by Divemistress of the Dark on 23 Sep 2006 17:10
Well, I suppose there's no accounting for taste.
I live near the 'Roo venue and have been a couple of times...I don't know if I'll be dying to go back, honestly, because they have started to really oversell that venue and it's getting to where you can't get within a hundred miles of the stage. The organizers claimed it was 80,000 this year but we thought there were A LOT more than 2004 (plus breakdowns with the fountains and free water trucks on a 95 degree day, and vendors charging $4 for a tiny bottle of water, didn't help.) Also, another drawback is that many artists think playing 'Roo means they've played Nashville, when only about 15% of the 'Roo attendees are local.
We didn't stay for the headliner this year, Radiohead (which we had really wanted to see), because we were so far back we couldn't even see the jumbotrons clearly. At that point, it's way more about the drunk kids in front of and behind you, and trying to avoid being trampled by them as they start to "dance"...not my idea of fun.
Anyway, I saw several more bands (what I could see of them from far away, anyway) and I definitely thought Oysterhead's was one of the better sets. The only others that came close were Seu Jorge and the awesome Swedish band Dungen...but Bonnaroo is an outdoor concert and I thought their sound would have been much better in a club setting. Plus, again, it was frustrating having to concentrate more on the shoving and kicking coming from other audience members than on hearing the music, but maybe I'm just old...At least parking was better this year.
I guess I can see how some might have expected the band to be tighter, but they don't play together all that much, and I think the jam band aspect makes it more fun to listen to. Seems like the point is to listen to the songs and have fun, not revel in the musician-ness of it all...but then, others may (and probably will) disagree.
(Plus I love the weirdo lyrics and wild vocal effects...and the Whamola, plus Trey's antler-theremin thingy, made it all worthwhile for me. Trey looks like a kindly high school shop teacher, I think...
OK, I loved it. I'm not sure I can quantify exactly why, but I'm not sure it's always easy to put into words why you love any particular music.)
On Google - site:stewartcopeland.net "your keyword here" - thanks DM!!