Notes from Bonnarooo 2007

[sexydecoy]

• So often the term "breathtaking" is thrown around, usually to describe a girl who turns out not to be worth her weight in shoes. Driving through the mountains of Tennessee reminded me of what that word meant; we live in an awfully beautiful country and I can't wait to continue exploring it.
• The traffic to the festival site was backed up so far that it took almost as long to complete the 20 mile drive from the hotel to Bonnaroo on Thursday as it did to complete the 600 mile drive from Florida.
• There are an enormous amount of people in the world. For all the hundreds of thousands of people at Bonnaroo (most of which being genetic disasters), I considered that each one of them has, or had, two parents, and perhaps siblings, as well as having produced or being likely to produce children. My first thought upon arriving on the first full day was this: You, nor I, matter and nobody gives a shit what we do. There are countless amounts of folks out there, many of which whom look and act exactly as you do, in the world. You might be able to do something to stick out but chances are you just won't. You just won't.
• I was asked by a plethora of hippies to produce or if I knew the whereabouts of drugs, many of which I had never even heard of.
• Also: I hate, hate, hate hippies.
• I saw many acts. They are:
• David Cross: The main reason I went. He was hilarious (as expected), though didn't get too political like in his last two albums.  His openers were Nick Kroll (who was an excellent suprise) and Aziz Ansari (who was hit-or-miss, like his TV show Human Giant).
• Cold War Kids: I loved their single the first time I heard it, and was satisfied with their performance. They seemed like a genunine, hard-working band but, being that they were the first act on Friday and we had waited two hours in the dirt to watch them it was difficult to fully appreciate. Better than I expected, for sure.
• Hot Chip: I was just as shocked to find out how cool they were live as I was to see how ugly those dudes are. I thought DJs were supposed to be attractive and hip.
• The Black Keys: I've heard good things about them but never heard their stuff until seeing them on Friday and I was thoroughly impressed. They were the most energetic and "rocking' band of all that I'd see the entire weekend. It wasn't quite the type of music I'm into, but they were so good live that I'll be sure to check out their albums.
• Tool: Despite having not listened to them since high school, I'm glad I finally saw one of my all-time favorite bands despite not being too familiar with their new stuff (which is most of what they played). Maynard James Keenan, a friend of David Cross, had some hilarious comments to the crowd between songs and the audio/visuals were superb.
• Regina Spektor:  May be my favorite performance of the entire festival. Regina was so charming and adorable I was tempted to run up onstage and kiss her cheek. If you ever get the chance to see or meet her I could not urge you enough to do it. She's my new crush, for sure (and I'm not usually into redheads!)
• Dave Attell: Much funnier than his old Comedy Central show Insomniac would suggest. It's guttural, bawdy humor, but  consistently funny and Dave came off as a very nice man. His opener, Dov Davidoff, wasn't so good, but the crowd may have ruined it. The festival was ran amuck with "bro's", which boggles my mind since there weren't any shitty bands like Thursday or Thrice playing.
• Damien Rice: I only caught the last couple of songs by him, but he sounded good. I like that song "The Blower's Daughter." Not much to report.
• Spoon: Great energy, good sound. I really dig Spoon and I feel they are a little under-rated. It's suprising they haven't hit big on the radio since a lot of their songs are catchy as hell.
• Franz Ferdinand: The sound on their stage was shitty, but the crowd was very into them and they were fun to watch. Apparently they had some technical difficulties, so I didn't hear much of the stuff I had wanted to so hopefully I can see them again in a cooler, more intimate setting.
• The Police: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know any of their songs so a half-hour of them was good enough just to be able to have said I saw 'em.
• Demetri Martin & Flight of the Conchords: At best, Demetri Martin is like Stephen Wright and at worst he's like Mitch Hedburg (not a fan). He had good ideas, but lacked energy and focus. Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand version of Tenacious D who have their own HBO show now. I didn't enjoy them at all. Music + Funny Accents + Awkward banter does not = comedy.
• The Decemberists: I was only able to catch one or two songs by them but they are spectacular performers. I would not hesitate to see them again and greatly anticipate listening to the rest of their musical catalogue.
• Wilco: My favorite band, perhaps of all-time. They sounded better than the last time I had seen them and played a perfect combination of old and new stuff. I fucking love Wilco.
• Feist: Charming much in the way Regina Spektor was. I had to leave my up-front spot at Wilco to catch her and I made it just in time to hear my three favorite songs by her (Brandy Alexander, 1, 2, 3, 4, & Mushaboom). At the end of the last song a fan jumped on stage and started playing tambourine and she allowed it which was cool of her.
• The White Stripes: We only caught maybe three songs of theirs before the dust became too much to bear.

I may think of more stuff I have to say about Bonnaroo, but for now that's it. I'm glad to be back home.