My dad and I do not build model rockets. We don't try to fix broken appliances or household infrastructure. We don't follow cars, or jet engines, or stock portfolios. I was never a boy scout. He was never overbearing. We don't play baseball.
So google, tell me how in the world a father and son should bond when they don't enjoy the things listed above - Rent and Ride a Tandem Bicycle you say? yeah...
THE BEGINNING
My dad and I went to Bonnaroo. Yes, that Bonnaroo. The story really begins @ Wesleyan, where a guy named Ben worked for my dad's cafe on campus for a few years, and told him about the music that he and this other kid were putting together. My dad loves the stuff he's putting together, lets Ben know that he runs the music portion of the Meriden Daffodil Festival, and invites their band to come and play for their first official gig of their careers together.
Fast forward a few years, and they are absolutely blowing up all over the scene. My dad catches one of their shows up in Boston earlier this past year, and they let us know that they'll be down at Bonnaroo, and that he should think about going.
Fast forward to Thursday the 10th of June, and I'm arriving at the Continental gate, meeting my dad in Nashville in what ensued to be one of the most epic weekends of either of our concert going careers.
THE PLAY BY PLAY
I have to cross reference my notes on this one, and like the SF post, this'll be pretty choppy; but what we lose in seamlessness, we'll gain in content and organization:
THURSDAY
We get on the road @ the Airport in our Suzuki 4 door rental at around 7 at night. The car has been pre-packed with all the essentials, a tent, sleeping bag, beer, cooler, 2 stainless water bottles, cell phone chargers, snacks and goodies to be shared, 2 jugs of gatorade, and a few other nonessential items i'm probably forgetting to mention... oh yeah, like the flashlight and toilet paper - things like that. It's an hour drive that takes 3, and amid a thunderous downpour and tornado warnings we set up our campsite. Of course, once we figure out to set up the damn thing, it looks as we, the tent, and the car have just been pulled out of river. Drenched, travel/work exhausted, and intently sober - we ponder the rest of the evening's activities. We both kind of give each other the, 'well... what are we effing standing around here for?' and start trudging through the mud caked streetways to get inside the concert area, and our showcase ensues:
Passion Pit (THIS TENT) @ 11 pm
- Before - who?
- After - fantastic dancy rock with falsetto-ish vocalist, took down the 15,000 person crowd on opening night; thorough impressed
- Song that matters: Sleepyhead - 3.5 million plays on myspace, and you're getting somewhere
- Before - New Orleans boy in a similar GirlTalk vein
- After - mashups are my thing - not as agressive as a GirlTalk set, but much smoother (re: does not use air horns to transition songs), and pulls in tech and drum n bass beats much more often; my favorite of the night
- Song that matters: listen to ZomBmore, and you'll get what i'm saying
- Before - who?
- After - down home country-ish, highlight iconic southern icons (fried chicken, women, down on your luck-ness) and the everpresent slide guitar. not my cup of tea, especially @ 1 in the morning.
- Song that matters: Whatever it is - iunno, ppl like it
- Before - nother NOLA DJ, fuses eastern european traditional dance music into a DJ set
- After - kind of feels like the SNL skit about the whopper virgins
- Song that matters: whopper virgins hulu video
FRIDAY
direct quote: "wake up to an open package of oreos and a mud soaked jacket. roll out of the car, brush teeth, put contacts in, change clothes, back into the roo. doesn't feel like i'm going to die yet. good sign."
Moonalice (Troo Music Lounge) 12 pm
- Before - Dad said G.E. Smith was in the band, and we had him at the daffodil fest a few years back - expecting classic rock and roll set
- After - mellow rock and roll set. mildly lame start to the day
- Song that Matters - didn't hear one
- Before - first band on David Byrne's feature stage - nothing other than that
- After - All female folksy power pop from Oslo, that has a beautifully slinking post-civil war/coal miner's song feel to it; enjoyable live set, listening to their recorded stuff now and it's... not the same
- Song that Matters: Storm; but hear it live - ghostly feel, and higlights lead vocalist's incredible range (I can't find this song anywhere)
- Before - shoegazer, but wtf is shoegazing?
- After - what i know as guitar percussionism, you call shoegazing - and she's awesome at it - definitely making it into my chill music playlists; wish the songs lasted longer and she sung less
- Song that Matters: Bone Chaos in the Castle; veryyyy Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Cross
- Before - son of Ali Farka Toure, first introduced to me by Shawna and L'auberge Espagnole
- After - son of Ali Farka Toure, first introduced to me by Shawna and L'auberge Espagnole
- Song that Matters: Ai Du, bluesy genius, cover from his pops
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (WHICH STAGE) 4:45
- Before - high expectations after Fever to Tell; even higher expectations after Ashley introduced Hysteric to me - indie rockers from new york with a half korean frontwoman who've added power and danceability to their repertoire
- After - expectations met - Karen's vocal strength has improved tremendously, owned their slower songs, and built on the new stuff
- Song that Matters: something went wrong with their synths, so Miss O went acoustic on Maps - song of the day. no question
Al Green (WHAT STAGE) 6:00 pm
- Before - iconic superstar of the R&B and Motown years; part of the hit machine; worried about performance; is a reverend
- After - professional. Had a very Earthfest/Ludacris set (re: 2 minutes of all of my hits) and holds a very endearing, politically rehearsed looking smile. Fills the seats, pays the bills, everyone's happy
- Song that Matters: well, really it's Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone, but he's too happy nowadays; so it's the consummate classic, Let's Stay Together
- Before - saw them @ Voodoofest and wasn't really impressed, but I lovelovelove their music; high energy indie surf rock with pounding vocals
- After - wow; I've never seen a performance improve so much - frontman has gone from writhing about to owning the stage, and the sound set up was *MUCH* better; full discography added to the library
- Song that Matters: torn between Wolf Like Me and I Was a Lover; powerful and uniquely their own sound, but in two very different moods
- Before - Tibetan Freedom; Rap-rock for frat parties; rap-hip hop for geeks; and hip hop for purists
- After - Mixmaster Mike is legit. They brought NAS out. Were surprisingly more instrument oriented, and higlighted my favorite sure shot
- Song that Matters - surprise appearance by NAS, some new song
- Before - frontman to my favorite new wave band of the 80s; aching, aching for a version of This Must Be the Place from Wall Street; but knowing i'm going to be disappointed
- After - space. cadet.
- Song that Matters - it's still This Must Be the Place (highlighting a MGMT version in spite of David Byrne and props to MGMT)
- Before - the Grateful dead of our time; vermonters unite
- After - I am not a jam band fan; but this set fit so well for this place it wasn't even funny
- Song that Matters - could not even tell ya
- Before - mash up king, and I love mash ups like no other; worried about trainwrecking live
- After - I haven't been this amped to be moving around like an idiot with everyone since raving during high school - felt like home in every good way possible
- Song that Matters - point in time when Lil Mama was singing Lip Gloss over the bridge for One by Metallica. yes, that happened. live.
- Before - first introduction to trance music when i was 14; provided only real musical rebellion for me to walk down, and spent my 16 and 17 year old nights in high school (alluded above) discovering that techno didn't suck
- After - so.. this set was supposed to be well over, but there was a fountain people were dancing in, and the music was still really loud, and i think *i think* I heard my favorite track that Armin van Buuren used to choon - Till Ya Drop (by Remy and Roland Klinkenburg) and the night would not end
- Song that Matters - Till Ya Drop by Remy and Roland Klinkenburg - sicksicksick bass drop in the middle of it, but it's only useful when it surprises the hell out of you
my cell phone is dying, i am dying, where do these oreos keep coming from? there still two more days? yesssssssssssss
Allen Tousaint (THAT TENT) 1:45 pm
- Before - more new orleans props, jazzish
- After - where am i and what happened last night?
- Song that Matters - still have Maps stuck in my head from yesterday
- Before - formerly of Tony! Toni! Toné! expectations are set
- After - wow, he's a jerk. but he can put some great music together - older R&B with deep rock and slight gospel influences
- Song that Matters - did a version of Age of Aquarius that probably brought an additional 5 thousand people to the stage
Jenny Lewis (THAT TENT) 5:00 pm
- Before - Dad says she's the Alanis Morrisette of this generation. wait- this generation? is this generation no longer my generation? wow...
- After - he's pretty much right - cept she's more ironic and less bitchy and less weird - but of course, there's time
- Song that Matters - Acid Tongue's the big one, but I loved Pretty Bird - take your pick
- Before - toured with MGMT, theatrical stylings
- After - looks like GWAR without feeling scared; turned offbeat songs into epics; got to hang out with them back stage and Ashley really likes them - who knew?
- Song that Matters - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse; but only if there's a giant paper dragon beheading on stage; otherwise, it's Gronlandic Edit
- Before - Dad's absolutely favorite artist; new wave movement, but a songwriter at the core
- After - really the first act from previous generations who really took the stage - *and* it was an acoustic show -hella impressive
- Song that Matters - for me, it'll always be veronica; but that's only because i had a crush on a veronica in 6th grade aaaand i didn't really listen to the lyrics of the song
- Before - I *think* there are former At the Drive-In members in this band, and they've got a song in Guitar Hero IV that Chu likes to shred to
- After - pretentious. didn't enjoy it at all. no energy to the set, and started yelling at fans for wanting to hear earlier stuff. Honestly, they're not asking you to play Freebird - chill
- Song that Matters - One Armed Scissor; yes, that song is done by At the Drive-In
- Before - on my itunes playlists under 'the indie bands you probably would like if you had the time to listen to and absorb their lyrics, but until then, only one of their songs is making it into your playlists, and it's the one that everyone knows'
- After - gets the 'Did most to sway me to fandom' - another epic set on the THIS TENT, *and* the first encore that I've seen/remembered
- Song that Matters - The Hazards of Love, pts 1-4; a journey with ye olde french sounding strumming
- Before - band i grew up with; from the angry downward spiral, to the epic prowess of the Fragile to the amazing use of crowdsourcing to popularize Year Zero, trent reznor is a role model for all
- After - omg, it's his last performance in the states for a long time - AND I'M HERE! yesssss
- Song that Matters - always will be Hurt; hated that Johnny Cash had a version of it, and hated that it was so good
Yeasayer (THAT TENT) 1:45 am
MGMT (THAT TENT) 2:15 am
moe. (THIS TENT) 4:00 am
SUNDAY
Rock the earth Panel - social change through music
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Oxfam
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1 comments:
I loved the whole story; style and content....great writing Kyle
Jane
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