By Jon Stone

I’m home, happy, with lungs full of dust. My sophomore year at Bonnaroo was fantastic. I saw the inside of the comedy tent, screened a film, met a couple rock stars and had my face melted by Deervana. What a weekend.

Here’s a quick report from my last day on the farm:

My general goal for Sunday was to catch as much music as possible so I walked all over the grounds to spend a few songs each with Smith Westerns, Ryan Bingham and Dead Horses, and Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea. I dug the latter two acts and would see them again, but after seeing Smith Westerns twice now, I have a really hard time thinking of them as anything more than an indie-rock Silverchair. I know I’m in the minority here. I just don’t get it.

I was genuinely surprised by the band The Head and the Heart whom I only decided to see after encouragement from a fellow music blogger, Philip from 130 BPM. I’d heard the buzz about this band but somehow misplaced them in my mind genre-wise. I’m so glad I checked them out.  The Head and the Heart are a mostly-acoustic band in the same vernacular as The Low Anthem (if slightly more poppy) and The Rural Alberta Advantage. So, yeah, I dug.

Mavis Staples quipped during her set that listening to her sing would be the closest any of us got to church at Bonnaroo. And it’s true, but what’s amazing about Mavis’s brand of gospel music is that when she sings about the going home to glory, I want to go with her. And on Sunday for about a half an hour, I did. I love her so much.

José González’s band Junip is proof positive that the guitar drone that made him famous over the last several years has electronic parentage. I got caught in the slipstream somewhere between González hypnotic voice and the heavy bass and electric piano and didn’t come up for air for 50 minutes.

Iron & Wine closed things out for me this year. I’ve seen Sam Beam play several times as a solo acoustic act and so the ten additional musicians on the Which stage was quite the change-up. The band was stacked with a three-piece brass section, pianist, two female back-up singers along with the traditional rhythm section. They played re-imagined versions of tunes spanning Beam’s catalog. These revisions were a gutsy and polarizing move as the songs being performed were not the Iron & Wine that fans fell in love with (Beam favored an electric guitar most of the evening, for example). But I’ve seen that acoustic show. Bonnaroo’s audience has likely heard that acoustic act. So this go around, it was fun to watch Beam and his big ol’ band let loose. Was it a little strange at times? Sure – “House By the Sea” had a full-on Caribbean vibe going. But the ten-minute “Fever Dream” was downright gorgeous and even though “Lovesong of The Buzzard” sounded a little as though the Preservation Hall Jazz band had joined in (they hadn’t), I was swept away.

Swept away home.

By Jon Stone

I’ve been thinking about late-night sets all day. Bonnaroo is famous for them, but seriously, I don’t see how people manage. Like tonight, there’s some really cool stuff going on at, like, two and three in the morning. I’m convinced that only the very young, the completely wasted, and those who can sleep somewhere with air conditioning stay out all night. Which is really too bad. I would have loved to see Ratatat last night but they went on at three. On the other hand, Weezy had us all up that late anyway. Even all the way out in the campground.

So, by now, fatigue. It was in the nineties most of the day here in Tennessee, so today was about taking it easy. I did so by checking out some of the best acoustic acts in the business. Yes, folks, it was a grass|roots kind of day. Here’s a short rundown:

Abigail Washburn played a short set on the Solar stage and made me wish again that I’d seen her play the day before. Claw-hammer banjo is making a comeback, kids. Wait and see. Old Crow Medicine Show played directly afterwards on the large, uncovered Which stage. They threw down some of their best tunes – “Cocaine Habit”, the hilarious “Humdinger” and their updated Dylan classic, “Wagon Wheel” among them. Old Crow played at the same time as The Low Anthem, so I stole over for their last two songs, the beautiful “To The Ghosts Who Write History Books” and their lovely cover,  “Cage the Songbird”. I love Old Crow, but wow, I think I made the wrong choice on whom to favor this time.

Later, also on the Which stage, I was fortunate to have a place front-and-center for your mom’s favorite band, Alison Krauss and Union Station.  I can’t resist, though. There’s a reason that AKUS has achieved so much success. Alison Krauss plays with some of the top acoustic musicians in the world. Jerry Douglas is famous enough to be billed as “featured” in the group and his dobro playing is THE reason I started exploring bluegrass music. But multi-instrumentalist Dan Tyminski has one of the best voices in bluegrass (at least, George Clooney thinks so). I loved every minute. They played  a favorite of mine, “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn” (which features, surprise, Douglas and Tyminski). And I thought about my mom a lot during the set.

Mumford & Sons – I managed to miss most of their set, but Bonnaroo didn’t. The British invasion is back, folks — and this time they have banjos. Bonnaroo’s love for Mumford has grown at least 20 fold since we saw them last year on the front row at That tent. They should have had this set over at the main stage – there was a flood of people there to see them. I caught the band right as the ending hootenanny began: I saw members of Old Crow, David Mayfield Parade, and maybe even Jerry Douglas on stage for a ten-minute “Amazing Grace” gut-buster

From there it was dinner and The Black Keys. The bluesy Ohioan duo are fantastic (as you know) but had the misfortune of a bad night at last year’s fest. They were back in a big way this year as a headliner on the main What stage filling out a headliner position quite nicely. They were ON making it clear, Arcade Fire, that two dudes can do it up (almost) as well as seven. Their set is light on spectacle (once you get over the fact that it’s only Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney making all that noise) making it easy to sit back and let the dirty blues wash on over me while I ate a gyro.

Directly following the Black Keys and in the way back of the What field under the often-overlooked Café Where? canopy, a band from Baltimore called J. Roddy Walston & the Business blew my mind. They didn’t mean to one-up the Black Keys, but they did. They didn’t have any control over being in direct conflict time-wise with Buffalo Springfield, but they were. They also drew one of the most enthusiastic crowds I saw the whole weekend. Not just random folks hoping to get good seats for Eminem either. These people were fans who, from the way they were singing along to every word of every song, knew something that the rest of us didn’t. J Roddy Walston & the Business bring a riff-heavy piano rock back to a place that it hasn’t been for years. If you check out one new band this week, make it this one. Start with “Don’t Break The Needle”.

Finally, a few words about Buffalo Springfield. I pulled myself away from J. Roddy and worked my way over and up close to see the reunited 60s legends just as a light rain began to come down. With thunder and lightning striking to the south east, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay played one of their first shows back together and for a bunch of aging men put on one hell of a rock show. They stayed mostly with the hits, playing “Go and Say Goodbye”, “Bluebird”, “Broken Arrow”, and of course “For What it’s Worth”. Neil Young, though, people. Neil Young! It was my first time ever seeing him in the flesh and I was charmed by his wit and banter (“Hi, we’re Buffalo Springfield. We’re from the past.”) and floored by the precision of his talent. The man is 65 years old and he bounced around in the jam like he was 30. They closed with his “Rockin’ in the Free World”. I’m going to write that one more time. They closed with Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World”. Wow.

By Jon Stone

It’s Friday night at 1:14 and I’m waiting for Deer Tick to metamorphose into Deervana. This after just witnessing a two-hour set from My Morning Jacket followed closely by an hour and a half from Arcade Fire. My legs hurt. I’m sunburned and dirty. I’m weary. I am so incredibly happy. What a day it’s been.

Oh, the dust.

(It’s hard not to make these reviews into a travel-log. Skip around at will.)

Sharon Van Etten – The last time I saw SVE was at Pitchfork last year doing a solo show to a relatively sparse crowd. I remember feeling underwhelmed. I’d just seen Cary Ann Hearst the night before and, really, it was an unfair comparison (please go see Cary’s band, though: Shovels and Rope!). I’ve spent a lot more time listening to Van Etten’s work since then and was genuinely excited to see her again. This time, full band in tow, she was fantastic. She played a good number of songs from last year’s EP as well as a smattering of older and brand new material. In the former category, we heard “Tornado” from her first full-length, Because I Was in Love housing these great lyrics: “I’m a tornado, you are the dust. You’re all around and you’re inside.” Oh Sharon, the dust. The dust! In the latter, she played the new and great “All I Can.” We’re all looking forward to the her next release.

Ben Sollee – I’ve been a fan of Sollee’s for a year or two and loved his record Dear Companion with Daniel Martin Moore. His new album Inclusions picks up where the duo left off and after spinning it a few times, I’ve been anxious for a chance to see him. I should have been more anxious. He and his band are so, so good. I was moved. He has assembled a really lovely group of musicians to accent his cello work, including a two piece horn section and the phenomenal Phoebe Hunt on violin singing harmony vocals. Sollee’s talent as a songwriter and musician, though, is something else.  If you’ve yet to hear his new record, check out the song “Bible Belt” which captures Sollee at his subtle best. The dissonant horns on that song against its subtle, agnostic critique of southern religious expectations is some of the best writing I’ve heard this year. When I heard it live, I was, as I said, moved. The little yellow flowers they passed around during the closing number summed up the sentiment perfectly, I think.

Justin Townes Earle – When I saw JTE earlier in the year, I knew it was going to be tough to ever pass up an opportunity to see him again. Not only is he amazing, but the guy not unlike a trainwreck, you can’t look away once he’s on stage, as if any moment, he may burst into flames. Using the images of fire and train-carnage to describe the charisma of a musician is odd, but that pretty much sums it up. He played several of his best, never in the same tempo as the records and always with something witty between: “I’ve never been known to stay long under the porch” or “My mamma knows perfectly well that I’m here today, but I know that right now she’s up in Nashville wondering where the hell I am” or the less-subtle, “I really love me some drugs”. The man is an entertainer.

Here’s a kind of crazy story that feels not a little bit tabloid, but I’ll relate it anyway: I’m standing there watching JTE and there’s a guy with his wife/girlfriend/sister in front of me that looks so much like Justin he could be his brother. After the set, I plucked up my courage and asked him if he had any relation to Earle. The man (and he didn’t look a day under 20) said simply, “Yeah. Son!” JTE was born in 1982. Everything Earle has ever sung hard living is absolutely true.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band film screening: Live From Preservation Hall: A Louisiana Fairytale, directed by Danny Clinch – I’m all mixed up about this one. Abigail Washburn, whom I adore, was playing her main set at the same time as this film was being screened, but there was a promise on the bill that Jim James would be making an appearance with the actual Preservation Hall band, and since AW is playing on Saturday, I took the chance. And here’s the thing: the documentary was fantastic. It is both a short history of Preservation Hall and its revolving cast and a chronicle of My Morning Jacket’s collaboration with the band a few years ago. In it, Jim James is portrayed in the way I’d like to imagine he is: down-to-earth, kind, selfless… not the typical arena rock star. So, after the film (and the theatre was packed with folks hoping to see James close up), everyone is waiting for Jim to come out. The Preservation Hall Jazz band does and they are, of course, amazing. But after their two-song mini set they leave the small riser and no James. After a few moments of awkward standing around, a woman comes out and says he decided to skip it. “He’s hot and wants to focus on tonight’s show”. I was bummed and it created this paradox of who was depicted on screen and who Jim James actually is: a rock star who does rock-starish things like skip a two-song performance for an audience full of (likely) his biggest fans at the fest. It sucked. Whatever.

Ray LaMontagne – after wandering over and through the wide expanse of land and people that were gathered to see the Decemberists at the main stage, I decided I couldn’t deal with further paradox (really? 10,000 people during the hot of the day lazily standing around [or sitting or laying out or whatever] listening to the Decemberists? I couldn’t stomach it – and that is nothing against the band. I need to see them play a real show). Ray LaMontagne offered the perfect solution. In true LaMontagne fashion, he and his band played with no stage lights making those of us standing in the distance reliant on the new jumbo-tron on the Which stage, but also more inclined to just sit back and be soothed. I wasn’t a huge fan of his last record, but had a hunch it would sound sweet live. It does. The Pariah Dogs, as his band has now been christened, are an amazing bunch of journeyman musicians. Two (yes, two!) pedal steel player among them (they take turns) and a woman on bass who looks and sounds as though she’s played her whole long life. They played several songs off the new record (I’m going to have to go back and listen again), including “Repo Man”, “New York City is Killing Me”, and “Devil’s in the Jukebox” as well as some classics, “Trouble” and “Jolene” among them. It was just what I needed and I will see Ray and his band any time I can. Such talent and class.

I’m going to break from my travel-log here at the end and try to say something meaningful about seeing My Morning Jacket and then Arcade Fire and then Deer Tick playing a Deervana set. I mean, that may be enough. That happened. Set lists? I’ve got those (see below).

Despite my love for the small and intimate setting, despite the hypocrisy of not wanting to watch the Decemberists on the main stage… despite it all, there is just nothing like seeing a band like My Morning Jacket or Arcade Fire play to thousands upon thousands of people. To be a member of the chorus of voices singing along to “Rebellion (Lies)” or bobbing heads to “Off the Record” – this is an experience that has made an industry out of coliseum rock but is one particularly suited to Bonnaroo. It’s hard to say much more than that about the seeing two of my favorite bands play back to back other than I feel blessed by the privilege of watching a caped Jim James shake his rock-star mane and play that Flying V and love (love!) to see the big smiles on the faces of Win Butler and his crazed band of ex-pats and Canadians. So fun.

And then, Deervana? Well, folks I’m gonna let that one remain a mystery best experienced for yourself.

MMJ – Victory Dance / Circuital / Off the Record / Gideon  / Anytime / First Light / Mahgeetah / Outta My System / Golden  / You Wanna Freak Out / I’m Amazed / Slow/ Slow Tune / Steam Engine / Smokin From Shootin (with Ben Sollee) / Run Thru (End)  / Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2  / Good Intentions / Wordless Chorus  / Holdin On To Black Metal  / Highly Suspicious (with Preservation Hall Jazz Band) / Dancefloors (with Preservation Hall Jazz Band) / One Big Holiday

Arcade Fire – Ready to Start / Keep the Car Running  / Neighborhood #2 (Laika)  / No Cars Go  / City With No Children  / Rococo  / Haïti  / Intervention  / The Suburbs  / The Suburbs (Continued)  / Suburban War  / Month of May  / Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)  / We Used to Wait  / Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)  / Rebellion (Lies)  Encore: Wake Up /Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

By Jon Stone

I’m very happy to be back in Manchester for the tenth anniversary of Bonnaroo. After a few years and attending at least six different summer festivals, there is safety in saying that Bonnaroo is a unique experience. There is a vibe here in Tennessee and a kind of instant community that is unparalleled at other fests, remarkable mainly because of the wide diversity of the attendees. Everyone is here and, for the most part, everyone is cool to each other.

A few things changed this year related to the infamous wait to get in. Last year, I waited 11 hours in traffic — all in the heat of an non-air conditioned car. It was horrible. This year, they opened the farm on Wednesday night — a great move on the part of the festival management for a dozen reasons, but mostly because it eased and spaced out the entrance wait-time, allowed folks that were waiting to do so out of the sun, and gave camp-site vendors an extra 12 hours or so to do business. (Oh, and I got in in an hour. Phew.)

The only draw-back to this change is the lag time that it creates for Thursday. The first main-act bands didn’t start until 4 PM creating a long, hot wait for stuff to get going. Not a problem for most, but I couldn’t wait for the music to start up.

Hayes Carll. It did in a big way with alt-country act Hayes Carll. His new record KMAG YOYO is high on my list of favorites this year. Carll leans in the direction of a “classic” country sound but the dude’s lyrical prowess and his spot-on band will stop you in your boots. The record’s title track (translated “Kiss my ass guys, you’re on your own”) is the best example of this and was one of the strongest during Thursday’s performance. Also amazing was “Another Like You” which, on the record, is duet with Cary Ann Hearst (whom I love). Carll sang both parts during his set and said that the song was a comment on how little the things that supposedly divide us really should (politics, religion, etc.). “All you need,” he said “is a little physical attraction and some liquor and you’ll find that people have a lot more in common than they let on.” That comment couldn’t sum up the spirit of Bonnaroo any better. It was a great way to start.

Phosphorescent. One of the tricks I’ve picked up on going to festivals is to be on the lookout for off-schedule promotional performances. Companies often will feature bands to get you to come in and check out whatever it is that they are hocking. It feels a little corporate, but it creates opportunities to see bands in intimate settings not-otherwise possible at a festival of this magnitude. This year, I lucked out and saw Phosphorescent play a sweet, if slightly messy, set in the Ford Focus tent. Messy only because the band seemed to be working out equipment issues incurred from their red-eye from London the previous night (“every single piece of equipment we own got broken on the flight” Matthew Houck quipped halfway through the performance). It was still amazing. They opened with a cover of Radiohead’s “House of Cards” and basically just took requests for the duration of the hour they were on stage: “Nothing was Stolen (Love Me Foolishly)”, “Mermaid Parade”, “Not a Heel”. Awesome.

Henry Rollins. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to see one of the icons of my youth. Rollin’s work in Black Flag and then as a solo artist is, deservedly, the stuff of legend. It was odd, I thought, that he was billed as a comedy act, as those familiar with his spoken-word career will know that’s not really what he’s about. Lots of the folks we waited in line with didn’t really know who he was and were there for the air-conditioned comedy. I think they were disappointed. And even though I had a better idea of what to expect, I was too. Rollins’s show is interesting to the extent that he can transform the experience of being Henry Rollins into engaging oratory, but it gets awkward when that narrative moves from “I was a rock star now I’m a globe-trotting humanitarian” (which is interesting) to pseudo-intellectual motivational speaker territory (which is where it went). The problem with Rollins as a motivation speaker is that his main point is — “look at all these awesome things I’ve done and thought, you should be and think like me”. You’re Henry Rollins, man. Nobody can do what you do (well, except for that George Bush impression. I got that).

The David Mayfield Parade. I finished off the first night with David Mayfield and his band. What a treat. The Parade isn’t the tightest country-folk act in town, but wow are they charming. Mayfield has a southern-gentleman wit that makes not just the music, but the between song-banter a pleasure. The set included several songs from the band’s new record (aptly titled “The David Mayfield Parade”) and a sweet old-time duet with his sister Jessica Lea who is here with her band as well.

I made several other walk-bys. Best Coast, Band of Skulls, and Deerhunter all sounded pretty sweet in the few songs that I heard — Deerhunter especially. Looking forward to catching them at a smaller club sometime soon.

I’ll be back tomorrow for Friday’s update. Lots of amazing bands playing today.

We had the pleasure of seeing Dawes play a quiet acoustic set in celebration of their fantastic new record Nothing is Wrong a few nights ago at Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis. We couldn’t be more proud of Taylor, Wylie, Tay, and Griffin and wish them luck in their coming tour and burgeoning success. Enjoy this performance (shot that night) of one of the album stand outs, the beautiful “So Well.”

Buy: Dawes – Nothing is Wrong

By Jon Stone

I’m driving out to Bonnaroo on Wednesday to participate again in the great outdoor music fesitval paradox. I mean, of course, the incredible experience of seeing band after band that you love paired with hour after hour of high temperatures, humidity, sun exposure and standing fatigue.  I’ve packed my sunscreen though, as well as a nice wide-rimmed hat, and am even growing a little hipster mustache so as to fit in with the natives. All in all, I’m really excited to be in Tennessee with my brother for the weekend and have here a list of my most anticipated acts. I’m still looking for recommendations, though, so feel free to chime in with the bands that I should give my attention to.

Headliners:
My Morning Jacket tops my list here as I’ve never seen them live before (tragedy, right?) but I’m also excited to see the reunited Buffalo Springfield. I Really hope that one lives up to the hype, but it will be a pleasure to see Neil Young — oh, ok, and you too Steven Stills and Richie Furay. Additionally, I’m excited to see Iron & Wine, Ray LaMontangne, the Decemberists, and of course, a little band called Arcade Fire.

Roots music:
If you’re familiar with my grass|roots series, it won’t surprise you to hear that I’m most looking forward to roots and bluegrass artists. We will be just outside of Nashville, after all. The shows always feel a little more intimate and real. This year’s acoustic music offering is going to be amazing: I’m planning on seeing Old Crow Medicine Show, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Justin Townes Earle, Abigail Washburn, and Ben Sollee, among others.

Smaller acts:
Among those others is a little band called Mathew and the Atlas — an English acoustic band that will be touring with Mumford & Sons. They play during the first half of Eminem’s set, which is just fine with me. I’m also going to try to check out The David Mayfield Parade, Hayes Carle, Freelance Whales, and the not-so-small (as far as acts go) Sharon Van Etten (blast the conflict with Jessica Lea Mayfield, though!), Best Coast (who, judging from some late-night performances I’ve heard, is a lot more interesting live), and Phosphorescent.

As usual, conflicts abound. I’m hoping to get an earful of Dr. John and Bootsy Collins, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and others if I can steal away from competing agendas. I’m also going to do my best to see Henry Rollins’s spoken word/comedy act. He had a little spoken-word piece in the 90s that is the stuff of legend: “And I’ll tell you things you already know, so you can say: ‘I really identify with you, so much.’”

Are you going to Bonnaroo this year? What am I missing? Drop a comment with your most anticipated acts and I’ll do my best to check them out. As possible, I’ll be posting daily updates and tweets from the festival. Follow me on twitter at @jwstone and I’ll see you there!