Bonnaroo 2006 - Saturday, Denouement

We were woken Saturday morning by some very odd music, played repeatedly but at different levels. We couldn't figure it out. It was this really, really bad R&B glitzy, crappy stuff. They'd play about a minute of it and then stop. Then five minutes later they'd play it over again and stop. It sounded like it was coming from a camper or tent a few hundred yards away. We were all taking bets, but the idea of some whacked-out stoner in a big argument with his woman was everyone's favorite. We didn't realize until later that it was actually the sound engineers tweaking the main stage sound, finally getting it right. We were similarly woken by "Rosanna" by Toto Sunday morning. I'm not kidding.

So Saturday morning we weren't in any hurry to head back to Centeroo. There really wasn't anything we wanted to check out until 2 or 3pm. So what to do? Head to Shoneys! Man, we were hoping for a Cracker Barrel or even an IHOP, but when the decision comes down to Shoney's, Waffle House, or the Huddle House, well, then I guess Shoney's it is. Hot breakfast and the chance to use a real bathroom was nice. We'd only been there about 24 hours, but the lack of showers was starting to be noticed.

Feeling refreshed and back at our camper, we were ready to plan out our attack strategy for the day. However, I heard the distinctive sounds of jamming coming from the camper next door to ours, so I bailed with my fiddle in hand. Lots of fun.

Anyway, I was starting to worry my gang was going to head on to the concerts without me, so I headed back to our campsite to make plans. Our plan was very simple. 1) Walk to Centeroo, 2) wander just a bit to scope out the best main stage spots, 3) catch Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and then 4) sit our asses down in front of the main stage. The idea was to get a good spot during Elvis Costello and just maintain that spot the whole dang day. We were foregoing seeing anyone that wasn't at the main stage in order to get good seats for Elvis, Beck, and Radiohead. Thank you, God, this plan actually worked out well.

Two days of partying had definitely taken its toll on the crowd, but it had evidently also taken its toll on the security too. First off, let me explain that outside of the entrance/exit gates, I don't think I ever saw a security person or bouncer at this festival. Ever. You don't realize how many you see at a festival like Merlefest until they're gone at a festival like Bonnaroo. There's no one.

Anyway, the entrance gate to Centeroo was crazy packed, and the security dudes were just letting people stroll on through. There was only the barest sense of checking bags and equipment. I think if I'd walked up with an AK-47 strapped to my back they might have stopped me. It was very different from Friday morning.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah put on a great show, although they had some sound issues. I bailed early to get a spot for Elvis, but my brother and sister-in-law stuck around. I heard Clap Your Hands had some serious sound problems after I left, including losing their entire guitar sound. Hmm, dunno.

Elvis was awesome! I've never seen Elvis Costello live, and I'll be honest, I don't know a whole lot about him. He's always been on my list of "folks to check out as soon as I can," but besides a few a stray hits I recognized, I really didn't know what to expect. Well, this incarnation of his band the Imposters, along with the featured Allen Toussaint, sounded a bit like Elvis Costello and his Large Band, if you catch my drift -- lots of horns, piano, guitars, and harmony singing. It was awesome! I've been taking notes on Elvis ever since I got home.

After an hour of sitting and doing nothing (well, reapplying sunscreen, scarfing down water, making a "quick" run to the bathroom, etc.), Beck was on the main stage. Oh man. Beck. Holy crap I've never seen a funnier show.

Okay, so the Bonnaroo main stage -- the "Which Stage", is setup like what you'd imagine most outdoor mega-rock-concerts to be. It's a big free-standing building, with probably a thirty or forty foot roof. The sides are covered in speakers, and there are two jumbotrons on either side of the main stage. These jumbotrons are pretty much the only way you can see the artists without being in the first three rows. And if you're way in the back, like we were for Tom Petty Friday night, forget it. You're still not seeing anything.

Normally the jumbotrons show closeups of the band, but not for Beck, not in the first song anyway. They start playing with no jumbotron for a few seconds, and then the jumbotron flickers to life with a close-up of a puppet dressed like Beck! It took a minute to figure out the setup, but there was actually a little mini-puppet-stage area on the main stage, with miniatures of each of the band! Each puppeteer had their band puppet mimicking the actions of the appropriate bandmember. It was hilarious. If someone was singing or playing a guitar solo, the camera would close-up on the puppet doing the same. It wasn't until the second song that they flashed a quick look at the real Beck, and the entire crowd (those that weren't blinking at that exact moment anyway) cheered wildly.

Eventually the jumbotron went to an even mix of band and puppet after a song or two, and after a few songs more it was mostly band with a few puppet cuts for good measure. The best moment was when Beck walked over to the mini-puppet stage and gave his own Beck-puppet a high-five.

After some of the bigger hits, Beck decided to play a few acoustic numbers just by himself. This was where most of the songs from Sea Change were played that night. God, I love that album. If you're wondering why Beck can be considered Americana, go listen to Sea Change. It's like he's simultaneously channelling the spirits of Hank Williams and David Bowie.

Beck played the Sea Change tunes, and a fantastic cover of the Flaming Lips' Do You Realize?, one of my favorite Lips tunes, and obviously a favorite of the crowd's too. Everyone was into it. I think at this point most of the people in the festival were gathering at the main stage.

First off, let me tell you that Beck knows how to rock. The puppet antics, and the other stuff I'm about to describe, well, they're just icing on the cake. Beck and his band are good enough at the music that the entertainers in them are allowed to come to the surface. I by no means want y'all to think that the music suffered one iota from the silliness I'm about to describe.

Alright, puppets in the background, Beck alone with an acoustic guitar in the foreground, the band decides it's time to eat dinner. They bring out -- during Beck's solo songs -- a dinner table and chairs, table cloth, place settings, table decorations, plates, silverware, and glasses. One member (the foil/percussionist, not sure of his name) serves the rest as a waiter. Beck announces, "oh yeah, it's time for dinner." After a couple more solo acoustic numbers from Beck with the camera occasionally swtching to the band cutting it up, chatting away, and really eating on stage, suddenly the tempo goes up a notch. The band members start playing percussion at the table with their silverware, banging glasses, doing the "rub their fingers on top of a glass of water thing," and just in general humming along. Man, I wish I could remember what song they were doing. It was hilarious, and like I said, entirely musical.

After that they played a few more songs, left the stage to show a hysterical reality-TV-show-inspired puppet movie of "them" at Bonnaroo ("I smell hippies!"), and then they were replaced by a few folks in bear outfits rapping on stage. Very, um, different. But funny. Then the puppets played alone to the album recording of Where It's At, and finally the band came back to the stage. Several more songs and a gigantic boombox the size of a minivan later, and they're finally done. Whew. What a show. I'll definitely never forget it as long as I live.

But as amazing a show as Beck had, Radiohead blew them away. No joke. I was afraid that a Radiohead show could never truly live up to the ones I'd imagined in my head for years now, but I was wrong. They were every bit as good as I'd hoped and dreamed. Amazing. Freaking amazing. They are, without a doubt in my mind, the most interesting and important rock band touring today. It was like seeing the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd all in the same show.

I wish I could summarize it like I could the Beck show, but it won't translate well to this medium. Sorry. I'll highlight the ups and downs. First off, as soon as they started playing, the jumbotrons cut out. Seriously. The techs kept playing with them all night, but in the end they only got them up to a reduced quality but semi-working state. Luckily Radiohead's lightshow made use of other cameras and live images of the band behind them on stage anyway. (We are hypothesizing that these extra cameras and projections were what spelled the doom of the jumbotrons anyway.) Radiohead played several new songs, all of which I really liked. They played tons and tons and tons of their old songs. All of my favorites and then some. I haven't been in that high-energy show in a long, long time.

I've realized one thing about the Bonnaroo crowd -- they don't like slow or even slower songs. Period. No matter who you are, they want it up-beat and fast. Even for Beck and his great solo acoustic numbers the crowd's mind was wandering. You could hear more talking and see more people up and moving around. However, the one and only band that this didn't hold true for was Radiohead. Even their slow songs are so intense that the crowd was just enthralled.

In the end, I think that the majority of folks at Bonnaroo were at the festival for three reasons: 1) see Radiohead, 2) see Beck, 3) get high and hook up. The rest of the great acts were fairly much ignored. That's not completely true, of course, there was a die-hard music fan contingent among the throng, but my compatriots and I were in a minority.

We caught the Avett Brothers after Radiohead, and what an act to follow! Unfortunately Bonnaroo was putting most of the Americana acts including the Avetts and Bobby Bare, Jr. in the tiny Troo Music Tent, which was far too small for these acts. The Avetts had a large and vocal group of fans from North Carolina (including myself) in the house that night, and they fairly rocked Bonnaroo. I saw several folks from outside the tent hear the music and see the crowd and stop in to check it all out. Good stuff. I hope they made several more fans.

Sunday was pretty low-key. All the best acts were really late in the day -- Son Volt and Steve Earle, and we couldn't stick around that long, sadly. So instead we bought some t-shirts, wandered around a bit, and checked out the Breweroo Festival. The Breweroo is a cool idea. It's a beer tent where you buy tickets to sample several micro-breweries from all across the country. Some was good, some was bad, all was fun. Then the long drive home!

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Bonnaroo with my friends and family. I was happy to see some of the mega-acts that I've always wanted to check out, especially Radiohead who you can't see anywhere else. I was happy to see how a rock festival was organized and different than a Bluegrass and folk festival. And I was glad to be a part of one of the largest rock festivals ever, even if they did scale it down from 120,000 last year to 80,000 this year. Overall, it was a great trip.

Will I go back? Probably not. Not next year. If MTV buys the festival like all the rumors say, I'm absolutely not going back, ever. If MTV buys it, I highly, highly recommend you don't go either. Where will I go instead? I want to check out the Telluride Bluegrass Festival next year, which for some reason overlapped with Bonnaroo this year.

Whew, I was worn out all last week, and I'm glad to be home and showered this week. Festivals rock, but home can rock more.