Bonnaroo 2009: Day 4

There was almost a feeling of defeat when I awoke on the last day of Bonnaroo, knowing that the fog would soon be lifted and I would have to sink back into reality. But thanks to my friend Miller Lite, who reminded me that the whole 'reality' thing wouldn't start until Monday morning.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists



Finally, Ted Leo! I've been waiting years to see this prolific songwriter and his pharmacists, and even though it was only an hour set, it was more than worth it. The foursome powered through the Shake The Sheets opener "Little Dawn" and The Tyranny of Distance's "Parrallel Or Together" before treating the audience to a handful of new songs from (presumably) a new album, although no name or release date have been set. Classics like "Me and Mia" and "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone" sounded dead on, even though there was no round on the end of "Rude Boys." After the guys did "Timorous Me" and a new song, Ted announced they had one more. I thought, "Biomusicology," but instead I yelled "Stove By A Whale!" as a half-joke (as that song is about 8 minutes long and didn't seem likely). "We'll see how far we get with this one," spoke Ted, and blasted into the chords to..."Stove By A Whale." I rule.

Andrew Bird



Ahh, the soothing sounds of Andrew Bird. What's incredible about him is how good and real the whistle sounds. I kind of always thought it was prefected and tweaked for the studio recordings, but boy was I wrong. The Birdman's set relied heavily on tunes from his amazing album The Mysterious Production of Eggs, from the jittery-skittery "Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left," to the soft-epicness of "Fake Palindromes," and the Latin-influenced "Skin Is, My." This show was the polar opposite of the smart-punk Ted Leo just put on, so it was a nice and relaxing change of pace. That didn't stop one kid near me from dancing in his socks with one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen on his face. It was hysterical, and it kinda makes me wish I took something.

Snoop Dogg



Excellent. Snoop Dogg. I think it says a lot about me as a person that I have been listening to Doggystyle since I was in second grade. I was I was kidding. To say I thoroughly enjoyed this would be an understatement, even though Snoop spent most of the time just asking the crowd what his name is. It wasn't exactly about the music, but the experience of seeing Snoop Dogg. It didn't hurt that he played "Deep Cover," "Lodi Dodi," "Gin 'N Juice," and "What's My Name" either. He could've come out and started preaching about Barack Obama and it wouldn't have mattered: Snoop had the audience in the palm of his hand the entire time.

Phish

Yes, Phish again. They closed Bonnaroo. Once again, I will say that they are extremely talented and deserve to be on thier nearly sold-out reunion tour right now making a victory lap across the land. They just don't really do anything for me. UNTIL...



Yeah, holy hell. They did "Mustang Sally," "Bobby Jean," and "Glory Days." Trey Anastasio is a huge fan of his, and good lord did this help.

And that, my friends, was Bonnaroo. It was exhausting, but worth the trip. Is this something I would do every year? No. If the lineup is awesome in a few years and I rent an RV? Yes. Every music enthusiast should go to something like this at least once.