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Post by starrynight on Jun 15, 2009 23:49:03 GMT -5
The only show I was really looking forward to that disappointed me was Gov't Mule just because their late night set 2 years ago was so great. I couldn't get into it, couldn't really see or hear. the only time I like the which stage is early in the day when i am up front dancing around like crazy to get my day started. I was also disappointed Warren didnt sit in at all with Phish but I still loved Phish, more than I thought I woulkd even.
I didn't go to MGMT but I enjoyed them last year knowing nothing about them, but I did hear alot of negative things from others about the sound being awful and the show just being not good.
While waiting to meet friends for The Decemberists I was sitting at the fountain thinking this band I was listening to was really kinda irritating and hoped they were done soon, and looked at my schedule to see that it was Of Montreal. I had kind of wanted to check them out bc I have alot of friends really into them and laughed when someone was talking about how awesome their show was later... different strokes I guess.
As for The Beastie Boys, a friend asked me if I saw them and I replied "uum, I don't remember"...turns out I did.
Lastly... Moe. killed it. Only night I've been able to stay at a show til sunrise in the last 3 years. I danced from 1am til 6am straight. I literally couldn't stand on my feet until around 2 Sunday... hence missing the brunch I had every intention of going to.
Post by killerwhales on Jun 15, 2009 23:51:48 GMT -5
Animal Collective seemed to get better for me as it went along. I thought Lion in a Coma was TERRIBLE, but by the time they got to Daily Routine I was really enjoying it. The one-two of Fireworks and Brothersport was great too.
I also thought TV on the Radio was great. I had heard iffy things about their live show but was genuinely impressed. I thought Young Liars especially smoked
I was disappointed that Band of Horses was so goddamn loud and drowned out Neko Case's otherwise brilliant renditions of Vengeance is Sleeping and Middle Cyclone.
Oh, and I thought Dirty Projectors were amazing. That last run of songs in their set was great
Animal Collective seemed to get better for me as it went along. I thought Lion in a Coma was TERRIBLE, but by the time they got to Daily Routine I was really enjoying it. The one-two of Fireworks and Brothersport was great too.
I also thought TV on the Radio was great. I had heard iffy things about their live show but was genuinely impressed. I thought Young Liars especially smoked
Oh, and I thought Dirty Projectors were amazing. That last run of songs in their set was great
I agree with the stuff I quoted, I was at Band of Horses so I can't say how their sound mixed with Neko Case.
Animal Collective started out baaaaad. The sound was off left side of the pit, Lion in a Coma and My Girls, two songs that were stellar when I saw them in at sound academy in Toronto, were completely off. However they did improve as they went along, I remember leaving satisfied, but was nowhere near as impressed when I saw them in Toronto. If you like their studio recordings, give them a second chance if they play an indoor venue near you.
TV on the Radio was great once they got the bass sorted out a few songs in. The crowd was into it where I was, and the played amazing renditions of Young Liars, Staring at the Sun, Wolf Like Me, and a bunch others off the top of my head. I could hear the vocals well after a couple songs in, but it shouldn't take that long. The Which Stage needs to sort their sounds problems, (Although notoriously TV on the Radio has sound problems, See SNL)
Dirty Projectors blew me away, Longstreth played the shit out of his backwards stratocaster which sounded a lot like a certain other tall lanky gentleman who happened to play with them at the end of the set, David Byrne. Their compositions were great, and I wasn't expecting them to have amazing stage presence, so it was enough for me that they sounded better live than they do on record.
Beastie Boys really did screw up a lot in their set. We saw them at Langerado last year and they were INCREDIBLE. Wickedly tight, massive energy, full of power. At 'Roo, not so much, but I still really enjoyed their set and found it to be great fun, so it still made my list of favorites.
For me, the disappointing one was Andrew Bird, who sounded great and was so nice on Sunday afternoon, but I felt nothing "live" there --- I could have enjoyed that show just as much on a good cd recording, quite honestly. The music was great but it lacked all those things that make a live show such a great unique experience for me. I'll still buy AB cd's and listen to them, but am unlikely to see much more of his live shows. BB on the other hand I will always try to see live because even when they are a train wreck it is gorgeous!
But I've heard voices not in the head Out in the air they called ahead Through ripped out speakers Through thick and thin They found a shelter Under my skin -Evgeny Aleksandrovitch Nikolaev
I'm very surprised that people are speaking poorly about animal colective, I found their set to be a spiritual experience as well as a great show of how sound can be used to bring about different human emotion, I was completely sober that day as well so my opinion comes from a clear mind. A night set would have been cool but I real enjoyed their set being in the day, I realy think Of Montreal deserved a night time set more. On another note, Passion Pit sucked ass and I'm amazed that Bonnaroo let such a dissapointment occur.
the bit of moe that I heard was painfully awful. Do you really need wah on every fucking guitar solo? But then again, I could make that same complaint about most jam bands (as you may figure, I'm not a fan )
Springsteen disappointed me. Not enough variety, I thought. Long show, good energy and whatnot, but I really don't like his anthemic 80's stuff. To me, it's just middle of the road radio rock.
I loved the Beastie Boys. Who cares if they fucked up? Shows that they're are in fact human. Plus, I heard tons of weather reports saying there was a huge storm coming around 9pm on Friday. I'm pretty sure Mix Master Mike pumped out so many wicked beats that it formed a protective barrier around the fest.
Post by hibouxdufromage on Jun 16, 2009 2:10:09 GMT -5
Biggest disappointment for me was NIN. I hadn't seen them before and was pretty excited to check them out. Wound up having a better time at Ben Harper. You probably aren't surprised to read that on a bonnaroo message board, but this is coming from someone whose favorite bands are Mastodon and Opeth. Passion Pit annoyed the bejeezus out of me. Way too girly and pastel for my taste. I left my buddies there and went to the art of such n such.
I was really dissapointed with MGMT. My friends and I could barely hear it and thought they played too many new songs. We weren't even that far back. We were maybe 10 people back from the That Tent sign in the center. Just wasn't doing anything for us.
And Animal Collective was a dissapointment. I love their music but couldn't get into it live.
Those were the only two shows I was dissapointed at all weekend.
i really didn't like animal collective at all. i like their studio work, but i just could not get into their set at all. we ended up going to galactic and really enjoyed it. i agree that AC just didn't really seem like they wanted to be there, and it definitely showed in their set. other than them, i couldn't really get into passion pit, even though i wanted to. this might have been partly due to the magic losing against the lakers, but i just wasn't feeling it. other than those though, i had a great roo
animal collective was disappointing. this was my second chance... three strikes and they're out! it seems to be consensus that they need to be indoors or at least at night.
yeah yeah yeahs were good, but not as great as I was expecting. I suppose i could say the same for TVOTR. Chalk it up to the which stage's "off" sound??
Thursday as a whole was a bit weak compared to the last few years as well...
Phish was the most disappointing just because they didn't do anything special or play long. They went in, played their three hour set, and went out. That was good, but I expected them to pull out something special, or at least play a marathon set with several guests thrown in there. Warren Haynes was there and didn't play with them.... Moe. put them to shame imo. That said, it was awesome finally seeing Phish, i just expected more than their usual from them.
Phish did this because they have nothing but absolute respect for Bonnaroo, the fans, and the other artists. Obviously they could of played till sunrise, but this wasn't a phestival, it was a timeslots they were given. They recognized that being given 2 sets @ roo was an honor, and didn't abuse the privilege. They knew what they had to work with, adjusted accordingly, and f***ing rocked roo.
Sorry Bruce fans, but I was bored out of my mind an hour or so into it. I'm not a fan of his, but I certainly don't dislike him either. So, I went into it with an open mind, I figured someone can't be this popular for so long and actually be bad.
And he wasn't bad, just boring. Maybe if I had been up close, it would have been more fun, but in the back of the field, it just looked like a guy who was playing more to his fans than everyone else. I guess we weren't the only ones who thought so as our initially crowded area was open with tons of free space by the time we left 2 1/2 hours into it.
I'm also not sure why they didn't put any alternative acts on the other stages during the 3 1/2 hours, other than out of respect. His appeal seems to be pretty narrow and it's odd to not give people another option. Hell, I tend to think of Jimmy Buffett as kind of lame but I thought his set was surprisingly good.
I'm also not sure why they didn't put any alternative acts on the other stages during the 3 1/2 hours, other than out of respect. His appeal seems to be pretty narrow and it's odd to not give people another option.
Headliners always have unopposed sets. In fact, I think Beastie Boys were the first headliner to be playing against a major act. While I definitely would not consider Bruce's appeal to be "pretty narrow", I agree there should have been alternative acts for people to check out during that time. In fact, this goes for all headliners, even if it's just or small cafe shows or comedy acts.
Sorry Bruce fans, but I was bored out of my mind an hour or so into it. I'm not a fan of his, but I certainly don't dislike him either. So, I went into it with an open mind, I figured someone can't be this popular for so long and actually be bad.
And he wasn't bad, just boring. Maybe if I had been up close, it would have been more fun, but in the back of the field, it just looked like a guy who was playing more to his fans than everyone else. I guess we weren't the only ones who thought so as our initially crowded area was open with tons of free space by the time we left 2 1/2 hours into it.
I'm also not sure why they didn't put any alternative acts on the other stages during the 3 1/2 hours, other than out of respect. His appeal seems to be pretty narrow and it's odd to not give people another option. Hell, I tend to think of Jimmy Buffett as kind of lame but I thought his set was surprisingly good.
I must admit that I've been lucky enough that all but one time I've seen Bruce, I've been close enough to touch him. So, boring is by far the last word I'd use to describe him, b/c I've never seen anybody hold an audience in the palm of his hand like he can. However, you've got to have enough fans there for that atmosphere to really take over. While I really want all my friends to like Bruce (mostly so they will stop making fun of me ) at the same time, I wish that he could play smaller venues. No matter how good you are, it is hard to connect with people sitting in the nosebleeds of Giants Stadium. You can't deny that the man has more energy than is normal for a man about to turn 60, and the joy with which he performs is just so contagious, but I can imagine that is hard to grasp from the other end of the field.
As far as songs selection goes, I think Bruce really could have improved on that. I've never met the man, but I would have to guess that there is a huge disconnect between what he thinks a casual listener might know and what a casual listener will know - particularly for those of us born after Born in the USA came out and happen to make up the target demographic of Bonnaroo. For example, a song like "Darlington County" gets a huge reaction out of a Bruce crowd, but I've never heard it on the radio and only know it b/c I love Bruce (though it is def. not a favorite). I truly get the impression that he is not very "up" on music today. He always speaks very intelligently about artists from the past, but when he is asked to list bands of today that he is interested in, the list almost always mirrors the list of bands he talks about his sons being into or bands that list him as a big influence. While that probably isn't rare for someone of his age, as a younger fan I sometimes wish he would get more involved with today's bands.
I would hedge a bet that a huge percentage of the audience didn't know how to complete the phrase "tramps like us..." before the Super Bowl or his being announced as playing Bonnaroo. Especially living down in the south, you have to work hard to hear Springsteen songs on the radio that don't include Dancing in the Dark or Glory Days. The part of me that is a huge fan is astounded by this, but I realize this is the reality.
Animal Collective was a letdown - but the middle of the day time slot didn't help.
Although still in my top 3 sets of the weekend, Springsteen's set was a bit of a disappointment...way too much of the cheesy popular 80s stuff and too much newer stuff. No Surrender, Glory Days and Dancing in the Dark in the same set??? Ugh...definitely playing to the non-fans in the crowd which is too bad. If he played more to the fans and pulled out some older/rare stuff (Incident, Jungleland, KITTY'S BACK!) he would have totally killed. Also too much cheesy pandering to the crowd - but I guess that's expected at a festival show with a huge crowd that needs to be entertained. Still a great show though. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town was ridiculous in a good way, Rosie, Thunder Road, Growin Up and the Seeds/Johnny 99/Youngstown 3pack were all great.
Phish was the most disappointing just because they didn't do anything special or play long. They went in, played their three hour set, and went out. That was good, but I expected them to pull out something special, or at least play a marathon set with several guests thrown in there. Warren Haynes was there and didn't play with them.... Moe. put them to shame imo. That said, it was awesome finally seeing Phish, i just expected more than their usual from them.
i was disappointed with the friday set mainly because it was only one set that barely made the 3 hour set time. i was expecting to be there till much later so i ended up wondering around the dj tents aimlessly and a little disappointed. i thought sunday's show was stellar and moe. was my favorite set of the weekend.
Yall are acting like 3 hours is not a long set. Seriously? I was worn out by the end.
While it was still a great show, I thought Bon Iver was a little disappointing... My reasoning is that some of the songs lost some of their luster with the transition to live.
Great show, still. I seriously didn't see a bad set all weekend, sans Charlie Allen's 30 minute Bonnaroo song... jesus, that was terrible.
gotta be animal collective for me, by a mile. they just aren't a daytime band
ditto. I enjoyed their set musically, but when you take away their light show they don't have much left in terms of a live performance. Not much of a stage presence
Also the Beastie Boys... I wish that rather than trying to impress Bonnaroo with their Jamming they would have just BEEN THE BEASTIE BOYS and played their stuff.
Yeah i think Roo really dropped the ball on scheduling Animal Collective in the daytime. Of Montreal would've been a much better latenight show was well. Why did they make Ben Harper a late night? I'd say he's much more daytime material.
Animal Collective was the worst show I've attended in 6 years of Roo. Absolutely awful. I would've left, but I had to hold my spot for YYYs. Melting in the sun didn't help, but nothing could've saved that set.
sadly my most disappointing set of the weekend was one i was most excited about, st. vincent. she just lacked any energy at all. i chalk it up to the wrong setting for her though. 3 pm hot as hell in a tent. she would be much better in a seated theater. also phish is disappointing. i came in not being a fan at all and left probably even less interested. we watched the first 90 minutes on fri. i mean don't get me wrong, those guys are extremely talented musicians. i just can not get into what they are doing. and they do the exact same thing on every song. on sun. night we were walking back to our tent to leave and hearing phish on the way and i joked, i wonder if phish fans could even identify the songs from this far away? because they all sound the same.
I'm also not sure why they didn't put any alternative acts on the other stages during the 3 1/2 hours, other than out of respect. His appeal seems to be pretty narrow and it's odd to not give people another option.
Headliners always have unopposed sets. In fact, I think Beastie Boys were the first headliner to be playing against a major act. While I definitely would not consider Bruce's appeal to be "pretty narrow", I agree there should have been alternative acts for people to check out during that time. In fact, this goes for all headliners, even if it's just or small cafe shows or comedy acts.
I was watching the man swing by his hair at the solar stage.
I need to call BS on all the Govt Mule disappointment. We knew it wasn't going to be like the Roo 07 set, since it was only 90 minutes on the schedule (and then Warren reminded us, only 90 minutes, right at the beginning of the set).
They absolutely rocked every minute of their set time. Every song was a highlight. "Beautifully Broken" was so pretty, "Trane" with the St. Stephen jam, well, let me just say that no one has ever played St Stephen like that before, and the covers were all on point, particularly "Southern Man", which was one of the best performances of the festival this year.
I wouldn't call it the best show of the festival, but the show was still excellent.
I enjoyed the 25 minutes of Animal Collective I stayed for, but then I was laying out in the field not watching the stage. I was pretty much expecting them to get the most bitched about largely because their live show has next to nothing in common with their studio recordings.
I didn't really see anything that disappointed me.