Which bands did you get to see

Full Sets:
Tool. Awesome show, maynard was very talkative. Kinda disapointed in the set length, but they made up for that by not taking a set break and bringing out morello.
The National. Not my cup of tea. Was there waiting for Rod y Gab.
Ziggy Marley. Watched from the blue room. Pretty good.
Harper and the IC's. Bomb ass show! Loved it. Not someone i listen to too awful much, but i'm a fan now.
Police. The most fun i've ever had while not paying attention to a show. I was dressed as the burger king guy, since the mascarade ball was cancelled. The people and comments were hillarious.
The White Stripes. WOW! All my friends are big fans, and had all seen them live. I was trying really hard to get into their studio stuff, but I had always seen them as kind of the anti tool, not that thats a bad thing mind you, I just thought it was a bit simple, i guess. I think I now get it. Its been a long time since i've seen such a terrible singer (sorry, but he is) sing with enough passion to make it sound great. He can wail on the guitar too. Loved how they both seemed to feed off of the crowd.


Partial Sets:
Rodrigo y gabriella - WOW! Its one thing to hear that on a cd, but to see it live, nuts. I loved the crowd interation. Thursday was a long day so we bailed early since it was all we could do to stay awake.
Mute Math - looked cool what little i saw, left to get a space for Rod y gab. Should have stayed instead of the national.
The nightwatchman. This one hurts my heart. I love morello, but just cant get into this. Stayed there long enough to make sure zach wasnt coming out, then went to spearhead.
Spearhead. Friggan awesome. Totally hyped up. Tons of fun.
The Roots. Awesome! My wife couldnt stop dancing, but i was in conserve energy for tool mode.
The Black keys. Indifferent on these guys. In hindsight, probably wouldnt have left the roots for these guys.
Regina Spektor or however you spell it. Not my cup of tea.
The Flaming Lips. Saw War pigs, rocked out. Didnt stay for the actual show, was tired of fighting crowds by this point in the day. Probably my biggest roo regret.
Wilco. Not my cup of tea again.

Full sets:

Lewis Black and Friends
Dave Attell and Dov Davidoff
Sam Roberts Band - I was there to get close for the National
The National - Had some serious soundcheck issues, rocking set, loved it.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Front row center, perhaps my favorite set of the weekend.
Cold War Kids - Chilled in the shade, wasn't overly impressed.
Manu Chao - So much energy, and so much fun, loved it.
Superjam - Blew my mind, major highlight of the weekend, John Paul proves he is a legend.
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminal - So much fun, loved seeing JPJ again, DAzed and Confused baby!
The Police - Was already up close for Ben so stayed. Wish I knew more of their stuff, thought they sounded great, wished they had played longer.
John Butler Trio - Great time, had fun.
The Decemberists - One of my favorites, loved the Tain, loved Mavis Staples.
The White Stripes - Great show, just rocked my face socks off.

Partial sets:

Hot Chip - They really grew on me as their set progressed.
Xavier Rudd - Such a great person to see live
The Hold Steady - Just ok.
Damien Rice - I would've preferred a more intimate setting, especially with the Fountains of Wayne's sound pouring out from next door.
Galactic - Rocking
Sasha and Digweed - Fantastic, loved the beats, got tired and had to leave
Wilco - Caught the last half of the show, good times.

Yeah Ziggy Marley came out for Get Up Stand Up in Harper's set also.

Arg don't tell me anymore!! LOL dammit I knew I shouldn't have gone to see Franz Ferdinand

Dr. Dog @ the VIP Preparty. - Pretty good.
Cold War Kids - just the first few songs, then the heat made me lose interest and we wandered off for some mid day shade. It was just too packed for that show.
Brazilian Girls - have to be honest, just kinda wandered in to this one after hearing it from afar. Very good. A new discovery for me.
Paulo Nutini - Because we were so wrapped up in BG, I caught the last 4 or 5 songs, including his cover of "I want to be like you" and "Jenny Don't Be Hasty." This kid can perform, and what I saw was great. I love his voice.
Kings of Leon I was slacking and watched some of this from the comfort of the VIP tent, eating free food. they lost power or something in the middle of the set and that ruined their rhythm for a bit. Still pretty good.
The Roots - This was not the flavor for me that day. But any hip hop band with a tuba gets some cred. Watched a few songs and headed over to
Manu Chao - very fun, saw most of the set, headed back to the camp to prepare for
TOOL - Absolutely mindblowing. A great mix of songs from the albums. And Tom Morello? That's the Morello I adore...very good. I nearly lost my mind for Aenema, I enjoyed most of the set from mid crowd on the ground. It was the perfect song to end the Bonnaroo set. And fricking amazing. I need to check the shots I got of the laser show. This lived up and exceeded every expectation I had. I have to see them at a smaller venue now, it's just too delicious. After this, we felt like no late night act could possibly top that, so I walked my blistered pinky toes back to camp and slept very well.

Regina Spektor I watched the first few songs and decided it was too hot to listen to something so downtempo from the VIP bleachers, although it was cute she was so excited. A full crowd IMO. We kept hearing something really loud behind us and were drawn to it.
Gogol Bordello - Holy effing crap this blew us away. I loved it. My boyfriend got in touch with his gypsy roots and it was definitely some rock and roll. They know how to work a crowd. This is another discovery, definitely going to check this one out at a smaller venue as well.
Damien Rice I really really missed Lisa on vocals. Still a good show, but definitely HOT.
Franz FerdinandWe got close for this one. Great show, played a lot of uptempo stuff, but seemed to have some technical issues with a squelchy mic that threw off what might have been their planned set, but they persevered and didn't let it throw them off too much
The Police - I still don't know how I feel about this one. I am glad to have been able to see them, but I didn't find a groove. It was kind of flat. And Sting was expecting people to sing along with songs I really had never heard or known. And then he jammed out on Roxanne and that was the ONE song I had my fingers crossed that they'd do straight forward. They finished ahead of schedule and there was no encore, which I felt was extremely tacky, mainly for the sake that this is supposed to be a special event for them.

John Butler Trio - quite amazing on guitar. a good start to the day.
Wolfmother I thought this set was quite excellent. They ripped it up quite well, and the crowd was packed. They did not disappoint. Definitely building up a following.
WilcoI didn't catch the whole set but a good part of it. Very good.
White Stripes This was a great set, seemed like they did some different things and cut it short as to not overlap with WP. Jack tunes his guitar between most songs without a huge lull, and things always sound good. I've never seen the which stage so packed, it was standing room only for way back. They could have easily played the main stage. Perhaps not headlining, but it would have been nice to have the big tv's. which stage was too small for the crowd. I think Superfly was kind of testing them out or something, or they missed the boat and didn't realize the crowd they'd attract.

I also saw a lot of dust.

Or at the very least maybe it's time to add at least 1 screen to the Which stage. I know the crowd at which stage was overflowing for at least the Stripes & Lips (probably sci too I'm sure) - even 1 screen would have added a lot to those scenarios.

full sets ;D:
mute math - rocked
CLUTCH!!!! - just awesome!! we were right up front at the mosh pit, its was great, one of the best shows i saw.
michael franti & spearhead - great show, jumped the whole time.
manu chao -AWESOME!!!
tool - not a big tool fan. i could've taken a nap if i would have had room.
dr. dog - never listened to 'em before, but it was a pretty solid performance.
gogol bordello - just started listening a couple of weeks before roo and they were really awesome live.
fountains of wayne - no comment.
the police - great show, but disappointed with the length.
GOV'T MULE!!!!!! - the REAL superjam, definitely my favorite show of bonnaroo, it was UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!
john butler trio - good, as always.

partial sets:
rod y gab - sounded great, only stayed for a couple of songs after clutch i was too tired.
cold war kids - pretty much disappointed, and it was really hot.
superjam - was it really a 'superjam'? i think not.
keller williams (WMD'S) - i prefer keller solo.
ben harper - good, especially the last couple of songs.

all in all, a great bonnaroo for me. My number one show, GOV'T MULE, very close number 2...CLUTCH.

Full Sets:

The National - Great thursday act, lot of energy
Dave Barnes - Amazing, really funny guy with tons of personality
Tool - Best show of the weekend, can't say enough
Annuals - have a helluva guitarist
Spoon - pretty solid, not amazing
The Police - rather short set, but still a great show
Pete Yorn - never heard him before this weekend, that will change
Wolfmother - he used 6 guitars, and he looks like a wolf...
Wilco - great ending to the weekend

Partial Shows
Mute Math - amazing way to start
The Whigs - not too shabby
Cold War Kids - big disappointment
Kings of Leon - didn't pay much attention, since we saw them 2 days before hand
Nightwatchman - not a huge tom morello fan
String Cheese - alright
Dr. Dog - not terrible, not great
the Slip - big surprise, very good
the Hold Steady - very good, but gosh, they seem old
Ziggy Marley - classic ragae
Ben Harper - not too bad
The Flaming Lips - amazing show, but so tired had to head home early
the Decemberists - not as good as i was expecting

helluva weekend, tiring, dirty, but an unforgetable experience for my first time

here is a review i made up:

Bonnaroo this year was a very mixed bag in terms of the overall experience - on the bad side, an intense drought caused lung-collapsing dust storms (i inhaled so much of it as to miss The Police when I passed out in my tent unexpectedly), the festival food was pretty bad yet pricey, and yeah, there were a lot of hippies. On the bright side, I saw some fantastic performances that will linger in my mind for a while.

Here is a top 5 ranking of my favorite shows:

1. The Hold Steady
Okay, so I was three rows back, dead center, within reach of Craig Finn, and he threw his cold Budweiser on me. It was awesome - right as the band came out, the whole That Tent went APESHIT, and the band (who are some of the coolest looking motherfuckers EVER) had shit eating grins on their faces. Finn kept thanking the crowd and dancing, and generally having the time of his life. I really can't describe how great of an energy there was. They even played a request (of a song I didn't know, but which was still awesome), and played beach volleyball across the small pit in front of the stage. This was the best show I've ever seen, hands down.

2. Tool
No surprise here - Tool were wonderful. Their light show surpassed all my expectations, and their sound was incredibly immense - the guitar rattled my ribcage, and the bass drum sounded like a gunshot straight to my heart. I was almost in the pit, in front of the soundstage on the right, so I could see Maynard's shadowy figure dancing to creepily. It was a really surreal thing to see. Maynard was very funny with his stage banter - "So, uh... I guess you're all high on the marijuana, huh?" *crowd cheers* "Or maybe, the LSD, huh?" *more cheers* "You're all under arrest!" *laughter*

3. Tortoise
I had dabbled with this band previously, but their live set blew me away. It was very special, because the band said almost nothing the whole time besides a thank you at the end. Some songs had two drummers, and they actually made excellent use of this instead of it becoming a gimmick. This was the first set I saw that made me thankful for having come to Bonnaroo. Their krautrock-esque post rock was dancable and epic at the same time. The crowd gave rapturous applause throughout their set, and even called them out for an encore, which is pretty mind boggling considering it was in a tent in a busy time slot at a festival.

4. El-P
I didn't know hip hop shows could be so great until I saw this one (Aesop Rock played before him, and was almost as good, by the way. I just chose El Producto because his stage show is much more appealing). His band came out wearing camo, the lights went dark (revealing the creepy red I'll Sleep When You're Dead album art) and the DJ started playing Gary Jules' "Mad World" cover (from Donnie Darko, you might remember), after which El-P blasted into a tight, lightning fast set including the songs "Tasmanian Pain Coaster", "The Overly Dramatic Truth", and "Poisenville Kids No Wins". At one point, he got the crowd jumping like crazy, which sent a smothering dust cloud into the air. It was painful to breathe, but I wished he would have played longer.

5. Wilco
Wilco is a very subtle band, and so is their live show. They started off with some cuts from Sky Blue Sky and eventually got more and more rocking, climaxing with a SPINECRUSHING "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" from A Ghost is Born. The crowd wasn't too sure about the band at the start, but slowly but surely came to their side. Halfway through, Jeff Tweedy got more friendly after being silent, asking the crowd how they were doing. He also pointed out how awesome it was that a guy was holding his crutches up and fist pumping at a rock show. The band were supposed to be done after "Spiders (Kidsmoke)", but the crowd cheered them to an encore of "The Late Greats" and "Heavy Metal Drummer".

Other full sets I saw:
The National - They put on a pretty good show, though a lot of their songs were extremely similiar to one another.
The Roots - They were pretty great, just missing my top 5. They did a great cover of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War". This is a great group to see live.
Aesop Rock - Like I said, he was really good, but his show was bare bones - him, his DJ, and Rob Sonic kept the rhythm going pretty well. This was a pretty hoppin party, actually.
The Slip - pretty decent band. They had some fairly good jams during their set, and the crowd really liked them.
Annuals - i was up front for them to get a spot for the Hold Steady, and it was worth it - but my god, this band fucking sucked. Its like emo music from Pitchfork or something.
The Flaming Lips - I was really dissapointed with the Flaming Lips. It saddens me to say that, because they are one of my favorite bands. Their show was good and all, but they played under-tempo, Wayne babbled about politics about half the set time (they only played like ten songs in two hours), and the crowd was absolutely dead (this was at midnight on the third day). The best part was their impromptu 10:30 pm soundcheck of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" - it was awesome. I think it was just unfortunate that everyone was burnt out. I'd go see these guys at a show in a smaller venue and it would probably be the best show ever.
Wolfmother - I was SO FUCKING HOT. I just sat and listened. Pretty average Led Zeppelin ripoff band, nothing too offensive though.

Partial sets I saw:
The Black Angels - Very run-of-the-mill stoner rock. It sounded like Kyuss, only really boring.
The New Orelans Klezmer Allstars - one of the surprises of Bonnaroo. They played a jazz-jewish-fusion or something, and everyone was dancing their asses off. One of the most memorable moments of Bonnaroo occured here, when they told us to join hands and do a sort of ring-around-the-rosie jig (all thousand of us or whatever). I grabbed a girls hand and found out she was wearing a cast on it - OWNED!
Hot Chip - I expected a bit more party out of these guys. They were okay, but the singer was laughable, and there are much, MUCH better dance bands - see LCD Soundsystem.
Dr. Dog - a pretty average jam band (a genre which I always try to avoid) that put on an above-average show. This was a nice was to get out of the heat at least and still have a good time.

Thats it! It was the best of times, and the worst of times. Dust-induced asthma attacks, epic lightshows, nasty Italian sausages, Craig Finn's beer in my face, dirty hippies, and some straight up post-rocking. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go cough up dust and blood for about an hour.

Full sets

Stanton Moore Trio-Robert Walter tore up it. Lets just leave it at that.
James Blood Ulmer-Didn't know what to expect and left the set very happy.
Black Keys-Probably the most energectic set at Bonnaroo. That Tent was a mad house for this set
Railroad Earth-Really good
Hot Tuna-Better than expected
Xavier Rudd-Heard this guy's music the day before his set and had to see him and was not dissapointed.
T-Bone Burnett-Great set and real happy he played alot of material from his last album and his new album coming in January.
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys-Very good set



Partial Sets
Tool-Left early to get a spot for SuperJam, but the half of the set I did see was mind-blowing.
SuperJam-Left the set an hour and a half in, but the was blown away by JPJ's awesomeness.
The Police-Very good, enjoyed it alot.
The Flaming Lips-Unbelieveable is all I got to say.
Ornette Coleman-This was partial only because of unfortunate circumstances. Get well Ornette. The 45 mins he did play was the best set I saw the entire time at Bonnaroo.
North Mississippi All-Stars-Very good set
Mavis Staples-Really good set

The Flaming Lips! Holy CRAP, The Flaming Lips! I had always been aware of them and their music, but never got the chance to see them live. Color me converted.

Somebody graffiti'd "WAYNE COYNE 2008" on the wall near the arch. Very fitting.

Was anyone else sitting near the jerk at the very top of the VIP bleachers who heckled Wayne just about every time he talked in between songs? THAT was annoying.

I didn't catch many full complete sets, other than headliners... Just too much going on, too much to see. Uncle Earl w/ John Paul Jones was great, Lily Allen was a lot of fun. Clutch rocked my face off. Mute Math was killer. Tool are just too disgustingly good. Tom Morello was a nice highlight to the Tool set (Tom Morello and Adam Jones went to high school together).

Michael Franti was great. It's nice to see he's not quite as angry as he was during his Disposable Heroes days.

Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys were a lot of fun.

What else... Can't even think of it all right now. Way too much to process. This was our first and definitely not our last Bonaroooooooo!

Full sets:

TOOL: Long time tool fan, and it was my first time ever seeing them. AWESOME-O!!!!
STS9: Saw this directly after tool and in the right mindset.... AWESOME-O!!!! I also had no idea who these guys were besides that they made some kind of electronic music... WOW... I didn't realize it was a RAVE lol. This might have been my favorite show of the entire festival because I was SOOOOO suprised by what came out of the speakers. The naked short girl was pretty hot to, so yah... this set owned
The Black Angels: GREAT warm-up for what the rest of the festival was going to offer.
Cold War Kids: GREAT warm-up for the rest of Friday's shows, it really put me in the right mind to endure one of the best Fridays of my life!
The Roots: Supplied me with some great showmanship and entertainment before my favorite band (TOOL). The part where they did the spoofs on beats of club rap, and then intermission song by the guitarist was AWESOME. Especially when he started running around in the buffer zone while playing the electric (w/ wireless amp adapter")
The Police: Wasn't the best show, but it was like when your really drunk in the bar (which i was drunk ) and someone plays The Police on the jukebox and you sing to every song and make out... well yah.
Wolfmother: They totally suprised me and I might say they were better than the white stripes, but the stripes still win
Junior "MOTHER F***in" Brown: OK AWESOME, can any other word show how awesome this guy is on the guitar? IMO one of the top 3 if not #1 guitarist @ bonnaroo this year. Reminded me of a better Police show... where its types of songs you hear in bars in the south... when ur drunk.... lol.
The White Stripes: They started slow, but picked up to a pace that you were pissed if they were to stop. ALA, when they turned all of the lights off and made everyone on the sides of the stages start to clear out because they thought to show was over. Then renvigerated everyone once they came back on! (ALso if you were on the right side of the stage by the fence. Did you see the guy tripping in slow motion with a huge smile on his face?)
Hot Chip: WOW... I didnt realize they had THAT much energy live!!!! I thought their work was creative from their albums, but their live show BLOWS their recorded work strait into the trash. If these guys are coming to your local region i suggest you check them out!!!

Partial Sets:

Mute Math: only caught one song while walking by... and YES they were supposed to be my 2nd show of Friday, but i had been awake for over 24 hours and had to sleep, but listened to them all the way back to Camp Ferris Beuler.
The Richard Thompson Band: Ok... I don't even know who these guys were, but they rocked it nicely. I've always been a fan of the souther bluesy rock, and they just hit the spot after an excellent Cold War Kids performance.
Tortoise: Only caught 1 song, but didn't think that they were all that great in a non-night setting =/
Brazillian Girls: I caught 4 songs of theirs and it didn't affect me too much that the lead singer just seems like a Bjork Wanna-Be attention *****. She had great stage presence, but none the less i left.
Michael Franti & Spearhead: I caught only 2 songs from this group, but unlike most on this board they were unfortunately not my cup of tea.
The Nightwatchman: I caught his last 2 songs and it was great how he really interacted with the crowd and getting down to the common persons level!
Gogol Bordello: I was chilling by the metal statue of the head by the tree with the pods in it (on the back side where there was shade), and I listened to a good 50+ minutes of Gogol Bordello. WAY AWESOME... I gotta say, this band's live performance just blew away their recorded stuff. Maybe since i heard 50+ minutes of them i could count them as "Seen performances."
Keller William's WMD's: This is kind of the same as Gogol... I wasn't by the stage, but my concentration was directly on them for a good 50 minutes, and this guy definitely deserves a bigger tent than "The Other Tent."... BUT! His style of music definitely deserves a nice chill area to perform at, so in the end it worked out perfectly.
The Flaming Lips: Only stayed for half of the show, but it was everything I would have expected out of them..... BUT WAY MORE LOL!
The Decemberists: I only caught the last 2/3 songs by these guys (that cover WAS AWESOME!) and I have to say they were great performers and showmen/showwomen.
Widespread Panic: THOUGH I wasn't actually at the main stage ever for this show, from camp Ferris Beuler you could hear EVERYTHING in almost perfect detail (without sound deteriation). Not to mention being in the right state of mind at the time I could hear it near perfectly and it rocked!

I think I saw more complete sets this year than any other and most of them were bands I had heard very little or nothing about. It ended up being one of my most musically satisfying Roo's and I didn't see a bad set all weekend (yes, this includes The Police).

Complete Sets:

The Black Angels- Loved everything but the mopy keyboard player, she kept distracting me.
Rodrigo y Gabriela- Blown away! Singing "Wish You Were Here" was a religious experience I would put on par with singing "Tennessee Jed" in 2002.
Cold War Kids- Good pop-rock tunes and I dug the singer's voice.
The Roots- This was when I discovered "the pit". Pissed me off until The Roots came out and wiped my mind clean. Being a former sousaphone player myself I was impressed with Tuba Gooding, Jr. Best version of "Roxanne" all weekend.
Old Crow Medicine Show- Up there with Rod y Gab as the best sets for me of 2007. Loved the fact that the singer kept calling it "Mancatcher" as that is what I called Manchester when I was growing up there.
Ziggy Marley- Any Marley is better than no Marley at all, but Ziggy didn't disappoint although how he survived in that all denim outfit is beyond me.
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals- Great set. When the energy started to die down in the crowd out walks JPJ for a "Dazed and Confused" that melted faces. Tops it by bringing out Ziggy for "Get Up, Stand Up".
The Police- Loved the fact they didn't play a "greatest hit" show as I always felt their best songs were album tracks. Thought Stewart brought enough enthusiasm to make up for the other two, and I was impressed that Sting even realized he was in the state of Tennessee.
Pete Yorn- I liked it. He's got a good voice and seemed to enjoy playing to such a large crowd.
Wolfmother- I have a soft spot for three piece rock bands, so I really enjoyed the boys of Wolfmother. The frontman had a great enthusiasm to him that kind of infected me.
The Decemberists- The only downer for me during this set was the girl who moved in front of me after Wolfmother, sat down on my feet so I couldn't move my legs, and proceeded to stay seated through The Decemberists writing in her journal how awful they were. I decided to love them just to spite her. ;D
The White Stripes- The show that closed out Roo 2007 for me (sorry WP). As the sun went down and it finally started to cool off Jack and Meg come out and make us all jump around and get hot and sweaty all over again. A set that has converted this kind-of fan into a true devotee.

Partial Sets:

Ryan Shaw- Nice voice.
The National- Good songs.
Franti and Spearhead- Sounded great from the bobbleheads, but moved on since I couldn't get close.
Tool- Sounded great, but made the concious decision to leave to get a good spot for Superjam
Superjam- Body gave out about an hour in and had to walk away from my great spot right up front.
STS9- Got a piece of pizza before leaving Centeroo for the night and sat and caught some of this set.
The Flaming Lips- Ran back to the campsite to get my monk outfit on and ran back, but too late to get close so I just roamed the outskirts of the crowd.
Gov't Mule- Wandered over during the Lips to check out some Mule.
Sasha & Digweed- I was in the area for this whole set, but it is a partial because I split my time between the Other Tent and dancing in the Arcade to DJ Logic. When I got too hot in the arcade, I would dance out to Sasha & Digweed to cool off.

A great musical weekend, and I can proudly proclaim....

I SURVIVED DUSTAROO 2007!!!!!

After Rod y Gab melted my brain, I can't remember much else. Easily the best show of the weekend. If you missed that show I feel for ya.

Also saw all of:
FLips, STS9, Police, Ben Harper, John Butler
Parts of: Mule, Franti, Gogol, Stripes and many others incl/ a bunch of the small stages (Jazz, Mountain Music, etc.)

All in all saw fewer complete sets that normal but more amazing shows.