Some final random thoughts on Bonnaroo 2007:

* It didn’t rain this year, but I almost wish it had. Rain would have kept the dust from choking everyone at the festival. Half of the festivalgoers looked like bandits in a Western, with bandanas tied across their face to try and keep the grit at bay. I had to have my contacts polished today to get rid of the grime. It’s probably unwieldy, but with everyone complaining about the dust, it’d be nice if the Bonnaroo folks could figure out a way to water the grounds slightly to keep it down.

* Just before The Police encore, drummer Stewart Copeland grabbed the mike and announced, “Sting will shortly be taking his clothes off and dancing naked among you. And if he doesn’t, I will.” So Sting - he’s 55 years old - took off his shirt. He was ripped. Women swooned.

* Speaking of Copeland, his drumkit rivaled Rush’s Neil Peart for sheer size and complexity. And Copeland, one of the greatest drummers in rock history, made use of every piece, from the gong to the chimes.

* Best T-shirt seen at Bonnaroo: “Little Lebowski Urban Achiever.”

* I wish people would actually listen to the lyrics of songs. By one estimate, “Every Breath You Take” has been played on the radio more than 6 million times. Surely everyone has heard it a minimum of 1,000 times. The song sounds beautiful, but it’s a creepy song about obsession. And yet, while Sting sang it, some young couple swayed and held each other as if  it was a love song. Boneheads.

* We decided that the generally mellow vibe - we didn’t see a single fight - was in part due to the fact that Bonnaroo is a stoner festival, instead of a drinking festival (although alcohol was certainly consumed). I wish I could’ve opened a tent selling nothing but Doritos. I’d be rich.
* Every year, organizers try to hold a mini-concert for the media as a “thank you.” This year, it was the Cold War Kids joined by Elvis Perkins in Dearland. The two bands joined to play four acoustic songs in the media tent, and it was very well-received. By the way, Elvis Perkins is the son of “Psycho” star Anthony Perkins.

That’s all I have from Bonnaroo 2007. Thanks for reading…

Wow. I survived Bonnaroo. And I finally showered again after two straight days of filth, grime and dust (our RV ran out of water). I stood 20 yards from The Police and 30 yards from Wilco. I saw more music in four days than I had for most of this year combined. I was introduced to new artists I hope to see again (the Cold War Kids, Elvis Perkins in Dearland), heard the amazing Gillian Welch for the first time and saw old favorites I’d almost forgotten how much I liked (Pete Yorn, the White Stripes). All in all, an amazing experience.

But I don’t think I ever enjoyed a shower as much as I did the one tonight…

For the first time in more than 20 years, The Police played a show in Tennessee. Some 80,000 people clogged a cow pasture in Manchester to see the reunited band play Bonnaroo.
And the show was fantastic, it really was.
Except…
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There’s hardly any such thing as a perfect concert for a fan. The setlist is never exactly what you want, or the band isn’t quite in the best mood.
Today’s Fountains of Wayne concert came pretty darned close. Okay, they didn’t play everything I wanted to hear. In fact, I ran into Chris Collingswood and Adam Schlesinger in the media tent beforehand, and offered them 10 bucks apiece if they’d play “Troubled Times,” quite possibly their best song and the one I always use to convert people into FoW fans. They didn’t bite, though, claiming it wasn’t exactly festival material. I upped the offer to 15 bucks American. No dice.
But otherwise, the show was nearly perfect. The band seemed pleasantly surprised that so many people at a historically jammy festival was into their pop sound. They ran through a fantastic setlist, with highlights like “I’ve Got a Flair” and “No Better Place,” “Hackensack” and “Hey Julie.” And of course, they played their megahit from a couple years back, “Stacy’s Mom.”
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Day three is here, and before the shows get started, the media are being treated to a special acoustic performance by Elvis Perkins and the Cold War Kids. Should be entertaining…
I wanted to try and describe the flavors of humanity here at Bonnaroo. First and foremost, you have the hippies. You’ve never seen more ink in your life, in just about every cliched tattoo imaginable: crosses, suns, dragons, whatever. You’d think if you were going to permanently ink your body, you’d at least be imaginative about it.
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Well, the second day of Bonnaroo is almost over, at least for me. The night closes with Tool and the SuperJam. Uh, metalheads and a bunch of jammers playing one song for three straight hours? i think I’ll pass.
But the day? Wow. I saw three bands, each one better than the first.
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I never in my life thought I’d be here: Bonnaroo, the four-day music festival in Middle Tennessee.
The reasons why? Jam bands. Hippies. And did I mention jam bands? My rule of thumb: a song should start and end in four minutes or less. It takes jam bands that long to finish the first chord.
So Bonnaroo never appealed to me. Until this year. For whatever reasons, the producers scaled back the jam-band aspect, adding acts like The Police, Fountains of Wayne, Pete Yorn and Wilco. Sure, the jam bands are still here, and the hippies have followed them, but at least there are other options for music fans.
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