Bonnaroo 2008 Friday (Day 2): The Sun, The Fiery Furnaces, The Free Beer Tent; This Is Why I'm Hott
Friday morning started about 4 hours after Thursday night ended for me with the sun making things too uncomfortable for me to sleep late. I grabbed some breakfast and got an early start on the day. I got to the media area to do some blogging and listen to the media orientation speech. They laid out everything we could and couldn't do, and none of it really seemed to effect what I'm doing. I don't have all access, but it seems like there are lots of artists in the media area doing interviews and such, so that has been really cool. I gave the guitarist from Minus The Bear some daps before catching some shows.
First up was The Fiery Furnaces. They did a set that was very similar to the set they did at The Variety Playhouse earlier this year, except this time they had a thimble player to make it a 5 piece. It was extremely tight and heavily weighted by Widow City songs, which I love. At some point a cardboard cutout of Eleanor made its way into the crowd, followed by other cardboard cutouts that I thought at first were the rest of the band, but then I saw one of them was Bradford Cox and realized they were from the Converse ad.
After that I stuck around for the first half of Minus The Bear's set and they were pretty good but I felt like the Langerado set I caught earlier this year had a little more energy or something. Next I went to see Tegan And Sara. I watched them butcher one of their own songs about 5 different ways and decided that I wouldn't waste any more of my time with them. Instead I set up earlier at the Sonic Stage to catch the second Fiery Furnaces set of the day. This time they were a 4-piece with Matthew playing a guitar instead of keyboards for the entire set. They dug deeper in this completely different set even taking requests at the end. This band is just so phenomenal and I can't get enough of them. Bonus to this set, Beatle Bob was there doing his crazy dancing backstage. I really need to find him and interview him.
After that I went backstage to interview Royal Bangs. They were chilling out in the hidden free beer and liquor tent backstage, which was a festival changing discovery. I hung out with the Royal Bangs dudes for a little while and video taped it, so expect to see that very soon. They seemed really cool, and probably the thing that I enjoyed most about the interview was their answer to my "What do you think about the state of music and the music industry?" question, which almost word for word reflected my own opinions.
When they left to catch the very end of !!!, I stuck around and started abusing the keg back there. I spent a few hours chugging beers and stalking the Fiery Furnaces as they did interviews for more reputable journalists. After getting properly "festivalized", I met up with my ATLiens and watched some of Willie Nelson. I guess it is cool to say I have seen him now, but that was about all I enjoyed about it. Along with the Bonnaroo masses, we headed to the What Stage next to see Chris Rock. I lost my entire group on the way there and caught his routine stranded by myself. Chris Rock is one of my favourite comedians, but the set seemed lacking. I feel like ever since he started doing Everybody Hates Chris, which I like, he has gotten a lot more restrained and sort of falling back on his typical sorts of jokes. But even a lackluster Chris Rock routine is pretty damn funny.
As the rain that had been looming all day finally broke loose, I opted to go back to camp instead of catching Metallica. It seemed like that was a fairly popular sentiment as the line getting out of the stage area was longer than the one to get in. As I extended my drunk rally, sleep deprivation finally caught up with me and I passed out early. I would have really liked to catch some of the My Morning Jacket set, but I didn't wake up in time.
Now well rested, It's time for an intense day and a long night of music.
Labels: Bonnaroo, chris rock, Fiery Furnaces, minus the bear, Royal Bangs, Tegan And Sara, willie nelson
posted by Sugarkane at
6/14/2008 01:48:00 PM
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