Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
This year will be my first roo, and I am excited beyond all comprehension. The more I read on here, the more pumped I get. I have noticed that everything always sounds quite amazing. In previous years has there been any artist that just absolutely sucked or was a complete dissapointment? just wondering...
Post by suitcasemurphy on May 3, 2007 14:52:57 GMT -5
Everyone is amazing for the most part.... But there is high expectations that lead some to come back after roo (on these boards) and say "that show sucked" or "they didn't bring it" or YOU GET the point. I've been to all five roo's and have seen tens of hundred great-amazing-one of a kind shows from bands. But I have also seen a few duds.
Gabby La La (not my thing) Bob Dylan (was boring) Modest Mouse (was super stoked to see them, just sounded flat)
Since there is six stages, if you don't like something...you just go somewhere else. So the chance of watching a sucky performance is very unlikely!!!
Post by steveternal on May 3, 2007 14:56:02 GMT -5
Well, it's always up for debate. I can't necessarily think of a performance that people generally held as crap (hmmm, maybe Trey in '05?), if that's what you mean. But personally I experienced sets at Bonnaroo that had me yawning or turning my heel. Off the top of my head, and sparing any commentary: deSoL in '04, M. Ward in '05, Lyrics Born in '06. This doesn't mean such artists are bad, perhaps they had an off day.
Post by oatmealschnappz on May 3, 2007 15:06:49 GMT -5
Though I know i am in the minority here, I thought that Saul Williams ('05) was just boring as hell! I dig his records but, his show really blew (IMHO). If it weren't for The Mars Volta playing after him, I would have left. We saw Ben Folds last year and he was good. The problem was that it was almost like a recording of a show that we saw him play in Knoxville the month before. The set-list, the witty banter, even the bullsh!t story about the "Hi-Hat Man". It just felt scripted and generic! We did leave.
Last Edit: May 3, 2007 18:49:23 GMT -5 by oatmealschnappz - Back to Top
Post by stallion pt. 2 on May 3, 2007 15:07:34 GMT -5
Define sucking. One man's "worst show ever" is another man's good time. It's all a matter of opinion. I for one enjoyed M.Ward and Gabby's 05 sets. They weren't spectacular, but they were entertaining. Most legitimate claims I hear of being dissapointed come from artists being late and/or leaving stage early (Dylan and Tom Petty come to mind). Otherwise it's all about taste, and with so much going on there's usually something exciting going on for everyone's taste.
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
Post by paranoidbot on May 3, 2007 15:10:45 GMT -5
The only show that actively made me walk away to find something better was Trey 05. Everything else has highs and lows but only once did I think "I can find better on a different stage."
I'd say The Refugees All-Stars of Sierra Leone were a bit of underwhelming. Their backstory was amazing, but the sound they created for the amount of people playing instruments was bad, boring old school reggae. I left 20 minutes in. They were mediocre though, not awful.
In fact, there was not one act last year that I found unbearable. Be Your Own Pet and Beck were also kind of meh, but not bad by any means. I heard similarly underwhelming things from people about Oysterhead and Blues Traveler. But then I guarantee you will find other people who really dug all the acts I just mentioned.
9 times out of 10 it comes to a matter of taste. The other time the artists involved are either stoned out of their minds, fighting or the sound sucks.
I forgot about Petty. I think his show was pretty solid, just at the wrong festival. Everyone wanted a 2 1/2 hour headliner and they got a guy who tried to stretch a 90 minute set to two hours. Still, you can't say he didn't try with all the covers and the Stevie Nicks guest spot.
I remember being at Gabby La La right after P Groove, and everyone waited around for Les to come out, and then he finally made it out, and didn't really do anything. A lot of the people around me thought it was a joke; I ended up having to leave, but i know some people that really liked it. It just a matter of taste and expectations; I expected Claypool to come out and tear it up, but was wrong. I think in general, performers are so overwhelmed at the crowd and the energy and the fact that there are thousands of people out there in the heat/humidity/rain/mud that have come to see them really takes people to the next level.
I found Rusted Root to be terrible last year. I've seen them in the past and they were great but Roo was not good for them. The Trey set in 05 wasn't great but was really fun! He covered the Sun King suite, brought out Matishyahu, and the glow stick war was awesome!!
I heard a really clear sounding bootleg of Ben harper in 04' i believe. He was playing most of his songs off of 'Fight for Your Mind', and it seemed as though him or his producer had no care while creating the album to make plans on re-creating every sound like it was originally recorded. It also didn't even sound like he was putting to much emotion into it and the tempo was faster. I guess this was after Harper quit smoking and drinking and he wasn't in the same mindframe as he was while recording.
Thats my only beef, and I've never been to bonnaroo yet 0_o
The only really bad show I've ever seen was Lake Trout. There have been some that didn't do it for me, but that was the only one that I thought was actively bad.
Post by suspendedzen on May 3, 2007 16:25:09 GMT -5
Heh. Saul '05 was one of the great moments of my life & I really enjoyed Lake Trout representing B-more that year as well. That's the magic of Bonnaroo. One man's musical trash is another's sweet sweet treasure. And plenty of stages to please us all.
Post by BonnarooDetective on May 3, 2007 16:34:22 GMT -5
Modest Mouse and Trey in '05, I walked away from both after about 20 minutes . . .
I agree with Dudzer in regards to Petty; I've seen Petty multiple times, and roo was one of the best shows (he did some awesome covers). But Petty shows are pretty straightforward, not a lot of jamming out, so it was not the best fit for a Bonnaroo headliner.
Heh. Saul '05 was one of the great moments of my life & I really enjoyed Lake Trout representing B-more that year as well. That's the magic of Bonnaroo. One man's musical trash is another's sweet sweet treasure. And plenty of stages to please us all.
Exactly, I just moved on from the stage and saw someone I really enjoyed.
Post by steveternal on May 3, 2007 17:26:56 GMT -5
farmerben said:
I remember being at Gabby La La right after P Groove, and everyone waited around for Les to come out, and then he finally made it out, and didn't really do anything. A lot of the people around me thought it was a joke; I ended up having to leave, but i know some people that really liked it. It just a matter of taste and expectations; I expected Claypool to come out and tear it up, but was wrong. I think in general, performers are so overwhelmed at the crowd and the energy and the fact that there are thousands of people out there in the heat/humidity/rain/mud that have come to see them really takes people to the next level.
This also made me think about the matter of perception in addition to opinion. I mildly enjoyed Gabby La La, and it seemed that the modest crowd at her show enjoyed it. But not only did I later hear people comment about how awful her show was, but also mentioning how everyone there hated it as well. Interesting that people's experiences can differ so much as to remember the context differently.
Post by roolacksreality on May 3, 2007 17:29:44 GMT -5
I wouldn't say any of them suck, Iwould just say some are boring and scripted. For example, my least favorite show last year was Beck. The show was scripted and it seemed like he was just there because he had to be.
These shows aren't common at 'Roo, though. Most artists are familiar with the festival and try to do something out of the norm.
"We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, movie gods, and rock stars. But we wont, and we're slowly learning that fact & we're very, very pissed off......."
Post by macaroniandtuna on May 3, 2007 17:31:33 GMT -5
Futureman's string quartet thing at the Sonic Stage last year was just bizarre and completely not my thing. It was flat-out boring to my ears too, sadly. It seems like it was a cool idea that just didn't pan out very well.
I had planned on catching a bit of Deathcab for Cutie last year too, but I was laying under the trees off to the side of the What Stage listening to Radiohead, and from there you can hear the stage DCfC was on, and it sounded like a recording. So I didn't bother.
That said, a common thread among Bonnaroo performers, I think, is that they all have the ability to put on a completely kickass show. Most of them do (Grace Potter last year comes to mind....god what an amazing show), but sometimes it just doesn't work for somebody.
Post by wellbalancedmusic on May 3, 2007 17:36:40 GMT -5
I have seen Blues Traveler a few times and their set at Bonnaroo 06 truely sucked. Maybe it was this set that lead to they taking time off from each other. I saw John Popper with DJ logic at Warren Haynes Christmas Jam and thye were great. One of the coolest parts of the night was John Popper, Mickey Raphael and Taylor Hicks doing a hapr trio with Barnford Marsallis backing them on sax...what a mind blower.
Post by guitardevil on May 3, 2007 17:39:43 GMT -5
i have to agree that modest mouse was a little weak in 05, but i loved trey's set. If there's something you aren't digging you got plenty of options, use your feet and walk away or use your mind, just open it up a little more. Everyone's said it already but i'm going to reiterate, taste, taste, taste.
Post by mikesworld420 on May 3, 2007 17:44:37 GMT -5
oatmealschnappz said:
Though I know i am in the minority here, I thought that Saul Williams ('04) was just boring as hell! I dig his records but, his show really blew (IMHO). If it weren't for The Mars Volta playing after him, I would have left. We saw Ben Folds last year and he was good. The problem was that it was almost like a recording of a show that we saw him play in Knoxville the month before. The set-list, the witty banter, even the bullsh!t story about the "Hi-Hat Man". It just felt scripted and generic! We did leave.
i did the same, and it was a pain in the a** to go through the crowd, I totally wasnt feeling it.
the only real disapointment that i had was me expecting claypool to do a surprise set after gabby and of course he didn't. i think everyone i saw that year (the olny year i have been) was awesome. i thought modest mouse was really good, but that's because i wasn't expecting it.
I thought Ben Folds was kind of off and that Elvis Costello was a little bland, but neither of them sucked. The band that came the closest to all out sucking was Deadboy and the Elephantmen. I had to sit through their whole set because I was determined to be close for Sonic Youth.
Post by easymorningrebel on May 3, 2007 18:23:14 GMT -5
this thread brings to mind the opposite thing happening to me, I expected to hate Dave Mathews in 05 and ended up having a lot of fun!! I'm not really a DMB fan, but I enjoyed the show a lot. Also, if I don't think I'm going to enjoy something I try to find something better and usually do. Last year I didn't want to see Elvis Costello and saw Amadou and Mariam which was great
I can't say that anyone "sucked", but Petty's set was pretty unimpressive last year. He seemed to have trouble filling the 3 hour slot. However, I had a great time hanging out with all the great people that were around me. I am pretty sure the same thing will happen with the Police this year. I don't really dig thier music, but I'll find someone who does and have fun with them, not the band.
I have seen Blues Traveler a few times and their set at Bonnaroo 06 truely sucked. Maybe it was this set that lead to they taking time off from each other. I saw John Popper with DJ logic at Warren Haynes Christmas Jam and thye were great. One of the coolest parts of the night was John Popper, Mickey Raphael and Taylor Hicks doing a hapr trio with Barnford Marsallis backing them on sax...what a mind blower.
completely agree with you on this one. For one, I had an extremely hard time hearing what the hell Popper was saying, and that's a crying shame. The sound of that show was awful, I don't know what it was, but it sounded like crap, acoustically.
Also I don't know if anyone caught Electric Eel Shock last year, I thought it was so bad. I couldn't stop laughing at those Japanese fools. They were jumping up and down and trying to rock out so hardcore, but they're Japanese and they could barely speak any English whatsoever, I couldn't take them seriously. I laughed for about 20 minutes at them, then left.
