I've said quite a bit about !!! before, but wow do I love this band live. There are very few bands on par with them in terms of pure energy and delight to be on stage. They are a non-stop dance fest and impossible not to shake that butt to. In a bizarre turn of events, at one point there were large cardboard cut outs floating around everywhere in the audience. That didn't stop lead singer Nic Offer from humping the speakers though. I NEED to see this band late at night in a dark club (I'm seeing them again at the Pitchfork Music Festival, once again, during the day).
I love me some !!!
Next we met up with SOPTRANTA for State Radio. Jackie is in love with their drummer. What can I say, the man knows his way around a set of skins. I guess these guys used to be in Dispatch and I guess I'm supposed to remember who Dispatch is but I don't so whatever. As for a sound it was a peculiar combination of Dave Matthews band-ish stuff, Sublime-ish reggae and Sublime-ish punk with overtly political lyrics. Let me tell you, when they started singing "Guantanamo" and "CIA" everyone was so moved they left straight for the Conscious Alliance Food Drive Tent and the Clean Vibes Earth Tent because they were inspired to create positive change. HA JUST KIDDING everyone just cheered and smoked more weed. REVOLUTION!
I am creating my molotov cocktail now
As with any major festivals, there are going to be serious conflicts of what bands to see. Willie Nelson was in a set directly opposite M.I.A. for whom my love is well documented. Since I saw M.I.A. less than a month ago in Chicago and have seen her 5 times already I opted for Willie Nelson. Willie was classic and a lot of fun but I think I personally wasn't in the correct mood for it. I was too jacked up about the creeping approach of the Metallica set. We stayed for a while and then went back to our camp to stock up on booze and to get some rain gear for the fresh rain that had started.
Willie Nelson
Once again it's impossible to see everything and going to Willie Nelson then stopping back at camp to meet up with friends and get some more whiskey meant we had to miss Chris Rock. Unfortunate. But we had to set the mood for Metallica and that mood was set perfectly using cans of PBR and shots of whiskey. Jackie boob flasked it and we were off to see METALLICA. Note: from here on out I will only be referring to "Metallica" as "METALLICA". This is less understood in type, but saying it the former way is speaking as a normal person, but saying it METALLICA is like barking it with a gutteral howl and powerful force. This is the only way to say METALLICA when you are listening to and especially about to see METALLICA. You may hate METALLICA for the whole Napster thing, you may hate them for the utter shitbag that was St. Anger, you may hate them for cutting their hair and putting out the 80% crap that was Load and Re-Load, but there is no denying that from 1981 to 1991 METALLICA put out 5 of the greatest metal albums of all time including the best metal album of all time (Master of Puppets, don't even try to argue this), completely changed the entire genre, and were the first American metal band to gain mainstream acceptance. All of this, with zero radio play. That is impressive and that is why they are METALLICA.
/end ferocious man-love run on sentence
Hetfield and Hammet at Bonnaroo
...And METALLICA for all - DAMN did they deliver. They shredded for 2 and a half straight hours of fist-pumping fury and shout-along anthems. Accompanied by a stark metallic set and a few pyrotecnic feats during "One" they ripped through a set list that consisted of 95% songs off of those 5 classic albums, deliciously playing at least 3 songs from Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, and the Black Album. Kirk Hammett absolutely melted my face off with scorching barn storming solos and I was in Heavy Metal Heaven. They kept the interest of even the non-metal fans for an entire 150 minute set, through sheer energy, talent at the instruments and undiluted joy in their craft. I think that's what surprised Bonnaroo veterans and those afraid of the miscreants METALLICA would bring to the festival: the pure joy of the band and it's fans. Instead of the apocolypse, it was a band that said "we are so happy to be here playing for this wonderful festival", instead of violent moshpits erupting at other performances there were METALLICA die hards excited to check out new bands and curiously approach new music. All in all I (very obviously) had a blast at METALLICA, so much so that at one point, the person in front of me turned around, laughed, and said, "Dude are you on acid or something?" No, friend, I was high on the power of heavy metal.
In addition, I know I've said this, but thank you to my friends who were awesome enough to pound whiskey and head bang with me despite having virtually no knowledge of early METALLICA, it was kick ass and made my night 1000 times more awesome. I raise my horns to you. \m/
Metallica fans at Bonnaroo
WHEW following that epic set we grabbed a bite to eat, for the night was still young. MSTRKRFT was next for us. I've actually seen them twice before in clubby clubs in Chicago and had a blast so I knew they'd be fun, but was curious to see how they would transfer into a late night rural festival. But they were awesome as usual, splicing and mixing their best with crazy stuff like AC/DC. It also helped that I was still elated and overjoyed from the METALLICA set so I was dancing like an absolute maniac. Over the course of MSTRKRFT and Tiesto, who was next I was asked the following questions: "DUDE that must be crazy shit you're on, you got any left?" "Oh wow look at this dude go he's gotta be rolling, man can I join you?" "Hahahahaha this guy is tripping balls, you wanna share bro?" and "You've gotta be on [drug I've never even heard of and can't remember the name of], can I have some?" The first couple times I tried to explain that I was just naturally like this and a bit drunk, but after that I just said, sorry, all out! METALLICA = drugs I guess.
Like I mentioned, Tiesto played starting at 1:30am and the tent he played in was jam packed. Tiesto is apparently ranked the #1 DJ in the world so a lot of people were excited to see him and he delivered. His show was obviously tailored and used to large club environments and wasn't as awesome as Daft Punk last year, but that's an unfair comparison because nothing is like Daft Punk (sorry Kanye). What made this show extra cool was the Bonnaroo guests he brought on stage. Tegan and Sara joined for a song, the Swedish Chef Jose Gonzalez sang a song, and someone else I didn't recognize did one too. Tiesto was a blast and a great cap to an unbelievably night.
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