Monday, June 18, 2007

Bonnaroo Continued


Since my previous post was so long, I split it up.

After the rush of The Police, it may have been wise for me to leave and keep only that concert in my head, but I was determined to check out some more music.

I was blessed with the opportunity to catch the Flaming Lips who are less musicians than entertainers nowadays. This is not to say they still don't make some great music and really rock out with some type of hyped up acid rock genre that the critics tout them as. I personally love them, but to understand the antics surrounding this show, my words might not be enough.

I arrived early, thanks to the Police pulling a fast exit. Wayne realized that we were gonna get bored if they didn't do anything so he went uber-political on us and played a rousing version of "War Pigs". In the background their screen which often displayed a rainbow had a nice slideshow of Bush and his cabinet (these guys are nothing if not political). Of course the slideshow included Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld, so I think they need to do some updating.

Sadly that was the only song they played at the time, religiously adhering to the schedule, only to return an hour later. What a return it was though!!! If you are not familiar with a recent Lips show, I'll try to set the stage with a list:
1. Roadies were superhero costumes.
2. Dancing hot alien chicks line stage right.
3. Dancing fat Santas line stage left.
4. Wayne is pretty much a normal guy from Oklahoma.
5. The bassist or who I thought was the bassist wears a black skeleton costume.
6. The band hands out stuff for people to toss around and shine at the band during shows. This time it was laser pointers which made for a cool ambient experience.

To the entrance: The band enters on a large spaceship looking light fixture, descending to the electronic discord that opens RFTP. As the spaceship lit up the crowd, and smoke filled the stage, Wayne ascended to the top of the ship in his gerbil ball. Instead of taking the stairs, Wayne walked down the ship, slipped into the crowd and frolicked around for a few minutes before starting up a spectacular show that lasted well into the night.


Hopefully I did that entrance some justice. It was truly spectacular and one of the best parts of Bonnaroo. These guys are so concerned with entertaining the fans that the music almost becomes secondary, but their setlists never disappoint.

I headed over to Galactic for a bit and heard some pretty good tunes with Charlie2na, that band can really merge genres.

But by that time my Bonnaroo experience had worn me out and I needed a vacation. So I headed home early, hoping to catch the webcasts of Wolfmother, Wilco, and the White Stripes ("W" alliteration at its finest).
Wolfmother seriously is Black Sabbath. I can't be convinced otherwise. The coolest part is the lead singer's crazy fro, and the keyboardists desire to treat his instrument like a pinball machine. They rock, and are unique for our age, but I don't believe they are original at all.

Wilco, who has forcefully taken a prime spot among my list of favorite bands, played a great set that effortlessly encapsulated their new material from "Sky Blue Sky". A testament to their talents, the crowd was just as enthused for the new material as the classics. Serious guitar troubles during "War On War", 3 changes, barely fazed Jeff. These guys use so many guitars its almost overkill. Jeff needs to work on addressing the crowd, he's often so awkward, but people want to hear him talk so he presses on. My favorite song of the show had to be "Impossible Germany", this new song is really excellent, and is a quintessential defintion of Tweedy's geographical rock.

White Stripes bore me. Do I have to say anything else? I don't get it, are they playing a joke on us?

Well Bonnaroo 2008 should be just as good if not better. I hope they have more international acts, which was lacking this week, and part of the festival that makes it unique. Lollapalooza 2007 should be spectacular, but I won't be there. Do it, go check out the lineup. Pearl Jam plus about 25 bands I would die to see and who rarely tour through my neck of the woods. Hopefully it's not tremendously double booked, cause that is the only drawback of a festival like that.

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