Festy Fun 2010 - Best of Bonnaroo: Re-living the Dream Part 2.

‘Roo Life Lesson Number 3:  There is something about a music festival that is conducive to unthought-of covers and surprise collaborations. You put enough creative spirits under one tent, and the on-stage possibilities are infinite.

Jay Sweet from Paste Magazine said it best: “The festival is the kind of thing you can’t program; you just curate it and see what happens.”

Here are a couple of those non-programmable moments. Stay tuned for more in Part 3.

Friday June 11. (continued from Part 1)

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zereos - triple-digit temps couldn’t stop our jangling souls from bouncing around like a cult of gypsies. See them on and off the ‘roo stage in this interview with Jeremiah Weed.

Damian Marely and Nas - had upwards of 50,000 ‘rooers grooving down the “Road to Zion.” Listen to the full LIVE hour and a half audio (including intro by Conan), from NPR.

NPR is also giving away this free 11-song Bonnaroo 2010 sampler. Sample that.

Speaking of scoring FREE Bonnaroo loot from larger music industry corporations…Since we MV’s don’t have the means to give away our own sweet swag, I’m going to give away there’s also. So, here, take it… SPIN’s Bonnaroo Mixtape 2010 – Free Album Download!  You can thank me later!

She and Him - The doe-eyed tambourine-tapping goddess PUT A SPELL ON ME, that’s for sure. I couldn’t find any live footage of the duo’s closing tune, but if you close your eyes and pretend that portabella sandwich you had for lunch today was magical in every which way, you will soon find yourself melting back to ‘This Tent’ with this audio capture courtesy of the Hype Machine .

Tenacious D – Conan couldn’t have introduced them better, “Are you ready to rock? Are you ready to laugh? Are you ready to rock and laugh?” Jack Black and Kyle Gass played all their laugh out loud classics, and some mid-set “Pick of Destiny 2” banter resulted in an on-stage band break-up theatrical…and this awesome make-up tune .

KOL - Played a bunch of their older, rawer, grittier stuff. Big thumbs up. Lead vocal/guitarist/tight-jean-wearing-hottie, Caleb Followill, persevered through his throat infection issues that sparked rumors of cancellation last week. I haven’t been able to find any decent footage of their Pixies cover, “Where is my mind,” but it rocked. It was one of those cliche postcard “Wish you were here” moments.

Daryl Hall and Chromeo  (Above: photo credits - Pete Moshay) - Ok, so it meant having to leave the Black Keys set halfway through “Tighten Up”, but catching “Private Eyes” (a personal favorite) made it totally worthwhile. The 80’s king and 80’s-inspired Canadian duo finished off with a Hall and Oates classic, “You Make My Dreams Come True.” This little fan footage alllllmost does the encore dance party justice: watch it here.

Kid Cudi - Watch this surprise intro by Aziz Ansari doubling as security for this man on the moon phenomenon… Just remember, “Rule number 2, nobody look at Cudi’s shoes. The shoes are really shy, okay.”

LCD Soundsystem’s killer late night set. Including their staple Jay-Z/Alicia Keys breakdown of “New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down”.

And then all of a sudden, I realized it was 5am. Pow pow pow pow pow…Watch the Pow Pow.

Another winner: “All My Friends.” Anyone whose been lost in a sea of thousands of sweaty, ecstatic, dancing fanatics can relate to their “buddy-system” pre-amble here. From my own experience, glow-stick weaponry works wonders.

‘Roo Life Lesson Number 4: Bloody Mary’s are the ultimate cure the morning after an LCD Soundsystem late night set.

‘Roo part 2 from my ears. To yours. With love -k

Festy Fun 2010 - Bonnaroo- Manchester, TN

Recommendations from your trusty Vags on must-see bands at this summer’s hottest festivals.

In the first of our summer Festy Fun posts, we highlight MusicVagabond’s faves for this year’s Bonnaroo line-up. Over the year’s Bonnaroo has evolved to feature vastly different genres, varying just as much as our tastes here at MV.

L.Sizzle says… check out Thievery Corporation for some Dub Reggae goodness. No matter what your state of mind, you can groove. Grab some of your favorite mind altering treats and check out Lotus, you will NOT stop dancing. The Carolina Chocolate Drops will give you that southern experience- get your Bluegrass fix! 

Matt says… Here We Go Magic - Brooklyn-based band Here We Go Magic evoke a modern-day CSNY so they should fit right into the modern-day Woodstock. Listen to their song “Fangela” for a taste of what you can expect. Aziz Ansari - Though strictly falling on the comedy side of the Bonnaroo line-up, Aziz Ansari is currently working on a mixtape, so you never know what he could bust out. I’m just hoping that he continues to rip on BP.

Jay says… The Entrance Band - This three piece rock and roll outfit will get you going with a blast of sonic dominance. Look out as their highly ironic, 120 lbs frontman dominates the crowd with his growling voice and shredding guitar riffs. Miike Snow - Grab your favorite pharmaceuticals and get over to see Miike Snow if you want to dance your face off. This three piece quasi electronic band has all the right stuff to keep your glowsticks and imaginary balls moving throughout the night.

Jeff says… GWAR - what’s a summer music festival without a troupe of sadomasochistic chaos warriors screaming about their hatred of all things alive. go see it and be drunk. The XX - has this South London trio survived its tidal 2k9 hypewave? we think so. maybe Jamie (on the e-drums) will pull out some of his mix skills to beat up that big crowd.

Also, our very own Kylie will be rockin out at the festival so get in touch with her via @shallowleak on Twitter!

Music to your ears - from ours - with love

<3 MusicVagabonds 

Das Racist took the stage last night to a sparsely-filled Mercury Lounge. But those who were there to take in their set were amped up and didn’t quite know what to expect. Himanshu Suri, the enigmatic de facto leader of the group, spent the first song of the set going down the line at the front of the stage picking up people’s drinks and aggressively taking sips. He seemed disappointed that at least half of the first-rowers were drinking water.  

Energy remained high as the guys ran through songs from their new mixtape, Shut Up, Dude.  I would say that the biggest audience reaction came at the start of “You Oughta Know,”  They finished their too-short set without playing “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.”  I know some people in the audience must have been disappointed, but I’m not really sure how that song could work live anyway, so it didn’t bother me.

Seeing Das Racist live made me realize that they are as much a comedy group as they are a hip-hop group.  That’s not to put down their musical skills, which were exceptional throughout the show. I’m not the first to compare them to the Beastie Boys. They’ve done it themselves, multiple times. But they really do seem like the Beastie Boys of the “two thousand teens,” dropping sick rhymes and being hilarious at the same time. They fall somewhere in between Aziz Ansari’s Raaaaaaaandy and old-school Outkast and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next.

All I’ll say about headliner Penguin Prison is that I’m not sure why Das Racist opened for them.

-MW

Raaaaaaaandy and Dave Sitek - Aaaaaaaangry //

The first track from the highly anticipated Raaaaaaaandy mixtape.

-MW