A Review

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Certain moments in time live forever, burnt into the atmosphere by the incandescence of events and those that felt what it was like to Be There. Last weekend was one long string of those certain moments. Bonnaroo 2006 was a cavalcade of madness, a brilliant ode to being Alive, the Great American Carnivale that lived up to its gigantic hype.

We arrived at the show just in time to see Bright Eyes with one of the best sets of the entire weekend. Conor Oberst was on top of his game...emptying a bottle of tequila, playing a well-chosen list of songs, and bringing out several special guests. Gillian Welch strolled out for a duet on 'Lua', the frontman for Super Furry Animals showed up, and Jim James himself practiced up on his Rock before MMJ's late-night show several hours later. Good times.

On the walk back to camp we heard a little music from the legendary Ricky Skaggs. Unfortunately it would only be a few short hours later when Ricky Skaggs, drunk out of his mind on pure Tennessee mash liqour, ran down some guy with his Tour Bus of Doom.

Up next was some good old fashioned pop-rock with the brilliant Death Cab for Cutie. Despite the temperature hovering somewhere around 250 degrees Ben Gibbard still danced with his guitar for the entire hour and a half set of new tracks and classics. Over at the mainstage Oysterhead was playing a rare show that we had to miss for the Death Cab. Im sure it was good though.

Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers headlined Friday night with an absolute epic. Song after song, familiar to most anyone with a radio and at least one functioning ear, were joined by a chorus of at least 50,000 people. Everybody's favorite was played. Petty asked (though he clearly didnt need to with this particular audience) for permission to jam...then did, reprising Van Morrison's old role with Them ('Mystic Eyes' and 'Gloria') and finishing up with 'American Girl'. Finally, if this stuff wasnt enough, Petty added one more name to the end of his band introductions...and out sauntered the legendary gypsy, Stevie Nicks.

Late-night Friday was an unforgettable marathon. This Tent had three great hiphop acts in succession...Lyrics Born started shit with his full band, Common (after a painfully long setup) trumped him, and finally Blackalicious proved themselves as one of the most underrated acts in modern music with one of the best shows of the entire weekend (I ended up saying this of alot of bands last weekend). Also that night, My Morning Jacket channeled the spirit of Black Sabbath and, though we missed it, Im sure the Umphreys McGee/Disco Biscuits stuff was very good too.

Saturday afternoon was insanely hot as we managed to catch some of Dungen and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. While laying in the shade of a big tree we heard blind husband/wife Amadou & Miriam's mesmerizing sound. Jr. Gong Damien Marley brought the roots/rock/reggae to Which Stage. We were disspointed by Beck, wandered away, and got pretty close for Cypress Hill's entire performance. Cypress had their mad dizzank beats, the giant golden Buddah, and the crowd in the palm of their glock-shaped hands.

One brief trip to camp later and it was finally time for the true headliner of the entire weekend...Radiohead. It would be the defining American concert for the defining artist of our generation. A once in a lifetime (though hopefully 'twice' might exist in the future) event that we were simply blessed to be a part of. The headbanging groove of 'The National Anthem', hypnotic vibe of 'Paranoid Android', and the soaring 'Fake Plastic Trees'...'Idioteque', 'Karma Police', 'The Gloaming'...new songs from next years cd...sweet lights and monitor images (though they did falter for a few songs) and thousands of glowsticks dotting the night sky. Also, Thom Yorke has never looked happier on stage.

Saturday still wasn't quite over. At the Other Tent, Balkan Beat Box got the crowd warmed up and the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus kept us hot for the insane live act that is the Dresden Dolls. I was personally a bit disturbed by some of the lyrics (particularly during an ad-libbed portion of 'Coin Operated Boy'..."I can even fuck him in the ass") but the energy they bring to the stage conquers crowds like old Atilla. They played a couple memorable covers as well...a version of 'War Pigs' that I prefered to both Sabbath and Faith No More and a fitting rendition of Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit'. It made me wish I was in a bathtub with an electric radio in arms reach.

Back at the tent for the night, we found that our tent had been invaded by a horrific obese hairy Tennessee Killer Spiders. We slept in the car.

We were able to catch Matisyahu's solo/acoustic set at the little Sonic Stage and a couple songs from Shooter Jennings before leaving Bonnaroo for the next year.

Here now, in my own opinion, are the top ten bands from Bonnaroo 2006:

1.Radiohead
2.Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers w/ Stevie Nicks
3.Blackalicious
4.Bright Eyes
5.Dresden Dolls
6.Death Cab for Cutie
7.Cyrpess Hill
8.Common
9.Matisyahu (solo/acoustic)
10.My Morning Jacket