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.

Live Review: Death Cab for Cutie - Bonnaroo 2008

I think the most disappointing thing I experienced at Bonnaroo (other than Kanye totally disrespecting not only the entire Bonnaroo community but the entire music community) was the major conflict on Sunday. As I mentioned in my review of Narrow Stairs, Broken Social Scene’s main set and Death Cab for Cutie’s only set overlapped by 30 minutes. To make matters worse, the “Other” tent (where BSS was playing their main set) was running about 30 minutes behind.

Panic sets in! On one hand, Broken Social Scene was putting on an incredible show, and was promising to play until they were dragged off stage. On the other hand, I didn’t want to chance missing any of the new Death Cab songs I knew they would break out early in their set.

And then there was a sign… About an hour into their incredible set Broken Social Scene played "Anthem for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl", one of my favorite songs. This was icing on the cake which was already iced, so BiggieC and I made a break for Death Cab for Cutie.

We made it to the “What” stage while they were finishing up their fourth song of their set, “Crooked Teeth” from Plans. This was just in time to catch my favorite song (so far) of Narrow Stairs “Long Division”. While they didn’t break out into the uber-jam I was hoping for, Chris Walla let it hang out just a little bit on the synth for those who wanted to squeeze every last ounce of party out of the waning festival.



Death Cab split their set between their two most recent albums Narrow Stairs and Plans with older songs (but nothing pre- We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes). Throughout the set the band stayed tight and preformed at the level their fans have come expect night after night. Highlights for me included “Cath..”, “Company Calls”, and “I Will Possess Your Heart”.







As my first Bonnaroo experience drew to a close my bitterness toward Bonnaroo’s for overlapping Broken Social Scene and Death Cab for Cutie faded. What did I really have complain about? I had been treated to two of my favorite bands in just a manner of hours. As the sun set over Manchester, TN Death Cab closed out an epic 4 days of music with their most epic song, “Transatlanticism”. It was indeed a "Movie Script Ending".

Album Review: Narrow Stairs

Narrow Stairs is quite like last year's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse. Both of these albums are follow-ups to very commercially successful releases (despite negative reactions from long time fans including myself). Both were highly anticipated. Like We Were Dead..., Narrow Stairs debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. Both were released in springtime. Perhaps with hopes of their singles becoming summertime anthems? Finally, while neither are essential albums, they are both very good.

Narrow Stair's first single, "I Will Possess Your Heart" has been described by the band as a "ten minute Can jam". It combines the breadth of "Transatlanticism" with the persistence of "Movie Script Ending". If anything, the band picking an 8+ minute song as their first single is a statement against everything that Plans stood for. However, fans of the band's softer side are not deprived on Narrow Stairs; tracks like "Your New Twin Sized Bed" seem to pick up almost exactly where "Brother's On a Hotel Bed" left off.

"Long Division" brings a new calculation to a sound the band really hasn't featured since Photo Album. For me, this alone makes picking on vinyl when Barsuk releases it in September.

The bottom line - This a good album by what is possibly the best songwriter/producer duo in music today. Overall, the album seems to be on middle ground much like Transatlanticism. Transatlanticism was on the verge of departure to Plans, whereas Narrow Stairs is a band's sensible return to their roots with new tricks learned and new friends found along the way.

You can catch Death Cab for Cutie (along with most of the Ohmpark crew) on the last day of Bonnaroo. Too bad that you'll have the sacrifice the end of Broken Social Scene's set to catch the beginning of Death Cab for Cutie. Their sets overlap by 30 minutes.

Death Cab For Cutie : Narrow Stairs : Long Division

Buy Narrow Stairs here

Death Cab For Cutie website

Monday Mash-Up

Southern Shelter posted a Deerhunter show from last year in Athens where they opened with a song from their upcoming album. Here's a vid of a recent practice:


Deerhunter - Winter Never Stops (Acoustic) from Bradford Cox on Vimeo.

Snowden's tour with Colour Revolt starts today.

The Black Lips are still on the road.

DMX got arrested on drug charges and animal cruelty.

Stereolab will be at The Variety Playhouse September 26th.

There is a documentary in the works on the Los Angeles club Largo that will feature Fiona Apple, Jon Brion, Andrew Bird and others.

Some high schoolers made a Sonic Youth documentary about a 2006 show in Las Vegas.

My Morning Jacket will be at The Fox Theatre on August 27th.

Jam Cruise 7 announced its line-up, and it includes many jambands.

Madonna will be at The Phillips Arena November 24th.

The Vaselines have joined the reunion bandwagon.

The new Beck album produced by Danger Mouse and featuring Cat Power will be out sometime soon this summer.

Holy Fuck did a Daytrotter session.

Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene has an album coming out July 22nd.

Pearl Jam are working on a new album.

Dan Deacon has a new album coming out.

Vegoose is not happening this year.

Tom Waits will be at The Fox Theatre on July 5th.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds:



Gnarls Barkley:



Death Cab For Cutie documentary from Current TV: