Back!

I'm back! Both to post and from Bonnaroo. What a festival. I'm just going to give a "quick" wrap up.

Thursday:

MGMT was a good kick off for the festival. I had heard mixed reviews of their live set before and while I can kinda see where this comes from, it wasn't too much a problem. The crowd favorites were among some of the festival's best performances, and the other songs held their own well. There were points where I thought they were dragging on a little, but in the next moment the song would swing and everything would be well.

Battles followed MGMT and it was one of the best shows I've seen despite some sound problems. Ty's vocals weren't really coming through too well and the band at times looked a little frustrated to me. Despite this they put on an awesome performance. This is one band that you don't want to miss if they're coming to your town.

After that Vampire Weekend was on stage, but I left to see Zach Galifianakis. Some might call me an idiot for this, but I'll stand by my decision. I really wanted to see Zach do some standup, but all his shows conflicted with my schedule. It was between missing Vampire Weekend, The Swell Season, and MSTRKRFT. Swell Season and MSTRKRFT turned out to be among the best shows, so I think I made the right choice. Besides the line was right by This Tent anyhow. Tip: check out Reggie Watts. He's what Danger Mouse would be if he did stand up with a looping station.

Friday:

The Swell Season was a lot better than what I had been expecting. Hansard seems to very comfortable onstage and is pretty charismatic. Highlight of the show was when there was a jam (considering it was Bonnaroo) and they invited people in the crowd to come up and read poetry. This had the potential to fail spectacularly when the drunk idiot behind me (the same one who decided it would be a good idea to stick a lit cigarette into my shoulder) decided he wanted to go on stage. Glen demonstrated foresight here by saying, "You're not a poet." I'm not sure what tipped him off, the fact that the guy was just yelling incoreantly and didn't realize Glen was talking to him, or stench of the guy's breath from 10+ rows back (yes, I'm still pissed about him sticking a cigarette in my back).

I feel as if I should have a lot to say about M.I.A.'s possible "last gig" but I wasn't really in the crowd (I was watching from outside the tent). But the crowd energy was really high and loving every minute, especially when invited up on stage.

MSTRKRFT ended up being one of my favorite shows of the festival. It was pretty much a huge dance party, but that's what I expected. There was a lot of energy up towards the front of the crowd and when they played part's of "D.A.N.C.E " the crowd went nuts. This wouldn't be the last show where the artists seemed surprised (in a positive way) by the crowd's energy.

Saturday:

This was the day that I had been waiting for. Sigur Ros was one of the main reasons I decided to get a ticket and I did not intent to miss that show for anything. However, going to the Gogol Bordello show almost killed me (which would have made making the Sigur Ros show kinda hard). They're a great live band but I wasn't really prepared for the crowd. You're looking at someone who has gone to shows full of hipsters perfectly content with nodding away the show. So when a guy wearing a gas mask almost took my face off with an elbow I was a little surprised.

I showed up to the Sigur Ros tent only five hours early. I say only because I still didn't get front row (second row). I figured showing up during another artist's show before the encore would have been enough, but I was mistaken. I did meet some really cool people though which only made the gig better. Be warned: all of Sigur Ros' new material is jaw droppingly good live. It isn't that their stuff isn't good, but there's something incredibly driving in Gobbledigook's percussion.

Now the part everyone's been waiting for: Kanye. I'll set the stage first. Kanye was originally slated for 8:15-9:45pm. Not sure if it was Bonnaroo that decided to move him or if he had it moved. But he ended up being put at the late night slot starting at 2:45am. Well I figure his show would just be starting by the time I had got to the stage from the Sigur Ros show. This didn't turn out to be true, nor was it true after I had slept in the field for an hour. By then it was around 4:00am so I gave up and went to my tent. He didn't end up going on for at least another half hour, and in the end only played an hour long set. The booing he received was deserved in my opionion. I did hear that people were throwing glowsticks and bottles at Kanye and the stage equipment which isn't deserved. I don't really care what an artist does, unless they're throwing things at you you shouldn't throw things at them.

Sunday:

Other than Broken Social Scene there wasn't a whole lot this day that I was looking forward to. And Broken Social Scene ended up being the only thing worth mentioning. Kevin Drew seemed a bit agitated about a keyboard onstage at one point, but other than that it was a great gig. Best show of the festival next to Sigur Ros and Battles. It also seems that Arcade Fire aren't the only band out there that seem determined to have Obama in office (video proof here).


SoooooOoOooo...

Good things at 'Roo:
Sigur Ros being one of the best live bands I've ever seen
Most of the people
Canadians more worried about our politics than we are
Poetry recitations during The Swell Season

Bad things at 'Roo:
Drunk people with cigarettes in your shoulder
Some of the people
Canadians more worried about our politics than we are
Kanye (two plus hours is pretty lame, especially when no reason is given)
The stage names (they're confusing as a certain Abbott and Costello skit)