6.12.2010 - Bonnaroo Day 3
June 30, 2010
Bonnaroo
Manchester, TN
We'd been looking forward to this Bonnaroo day for a while...it was finally Brandi day!! We are big Brandi Carlile fans, if you couldn't tell... So naturally, we got to That Tent at 10:30 - over 3 hours prior to Brandi taking the stage at 1:45. We gathered a filthy black sheet and someone's discarded "Neat Sheet" to cover up some sticky lemonade that someone had spilled by the rail at the front, then sat down to hold our spots for the show.
Langhorne Slim played right before Brandi. He's a singer/songwriter, and puts a hell of a lot of energy into his live shows. This guy was bouncing around constantly - moving all over the stage from standing on the speakers set up in front of the stage to jumping off of the kick-drum. At one point during his set, a kid wearing a "Langhorne Slim" shirt appeared onstage. The kid jumped around with him during a song, then stood up there awkwardly until the band tried to shoo him offstage, and a guy in the photo pit had to help him down.
Then it was time for Brandi Carlile and crew to take the stage. It is easily the hottest of Bonnaroo days thus far, and within minutes, Phil has sweated through his long-sleeve button-up shirt. They played a typical bar or theater set, with the exception of the acoustic portion. That just wouldn't have resonated with the venue or the crowd. The band had a great energy level, even though they were sweating their asses off. Tim had on a great shirt - it had some Hebrew lettering, and underneath it said "Shalom Y'all". Hilarious!
Here's the setlist from that show:
- Josh (Cello Intro)
- Oh Dear
- Looking Out
- What Can I Say
- My Song
- Closer To You/I've Just Seen a Face (Beatles Cover)
- Dreams
- Turpentine
- The Story
- Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash Cover)
- Pride and Joy
- Mad World (Tears for Fears Cover)
It was so miserably hot after that show, that we decided to hang under the broo'ers tent and take advantage of the shade. We heard some of Norah Jones' set, and The Avett Brothers, but the heat and threat of thunderstorms was enough to keep us from wandering closer to the Which Stage to get a better listen/view.
We headed to the Sonic Stage for the acoustic version of Brandi Carlile's set after cooling off. The crowd was a LOT smaller there, and Brandi, Tim and Phil played a great five-song set. The lady in charge of introducing bands on this stage was a crack-up. She kept saying how great the band was, and how "sassy" Brandi is. A very odd word to describe her if you ask me, but then again, no one did :)
After a short period of rain, we made our way back to That Tent to catch some of John Prine's set. We aren't familiar with his music, but there were some true die-hard fans there to see him. From what I gather, he's a legend in country music. This was the place to find a lot of the older Bonnaroo crowd on a Saturday afternoon.
Then it was time to head to the main stage - the What Stage for Stevie Wonder followed by Jay-Z. Stevie Wonder still sounds amazing. He is one of those guys that sings a TON of popular songs that you don't even remember are his until you hear him belting them out just as impressively as he did 20 or 30 years ago. He really is an institution in the music industry. The lawn area was packed for his show, and we had quite a few high and crazy dancers around us, which was the only thing detracting from the experience.
We only stayed for a few songs of Jay-Z's set, but he sounded good as well. Instead of Alisha Keys, some random female vocalist sang with him on "Empire State of Mind", but she was pretty decent. Not a bad way to end another great day of music at Bonnaroo.
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