Saturday felt like a lot more of a festival as people eagerly made their way into the venue which consisted of a stretch on Sunset Strip with two stages on opposite ends. Smaller bands earning their keep and hoping to catch eyes rotated throughout the small venues while the likes of Matt and Kim, Public Enemy, Bush, and Motley Crue took to the main stages. One of the most unorthodox lineups of all-time promised to entertain a vast range of people from Hollywood hipsters to diehard Motley Crue fans. Everyone embraced the atmosphere, and collectively they handed the Strip an entertaining and unforgettable evening.
Matt and Kim’s energy was evident from the second they took the stage as Kim jumped on her drum set and began dancing before sitting down and playing a cover of Let Me Clear My Throat to get the crowd warmed up.
The duo bantered back and forth and played their hits including Good Old Fashion Nightmare and Daylight to enthusiastic and energized onlookers. They were the catalyst to the evening energy and through their music they injected Redbull into the vein of the show. By looking around it was hard to tell who was there to see what, but at each main stage the feel-good vibe flowed as Kim’s personality exploded on stage. By the look on her face it was hard to tell if anyone could possibly be that into their music, but it was easy to tell that the edgy duo felt honored to play with the likes of living legends. At one point Kim ran around handing out balloons with the duos’ faces on them and got the crowd involved, asking them to blow them up and throw them in the air.
Towards the end of the set Kim promised to show a below the belt tattoo if they participated in a sing-along, and after she got what she asked for she stood on a drum and showed a small tattoo below the belt line. It was a bit awkward, but everyone appreciated the heart and love that more or less kicked off the evening. As they closed their set, people began to rush toward the other stage where Gavin Rossdale and Bush prepared to re-introduce themselves to the Hollywood scene that once embraced them and made them stars.
As Gavin Rossdale and Bush took the stage and a curious crowd edged closer only one fan didn’t want to hear a show that was long overdue from a band that never should have never stopped making music.
Gavin and the boys opened with Machinehead, one of the songs that but Bush on the map in the nineties. His voice still carries beautifully and his tone hasn’t faltered but has in fact grown more soulful with age. It’s the kind of music that makes you remember exactly where you were when they put out their debut album Sixteen Stone. I remember buying that and Oasis’s Definitely Maybe with my allowance in sixth grade and I was glad to look around at age twenty-eight and notice that I was on the younger side of the audience.
They rolled through most of their catalog including a few new hits from their first album in a decade. As Gavin cascades through Glycerine and sings “Don’t Let the Days Go By” I can’t help but think it’s a little bit ironic given the career path they’ve gone down. But they make unique choices and switch up lyrics and verses and play the meat of their hits from Everything Zen to Comedown. They even play a charismatic cover of The Beatles’ Come Together and get the crowd involved. I can’t help but wish they’d continued to put out music over the last decade but after powering through an impressive set, it’s evident that the British boys from Bush aren’t done yet. As the sun goes down on the west stage the band bids the crowd a thank you and a farewell, and leaves with hope of returning to the spotlight.
As we took higher ground hoping to find a better camera angle people edged in every way they possibly could to catch a glimpse of the stage. After what seemed like hours, Vince Neil, Tommy Lee and the boys emerged amidst a cloud of smoke and rocked out to Wild Side.
By looking around it was clear that the Motley Crue faithful was representing proudly as people wore original concert shirts ranging across decades. It felt like I woke up in a different decade and I stepped out of my musical comfort zone to appreciate a band that has puked on, pissed on, and dominated the Sunset Strip scene for the past thirty years. The performance matched the get-ups and the band seemed at home as they played effortlessly yet emotionally. They were there to put on a show, and Tommy Lee played the drums upside down as his drum set took off on track into a mini-roller coaster. As they neared the end of their set they rocked out some of their greatest hits including Dr. Feelgood and Girls, Girls, Girls.
It’s amazing that they’re all alive and in-tact and even they admit it’s a miracle that they’re standing where it all began today. And as they say their thanks and head off into the night, we slink away into the crowd exhausted and enamored by what we’d just witnessed.
Only in LA can such a diverse lineup be assembled and work in unison. Only in LA can you see living legends play their original stomping grounds. As we head out into the night and smoke filters off of Sunset, only one thing comes to mind. God Damn I love the music scene in LA.
Awaking to the feeling of frying like bacon in my own tent, I knew I was camping at a music festival. It just so happened that festival was Bonnaroo and it was my first morning waking up in Manchester. After a much-needed shower and some phone juicing, press orientation was my first scheduled activity within Centeroo.
A great place to see who is doing coverage for the weekend and meet some other scenesters from around the country, I chopped it up with old friends and made a few new ones (shout outs to Eric with Dope on Plastic) before doing my first scheduled interview of the weekend with Kerry from Superfly.
The co-founder of Bonnaroo, and curator of the new Food Truck Oasis had a lot to share about the chow, as well as a discerning palate. What I learned, and more on the food we sampled, will come in a follow up post that focuses on the improved eating options at Bonnaroo. The soundtrack to our meal was the talented Sharon Van Etten. Not someone I’d planned on hearing – but certainly glad I did.
Unfortunately, I missed Jessica Lea Mayfield and Graveyard, both of whom I’ve heard good feedback about. But, honestly, I was letting all the food truck grub soak in before catching the original line-up of Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. An initial plan of seeing it live got diverted to the Sports Bar on the basis of the head index alone – the air conditioned Sports Bar provided welcome refuge from the heat as well as an opportunity to get updated on the fact that the Heat lost game 5 to the Mavericks.
Despite group encouragement to see the gorgeous and talented Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, I was persuaded by the possibility of more air conditioning in the Bonnaroo Comedy Theatre. Lewis Black was the MC, but really just an introducer of some up and comers – Tim Minchin, Kathleen Madigan and Hannibal Buress. Minchin and Madigan had me laughing out loud frequently, but Buress lost me early on. Madigan’s crowing moment was a joke about DUI laws being based on nationality. Priceless. See this lady if she is in your town, but wear a diaper because you might pee your pants.
I emerged from the AC’d hilarity oasis to the sounds of Matt & Kim booming from This Tent. A substantial crowd had gathered to see the energetic duo and I got swept up in the frenzy. Making my way close to the front of the stage – I got to hear Kim boast about how great the festival was before reminding women to never forget vagina wipes and urging guys to generously apply Gold Bond. I wish I’d caught those quotes on audio. True words of wisdom. The duo then busted out into “Lessons Learned” – the song for which they recorded a music video naked, follow by some amazing renditions of their indie culture, pop friendly music, including hits “Daylight” and “Cameras.”
The massive Matt & Kim crowd were getting pretty rowdy and the energetic, especially when Kim handed out some balloons to the crowd. But, the enthusiasm unfortunately turned the tent into a baking inferno and I needed water, cold air and some deodorant once their show was over. Thankfully they left me just enough time to head to camp and swoop back for Atmosphere.
By far one of my favorite live performers – Atmosphere, or more particularly the MC known as Slug and his band that features producer/DJ Ant, rarely disappoint and Bonnaroo was no exception. The Minneapolis group’s expansive catalog lends itself well to live performances and ensures that no Atmopshere (or Rhymesayers) performance will be the same. Slug commanded the This Tent crowd with relative ease – weaving through classics from Overcast to God Loves Ugly, When Life Gives You Lemons to The Family Sign.
While it is strange for me to leave any Atmosphere show early, I’d heard good buzz about Givers, an indie rock outfit from Louisiana who were performing on a much smaller stage – the On Tap Lounge. The crowd that gathered was not insubstantial, and when I approached the stage – I quickly realized why.
The entire band had tremendous energy; the lead vocalist literally appeared to be reaching to the depths of his body to pull out their riveting performance (several times his eyes rolled to the back of his head so all you could see were the whites). Givers were not only my delightful surprise of the day, but for the entire festival. I’m sad I missed their most recent L.A. performance and only hope that they return sometime soon…
Givers gave way to the much hyped L.A. indie artist Hanni El Khatib. Having seen Hanni before, I took it as a cue to regroup at camp and catch some rest for the long night ahead. After brief visits to performances by Ray Lamontagne (Which Stage), Florence & The Machine (This Tent) and My Morning Jacket (What Stage), I was ready for Primus on the Which Stage.
If you’re familiar with Les Claypool’s catalog – you’d know him as the genius behind Primus, as well as several other bands. His versatility is impressive and the Bonnaroo performance of Primus united him with the same people he performed at the ‘Roo with in 2004. Here is a video, posted by audioperv, of their performance.
Primus’ performance was stellar as usual - the band paraded through many of Claypool's penned fan favorites. Their bass heavy groove gave way to the sounds of Arcade Fire, who had people descend toward the main stage on parachutes. Not quite the spectacle of lights with bulbs inside them from Coachella, but still kind of cool. Nonetheless, having seen them in Indio, I didn’t feel inclined to indulge their entire set in person. Instead, I enjoyed some of it from the comfortable chairs in the press/guest hospitality area. I needed to ensure my feet had the stamina to endure the action packed post midnight performances from Lil Wayne, Big Boi, Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Ratatat and Shpongle.
It was easy to tell when Arcade Fire was finished because I could almost immediately hear the bass drone emanating from This Tent where Bassnectar was slated to perform fora few hours. The crowd was massive - too difficult to penetrate to get to the press area for a few minutes. People had even climbed the rafters of This Tent and dangerously perched themselves above the crowd for prime viewing. Lorin Ashton captured the crowds energy and threw it right back at them.
From 'Nectar I planned on going to Lil' Wayne - but I'd misjudged the time and realized that I could catch a few Big Boi songs first. I stumbled onto a funky rendition of his #1 single "The Way You Move," before he dropped the Outkast classic "Player's Ball" from Southernplayalisticadillacamuzik. Check out a video of the show from Audio Perv below:
Having seen Big Boi in February, I quickly obtained a dosage of some favorites and knowing I'll see him again later this year - I dashed to Which Stage for my first ever Weezy F Baby show.
Mannie Fresh was at the festival and on stage (as well as Wayne's lil brother) - and they provided some support on a variety of Wayne's hits including "Go DJ," produced by Mannie Fresh. From "Lollipop" to "A Milli" off of Carter III to newer songs like "Swagga Like Us" and "6 Foot 7 Foot" - Lil Wayne rocked the crowd - many of whom knew the lyrics. Wayne continuously reminded the fans of three (really two things) - his love for God and that he is nothing without the fans and that he is nothing without you (meaning the Bonnaroo crowd). For someone whose graced the front of Rolling Stone and had an album that went triple platinum when many artists of good pedigree can't even break gold - they felt like humble words and, in comparison to Eminem's attempted massaging of the crowd the following night, much more genuine.
Weezy ended and sent me to Pretty Lights who allegedly had a new lighting installation, but no drummer (disappointing). While I very much enjoy Derek Vincent Smith's music - the addition of a live drummer to his electronic themed hip-hopish beatathons was one of the things that made his shows so special and epic. The energy (and beat) were more raw and natural. Opting for an easier set-up (not so much of a soundcheck required without a drummer) - Pretty Lights delivered a bunch of his fan favorite cuts as well as his latest remixes (the Radiohead and Nirvana mash-up was pretty sick). Unfortunately - a lot of the tunes sounded almost identical to his recordings, as if he was not doing anything behind his facade of lights and elevated platform. The absence of effort was confirmed by the fact that for what seemed like more than half of the show - Derek's hands were above the decks and visibly not touching anything. Perhaps that flew past much of the crowd due to their intoxication level - but come on dude...at least pretend like you're doing something back there. Especially if you're going to ditch the drummer. While the lights and production were dope - they were not enough of a substitute for the absence of effort or drummer Adam Deitch.
In part due to my disappointment and in part because I've seen PL at least ten times, I darted to Ratatat at The Other Tent and luckily caught a few greats like "Seventeen" before briefly watching Shpongle and his Shpongletron Experience before heading to bed.
Up soon....our final two days at Bonnaroo and special coverage of the Bonnaroo cuisine scene.
