Bonnaroo 2008 Sunday (Day 4 And Wrap-Up): We 'Roo Victoriously
After only a few hours of sleep in the hot sun in my van, I was exhausted both in body and spirit. But no matter how much heat, how many beers, how little sleep, or how bad my body aches, there is no slowing down at a party this serious. So it was time to finish this thing with a win.
I barely made it in time to see Broken Social Scene's first set at the Sonic Stage. They did three songs from You Forgot It In People and their pro-Obama rally song in both pro- and anti-bong forms. You can download the show here.
After that we headed to The Other Tent to see Ladytron. I had very little familiarity with this band prior to seeing them, but I thought they were pretty cool. This is definitely not a style of music I could get into deep, but very much something worth seeing.
Most of that set, the downtime in between sets, and Aimee Mann's following set I spent laying down in the shade of the tent trying to gather my energy for the last surge of the weekend. Aimee Mann's set was good for resting, but not really anything to get excited about. By the end, I gathered enough strength to run by the Troo Music Lounge and see some of Rotary Downs. We had tried to catch this New Orleans indie outfit at Voodoo Fest last year before being delayed by getting kicked out of our place, so I made sure not to miss them this time. It was well worth the effort as they were really good. Sort of in the Neutral Milk Hotel vein of sound but a flavour all its own.
After that it was time for Broken Social Scene's full set. As others around here have already talked about it, I won't go on at length, but it was the highlight of the day for me. These guys kick ass.
I went by and caught a little bit of Death Cab after BSS and thought that was really cool too, but with the end of their set, the music of the weekend was over for me since I didn't plan on withstanding WSP. The final day of a festival is always a weird thing to me because I can never shake the depressing feeling that the weekend of fun is just about done. I stuck around Bonnaroo for the final night to hang out at camp and get crunk, but everyone was tired and those who stuck around didn't stay awake long, including myself. A few jagerbombs and some cocktails and my seventh Bonnaroo was now just a notch on my belt.
Overall the festival had more than 70,000 attendees, but was not a sellout this year. I felt like the crowd was noticeably smaller than previous years. The folks there were also a very different breed than previous years. It felt like the majority of folks attending the fest were not from the diehard fest-following jamband wooks that used to populate the festival, and not really the music-centric indie kids that flooded this place two years ago when Radiohead stopped by, but rather normal, average sort of people that were coming to enjoy a big popular music festival. The campground scene was very calm and almost quiet late night compared to times of the past. I'm sure this experience would vary depending on who your neighbors were, but I think as a whole, chaos was at a relative minimum. That's not to say there wasn't craziness abounding. The party favour scene seemed as potent as ever, despite starting out slow on Thursday. The phrase "Who's got my headies?" was a rallying battle-cry for the weekend.
For me personally I feel like this year would rank somewhere in the middle of my Bonnaroo experiences. Musically, I felt like I was catching more stuff I really enjoyed than average. Attending the festival for the first time as press also helped provide some new, enjoyable experiences for myself. I probably spent the least amount of time partying at the campsite ever, though, which is always one of the things that make a festival like this standout above others, but that's mostly because there were so many good shows to catch. Anyways, I achieved grand heights of intoxication inside the festival area (like when I was shouting "Bjork is my third favourite member of Sigur Ros" to annoyed kids before the show).
Things we learned this year: Kanye West doesn't care about 'roo people. Despite all of the truly epic sets from the weekend, and even Kanye's own explanation, Bonnaroo 2008 will probably always be remembered most by the "Fuck Kanye West" theme. While Bonnaroo has shoved Widespread Panic down our throats way too much, It's hard not to argue that My Morning Jacket is the band that probably represents this festival more than any, and despite so many other triumphant sets at this festival, they seemed to have outdone themselves again. Many have referred to this year's incarnation as "Obamaroo" due to the heavy political references made across the board from artists like Pearl Jam, BSS, Chris Rock, Willie Nelson and others, but honestly I felt like Coachella in 2004 was much more overtly an anti-Bush rally than this one. While all of the mainstream media outlets have created a mirage making it seem that Metallica had some amazing show, I think it will be a forgettable blip in the 'roo history in a couple of years. What was more interesting to me is how that crowd experiment turned out. There was no excessive violence or bad vibes from this crew as some had worried, but the crowd was heavy in "Brosefs" and there seemed to be a bit of magic missing because of this. But the right line-up next year could easily repair the vibe, and I'm eager to see what that will look like (Phish reunion rumours are already gaining legs again).
One thing is for sure, though, regardless of what you think about Bonnaroo being "too maintream" or whatever, it is still a perfect reflection of what it going on in the world of music. Kids these days are listening to things across genres and this crowd and line-up represented this trend to the fullest. People are no longer identifying with one style or one sound anymore. While I didn't like Metallica being on the bill for my own personal enjoyment reasons, Bonnaroo including them, Mastodon, and The Sword was somewhat visionary as I would cite that Metal is probably the only scene right now that is still vibrant and wholly outside of the indie music revolution. Even Pitchfork is just starting to pay attention to that scene and "The Borg" that independent music has become is ready to swallow it up too. In every way, what was once considered underground music is now popular and while many will backlash against that trend, I see it as victory and Bonnaroo as its greatest celebration.
Largehearted Boy has kept track of all Bonnaroo 2008 streams and downloads.
Labels: Aimee Mann, Bonnaroo, Broken Social Scene, death cab for cutie, Kanye West, Ladytron, Metallica, Rotary Downs
posted by Sugarkane at
6/24/2008 07:13:00 PM
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