Review: Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst (2008)

In the aftermath of last year's Bright Eyes album, Cassadaga, fans were left wondering if their fearful leader, Conor Oberst, had lost his ability to commiserate and conjure up words to describe the latent teenage sadness that lives in their hearts (speaking from experience much?) The album was a massive disappointment, lacking the simplicity of Fevers & Mirrors and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, the complexity of Lifted, the riskiness of Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and, most importantly, the nuanced lyrical prodigality of all three, for which Oberst is renowned.

On Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst's first "solo" release -- or rather, release not as Bright Eyes -- in over fourteen years (since age fourteen), he must walk the tight-rope of having developed two personalities since he first began recording himself in Omaha over half a lifetime ago. One is Bright Eyes, which began as a quavering voice, a lightly strummed guitar, and a tortured young soul. The spine chillingness with which Bright Eyes was able to deliver honest confessions of angst in a breaking, painful bark changed the face of indie music and remained in somewhat the same form until 2006's I'm Wide Awake. The other personality, Conor Oberst himself, loves bombastic blues and southern rock, along with performance-driven jams that make for very entertaining live shows, the likes of which tend to engulf any lyrical ability to the point of unrecognizability and insincerity. If there were any deeply emotional songs on Cassadaga, they were lost on most fans and critics. It's not that the album was bad as much as it just wasn't a Bright Eyes album...it was a Conor Oberst album.

That brings us to Conor Oberst (August 5, Merge Records), an almost-solo album, featuring The Mystic Valley Band, that attempts to blend the dual indie Bright Eyes-Oberst bluesrock personae. From open to close, Oberst is Oberst through and through. The musical simplicity and lyrical symbolism and minutia have returned, and it is clear from the opening notes of "Cape Canaveral" to the closing of "Milk Thistle" that he has not altogether abandoned his Bright Eyes self. Oberst has long been compared to Elliott Smith, and it has never shown more clearly than on "Lenders in the Temple," especially during the chorus "There's money lenders inside the temple/That circus tiger's gonna break your heart/Something so wild turned into paper/If I loved, well that's my fault." The words are clearly Oberst's, but the delivery is distinctly Smithian in its clarity and is virtually devoid of Oberst's previously signature vibrato bleating.

Still, Oberst manages to clear some room for his fresher self, maybe his truer self, in rocker songs like "Danny Callahan," "Sausalito," and "Moab," which are stylistically Cassadaga, but still attain timeless lyrical heights, of which we all know Oberst has always been capable. Even the musically predictable "Get-Well-Cards" is far more palatable than almost anything that appeared on Cassadaga (save for the deeply layered "No One Would Riot For Less"), but still can’t compare to even the meekest plea for help on his first cassettes. He only falters when attempting Spanish (the album was recorded in Mexico) on "Eagle on a Pole," in which he sings "El cielo es azul, just don't go telling everyone." On its own, this wouldn't be a bad lyric, but Oberst absolutely butchers the accent and ends up sounding...well...like someone from Omaha trying to speak Spanish. He isn't all stone-faced this time around though and, as their titles indicate, tracks like "Souled Out!!!" and "I Don't Want to Die (in the Hospital)" almost seem to poke fun at his younger, Bright Eyes self.

Conor Oberst is now twenty-eight years old. He was just a child when most of us fell in love with what he had to say and the beyond-Dylan pain with which he said it. Wide Awake was a reach for the past, and a beautifully successful one at that, and Cassadaga was an unsuccessful grasp at maturing before his time. But with Conor Oberst, he has managed to perform a miraculous balancing act of personalities. Our generation's sage has returned to form, speaking from our hearts through his own, and encouraging us not to resist his growth, but instead to join him in it.

A Rothbury Recap - Part V: Day 4 (Fin)

Sleeping in a tent overnight requires a strategic approach to staying warm, which involves closing all the flaps, pulling up the blankets, and huddling close together. Sleeping in a tent once the sun rises requires a considerable shift in tactics. Flaps come down, fans go on, damp covers are tossed to the floor, and the goal is to generally avoid baking as the sun quickly and unbearably heats the stale air. Sunday was the hottest morning yet (maybe because we hadn't gone to bed until the sun was getting ready to come up), and as it was the last day of the festival, it gave me the same feeling as the last day of college: it all went so fast; I wish I could do it all over again; and I'm somehow ready to move on.

And so, it was with a heavy heart that we ventured out of our stifling shelter and proceeded to break down the tent, pack up the car, and prepare for our long trip home. By the time we'd finished breaking camp, Day 4 was about to begin.

Most of the day was spent at The Odeum mainstage, with an all-too-brief aside at the Ranch Arena for John Mayer (more on this later). It was a day of some of the best guitarists out there: Rodrigo y Gabriela, Trey Anastasio, John Mayer, Warren Haynes, and Phil Lesh all took the stage on Sunday. Rodrigo y Gabriela kicked off the day's festivities with a set of their lightning-fast Spanish classical guitar meets acoustic heavy metal. Other than those positioned near the stage, the crowd was lazy, and the duo would have benefited greatly from a nighttime set that could have gotten the audience more involved. Their fingerwork, which seems impossible on their album and even more so in person, was impeccable. As if to make sure we believed what we saw, cameras were mounted and pointed downward from atop their guitar heads, picking up every intricate slap and scale for all to marvel at. In their thick Mexican accents, Rodrigo y Gabriela successfully woke up the slumberous crowd with such endearingly lost-in-translation phrases as, "I'm going to play crazy music for you now! Later gator." Crazy indeed. Some call it "just finger tapping," but as is proven by their debut Rodrigo y Gabriela, they have a sense of build and composition that other tappers like Justin King just haven't attained. And, in improving upon their record during the performance, both Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero traded long, jerky, often multi-part (though obviously scripted) solos that were simply awesome.

As the crowd poured out of The Odeum by the thousands to go see Colbie Caillat (just kidding, no one saw her...Trey was on next, after all!), we managed to push our way towards the front in preparation for Trey Anastasio's first official performance in eighteen months, following his many well-documented drug-related law enforcement struggles. The audience's mood was unlike anything I've ever experienced. I think the prevailing emotion was sympathy for Trey's situation and simple gratitude to have him back on the touring circuit. Of course, it didn't hurt that Phish members Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman were also at Rothbury, though Page McConnell made a point before the festival to assure fans that the imminent Phish reunion would NOT be happening at Rothbury. Still, the fans swayed and yelled and showed undying appreciation for Trey's release from house arrest. The set was very subdued, with Trey strumming shyly on his acoustic guitar for all seventeen songs. Phish "covers" were the focus, from an opener of Farmhouse's "Back on the Train" to A Picture of Nectar's "Chalkdust Torture" (featuring Phish bassist Mike Gordon), and Gordon was also featured on Anastasio's new tune "Alaska" and the Tom Marshall penned "Backwards Down the Number Line." The smile never left Trey's face, and his sheer bliss at playing to tens-of-thousands of adoring fans seemed to humble him to the point of shyness.

Regrettably, I never attended a legendary Phish concert, but Trey and Mike seemed to enjoy each others' company so much on stage that it made a reunion seem inevitable. This was nothing less than confirmed when Trey teased, "All we need now is a drummer and keyboardist." And they got it when Trey joined Gordon and his band to play during the entire set later in the day, and drummer Fishman guested during the finale on the sloppiest, most disjointed and inharmonious cover I've ever heard...and of The Beatle's "She Said, She Said" no less! It wasn’t a promising three-quarters reunion, and it was definitely unpracticed, but Phish has never shied away from exploring new things on stage. Regardless of quality, it was a welcome impromptu hoedown, and the next time the three are all on stage together it will hopefully be with McConnell, as a reunited Phish.

And then came the moment I'd been waiting for since February. John Mayer was finally getting the chance to prove himself to all of the doubters! People constantly link his arrogance and pretentiousness to their own uncertainty about his pop-turned-blues career, but Mayer was playing a festival, the one place where people are certain to show up with at least somewhat open minds. So how did he capitalize upon this golden opportunity? He started his set early! Though slotted to go on at 6:45pm, Mayer took the stage at about 6:15pm and played a range of his early songs, including the stagnant-since-2002 "Why Georgia" (a great song on the record, a dud live) and the most overplayed song of 2001 - 2003, "No Such Thing." Mayer also performed a weak and sololess interpretation of Clapton's classic "Crossroads," and an emotionless rendition of George Harrison's usually deeply moving "My Sweet Lord," which conspicuously lacked Harrison's proclamations of love and devotion to Hare Krishna. Despite his early start, the only one of the entire festival by any artist that I know of, Mayer was able to redeem himself at times, though they were few and far between. His new favorite tune, "Gravity," had a distinctly fresh feel and soaring solo. Other than that, the blues tune "Mercy," complete with more fiery solos, was the only song that really stood out in the set. And, to add insult to injury, Mayer cut the show short, ending at 8:10pm instead of his scheduled end time of 8:45pm. Again, he was the only artist I saw over four days of music who didn't play out the entire time slot. If you've read my blog before, you know that I am unequivocally a devout Mayer fan, and have never been one of the doubters. I've seen him several times, and was at his first ever blues-trio show in 2004. I know what he can do with a guitar. He has so much control over it, it becomes like his third arm. I also know that he has countless epic Hendrix jams in his repertoire, including "Red House," "Little Wing," Continuum's "Axis: Bold As Love," and TRY!'s "Wait Until Tomorrow." The skeptics in the crowd would have welcomed some hard blues, which was clearly lacking throughout the entire festival, but instead Mayer played to the girls-in-the-front-row types with more pop hits than anyone behind that front row cared to hear. There was a single beacon of hope when Mayer said, just before his premature encore break, that we were a "pull-it-out-of-you type of crowd." My heart leaped. What would it be? Who would come and play with him? Trey? Warren Haynes? What Hendrix tune did we extract from his catalog? He quickly doused the flame when he launched into a studio-replica of his latest chart topping single, "Say," which he didn't even attempt to spice up for the live show. If that's what we pulled out of him -- if that's what he thought we wanted to pull out of him -- he completely misread his audience and made some true mistakes by pandering (like McCain) instead of reaching across the aisle to convert the haters (like Obama). I know Mayer is the type to claim that he plays what he feels like playing and never does things just to impress the crowd, but anyone who prefers his more recent material had to feel very disappointed, as I did, by his performance on Sunday. The only positive of the entire performance was the encore, which consisted of the previously mentioned "Gravity" and "Stitched Up" from Herbie Hancock's duet album, Possibilities.

I left the Mayer show bitter and dejected. Hadn't I driven hundreds of miles to see him play? And he brings me what? Colbie Caillat, Brett Dennen, a bunch of old pop tunes, and two sub-sub-subpar covers of two incredible songs.

I waited near the backstage area, wishing I had a baseball bat, but the coward never showed to fight me like a man, so we moved on to the final concert of the festival. Phil Lesh & Friends, including a sit-in by Warren Haynes for the first handful of songs, provided a fitting atmosphere for the festival's end. The energy was high the closer you got to the stage and died as the more exhausted festivalgoers lay spent in the grass, alongside so many cigarette butts. The vibe was not at all like that during the Widepsread Panic sets, which had had the entire field of thousands dancing on the 4th of July until midnight. Lesh & Friends were smooth and easy to listen to, and the twinkling night sky was a peaceful backdrop. At midnight, after two hours of Lesh and almost fifty hours of music over four days, we barely had the energy to get up off the still lush grass on the field of The Odeum.

As we walked to the car, I couldn't shake that end-of-college feeling. I knew I had a struggle ahead in that twelve hour drive home, and also that I'd had the time of my life over the past four days. When I got home, the first thing I did was reset my countdown clock to July 2, 2009.

A Rothbury Recap - Part IV: Day 3

Having driven 804 miles across the country to a Ranch in northwest Michigan, I found myself completely separated from my ordinary routine. Yet on Saturday morning, I was transported back to my living room couch in Jersey City, New Jersey. I would have never imagined that Day 3 of Rothbury would find me propped in front of a TV, intently playing Guitar Hero. But that's just how Saturday began for me - at the Guitar Hero main stage with a crowd of about 20 others, awaiting my turn for a shot at winning some Guitar Hero: Aerosmith beer cozies and wristbands. We didn't have to wait long, as just a few minutes after arriving in front of the giant Guitar Hero RV I got my chance to play the Black Crowes' "Hard to Handle" against some stiff competition. Following a magnificent performance in which I won, of course, (otherwise I wouldn't be writing about it) and given our utter exhaustion following Friday's festivities, we decided to continue the day by taking it easy in the shade inside of the venue.

The Secret Machines were playing at the Ranch Arena, and we sat off to the side on the lush grass in the shade and allowed the music to provide a background for our relaxation. Their first songs flowed nicely as the early afternoon sun rose in the sky, and as it got harsher, so did their music. They were misfits, like Of Montreal, but their droning guitars and hard indie sound weren’t nearly as pleasant to hear after the novelty wore off. So we retired to a more appropriate shelter from the sun: Big Wildcat Lake.

"Big Wildcat Lake" is quite a misnomer; a more appropriate name might be "Muckbottom Lake" or "Filthwater Pond," but the dock and sand felt good in comparison to the hard ground and trampled grass that we were used to. From the lakeside, we could hear Sweet Japonic playing at the Wagon Wheel, one of Rothbury's only indoor venues (actually a log cabin). Their Allman Brothers sound was perfect for a hot day by the lake, and we sat listening and people watching for a couple of hours. Looking around me, I noticed in particular how many families I saw in the water. There were mothers and fathers on the docks and children doggie-paddling their way through the muck. And it wasn’t just down by the lake. Families sat together in the forest and at the venues. Children played together in the shade with their parents keeping one lax eye on them and another on the stage. Overall, I was stunned at how many young children were at the festival. Rather than judging their parents as irresponsible for exposing them to such a subversive culture so early in life, I found myself admiring their parents’ courage in showing their children how happy people can really come together when they rally around a cause, be it music or environmentalism. Rothbury was a land of imagination, of vivid colors, of men on stilts and women with painted-on clothing, and of strangers being regarded as close friends rather than dangerous kidnappers. For adults and kids alike, the atmosphere was a positive one that is unmatched in the world outside.

Our day continued with some concert hopping: a little Gomez here (an initially boring set that turned into something that I regretted having to leave), some Dresden Dolls there (playing to a small crowd has its benefits -- their energy was astounding for a duo and kept everyone on their feet and cheering), and finally to The Odeum to see Citizen Cope. Cope was hyped as one of the big names of the festival, but his performance had very little production value and wasn't all that attention grabbing. His music is distinctly derived from hip-hop, yet the live show lacked the punchy drums, heavy bass, and sampling (especially on tunes like “Let the Drummer Kick,” which lacked all of its originality) that make the Cope albums so unique and genre nonspecific. All that remained were his irritatingly monotone vocals and a four piece band that struggled to retain the attention of those in the crowd that were not die-hard Cope fans.

Luckily, one bad show does not define a day, or even an hour, at a festival. From Citizen Cope we returned to Sherwood Court to see Medeski Martin & Wood sitting in a tight triangle. How they stay on beat or in the same ever shifting keys is beyond me, but watching them communicate telepathically on stage, treating the vast field as if it were the Village Vanguard or the Blue Note, was far beyond my musical comprehension. Jazz is one thing, and complex enough as it is, but the type of fusion that MMW play is above and beyond the classification of "jazz" or "fusion" and fits into an unnamable category all its own. After they were done blowing my mind, it was Derek Trucks' turn to take the stage with jazz singer Susan Tedeschi behind the mic.

Trucks, a sometimes-member of the Allman Brothers Band (starting officially at age 20, though he had toured extensively with them even before that), is a master of the slide guitar, and his decades of experience even at a young age shine through in every album and every performance. Hazy and exhausted, we laid down on the dusty, hard ground at Sherwood Court, which had been decimated by thousands of dancing feet during the first two days, and were lulled into a shallow sleep in the evening sun. When we awoke, Trucks and Tedeschi were just winding down the set, but I could hear his versatile slide emulating her voice to perfection. I wish that his guitar had been a little louder in the mix, but what I could hear was exactly what I expected. Though I regretted missing any of the set, the nap was much needed. Our night was just beginning.

Dave Matthews Band, a group that I have seen fifteen times now, came onstage with the setting sun at 9:00pm (the sun doesn't finish setting until 10:30pm in Rothbury) and kicked the show off right, with their epic "Seek Up." Guitarist Tim Reynolds is on this tour with them, taking the place of absent keyboardist Butch Taylor, and he served his role well at first. His riffs were short and attention grabbing, but didn't become distracting until much later. During "So Damn Lucky," the anthem by Dave Matthews & Friends (of 2003), Reynolds was given a bombastic solo that encompassed the theme of the evening: over production. Just as their latest two or three studio albums have been far too produced, this show was made into such a noisy and brightly lit spectacle that it took away from the music. The jams were sometimes perfect, as in the highlight of the show, "#41," when substitute saxophonist Jeff Coffin (of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones fame) soloed for at least ten minutes, dancing his soprano and tenor saxes between rhythms and notes, and even directing the rest of the band with him into a cover of a Fleck tune. The band benefited from his soloing, but greatly missed member LeRoi Moore's written lines, which were uncomfortably delivered by his emergency fill-in. Similarly, Taylor’s jazz influence was greatly missed during jams, but his overfilling organ was a welcome subtraction from the rest of the mix. Dave's energy and wit, now cornerstones of the DMB experience, kept the mood light, as demonstrated by his mid-set quip that after the show he planned to sit in the hammocks in Sherwood Forest and "try to touch the moon with my tongue."

The only way to spend Saturday night at a festival, prior to touching celestial bodies with your tongue, is to experience a blowout four-hour set from Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9). At midnight, lasers and laptops blazing, they stepped in front of the eager, dance-ready crowd. STS9 is a powerhouse band -- not just because of their five immensely talented members and carefully crafted songs (which often have upwards of four revolving parts) -- but because each member also runs his own samples through a laptop or, as with the drums, a trigger system. Just like Thievery Corporation the night before, STS9 seamlessly blended many different genres from across the globe with American hip-hop, funk, and rock styles (and even some British trip-hop) to create the most danceable music I've ever heard. On top of the music, the show's lightshow and glowstick wars created a visually stunning effect unlike anything I've ever witnessed. Seeing hundreds of thousands of glowsticks fly through the air every time a song changed was like the most head-turning, eye-popping iTunes visualizer imaginable. The party raged on until the wee hours, and at about 2:45, after well over twelve hours of music that day, we headed to bed.

With similarly captivating artists A3 and Crystal Method playing just across the forest, though, STS9 had a constant flow of 40,000 Rothbury attendees at their mercy until 4:00am, when they finally capped their set and sent the exhausted masses back into the forest (only some went back to their tents) for a brief sleep before Rothbury's last day.

Tomorrow - Part V: Day 4!

A Rothbury Recap - Part III: Day 2

"Let's detoxify so we can retoxify..."

And so began Day 2, in a massive yoga class on the grass under the Tripolee Domes. It was a fairly advanced group, and very willing to exert a surprising amount of effort at 10:00am on the day following many road (and acid) trips. I haven't gone into crow pose in years, and my travel-weary body and involuntary groans made me feel geriatric next to the spry hippies that so easily levitated themselves onto their hands.

Feeling physically and mentally ready for the day, there was only one place to go: shopping. The campgrounds and venue were riddled with art booths, clothing shops, smoke shops, glass art, food stands, incense makers, and various other hippie-wares. I got myself a fresh bandana, and then it was on to our next stop: the main stage.

Friday was a day spent at The Odeum, enjoying some of the biggest acts that Rothbury had to offer (so was pretty much every other day). The Wailers kicked it off for us, and what I thought would be a big thrill ended up generating about as much energy as a speech by John McCain (ZING!). Don't get me wrong...it was fun to see Marley's band up there, playing his songs and channeling his art, and they did so just as well as they ever have. "I Shot the Sheriff" sounded as timeless as it is, and the crowd reacted very favorably to the Wailer's Marley-filled set. But the performance reeked of The Police at Bonnaroo 2007, full of call-and-response time wasters and other audience participation exercises that are targeted primarily toward either a) the front row or b) everyone over the age of 50.

We left after The Wailers’ set to go see Sam Beam (of Iron and Wine), who was playing on the smaller main stage at the Ranch Arena. He was stoned...very stoned. His complex play was a little sloppy, and he stumbled over his words a few times; but he took his mess-ups in stride, casually joking with the crowd about his altered mental state and putting on a jovial yet emotional solo acoustic set. I'm not sure why he was booked without the rest of Iron and Wine, but coming off of the sensational The Shepherd's Dog, I'd like to see them do some full-band performances at future festivals. While Sam Beam is inarguably the driving force behind the band, and his songs were charmingly intimate during the solo set, they lacked all of the umph that makes them so memorable and riveting on the album and in most live shows.

Before Beam was able to finish his set, we ran back to The Odeum just in time to see Snoop Dogg, aka Snoop Doggie Dog, aka Snoopaloop, take the stage via a gleaming white motorcycle. He looked -- and I would have expected nothing less -- absolutely obscene in long black shorts, a white t-shirt, and roughly six tons of chains and rings (aka "bling"). His MC was screaming things like "Biotch" and "Can I get a Hell yea?" at the top of his lungs, and continued to do so on the last beat of every song during the performance. From "Gin and juice" to "Nuthin' but a G Thang" to "Drop it Like It's Hot," the hits just kept on coming. Now, I could easily go on a rant about how they all sounded EXACTLY THE SAME (which they did) or about how ridiculous it is to have a grown man yell "BIOTCH" (which was amplified further by an echo effect) to end every song. But I'm not going to. What I am going to rant about is the fact that on at least eight separate occasions, Snoop Dogg and his MC referred to the Rothbury crowd as East Lansing – as in "Wussup, East Lansing?!" or "How ya'll doin, East Lansing?" or "Yo, East Lansing, it's 4:20...who wants to see Snoop light this huge blunt and smoke it in front of ya'll?" (We all did, of course.) There was no evidence that Snoop and his posse had any clue where they were. The festival, called the Rothbury Festival, located in Rothbury, Michigan, is over 100 miles away from East Lansing, where Snoop 'n Crew were scheduled to play later in the week. There's no better way to lose the respect of a crowd than to hilariously and continually refer to them as a place that they're not in. Luckily, everyone was just as high as Snoop, so no one seemed to mind.

The most glaring aspect of Snoop's performance, aside from his complete lack of geographical sensibility, was the overabundance of white people at the Rothbury Festival. From on stage, Snoop must have been completely disoriented as to his whereabouts because of the glare from all the sunscreened, sweaty, hippie-dancing white people...so that should accurately explain his East Lansing confusion.

In a day of headliner after headliner, the next up was one that I looked forward to seeing for only one reason: so I could confirm my already staunchly held beliefs that they are the most overrated band since Nickelback. I am talking about none other than hard-rock-jammers 311. I have never understood what is at all enjoyable or redeeming about 311 and, aside from the mildly pleasant "Amber" (which fans tell me is like the ever-irritating "Crash" to their Dave Matthews Band), I'd honestly rather puncture my eardrums beyond repair than listen to a single note. And a single note is about all I needed. We stayed for two songs before retreating to the shade of the forest around the Ranch Arena to hear Jon Fishman (of Phish) play with Yonder Mountain String Band.

Bluegrass is a strange animal. There's something very eerily Confederate about a banjo and washboard, though there's also something pleasant and provincial. At a festival, it is decidedly the most versatile music, as it is both danceable and kick-backable. It was so kick-backable, in fact, that we fell asleep in the grass after a while and soon decided to move our slumberous party back to the tent for a nap and some home-grilled veggies (it was an added incentive that the in-venue meals were a baseball-stadium-minimum of $7).

We ate and slept for a bit longer than we'd planned, and got back in time to catch the end of Widespread Panic's first set (the perfect appetite whetter), the middle of Of Montreal's overlapping set (indie-rockers to whom I didn't pay enough attention due to my anticipation of the next set), and the entirety of Widespread Panic's second glorious performance of the night.

I'd never seen WP before they closed out Bonnaroo last year, and I was so exhausted by then that it was all I could do to stay awake long enough to make it to their show, let alone actually pay attention. This time it was different. It was night 2, it was July 4, it was set 2, and we were fresh off a nap. If you've never listened to Widespread Panic, that's OK, but if you've never seen them perform you're really missing out. As proof of the incredible show, I offer the following anecdote:

I don't dance. Ever. I'll bob my head and tap my feet, but I'll never get the arms involved, and I'll never EVER turn or spin or cause myself to move in such a way as to risk losing my balance. But from 10:30pm - midnight on July 4, 2008 I could not stop dancing (yes, hippie-dancing, but still!). And I wasn't shy about it either. It started out innocently enough: I looked to my left, saw a beautiful lady, and started to dance with her. We laughed, and my urge to gyrate briefly subsided. Then, as I reached down to pick up the glowstick that had just hit me in the back of the head and position it snugly between my fingers, I began to stir once again. This time it wasn’t with a girl, but with the music. I've never had that urge, and over the course of the next two days I would try to recreate it often, and fail each time. But for 90 minutes on the anniversary of the day our country was born, I learned that sometimes you just need to let go of your inhibitions, grab a couple of glowsticks, and do what feels good. No drug can compare to the euphoria that I felt just swaying and turning and flailing to the music.

That being said, Widespread Panic gets my award for Best Band of the Festival. Everyone expected it, as they're true veterans of the festival circuit, but the performance exceeded my hopes even having already experienced them. Something special happened out on the field of The Odeum that night, and the collective joy and excitement of the thousands in attendance was celebrated in the only way possible: at the exact moment that Widespread panic hit their final note, the sky over the main stage exploded with midnight fireworks. There's nothing Americans love more than getting together to listen to music, eat a lot, litter, do drugs, and blow shit up high in the sky. And baby, we had it all!

After the fireworks, Rob Garza (drum machine) and Eric Hilton (processing and effects), the leaders of Thievery Corporation, took to the Sherwood Court stage in front of what appeared to be the largest crowd that any band had yet seen. The atmosphere was electric, and we were rammed right into the middle of it all. I made a point of noting how many different genres of world music Thievery evoked during their massive set, and when I looked at my notepad after the show, I'd written the following: India, Brazil, Middle East, Reggae, Rap, Latin, Hip-Hop and Japan/China. But their genres more generally encompass jazz, dub, and a mix of classical sounds from the styles and nations mentioned above. In describing the borderless global bliss of a Thievery Corporation show, I defer to my own expertise on the subject. This time around, they were playing to a crowd at least ten-times the size of the 9:30 club, and they came into Rothbury as a dark horse for “Best Performance.” The buzz the next day said it all. Thievery put on THE surprise performance of the festival, pleasing clubbers and jammers and Sherwood Forest dwellers alike. The bass was soul-piercingly loud in a way that made my heart beat along with it, and the glowsticks, which were flying high by the thousands, let me know that my fellow Rothburians felt the same way. Most impressive was TC's lineup on stage, which consisted of (in addition to Garza and Hilton) two percussionists (one on bongos and accessories, and one on congas), a sitarist/guitarist pulling double duty, a bassist, and alternating singers: one for Middle Eastern pieces, one for Hindi pieces, one for Brazilian and other Latin pieces, and two groups of three rappers and Rastas for -- you guessed it! -- rap and reggae. Oh and there was a belly dancer for good measure.

We were transfixed from start to finish, and when the show was over at 2:00am, though the dance parties would rage on into the morning, there was nothing for us to do but go to bed, in the hopes that Day 3 would provide us with even a fraction of the awe-inspiring music that did Day 2.

A Rothbury Recap - Part II: Day 1

A festival is a lot like a marathon. But instead of running 26.2 miles, it involves staying up for 17 hour days, braving the hot sun, and attending 14 hours worth of concerts each day while, for some people, drinking and doing loads of drugs. Both are physically and mentally draining, and both often involve pushing your lungs to their full capacity (from dancing…obviously).

Day 1 of Rothbury really set the tone for the whole weekend. We kicked off our musical experience at the Tripolee Domes with a funkysmooth performance by Underground Orchestra. They quickly got us in the mood to groove, but with so much else to see, we couldn't in good conscience stick around for too long. During our explorations we came across the intensely magical and captivating Sherwood Forest (complete with a "secret stage" for acoustic performances), climbed into some hammocks (available to all who could grab one before the masses found out about them), and listened to the Kyle Hollingsworth Band (of String Cheese Incident fame) for a while. I'd never heard him without the rest of String Cheese before, but his use of Latin rhythms and instruments drew us close to the stage like flies to the Porta Pottie. By the end of the show, we had abandoned our nymph status and taken to the Sherwood Court stage to see Hollingsworth finish out a surprisingly jazzy and worthwhile set. He's a priority for me the next time he's in town.

From there, we moved to the Ranch Arena, the smallest of the three main stages, but the one most surrounded by lush green forests and easily accessible shady spots. We arrived just in time to catch the start of Zappa Plays Zappa, the aptly named band that is headed by Dweezil Zappa, son of the late great Frank Zappa. The songs are all his father's, and if you've never heard Zappa before I can only describe his music as complete and utter insanity...in a good way. Each song is carefully and dissonantly orchestrated, and has multiple "characters," which are each portrayed by Zappa and other band members putting on different voices. I had only dabbled in his early prog-rock before this, but I've already downloaded his "Best of" album.

It was around this time that the exhaustion of a 12-hour car ride, music-and-sun-filled day set in, and we had to make our most difficult decision of the festival: to skip the Disco Biscuits. I've heard incredible things about their live shows, and the next day people were buzzing with excitement about how they had electrified the crowd. Luckily, it was the only major act of the festival that we skipped, and it was a wise decision to pace ourselves on the first night. Besides, the Biscuits will be in town sometime soon I'm sure, and I'll be more awake than I ever could've been after the driving, setting up our tent, and then taking a two hour nap in the sun (just let me rationalize, please).

Instead of the Biscuits, we retreated to the Tripolee Domes to see Lotus play their signature electro-trippy-jam band set for the (relatively) small crowd that had gathered. In my zombified state, I can't say I was conscious enough to really appreciate and enjoy it as much as I have previously enjoyed listening to their tunes, and after about a half hour of half-dancing, half-swaying to the music we couldn't take it any more...we retired to our luxurious tent, complete with queen-sized mattress, to sleep off the drive and prepare for three fully packed days of music.

Tomorrow - Part III: Day 2

A Rothbury Recap - Part I: The Mission

"Rothbury is committed to harnessing the spirit of the music festival community into a durable social movement. Rothbury is created by people who are passionate about music, and about live music in particular. We are captivated by the unique experience that a perfect musical moment offers; when we transcend beyond individuals and into a collective. It's a connectedness that invites palpable inspiration and real opportunity to create a lasting change. This is the Rothbury mission."

A twelve-hour car ride from DC, through Maryland, West Virgina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan, including a 9-hour-plus chronological discography of The Beatles (a la the trip to Bonnaroo 2007), thunderstorms, fireworks, coffee, and Cheez-its...

Thus began a journey to the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Michigan. In its inaugural year, the Rothbury Festival 2008 set out to improve upon the modern festival's massive environmental impact and, even further, on the festivalgoers’ overall consciousness of our collective and individual environmental footprints. Rothbury’s goal to "throw a HUGE party...with a purpose" showed through in every aspect – from the hundreds of composting and recycling bins, to the sugarcane and corn-based cutlery (compostable), to the pocket ash trays, to the use of clean energy and carbon-offsetting, to the daily Think Tanks with popular artists...You can find the entire extensive and impressive commitment here: http://rothburyfestival.com/festival/our_commitment.php

Thousands of tons of garbage and millions of tons of cigarette butts are generated each year at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, et al., and given the current hot-button issues of climate change/global warming/overall planetary destruction via human ignorance and ineptitude, Rothbury attempted something truly valiant: get a bunch of people together who talk the talk, and get them to walk the walk.

Despite the environmentally sound premise, Rothbury was a party and festival first, and a forum for social change second. For four days in early July, upwards of 50,000 people from all 50 states met on Michigan's west coast and partied hard. Drugs were overabundant, beer and liquor flowed from dawn to well beyond dusk, and glow sticks littered the air and ground in the hundreds of thousands. (I'll get to the music in due time – see Parts II – V, soon to come, for day-by-day breakdowns.)

Producer Jeremy Stein and Madison House worked hard to follow through on their promises of eco-consciousness and thoughtful celebration, and people seemed willing to comply at least with the simplest aspects of enviro-friendliness. Listening to artists speak during Think Tanks, properly disposing of waste in compost and recycling cans, and making do with the mere one napkin that came with each food purchase came easily to the masses. But cigarette-butts, used glowsticks, and Nitrous Oxide balloon waste were rampant in the campgrounds and the venues.

I was surprised to see how easily people made small adjustments, but also how difficult it was for us to stop our own self-destructive behaviors at the behest of our environment. I'm not sure that there's a remedy for the Nitrous balloon problem (other than...not inhaling Nitrous from balloons or even (GASP) throwing them away after using them?), but the aforementioned ash trays were not as accessible as they could have been. If the festival provides an ashtray to every participant upon entering the site next year, that will be one less thing – or, rather, thousands fewer things -- they'll have to clean up.

For a first-year festival, the organizers did well to provide enough shade (via "Sherwood Forest" and tents scattered across the site) and interactive elements (creating "recycled" artwork over the course of the four days, providing batting cages and other sports, having a Guitar Hero RV...the list could go on for days) to keep the entertainment-hungry crowd more than occupied. Between six stages (and one secret stage in the forest), hundreds of organic food and clothing shops, and spinning monkeys (you'll have to attend next year to figure that one out), even the most weathered and cynical festivalgoer was entertained and swept up in the Rothbury moment.

I hardly consider myself a wily veteran when it comes to music festivals. This was my second, and almost certainly not my last. The "come as you are" and "love everyone as you love yourself" vibe was spiritually infectious, to the point of non-drug-induced euphoria. I only hope that Stein manages to keep the same feel for next year's festival (which is confirmed in the planning stages as of today). Rothbury is undoubtedly a new institution in American music festivals, and it has improved on key components that other festivals lack: fantastic weather, environmental sustainability, and four days of non-stop, mindblowing music.

Tomorrow -- Part II: Day 1

Rothbury Music Festival

So, over here in my world June is known as "Slacking Month," and so I wasn't allowed to post more than one blog entry. But July is going to be known as "So Many Blog Posts That I Almost Get Fired" month. Tomorrow begins a new adventure in American Music Festivals called Rothbury.

It's taking place in Rothbury, Michigan at the Double JJ Ranch (along the west coast) from Thursday 7/3 - Sunday 7/6. The acts are too awesome to even name here, but you can check it all out at rothburyfestival.com.

The festival itself is being run a bit differently from the usual drugs-and-booze-and-garbage fests, of which I only have firsthand experience with Bonnaroo. I can attest to the mountains 'pon mountains of garbage that are generated at these things, and for Rothbury to attempt a sustainable, no-carbon-footprint 4 day festival is something that has thus far gone under the radar, but I hope will change the way these festivals are run. The music is some of the best I've seen in a single lineup and the people that it's drawing seem to be of a different breed than the...how should I put this...less conscious crowd of festival goers.

Upon my return on Tuesday, you can expect an onslaught of concert reviews and day-by-day festival recaps and new music reviews, oh my! I wish you all a happy 4th of July and an excellent weekend...stay tuned next week when I open the gates and the wordflood begins!