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Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
This is the first message board I've ever been on, the only reason I joined is because I love Bonnaroo and wanted to read and talk about it all year long.
This will sound heretical to y'all, I'm sure, but I cannot get into MMJ beyond One Big Holiday/Wordless Chorus/Feel You/Tyrone/Dondante/Victory Dance.
What am I missing that are in similar veins to those tunes? Gonna use this thread as recommendations.
Maybe Strangulation, I Will Sing You Songs, and Nashville to Kentucky for similar to Dondante vibes. I think Dancefloors, Magheeta, O is the One That is Real, Run Thru, Evil Urges, Easy Morning Rebel, Outta My System, and Anytime are building rockers like OBH. For Feel You: How Do You Know, The Bear, Bermuda Highway
This will sound heretical to y'all, I'm sure, but I cannot get into MMJ beyond One Big Holiday/Wordless Chorus/Feel You/Tyrone/Dondante/Victory Dance.
What am I missing that are in similar veins to those tunes? Gonna use this thread as recommendations.
I would create the following playlist:
1. Magheeta 2. Dancefloors 3. Golden 4. Lay Low (the all time undeniable mmj song) 5. Run Thru 6. Spring (Among the Living) 7. Touch Me I’ll Scream pt 2 8. Gideon 9. Lowdown 10. The Way He Sings 11. Steam Engine
Mag, lay low, golden are the major obvious ones though.
This is the first message board I've ever been on, the only reason I joined is because I love Bonnaroo and wanted to read and talk about it all year long.
This is the first message board I've ever been on, the only reason I joined is because I love Bonnaroo and wanted to read and talk about it all year long.
3post1jack1
Which Ditch Bridge Troll Wannabe God-King of the Cone
This will sound heretical to y'all, I'm sure, but I cannot get into MMJ beyond One Big Holiday/Wordless Chorus/Feel You/Tyrone/Dondante/Victory Dance.
What am I missing that are in similar veins to those tunes? Gonna use this thread as recommendations.
I would create the following playlist:
1. Magheeta 2. Dancefloors 3. Golden 4. Lay Low (the all time undeniable mmj song) 5. Run Thru 6. Spring (Among the Living) 7. Touch Me I’ll Scream pt 2 8. Gideon 9. Lowdown 10. The Way He Sings 11. Steam Engine
Mag, lay low, golden are the major obvious ones though.
I’m pretty excited to welcome back MMJ to the farm which has me feeling nostalgic. I’ve been at every set of theirs at the roo but have forgotten so many of the details. So let’s talk. First year was 2003 in a tent. Were you there for the set in 2004 in the rain? 2005? How about 2008 when Kirk Hammett sat in? 2011? Was 2015 the last year they played? Did I miss a year (not counting Jim solo or super jams).
Please don’t rain again!
Taking a break from getting things around to write up some of my memories. Hopefully this is the kind of crap you sickos come here to read. I've already made my friends we are going with this year sit through a presentation entitled "A History of MMJ at Bonnaroo. How blueslikehail and his wife fell in love with both" complete with a handout and audio and video samples, so a lot of this I've been collecting in my head over the past couple of months.
2002: We went the first year not really knowing any of the bands playing. I could go on about that year for a while, but the main fall-out was a friend that also went and I really got into exploring new bands and music. We couldn't believe there were all these great bands around that we had never heard of and weren't played on the classic rock or alternative stations around us. So he and I kept trying to find new stuff to listen to and he was also talking to this girl online at the same time who told him about this small band that she liked. He asked me if I had ever heard of them and gave me a burned CD copy of At Dawn. I had a good laugh about the name of the band but liked the music. Lowdown was the first song that grabbed me.
2003: The first Bonnaroo was so great we just had to go back, and hey, this little band we like is also going to be there. MMJ opened a tent and it was hot of course. With slow sensitive songs like Death is the Easy Way, Hopefully, If It Smashes Down, and similar on At Dawn, I was not expecting to see these long-haired guys rocking out. I don't really remember connecting with the music a bunch that year, and I think looking back at the setlist it was because I would have only known 4 of the 10 songs they played. I didn't know TTF yet and ISM wasn't out. My friend who told me about them didn't see them, but I told him that I couldn't believe that they looked and played like an '80s hair metal band and he was surprised too.
2004: MMJ moved up to the Which Stage and it was again super hot. We got a spot in the back right in the shade of the wooden wall that used to be back there. About 30 seconds into Magheeta the guy sitting next to me took the words right out of my head when he exclaimed to his friend, "Holy shiz, these guys sound really good!" We met our friends at the back of the mist tent after a bit and stayed there through the show to get some shade, and then shelter from the rain. I of course regret not getting up closer throughout that show, but it was still great from where we were at. I bought the Live Bonnaroo soundboard recording of that show and have listened to dozens and dozens of times. Hearing Jim talk about the storm rolling in transports me back to the farm and even to that day. What a perfectly concise setlist.
2005: My friend I went with that year wanted to skip MMJ for Bob Weir or John Butler Trio, I can't remember which. "We saw them last year." And I said, "Yeah and they were really freaking good!" I insisted we see them and I think he was bummed at first. Then they start playing and the puppets are coming out and dancing and he goes "They have a mad scientist conductor at the front of the stage. Les should have thought of that!" He is a huuuge Primus/Les fan and when he said that, I knew MMJ had him. I think this is the most underrated of all their Roo shows and the one that sealed the deal for me. Probably a consequence of getting my mind twisted for the third day in a row but hearing the new Z songs and the covers for the first time scratched them into my soul, as the Hold Steady song goes. I bought the Live Bonnaroo soundboard of this show as well and have listened to it a ton. They stole the show from Modest Mouse, who was closing the Which after them and I wish there was any more video of this show available because it was quite the performance and spectacle.
2006: Late night That Tent. We got there early with our friend who went that year and got a great spot about halfway between the board and the stage off to the side a little. I have never been in a crowd so amped and energetic for a show. MMJ takes the stage to When You Wish Upon A Star with all the stage lights off. Jim is carrying a lantern and they start into Wordless Chorus and the tent just lifts off and an epic glow stick war starts. Overall this unfortunately ended up being the most disappointing show for me as the friend we went with that year did not know MMJ and ended up not really being a festival person. About 45 minutes into the show it was too much for her and she wanted to leave the tent. So we left and sat at a picnic table and listened for a while. Then she needed to go back to camp but didn't think she could find it. I delayed and delayed but she really wanted to leave so I walked back with her, missing probably 45-60 minutes of the show. A minor Bonnaroo miracle: My wife (who had stayed inside That Tent) couldn't find us outside of the tent and decided to walk back to camp - she and I ran into each other as I was walking back to Centeroo. We went back and sat outside and saw the end of the show, and that Run Thru was great.
2008: Our favorite little band is all grown up. We again arrived early and got a good spot. 2 of our friends we went with that year left a little bit before MMJ started - I think they were antsy and wanted to check out all their options - but I don't think they got very far as they came back and found us during Off The Record saying "Damn, these guys sound great!" None of the 4 friends we went with that year knew MMJ before Roo but they all stayed for all 4 hours. I was thinking during the show that it seemed like they were controlling the weather, but I thought, nah, you're just on too many substances and you love this festival and band too much. Then afterwards one person said it and we all agreed it was pretty ridiculous but also kinda true. Gotta admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the EU album so I wish this set wasn't so heavy with it but it was still freaking incredible and it is between this and '06 Radiohead for my favorite show ever.
2011: Main stage debut. Wife and I waited for a couple hours ahead of time to get in the right sided pit and were about 2-3 rows from the front. Jim's vocals not working at first on Victory Dance was a bummer but they recovered and it was a great sunset show. The Circuital songs sounded awesome and felt like a return to form. The highlight for me was Dancefloors, one of my favorite live songs of theirs, with the PHJB. I was unfortunately distracted throughout this show by the guy next to me. I think he ate too much of one particular something and he stood still through the whole show with his mouth wide open staring at the stage and ripping azz. Edit: Forgot to add that on Saturday night of this year we were standing outside the back of That Tent waiting for the Dr. John show to start and Bo the MMJ keyboard player walked by me on his way backstage to watch that show. I was too surprised and dumbstruck to get anything out other than to say "You're the man!" and shake his hand. But it was a pretty cool random Bonnaroo experience.
2015: We again got in the pit but had learned our lesson by that time and got in the left side. A good show compared to anything else but kind of a mediocre MMJ if you ask me. It just didn't seem like they had a lot of energy and weren't up for Bonnaroo like I had hoped, but I guess they were going through things as a band at that time.
Needless to say I am very excited to see MMJ on the farm again and I think a return to late night Which Stage will be just perfect. Like the Return to Thunderdome documentary said, my love for Bonnaroo and MMJ grew symbiotically with each other. I think it will be my 19th time seeing them, going to sit down with the old ticket stubs to see if I can find one that I am forgetting to try and make it an even 20. See you guys there!
