The Good, the Bad and the Best of Bonnaroo 2007

Unless you believe in human cloning (which I am starting to agree with more and more every day, as long as I am the first candidate), trying to see every band at Bonnaroo is virtually impossible. With eleven stages and over 100 bands during the four day festival, you have to try to pick and choose your most logical plan of musical attack. It was referred to in the Bonnaroo Beacon newspaper as “Bonnaroo ADD.” Now I have ADD normally, so this concept just put me in a semi-tailspin but I survived.

Enough rambling, you are more interested in the show; Who was good, who met expectations and who disappointed me more than seeing that “Sopranos” series finale. Here is the breakdown of the best and not-so-good of Bonnaroo 2007:

BEST PERFORMANCE (Non-Headliner): The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello acoustic)

Dubbing himself the Nightwatchman. Tom Morello played a 50-minute set on Friday afternoon that dove back into Morello’s defiant roots. Armed with just an acoustic guitar, Morello played songs off his One Man Revolution that attacked the injustices of the country and the world. Morello railed against usual topics, such as the Bush administration and his issues with the recent G-8 conference.

As you know with his work with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, Morello is a compelling figure. His intelligence and knowledge about these topics helped break into one or two close minded people during his set. After teasing us with snippets of riffs from Rage classics “Bombtrack” and “Bulls on Parade,” Morello launched into an acoustic version of “Guerilla Radio,” which sent the 6,000 or so in the tent absolutely ape crap.

As Morello was winding down his set, he mentioned that he would try and make it back next year. One can only hope it’s with that other band he plays with as well. As this set proved, when Morello is in his comfortable against the system mindset, you cant touch him.

RUNNER UP: The White Stripes

Even though neither Jack nor Meg White live in Detroit anymore, it hasn’t changed my opinion of the band. Playing to a packed Which Stage area on Sunday night, the Stripes came out looking like the 2001 version of themselves; right before fame, stardom and fist-fights with the lead singer of the Von Bondies. And the music never sounded so raw and fierce during their set. Jack showed that he has return more to his rock roots after dabbling with a little blues on the Stripes’ last record.

Starting their 80-minute set with “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground,” the duo sounded like their batteries were recharged throughout the set. The band ripped through the title cut of their Icky Thump album early on, as well as their first commercial single, “Hotel Yorba.” Meg White still beat the crap out of the drums in her usual aloof swagger. Unlike many of the bands at Bonnaroo, the White Stripes stuck to the music and didn’t try a 20-minute version of “Seven Nation Army.” With an encore of such tracks as “Black Math” and “Blue Orchid,” it was a fitting way to end Bonnaroo 2007 for me. I don’t care what you think, Jack White calling Tennessee “home” still sounds a little foreign to me.

PLEASANT SURPRISES:

Lily Allen: Something about Lily Allen just bugs me; I don’t know if just her snotty attitude, or that she’s part of a new wave of indie pop that just sounds rehashed. But for a bit on Friday, Allen impressed me with her set. It had a nice blend of reggae and electronica. She didn’t seem drunk yet (but was swigging a bottle of Jager, so maybe it was just early in the day), which had been a sticking point of a lot of reviews at festivals prior to Bonnaroo.

Gogol Bordello: Now this was just fun. Lead by Eugene Hutz , the collective played a great set which could have been the most energetic set on Saturday. The music is a blend of gypsy, rock and punk that can only be best described as the lovechild of “Fiddler of the Roof” and the first and last five minutes of Borat. Too bad Borat didn’t come on stage and ask for any of Eugene’s gypsy tears.

Kings of Leon: Lead by the love-‘em or hate-‘em vocals of Caleb Followill, the Kings sounded a lot better live than when I have heard their CD’s. The band sounded remarkably tight live and were just about the only band to play during a brief rainstorm in the rain-parched Manchester area.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Brazilian Girls: This was some whacked out stuff. Some woman with a flying saucer looking thing strapped to her back convulsing around, swearing up a storm over jungle and drum beats that was more to see as a spectacle than anything.

Alexa Ray Joel: I put her here not because Billy Joel’s daughter was good; but because I only saw 50-60 people at her performance at the Sonic Stage Saturday afternoon. It goes to prove just because you have famous genes does not automatically buy you success. Poor Alexa is gonna have to make a name for herself the old fashioned way, slugging it out in clubs for years and years.

MET EXPECTATIONS:

The Hold Steady: Craig Finn and the rest of The Hold Steady are quickly becoming one of my under the radar favorites. For their hour-plus set on the last day of their North American tour, the Minnesota band played through the heavy dust that littered the Bonnaroo site. Playing songs like “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” and others, The Hold Steady are becoming the closest thing the new generation has to a Springsteen type band that there is.

Fountains of Wayne: I only had a chance to watch about half of their set, but what I did hear sounded like the most polished pop that didn’t come out of some Top 40 hit factory. Playing tracks like “Hackensack” and “Somebody Love Me,” Adam Schleisnger’s crew were very affable towards the crowd on Saturday. The best joke of the day came courtesy of the band when they covered a Kenny Chesney song and said “We would have had him help us out with the song, but he was too busy sucking somewhere else!” Great line!

DISAPPOINTMENTS:

Lewis Black and Friends: Now, now; I didn’t put this in the disappointments because Lewis Black was bad. It’s because I couldn’t get in to see his set. At least 6,000 people were in line for a tent that held 2,000 people at most. I was part of the 4,000 or so that was shut out. I was given somewhat of a reprieve as I got to see Lewis Black’s press conference (with others) on Saturday, where he rattled off a few great lines (“The only reason come to my set here is because it has air conditioning; you have to be g– damned stupid to not realize that.”)

 

The Roots: For a good 45 minutes, I just sat there and thought to myself, “When are they gonna stop screwing off and play “The Seed?” So, finally after a so-so rendition of Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” and a snore inducing 12-minute version of Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War,” the hip-hop collective launched into the song. But the rest of their set lacked that same fire.

Wilco: I’ve seen I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. I really want to like this band, but they’ve never done anything for me live. Their Sunday afternoon set did nothing to change my opinion of the band. As evident by the small number of people in the VIP bleachers, it seemed like some other people formed the same opinion as I did.

Franz Ferdinand: Usually these Scots are a fun band to watch and have some of the catchiest songs in rock today. But for 75 minutes Saturday evening, Franz Ferdinand lost track of who and what they were. Sure, they played “Take Me Out” and “This Fire,” but the band spent too long trying to appeal to the jam-minded crowd that was a majority on this night. And the band didn’t play “Do You Want To,” which was just plain wrong. They are better in a 40-45 minute dose, and had too much filler throughout the set.

 

I heard great things about Mute Math’s Thursday night performance, and the monster Superjam (with the Roots’ ?uestlove, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Ben Harper) after the mammoth sounding Tool performance. I heard not-so-great things about the Clutch performance, but given the audience, it may have not been the best festival for them to play at. So, when these artists rolled through Detroit in the near future, you know what to expect.

 

Check out more Detroitbuzz coverage on Bonnaroo 2007 here and here .

Bonnaroo, Let’s Talk

By Art Michalski

Now that I am done rattling off about the good, bad and ugly of Bonnaroo, it’s time to talk about the scene at the event. I would love to sit down and talk to some people face to face about what they thought of Bonnaroo. But because that may never happen, I’d figured I’d send out a manifesto including the good things I saw, and things that just plain shocked me.

When you turn a small town on the side of an interstate like Manchester, Tennessee into the sixth biggest town in the entire state for four days, you are gonna have some tourists that take advantage of the hospitality given from the locals. So, Bonnaroo Nation, let’s sit down and have a little one-sided conversation.

Bonnaroonies, let’s talk about something good first. The festival was one of the most peaceful and relaxing events you could be at. Everyone was in good spirits, even if everyone probably needed a bath by Friday afternoon. I didn’t see one fight at the event, which is the opposite of about 80 percent of the shows I see here in Detroit.

More good things. The event seemed really interested in their recycling and greening initiatives. The festival even had a raffle for the person who collected the most amount of recyclables and could win tickets to next year’s event. I think most of the people at the event would prefer a ice cold water or 12 pack of beer personally.

Also, the Bonnaroo Beacon was a daily newspaper that gave fans an insight to the bands and different events going on at the event. Plus, it gave a weather forecast each day. Unfortunately, it was the same forecast every day; Sunny and hot as _____ (fill in any four letter word here).

But along with the good things of Bonnaroo, there were a few minor issues that I had along the way. Here’s just a couple.

Parking - It’s great if you are one of the 90-percent of people camping, you have no problem. But if you hate camping (like me), then trying to park for day parking can be a hassle. When driving in on Friday, not one of the people in charge knew where the day parking for the event was or could give me a straight answer. I do have to give thanks to the old farmer dude who let me park my rental car on his lawn for a few days.

Unruly volunteers - The supervisors didn’t have any control over many of the college-aged student volunteers of the event. I witnessed at least two volunteers smoking weed while “working” and two more drinking with festival-goers. You know, if you’re gonna get into some crazy stuff at Bonnaroo and you’re working, at least take off the shirt that says you’re an employee of the event. Even though it was slightly humorous, probably the most dangerous situation was right before the Police’s set, when two volunteers played demolition derby with their golf carts, and almost hurt a few fans in the process.

Girls - It looked like the Olsen twins dressed about 75-percent of the female audience. Big sunglasses and dresses that make you look like a bag woman is not an attractive look. I’m not saying anything more than that, in fear I’ll sound like a pig. And guys, your no shirt and Speedo look that I saw more and more of by Saturday was just as bad.

The guy that died Thursday night - There was no mention of the 25-year-old Kentucky man’s death at the event itself, but only in the local news media. The man is rumored to have died of a drug-related overdose, but we not know well until this after article is out. It was the sixth death in the six years of the festival.

Bonnaroo Diehards - Okay, please stop whining that Bonnaroo sold out because the Police and Tool are headlining a few of the nights of the show. In order for a festival to grow, the festival must diversify who they have on the bill. If String Cheese Incident and Bob Weir headlined every year, the same people would show up and the festival would not grow. In order for a festival to be financially viable, they have to try some new things, even if it means throwing a metal act or two on the bill. Diehards, it’s just something you are gonna have to get used to.

I had a great time at Bonnaroo, but like anyone else, I had some problems with some minor details. But let’s face it, if I didn’t have at least a few problems with something, it wouldn’t sound like me at all. But next year, pray for a little rain because the dust kicking around at the event looked like those History Channel shows about 1930s Oklahoma.

Check out more Detroitbuzz coverage on Bonnaroo 2007 here and here .

The Police and Tool at Bonnaroo 2007

Tool - Bonnaroo Festival- Friday, June 15^th

After a day of alt-rock and indie pop, this reviewer needed some metal charge in his diet as Tool headlined Friday night for a dependable two-hour set that showed a good surprise towards the end of the set. The crowd at the large What Stage was estimated somewhere in the 35-40,000 range as the night gave away to loud guitar thunder.

Taunting the crowd as usual, lead singer Maynard James Keenan entered the stage and mockingly said “I smell patchouli” as he laughed and launched into the intricate rapid fire jam of “Jambi.” He would later taunt the audience as he remarked, “I just took a cold shower and went back to my air conditioning” which the mostly hot, dirty and sweaty fans took in stride.

The first part of the band’s set revolved heavily on their latest “10,000 Days” record. With Keenan and guitarist Adam Jones blasting into hit tracks like “Vicarious” and “The Pot” early on. The 12-minute “Rosetta Stoned” was a strong bridge between the beginning and tail end of the set. But that didn’t stop the band from diving into their past. The band did play beefed up jam versions of “Schism” and “Forty Six and Two” to perfection.

The band’s usual visual imagery was shown for all the fans to see, as the video and visual concepts created by guitarist Jones left the audience captivated . I believed people would want to see the band, but the band has been more about on-stage mystery than their self-image. It’s probably part of the reason why no photography was allowed during the band’s set.

The best and most surprising moment of the show was when Tom Morello joined the band on stage for an intense version of “Lateralus” which sent the crowd wild. Between his own Nightwatchman set and his on stage work with Tool, Morello had more than a busy day.

Being known as a “thinking man’s metal band,” Tool is one of the few hard rock/metal bands that could pull off playing Bonnaroo. Even though most of the true Bonnaroo diehards probably went back to get some rest, Tool delivered a tried and true set that puts them apart in the rock scene today.

The Police - Bonnaroo Festival- Saturday, June 16^th
One of the reunions that it was said would never, ever happen is now three weeks old and counting as the long awaited Police return hit the massive What Stage as Saturday night’s headliner for a somewhat brief, but still enjoyable 100-minute set. The grounds of the What Stage were the most full this reviewer had seen by this point, with a conservative estimate of around 55,000 as the reformed trio blasted through all of the band’s many hits, but with much improvisation which worked better in some cases than others.

As lead singer/bassist Sting, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers let loose with a stellar version of the opening “Message in a Bottle” to start the set as the sun had now set and the moon was starting to dwell on the grounds. The nighttime seemed to be the best time for the band’s set, as the mellow vibes of such songs as “Synchrocity II” and “The Best of What’s Still Around” seemed to fit perfect with the festival.

Most of the band’s set was a hit parade, such as hits like “Every Thing She Does is Magic,” and even slightly more obscure material like “Walking in Your Footsteps” were given a very slick and energized feel.

As much of a hit-fest as it was, many of the songs were reworked in their arrangement and instrumentation. This was done more than likely to accommodate the jam-friendly fans at Bonnaroo. Some of the new arrangements blended together better than others: “Do, Do, Do, Da, Da, Da” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger” were given a tinge more of a jazz and reggae shift that fit really well. Meanwhile, some of Sting’s improvisations in his vocals were a weird mix of scat and jazz music, which took away from the songs themselves. This reviewer though more of the set should sound far more straight forward than it was at some points. But on tracks like “Can’t Stand Losing You” and “Walking on the Moon,” the songs sounded just like it was envisioned.

The strength of the band these days is not actually with global crusader Sting, but with Copeland and Summers, who provided the meaty fusion of rock and reggae with near flawless precision. Copeland was provided the most style and rhythm to the Police’s sound and it showed at their Bonnaroo set. It may seem that Copeland and Sting are still all are not that chummy, but they are at least avoiding fisticuffs that we have heard stories about in the past.

Copeland stated in a pre-Bonnaroo interview that this show would be the “jam band version” of their show compared to the rest of the dates. The Police at Bonnaroo was a fine start, but it will be intriguing to see if they stick more to the supposed game plan when they hit Detroit in mid-July.

For more Detroitbuzz coverage of Bonnaroo 2007, click here and here.