Thursday - Caught most of MGMT's set. Not too bad, but i think they would sound way better in a club. Was way too tired to do anymore, so i called it a night.
Friday - Started off the day with Jose Gonzales. Nice mellow way to start the day. I stayed at the same tent and then watched Tegan and Sara. It was a fun set, with a lot of hits played and banter spoken. I caught the tail end of Minus the Bear, and wished that they could have played at a different time. I caught part of Les Claypool on the way back to my friends, and he sounded like Les Claypool. We then went back and grilled until Chris Rock. And thats when the rain started. Funny set. What else can you say, its Chris Rock. Metallica were next and rocked the crap out of the fest. They didnt do two and a half hours like promised, but still did a solid two hours, and mostly of pre Black album tunes. Next up was MY Morning Jacket. Bravo. It was unfortunate about the rain, as we decided to only do half the MMJ set, due to how bad it was getting, and how we wanted to not be sick for the rest of the fest. They were amazing. The set was covers, Z, and Evil Urges heavy. Hopefully if they do another one next time, it is good weather.
Saturday - started off with Woods Brothers featuring John Medeski & Kenny Wolleson. Cool jazzy music, good for first thing in the day. Next on stage was Mason Jennings. He impressed, and his style of "brushfire" rock was prefect for Bonnaroo. I watched him again at a smaller stage, doing a solo acoustic set. Then we saw Gogol Bordello. Good energy and too bad it was too hot to dance, and even that didnt deter a lot of people. We then tried to watch Ben Folds, but the sound sucked and we decided it was time for a grill break anyways. We came back for Pearl Jam. I only watched them for two hours, and dont know when they ended, but it seemed like we could hear them in the distance for hours. they played the classics, and the crowd loved them. the crowd didnt get into the rants Eddie did though, as i think most people wanted to party and not hear about gas prices. I then went to Phil Lesh and Friends. I did two hours of his show and it was probably the best two hours of music that i saw there. Very long songs though. 20 minutes on average it seemed. We then went home. I tried to give Kanye a go, to see the light show (fuck him and his lame tunes, but my friends like him.) He ran so late, we decided to just go home. the word around camp the next day was that he sucked anyways.
Sunday - Sunday was really chill. Started off with the Lee Boys and their inspirational funk. Not really my bag, but good. Robert Randolphs Family band was next. I loved them. I would see them again in a second. Next up was An Acoustic Performance by Larry Campbell, Jackie Greene, Phil Lesh & Teresa Williams. Really mellow, and good tunes to listen to in the shade that was slowly creeping away, leaving us all to burn in the sun. We finished the festival with Robert Plant and Allison Kraus. Very boring. Good music, but boring. We then left, skipping DCFC since I had just seen them last Monday.
Crowd: Half Hippie, quarter frat boy, and a quarter hipster
Pros: Great music, good times.
Cons: Too hot. Rain. Having to camp. Port o Potties. People not being considerate and stinking up the place.
