My Bonnaroo - Day 1

Welcome to Planet Roo

Let's get started!

- Bettye LaVette -
Bettye LaVette, the underappreciated soul singer from the Motor City, was the first artist I caught at the festival. While Bettye celebrated her 60th birthday this year, you wouldn't have known it once you bore witness to her dance moves. At one point, LaVette mentioned that the next song she was going to sing was written before anyone in the crowd was even born. And that usually, she only says that about half of her audience. But for this moment, there was no dobut that the former statement was the appropriate one. Above LaVette belts out "Joy," a song written by Lucinda Williams and which can also be found on LaVette's new album I've Got My Own Hell To Raise. While LaVette might not be a household name, she was definitely a diva to the kids of Bonnaroo.

- Andrew Bird -
Next up on the agenda was Andrew Bird. Like most of us, I came to Andrew Bird's music a bit late. 2005's Mysterious Production of Eggs to be exact (Bird has five releases under his belt prior to Mysterious...). But after hearing songs such as "Sovay," "Measuring Cups," "Fake Palindrones," and "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left" I was hooked. Mr. Bird played all the above tunes as well as some new ones including a tune called "Secret Society," which I've heard at previous Bird shows (I have now seen Bird four times). One thing that I realized during Bird's performance, however, is that nothing can replace the small, intimate feel of a small club appearence (like Bird's show last year at the HiTone).

- Seu Jorge -
Seu Jorge is probably most famous for being that Brazilian fellow who sings those David Bowie covers in Portuguese. Which he did for Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. You might also know the man as Knockout Ned in 2002's City of God. Either way, it should also be noted that Jorge is an extremely talented guitarist and vocalist who has yet to make his biggest impact on the world. Jorge opened up his set with "Rebel Rebel," which got such an alarming response that one would have thought Mr. Bowie himself had joined him on stage.

After the first song, I succumbed to the heat and retreated to the shade. Sure, I wanted to hear Jorge tackle "Queen Bitch," "Changes," and other non Bowie tunes (including my personal favorite, his cover of Leiber and Stoller's "Don't" off of 2005's Cru) but I had to save my energy for the rest of the day.

- (Notice how I am representing WEVL with my Blues on the Bluff T-shirt?)

- Devendra Banhart -
I have seen Devendra Banhart before - it was at the HiTone, on his Rejoicing in the Hands tour. The buzz wasn't around him as much it is now which would explain (I think) the lackluster crowd that night. And while I was impressed with him, he was upstaged by opening act, Joanna Newsom. Still, I was very excited to see Banhart again, especially coming off his best release yet, Cripple Crow. Admittedly, the show did start a bit slow, leaving one Bonnarooian to yell out "Get it started". Devendra laughed it off and said the band was just getting it started and well they weren't use to playing shows at two thirty in the afternoon. Completely understandable. Still, Banhart's softer side is quite beautiful and songs such as his opener, "Bluebird" really did shine. Devendra did get things rolling pretty quickly though with some rockin' versions of "I Feel Just Like A Child," "Africa," and "Long Haired Child".

The greatest moment of the afternoon, however, was when Banhart took a rather odd depature. Labelling it as his favorite part of the show, Banhart asked the crowd if there was any musicians in the audience that would like to come onstage to perform one their own songs. An young eager fellow was randomly chosen and given Banhart's guitar as Banhart himself retreated to the side of the stage to watch. The young kid looked on the largest crowd he's probably ever played before in his life, and uttered "I can't believe I'm playing Bonnaroo!" The crowd ate it up and cheered as the brave young soul performed his song (I can only imagine what was going through his head as he scrambled to think of what song he should play). The kid's song, which was heavily Bright Eyes influenced (and politcal, I believe) was actually pretty good and the Banhart band (who claimed that their name for the day was the Tennessee Cocks) even did their best to keep up. After the song, Devendra gave the kid a hug and then the kid went back to his position among the crowd. What a story this kid has got for the rest of his life!

- Bright Eyes (with Friends) -
Okay, next up was the Bright Eyes (aka Conor Oberst). A few days before Roo, I had sworn that the online schedule showed a conflict between Bright Eyes and Cat Power. So I was pleasently surprised to discover that I had been wrong and that, in fact, I would have the chance to see Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes). Conor might have one time been the child musical prodigy, but now at 26 he was a quickly maturing artist with a larger following than I realized. I was stationed waaaay in the back, between two trees that seemed to frame Conor on stage. By far, the biggest response from the crowd came from the opening chords of "First Day of My Life" (a song that's video is so cheesy it bares on uncomfortable). He even played "Lover I Don't Have To Love," which led one casual listener next to me to scream, "this is his best f!#%ing song," a sentiment which I'm sure causes many a Bright Eye's fan to shun the song as any personal favorite. The biggest thrills came not from Conor but from his onslaught of guests.

First, there was the lovely folk singer Gillian Welch who took over the job of Emmylou Harris with vocals on "Lua" from 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning.

Next, there was Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys, who was even allowed to solo "Hello Sunshine," a number from the Super Furry Animals 2003 release Phantom Power. Afterwards, Conor claimed "Hello Sunshine" should be the Bonnaroo anthem (or did he say theme song?) Either way, no arguments here.

By the end of the set, the stage was made tighter by another addition - Jim James from My Morning Jacket. All this was obviously suppose to last longer than it did, as Conor admitted that for the first time that he could recall, the band had actually gone through the playlist before their allotted time was up. No fear, because Conor had a back up plan. To play all the songs that had agreed not to play - and they did. There was no time to stick around for it, though, since it was of dire importance to get a better position in the crowd for Cat Power.

- Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band -
Other than Radiohead, there was no other artist that I was more excited to see than Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) and her accompanying backup - the Memphis Rhythm Band. I have been a fan of Cat Power ever since the release of Moon Pix in 1998. When she released 2003's You Are Free, I thought she had hit her peak as an artist. I was sorely mistaken. The new album The Greatest is not only her greatest achievement thus far, it is also one of the greatest albums to have come out of 2006. Recorded in Memphis with a band of Memphis legends (Teenie and Leroy Hodges, Jim Spake, and Doug Easley), The Greatest was Chan Marshall's ticket to make her biggest spalsh. There was even a tour all lined up with the M-Town crew backing her up the whole way. Fittingly, the first show was to occur in Memphis at the Gibson Lounge but was cancelled due to "health reasons". It is no secret that the "health reasons" were alcoholism. Well, luck for us Chan has a handle of the situation at the moment. At one point during the Bonnaroo show, Chan confessed to the crowd, "Sober". And with a smile added, "It's not so bad".

The Memphis Rhythm Band started things off without Chan, giving the band a chance to show off their chops to an obviously impressed crowd. When the group advanced into "The Greatest," Chan Marshall danced on to the stage smiling, demostrating her best boxing moves. This was a completely different woman than the one I had seen a few months ago performing a solo show at the HiTone. This was a woman that was confident with her talent and having a blast being in front of a loving crowd. With the Memphis Rhythm Band, Chan performed song for song the order on The Greatest. The most telling moment of the set was the reworking of the song "Hate," where Chan changed the lyrics of "I hate myself and I want to die" to "I do not hate myself and I do not want to die". Nice.

Things changed a bit after the Memphis musicians finished up the album and left the stage, leaving Chan by herself with the piano and her guitar. It was a bit like the HiTone show all over again, fumbling over songs, stopping and restarting, complaining about the lights, etc. She did two covers, "House of the Rising Sun" and "Hit The Road Jack," the latter of which she got frustrated with, swore off, and finally brought the Memphis Rhythm Band back onstage to end on a glorious note. While the band and Chan started up, I was on my way to check out the end of Death Cab For Cutie.

- Death Cab For Cutie -
Not much to say here, since the time I arrived at the other side of the field to catch Death Cab, the boys were on their last song, "Transatlanticism". It did sound lovely though.

It was time to go back to camp and grill up some hotdogs. At this time, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers took the stage. And the greatest thing was that they could be heard perfectly from our camp. Stevie Nicks even joined Tom on stage for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around". A nap was then had until nearly midnight.

- Common -
Common is a showman. And a great closure to the first night of Bonnaroo. At one point he brought up a young woman from the audience on stage for a serenade that quickly progressed into some dirty dancing.

Some tunes he performed that I remember where: Be (Intro), The Corner, Faithful, Go, Testify, and I Use To Love H.E.R.

- My Morning Jacket -
My Morning Jacket was probably the most memorable show that I saw at Bonnaroo two years ago. Nothing could compare to the nature's light show as storm clouds formed over the stage and the downpour that followed during the closing "Steam Engine". This time around I left before the group had finished playing but their jams were a nice soundtrack back to home base. I did hear them play: At Dawn, Golden, Gideon (with Andrew Bird apparently, though I was too far back to see), Xmas Curtain, Dondante, Phone Went West, and Run Thru (the song playing as we were leaving for the camp grounds).

Sleep came quick on that first night and the morning sun woke us all up way to early. (To be continued...)