Crib Notes

Sunday

Overheard at Bonnaroo: “I should have done more mushrooms at prom.” — One of the perpetually stoned high school students camping next to me

Hygiene update: I smell better than a dead person, but worse than a chicken salad sandwich left out in the sun for an afternoon. I think my sweat and sunblock have formed an impenetrable layer that will protect me from both the sun and bullets. Apparently it is now de rigeur to bathe and shave one’s legs at Bonnaroo. I did not get the memo, so my legs are hairier than some of the men’s I’ve seen so far today. It can be hard to be this extreme.

The last day of a music festival is a tough one — the audience is too partied-out or sunburned or exhausted to embrace acts as fully as they could the day before. I definitely fell into that category, as I was still pretty beat from the night before (”KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAANYE!). Here’s what I saw:

Broken Social Scene
I was only able to catch a couple songs of their set, but I did hear this gem: “Put down the bong and vote for Obama / You know that you gotta / You know that you wanna.” (more…)

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Saturday

Overheard at Bonnaroo: “I never thought I would have to fight this hard to take a shit! I feel like an old black man in the ’70s!” — My moron neighbor who didn’t understand why his tent mates didn’t want him to poop next to their tent.

Important things I have slept through:

— A Weezer concert in 2000.
— A presentation in a womens’ studies class in 2001
— A tornado
— Pearl Jam, Sigur Ros and Chromeo at Bonnaroo 2008

Don’t hate me. I hate myself enough already. I blame Jack Johnson, whose laid-back tones led me to nap, thinking I would get up in a couple hours when Pearl Jam started. Then I woke up and it was 2:15 a.m., and well, there went that.

But don’t worry, I wasn’t the biggest asshole at Bonnaroo on Saturday night. Rightly or wrongly, that title went to Kanye West, who went on 8 hours late (his 8:15 p.m. set was rescheduled to 2:45 a.m. so that his “Glow in the Dark” tour would, you know, glow in the dark.) But more onn that in a bit. Here are some timelier musicians I saw on Saturday:

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: 100 Days, 100 Nights is a great album, but Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings are really in their element, live. Jones, who is a tiny lady in her early 50s, took off her shoes and earrings and did her idol and fellow Augusta native James Brown proud with her incredibly energetic antics onstage. She dances! She wails! And then they had to go and cover “What Have You Done For Me Lately.” Definitely one of the best shows I saw all weekend.

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Overheard at Bonnaroo: “Next time I see Ben, I’m going to punch him in the face.” — A disgruntled camper whose tent mate had apparently committed a punch-worthy offense.

Friday at Bonnaroo was glorious! I saw the best set I’ve seen so far! But then it started raining and poop mud emerged from every portable toilet. I saw several bands yesterday — and there were so many I wanted to see that I didn’t catch many full sets — so here are some wee tiny reviews:

Drive-By Truckers: Patterson Hood and Co. started Friday off right — their sound was strong, the crowd was really into it, and the band’s fierceness totally filled the enormous stage they played on.

Jose Gonzalez: His set was super-chill — he sat in a chair onstage, and many in the audience took a similar laid-back, lay-back-on-a-blanket mentality. And luckily for me, he closed with his cover of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop.”

Tegan and Sara: Although their set was plagued by technical issues — like several bands on Friday, actually — the banter between twins Tegan and Sara Quin won the audience over.

The Fiery Furnaces: Part of the beauty of Bonnaroo is that there is a diversity of venues. Huge acts like Pearl Jam and Willie Nelson obviously play huge stages, but several smaller stages offer a more intimate experience. The Fiery Furnaces played one of these smaller stages (after playing a much larger tent earlier in the day), and I thought their sound made an interesting transition in live performance. Live songs sounded rawer than the album versions, but still had a distinct proggy, experimental sound. Here’s the music video for their song “Tropical Iceland.”
Eleaor of the Fiery Furnaces

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VAMPIRE WEEKEND: From far away

Overheard at Bonnaroo: “Some guy in VIP was talking about how, like, he got to take free showers, and I was like ‘Well, I shower every four days anyway.’” — Girl behind me in line.

Day one of Bonnaroo started at 4 a.m. and ended at about 1 a.m., and the in-between times were filled with a healthy mix of music, sitting in a car and public urination.
Allow me to explain.

Once we actually got to Bonnaroo and got our tent set up (which only took about seven hours total — proof that God smiles on CL and all its endeavors), the first order of bidness was checking out the opening-day lineup. Superdrag was the first band I caught, which was strangely appropriate — between Metallica, Pearl Jam, Chris Rock and Janeane Garofalo, acts I liked in the 9th grade are making a big comeback at Bonnaroo this year.

I’m not as familiar with Superdrag’s new stuff, which they played a lot of (and which underwhelmed me, frankly), but anything off their 1996 release “Regretfully Yours” was absolute audio gold.

We skipped MGMT and most of Battles (who we heard the last part of while waiting in line, and it sounded awesome and I wish I could have been more adjacent to the stage) for two trips to the comedy tent, which was a hard decision, but one that paid off in two big ways:

1) The comedy tent was air-conditioned.

2) I saw a really drunk guy urinate on two rows of people in front of him. (more…)

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Congratulations to Hightide Blues for winning the 2008 92.9 Dave FM Search-a-Roo contest. The Atlanta-based southern rock band beat out local blues artists The Reeds, and will play at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

Hightide Blues will play Saturday, June 14, at noon on the Sonic Stage.

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As if Auburn and UGA needed another rivalry.

Auburn alums Hightide Blues and University of Georgia grads The Reeds will compete in the ultimate battle of the bands Saturday for their chance to share a stage with the likes of Pearl Jam, Metallic, Widespread Panic and Jack Johnson.

“I share my room with these bands,” said Josh Reid, leader singer of The Reeds. “They’re on my walls as posters. I can’t even imagine playing with them.”

The Third Annual 92.9 Dave FM Search-a-Roo contest scoured the city for the best local band to send to Rolling Stone magazine’s “Best Festival,” Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.

The winner will be chosen after the bands perform live at the 2008 Virginia-Highlands Summerfest.

“It’s crazy. We’re just normal guys, not hardcore rockers or anything,” said Paul McDonald, lead singer of Hightide Blues. “We’re just college kids. And now we’re getting a shot at Bonnaroo; there are just no words to describe it.”

92.9 Dave FM is the only radio station that runs a contest specifically for local bands, said Zac Altheimer, marketing director for Music Allies, the radio marketing agency that handles promotions for Bonnaroo.

So why Atlanta?

Dave FM has partnered with Bonnaroo since the beginning, and Atlanta is a top-notch market for heavy ticket sales and incredible talent, Altheimer said.

This year, more than 300 musicians entered, said Will Davis, marketing director for Dave FM.

Longtime Bonnaroo lovers, Hightide Blues band mates were already planning to trek to Tennessee as fans of the festival when they heard about the contest through drummer Scott Rollins’ girlfriend.

With only the mastered copy of their new CD, Love Come Easy, Manager Bowe O’Brien dropped off a raw, unofficial copy to Dave FM studios.

Reviewing three songs from each band, the Dave FM staff narrowed the number to 25 based on song style, quality of sound and performance ability, Davis said.

Music Allies then chose the final four, looking for “simply good music,” Altheimer said.

What made Southern rockers Hightide Blues and jazz artists The Reeds stick out from other submissions?

Both bands have a unique sound that brings something different to the festival, he said. They’ve got strong fan bases, and they’ll keep going after Bonnaroo.”

Bonnaroo is its own genre,” he said. “It’s not a jam band festival; it’s not a southern rock festival. It’s its own thing. So we wanted a really fun band that will make you dance and have a really good time.”

The rest was up to the fans.

The bands swarmed Facebook, MySpace and listservs with desperate pleas for votes to score a 30-minute slot at Summerfest, beating out other Atlanta locals Ocha la Rocha and Groovestain.

Together since 2006, Hightide Blues stacks quite the resume, having shared the stage with Sister Hazel, Graham Colton and Sara Bareilles, played more than 150 shows in 2007 and will tour with Benjy Davis Project this summer.

Saturday will be The Reed’s first live performance after months of recording their new CD, Bleed Lust. Reid and violinist Ben Austin have been a duo since high school, but the full band wasn’t added until December 2007.

Both bands will use Saturday’s slot to test out their up-and-coming records.

“I was shocked,” Reid said when he heard The Reeds were chosen. “We usually don’t win contests. We never even make the top 3 at Eddie’s Attic [Songwriter’s Open Mic], so we never thought we’d get this.”

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Hello, music fan. My name is Brooke, and I’m going to be CL’s ambassador to Bonnaroo. The selection process for this prestigious gig was pretty tough — I sat through a 27-hour bluegrass jam session while subsisting on little more than hummus and second-hand smoke.I emerged victorious over two Navy Seals and CL staff writer Thomas Wheatley (who ran screaming into the wilds of Villa Rica near the end of hour 14). So from June 12-15 I’ll be posting from glamorous Manchester, Tenn., home of one of the biggest music festivals in the Southeast. You can expect daily concert reviews and photos, as well as the occasional entry that I wrote at 3 a.m. and have no memory of.

This year’s line-up is pretty impressive — Atlanta-area acts like Drive-By Truckers and Dead Confederate will play alongside performers including, but not limited to Kanye West, M.I.A., B.B. King, Cat Power, Gogol Bordello and My Morning Jacket. Check out the complete lineup here.

Don’t have a ticket to Bonnaroo? All is not lost! Criminal Records is giving away a pair. No purchase is necessary, just drop your information in the contest box up front. (Although the new Langhorne Slim album is delightful, and they totally stock it. Just saying.)

The contest ends a week before Bonnaroo starts, so no lolligagging, lest ye be denied a weekend of music with thousands of fellow stinky fans.

In anticipation of the festival, I created a Muxtape of Bonnaroo artists. Check it out here: cldoesbonnaroo.muxtape.com. The selection process for this mix was extensive. Is the song representative of the artist’s repertoire? Would it provide a suitable sonic entryway into the festival? Most importantly, do I already own it?

Since I was limited to 12 tracks, and there are over 140 artists playing the festival, tens of tens of talented artists didn’t make it on my mix.

Feel free to make your own Muxtape and post a link to it in the comments. Extra points for tracks from any of the performers in the comedy tent.

For more information about the festival, check out www.bonnaroo.com.

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