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Last year there were people booing The Flaming Lips when Wayne started talking about Iraq.
Well, i think there is an art to politically speaking your mind @ the roo.
When i think about The Nightwatchman's set, i distinctly remember that cat having it together. He wasn't up there wingin' it, he was really feelin the things he was up there rappin about. It felt like a conversation with us, his voice was very clear and strong, he had it together and it truly felt like everyone wanted to take it back to the streets after the fest.
The Flaming Lips were great. Very pleasing to the eye, and the vibe was great, but it was Saturday night. . . The audience was there for that vibe and to let go and unwind. They wanted to play with their red lasers and throw glow sticks and get nailed with a bucket of confetti and volley huge balloons into the air. But after every song, you had a spaced out Wayne who had a gravelly voice up there kinda free-stylin whatever was on his mind about Iraq and The War On Errorism. You could barely hear most of the ramblings and it didn't even feel like he was speaking to us or it wasn't connecting. Everyone around me was not feeling it and getting antsy. It was interupting the momentum of the show and didn't feel very organic. You know it's getting a little out of hand when one of the band mates cuts him off in the middle of one of the noodly rants at one point to ask if they could please get on with the show. I was kinda embarrassed for him.
So it all depends, of course, but i think that with the upcoming election, there will be some banter from some of the artist and it will affect the vibe of the show in some form or another, be it positive or negative.
2004 was my first 'Roo. Afterward I told a friend "It was just like Woodstock, it was muddy and everyone was against the president and the war. I expect to hear some rhetoric this year, but not alot.
I wish every year was like this! ;D
I dont' expect the booking to be different.. I do expect to hear plenty of opinions...
Post by Mada is it backwards on Jan 31, 2008 23:23:33 GMT -5
This year will be my first at bonaroo, but i've been to sasquatch, and sometimes you just have to take the rambling and humor them. hopefully it will all be over soon.
Post by mulcherry0420 on Jan 31, 2008 23:32:47 GMT -5
if PJ plays, do you think they were waiting specifically for an Election year to do the U.S. biggest festie?
When I saw them in Cincy a few years ago...Eddie talked about the war, how rolling stone is complete shit, how there was a columbus PJ fan gone missing, and i think he rambled about a few other things too I think jeff ament even stated that G.B. is an alien
I guess for me, especially because it's an election year, I don't want to hear a lot of political talk by the artists. I hear it every day, and I'm going to Bonnaroo to have a break from all of that...not to go and hear all the stuff I hear on CNN all the time.
I appreciate artists' rights to speak their mind, and a little bit is fine, but I think some of them tend to go overboard and it can get old after a while.
I think that there can be good rock protest songs and sometimes it is called for. I am a huge Neil Young fan but Living With War was one of the worst records made in my opinion. I think RATM does a nice job with it and I think the Pink Floyds The Wall is great. So I dont know I just want to hear music
Two things that will almost cetainly kill my karma here but here goes :
1) I hate being anal but its "affect" not "effect" 2) I can't stop being in the political groove even when I'm getting my music groove on. This may be the single most exciting election of my lifetime and I've covered quite a few.
Two things that will almost cetainly kill my karma here but here goes :
1) I hate being anal but its "affect" not "effect" 2) I can't stop being in the political groove even when I'm getting my music groove on. This may be the single most exciting election of my lifetime and I've covered quite a few.
i was going to give you some karma for correcting my grammar, but alas, i properly used/spelled "affect" ;D
Post by steveternal on Feb 1, 2008 12:33:39 GMT -5
I prefer music and politics not to mix. I feel that putting a lot of emphasis on a subject that is separate from, and often superfluous to, musical creativity often diminishes the creative endeavor. In other words, the quality of the music suffers because more effort was put into something else. That's the common problem with Christian popular music, and I say that as a Christian. This is certainly not always true. Sometimes the passion for a particular issue (political or otherwise) can spur the artist into creating something truly new and important. I definitely think there are songs, albums and bands that have done this. But usually things just get muddled.
Anyway I expect there to be a little extra politicking this year, but probably not so much as in '04 because we no longer have the threat of another Bush term.
Post by thefussydutchman on Feb 1, 2008 13:26:39 GMT -5
I really don't mind when an artists speaks their views in concert. It really wont affect me one way or another. Those views are just THEIRS, not mine. I know what I believe and have my own reasons for believing them. Something some muscian says shouldn't sway you. Although when it takes away from the show and they keep pushing it on you it can get annoying.
When I saw CSNY they have a portion of the show where they display pictures of everyone that has died in the war with lyrics like "lets impeach the president". It didn't really bother me. Though, I saw people walking out of the venue literally with their middle fingers in the air towards the stage. I was kinda surprised.
"We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, movie gods, and rock stars. But we wont, and we're slowly learning that fact & we're very, very pissed off......."
I'm cool with it. Especially in a festival where you have so many other choices if the performer isn't connecting with you. Then again, I'm a huge Ani fan so maybe I'm just used to it.
Post by purplefuzzystuff on Feb 2, 2008 14:35:30 GMT -5
I am not the type of person to ever tell someone to shut up....it's hard when the topic is politics and sometimes I don't want to hear them, but you know, it happens....musicians are the same, they've got every right, they have a greater outlet to use it so they do...
Now that being said I felt the same way about the Flaming Lips show....It really killed my buzz...I think it might have just been poor timing....or maybe it was like the post above and he just wasn't connecting with the audience at that moment.....we were there to chill and he just wanted to tell us how he felt....bad timing
Post by experiencehaze on Feb 2, 2008 15:29:16 GMT -5
I hope I heard at least ONE cover of Radiohead's "Electioneering" cause I think that that song would fit in perfectly with the environment of politics.
And I will probably have an Obama flag or something as my camp marker.
"I want you to notice When I'm not around You're so fücking special I wish I was special But I'm a creep I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here" -Radiohead
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -Benjamin Franklin
It's best to be humorous about it rather than propaganda. When I heard A Perfect Circle do it, I didn't mind because Maynard has a great sense of humor. When other bands babble propganda I just roll my eyes.
Rage can try to make us all Commies, I don't care, I have to see them live while this reunion is active
When I saw CSNY they have a portion of the show where they display pictures of everyone that has died in the war with lyrics like "lets impeach the president". It didn't really bother me. Though, I saw people walking out of the venue literally with their middle fingers in the air towards the stage. I was kinda surprised.
Geez, these guys constantly preach about politics and protest, and the 60's, in thier music, what the hell does one expect out of these guys? Flipping them off? damn! Someone must have gotten free tickets to something they had never heard of.
Still, I prefer music to preaching. About a minute or so, like the length of phil lesh's organ donor speech is cool, anything more than that is annoying.
i think its cool if people voice their opinions while they have an opportunity and a captive audience as long as it doesn't overshadow the music. Its cool to have a little bit of political discussion but i payed to hear people play music, I can hear people talk politics for free. I want to attend a music festival not an anti-bush or an anti-whatever festival.
Post by jambandjohn on Feb 4, 2008 21:38:01 GMT -5
You can pretty much count on the following:
No, Superfly will not stack the lineup with heavily political bands just because it's an election year.
Expect to see a lot of voter registration and special interest groups represented.
At least some of the musicians care enough to have opinions and because they have the mikes, and we don't, we'll have to listen to them.
Face it, no matter how much people go on about how apolitical they are, they still have something to say about it. People who whine but don't vote are a bigger threat to this country than either the far right or the far left.
As for me, I expect a stellar line up from Superfly, I'll encourage everybody to sign up to vote, I'll check out the special interest tables (especially any with environment issues) and it can take guts to stand in front of a crowd knowing they might boo you off a stage for your views so I'll listen, hell, I might even agree...
I like it when an artist gets political. We need more of that, I do believe. In 05 when John Prine played "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" and credited it to an informal request of Bush I was pumped. Then the thunder hit and the rain started pouring down right as the song ended... It was amazing.
Speaking of politics and music, anyone see this Obama video? It was done independently of his campaign:
