springsteen was still better.
After the jump, a day that saw lots of band-hopping (Bon Iver and Elvis Perkins! Jenny Lewis and Elvis Costello! NIN and Dillinger Escape Plan!), Pete Townshend-style guitar windmills (from Elvis and Bruce), and intense singalongs, none bigger than when a certain Jersey devil decided to celebrate Christmas in June. Come along, won’t you? I’ve got a spare pair of hemp-rope sandals you can borrow and everything!
“There is no tape. There is no iPod. This is live music, y’all,” said Ad-Rock after an instrument breakdown caused the Beastie Boys’ climactic rendition of “Sabotage” to come crashing down on night two of Bonnaroo, and it’s an apt enough phrase to describe a day that showcased the best of all possible sonic worlds. Slogging through the mud bogs of Manchester — where the rain held off yesterday, though just barely — I marveled at the diversity on display. There were avant-garde horn solos, there was modern dance, there were hip-hop legends preserved in amber. There was Al Green (pictured), whose church service in the dinner hour left no doubt about the good reverend’s God-certified mission to entertain. And there was the return of Phish, who emerged to a grateful roar from the crowd and took full advantage of their home field advantage, while still leaving something in the tank for Sunday night’s festival-closing set.
After the jump, pictures and words about St. Vincent, Grace Potter, Galactic, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Al Green, TV on the Radio, Beastie Boys, David Byrne, Phish, and — Flay-vor Flaaaaav! — Public Enemy.
Remember that one time when I thought because I bought rain boots today it wasn’t going to rain at Bonnaroo? Yeah. Good times. It rained at Bonnaroo today, Mixers, and then it absolutely let loose for about ten minutes in the 10 o’clock hour, nearly drowning out poor The Low Anthem. They were minding their own business, shambolically folking about in That Tent with their harmonicas and their zithers… and then they were straining to be heard over the gallons of water drumming on the roof. Worse, I don’t think today’s rain is anything compared to what the festival gods have in store for us this weekend. I think that was just a tease for the big show. I think I’m gonna need a bigger boat.
But if weather can serve as a metaphor — and by god, I think it can! — Thursday at the ‘Roo was really just a tease for the deluge to come. Mud aside, the scene is the same as it’s been my last two years in these Tennessee hills, and thanks to the absence of the Delta Spirit (scratched due to travel disaster), I got the chance to do some early meandering, greeting the ferris wheel and the Silent Disco and the 47 batik-print sundress stands and the giant fountain like old friends. A companion commented on the kids in attendance, and how fresh-faced they all seemed compared to the kids he’s used to seeing at European rock festivals; I reminded him this was day one, and we’ve quite a long way to go. Fresh-faced on day one can just as easily mean passed-out-under-a-recyling-bin by day three. And if it keeps raining, anyone who passes out is probably going to need a snorkel.
After the jump: Pictures and words about Hockey, Portugal. The Man, The Knux, The Low Anthem, Passion Pit, Zac Brown Band, and Thursday’s all-star, Janelle Monae (above)…
Greetings from central Tennessee, Mixers, where I arrived this afternoon to begin the annual spiritual journey that is Bonnaroo. When I drove into town, it was pouring down rain, and weather advisories were warning of severe thunderstorms. As of ten minutes ago, when I left the Tractor Supply Co. with my new rain boots (pictured) and a $5 gimme cap, the skies could not be more blue. Had I not bought those rain boots, however, I’m quite certain I would have needed to row my way to the Janelle Monae set that starts at 5:45. I have saved Bonnaroo! Thank me later.
Anyway. Hi! I’m here! I’m psyched to see Springsteen, and the Beasties, and Elvis Costello, and the return of prodigal sons Phish, and two people are currently having very loud sex in the hotel room next to mine. Check out the schedule, bust out the bong, and tell me how I should spend my next four days. Into the breach!
