I was lucky enough to attend Redfest again this year (I missed Jack’s Mannequin last year, but saw Flogging Molly in ‘06) and it was fantastic.  The lineup was Kalai, Brother Ali, and Matisyahu.  I was bummed about missing Matis on the Unity Tour with 311 last summer, so there was no way I was missing this one.  Unfortunate transport issues mean I missed the bulk of Kalai’s set, only realizing towards the end that they closed with a cover of “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” so I can’t comment on them.

I did catch all of Brother Ali’s set, though.  Since everybody’s favourite Hasidic Jewish reggae mic master headlined, I guess it’s worth noting that Ali is Muslim.  He’s also white and from Minnesota, if you must know.  I only mention these details because he did, otherwise I’d only feel obligated to tell you that he is ably-tongued and amiable, and that he put on an enjoyable hip hop set and got us pumped for Matisyahu.

Matis, for his part, did not disappoint, but a lot of credit has to go to the backing band.  It didn’t seem like there was any kind of setlist, rather, as my bandmate Dave pointed out, “They just played, and sometimes songs happened.”  Like the opening song: jam for a bit, do some of a new song, jam some more, do a slowed-down verse of “Dispatch the Troops” over whatever the band is playing at the time.  A lot of the show was like that, with portions of other songs showing up when it feels right.  The encore featured a new song, and based on that I’m super excited about the release of Light later this year.

Sorry if this review feels a little weak, I’ve been away for too long.  I’m hoping to be sharper for the next Matisyahu show, Nov 26 at Harry O’s.

I’ll admit that I don’t normally visit Stereogum.  It’s a great source of musical information, but it’s freaking overwhelming.  There’s a positive avalanche of content, most of which makes me feel like a bad person for having not listened to the Vampire Weekend album yet, refusing to buy into the National’s hypefest, and for my irrational hatred of Sigur Rós.  However I do subscribe to their newsletter and will float over there when something catches my eye (in this case their extensive Bonaroo coverage).  One article lead to another lead to me finding this video that I really want to watch but can’t because my computer at work (where I am) is not capable of showing moving things with sound.  So I thought I’d do the generous thing and, instead of filing it away (that is, losing it) somewhere in my email, I’d recycle the information and share it with you fine people.

The reasons that I think this video is interesting enough to save for later are these: I’m sure I should like Vampire Weekend, but I don’t yet; I’m baffled that people still acknowledge Andrew W.K.; and I grew up on Tom Petty.  These things come together with VW, a few days after their set at Bonaroo, playing Summerstage in New York (an event put on by Mr. Wilkes-Kier).  Having only one full album, well, here’s what Stereogum told me:

“Sometimes our sets are on the short side,” Ezra told the crowd. “We played at Bonnaroo where sometimes people play for five hours, and we just edged over one hour, and we were very proud of ourselves. We felt like we had to do something special and we were just in Florida so we thought we would play a song by probably the greatest human being who ever came out of Gainesville, Florida. Some people deride this guy, say that he’s like frat rock or whatever, but he’s a true fucking poet.”

I fully approve, and hope you’re looking forward to this video as much as I am.

Also: Tour Dates!

Jun 21 2008 Popped! Music Festival - Drexel University - Philadelphia, PA
Jun 24 2008 Hove Festival - Arendal, Norway
Jun 25 2008 Accelerator - Stockholm, Sweden
Jun 27-28 2008 Glastonbury Festival - Glastonbury, UK
Jun 29 2008 The Eden Project - Cornwall, UK
Jul 1 2008 Tivoli - Utrecht, Holland
Jul 3 2008 Werchter Festival - Werchter, Belgium
Jul 4 2008 Solidays Festival - Paris, France
Jul 5 2008 Les Eurockeennes Festival - Belfort, France
Jul 6 2008 Main Square Festival - Roubaix, France
Jul 7 2008 Montreaux Jazz Fest / Miles Davis Hall - Montreaux, Switzerland
Jul 8 2008 Turin Spaziale Festival - Turin, Italy
Jul 10 2008 Alive Festival - Lisbon, Portugal
Jul 12 2008 Oxegen Festival - Naas, Ireland
Jul 13 2008 T in the Park - Kinross, Scotland
Jul 19 2008 Pitchfork Festival @ Union Park - Chicago, IL
Jul 20 2008 Rogers Picnic - Toronto, Canada
Jul 25 2008 Capital Hill Block Party - Seattle, WA
Jul 27 2008 Pemberton Festival - Pemberton, BC
Jul 29 2008 Pipeline Cafe - Honolulu, HI
Aug 3 2008 Splendour in the Grass Festival - Byron, New Zealand
Aug 4 2008 Metro - Sydney, Australia
Aug 6 2008 Prince of Wales - Melbourne, Australia
Aug 7 2008 Prince of Wales - Melbourne, Australia
Aug 9 2008 Summer Sonic - Tokyo - Tokyo, Japan
Aug 10 2008 Summer Sonic - Osaka - Osaka, Japan
Aug 22 2008 Reading Festival - Reading, UK
Aug 23 2008 Leeds Festival - Leeds, UK
Sep 13 2008 Monolith Festival - Red Rocks Denver, Colorado
Sep 17 2008 the Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA
Sep 18 2008 the Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA
Sep 23 2008 Rialto - Tucson, AZ
Sep 24 2008 Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ
Sep 27 2008 Austin City Limits - Zilker Park Austin, TX

Don’t lie. You bitches need a festival guide.

Ok, that was aggressive. I’m having a ‘client’ come over in about 15 minutes and my house is a mess, and what am I doing? Giving you advice, not cleaning.

Bonnaroo is next week. No, I’m not going. The only way I was going to be able to go is if God farted 50 gallons of gasoline out of the sky. I just can’t afford any of it. About 400 dollars for tickets for two, plus travel, and food. Even free tix wouldn’t have cut it. So I will mope. And jealously read all about it. (I am a little excited about staying here and showered, though….sssh).

Anyways, I wrote this festival guide before Langerado this year. Nothing really change at Langerado, as far as my advice and experience, so no updating is necessary. Well, be prepared for all weather. My only thing I was missing at L-Ado was a sweater and an extra pair of shoes. It got balls cold, so we were both cold. Didn’t see it coming. Bonnaroo gets COLD AS SHIT at night, so bring a sweater and sweatpants, for real. 7 am rolls around and the sun is spanking you, which sucks, but be prepared for the cold. Please. It sucks.

Music Festival Guide 2008, from le Duchess

P.S. Love you guys. Love your people around you. Help people out. Stay safe, and don’t buy shrooms from a big guy with a beard. Dark hair. Shifty looking, if you have a radar like mine. Seriously. Avoid him.

Enjoy this fitting song:

 Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman [5:06m]: Play in Popup | Download

Here’s a couple of comments on each concert I saw. Good/bad, audience, etc.

THURSDAY 

Les Claypool - Awesome live. Heard so much stuff about Claypool, about him being an awesome bassplayer, etc. We were a bit far in the back, but I think he was wearing a pig mask? Sheesh. Good stuff. I liked the more funky stuff he played, which was a couple of songs. Good introduction to the festival, for real. No pictures, though, because it was rainy and digital cameras + rain = upset Jen.

FRIDAY

Brett Dennen - went to the see these guys because my best friend had a song up on her MS page that I liked. Really the only reason. And I LOVED these guys. So chill, laidback, happy music. Gets you bopping, sing-a-longie, and all fronted by a guy that looks like Chuckie from Rugrats, all growed up. Their guitar player isn’t too shabby. I liked how he brought out the lap guitar and played it unobtrusively with the rest of the band. And the whole band was having a good time playing, which I think is really important. I’ve seen bands before where they all look pissed off that their there. These guys were happy, so the crowd was feeling good and not obnoxious, too. Definitely looking more into these guys.

Sam Bush - I read the artist info in the booklet, and Sam Bush sounded good. So we headed over there and were completely stoked. Good bluegrassy music. All these guys were rocking and rolling, too, total positive vibes from the whole stage. Sam was a talker, too, he talked to the audience a bit, which I like. Also checking these guys out.

The Wailers - I thought I saw these guys at Bonnaroo, and then I realized that I saw Ziggy Marley. Good classic reggae…and Matisyahu got on stage with them to sing ‘No Woman No Cry’, which was pretty awesome. Songs were a bit drawn out, though.

G. Love and Special Sauce - only saw these guys for a few minutes before we got bored and headed elsewhere. I think they are probably good listening electronically, but live…..bleh. Wasn’t digging it. It was so chill I didn’t want to watch shit. I just wanted to lay in a hammock.  I’ve been wanting to see these guy live for some time, because I heard awesome things. And their on JJ’s record label, worth checking out, and I’ve heard their stuff before on some of JJ’s surf soundtracks. But….bleh.

311 - This was the surprise concert of the festival, like the White Stripes at the Roo last year. Never seen either live, and they both fucking rocked my socks off. I like 311, but I’m not a diehard fan who knows all their music. The crowd went nuts for these guys, and about 2 rows in front of me, there was even a mosh pit. I kept cringing every time a guy got thrown towards us. I didn’t know whether to hide behind Wade, or get in front of him.  311 was super energetic. Like, they have serious stamina, and try really hard to put on the best show. I fell in love with their bass player, because not only was he freaking cute and bit his tongue a lot, but he was wearing a black basketball shirt, big white basketball shorts, black socks, and big white sneakers. And he kept like jigging his feet around in a way that I found quite adorable. And his skills aren’t too bad, either.  Had a good time here.

The Roots - came on 30 minutes late. After that, I didn’t really want to see them anymore, and the first song they opened with sucked, so we left. I had seen them at the Roo anyways, they were much better there.

Beastie Boys - I think Wade enjoyed this more than me, because he’s the fan, and I’m one mildly knows the Boys. The crowd at this show was the worst. It was like everyone was hopped up on the same crap that made them belligerent and nasty. I didn’t enjoy this show so much, because of the crowd, and I was super tired. According to Wade, they played a good mix of new and old stuff. They did Intergalactic and Sabotage, but did some of their jazzy stuff from Ill Communication and their new album.

SATURDAY

The Avett Brothers - got canceled. Stuck in a traffic jam.

Citizen Cope - chill music anyhow, so this made for a chill show. Not much energy here, but I had a good time. There were a lot more CC fans there than I expected. He played some new stuff, and some of his more popular songs.  And honestly, I’m not even sure why he plays the guitar.

Ben Folds - we wanted to see but missed to go back to the camp and get changed into something warmer. Heard a bit here and there, but that was it. Damon will kill me.

Thievery Corporation - definitely one of the best shows the whole festival. Equipped with 3 different singers, 3 guys who sung and rapped, and a freaking belly dancer. Nice and loud, good crowd, and great combination of older stuff with new, groovy stuff we could dance to.

Matisyahu - huge crowd for this one, so we ended up chilling in the back. We didn’t stay for the whole show, because what we heard wasn’t what I was expecting, and by that, I thought the show would be more energetic, louder, etc.

REM - totally thought we were going to see REM, and we totally skipped on it. Wade realized that he pretty much didn’t like REM, and I wasn’t too bothered by it. I like REM, but I’m not a fan who has followed their music since the early 90’s or anything, so we headed back to camp and listened to them while eating tomato soup. The first thing we heard was Michael Stipe say “Children of Langerado….come to me!” Weird.

SUNDAY

Keller Williams - word of mouth had us check out Keller Williams. I guess he’s impressive because he does all his music by himself, but that doesn’t necessarily mean his music is that great. I might have better luck listening to his studio stuff.

Minus the Bear - saw these guys by special request of a mutal friend of ours, who really digs these guys. The crowd here was mellow and really young, and the music was decent, but nothing to write home about.

Ani Di Franco - definitely an awesome way to end our Langerado experience. I told Wade beforehand that the crowd here was going to be a horde of women, ecstatic to see Ani in all her super-woman splendor, and he was still surprised. There was tons of women there in skirts, short hair, pink hair, dreads, etc, all dancing around like fairies (I quote Wade) and going wild and singing EVERY single lyric to all the songs she played. Not only did I enjoy the songs I knew, but Ani played some new ones, about Hurricane Katrina, being a mum, and being happy, that were super fun and thoughtful. Makes me want to break out my Ani tracks all over again. Crowd here was great. Happy women, and lots of kids, here, too. I danced around the most at this concert compared to the rest, and had an awesome time. Rode out of Langerado on a feminist high, which is always good times.

Langerado Photos Slideshow (Opens in New Window)

Langerado Website 

 Beastie Boys - Electric Worm [3:16m]: Play in Popup | Download (656)
 Thievery Corporation - Revolution Solution (feat Perry Farrell) [3:42m]: Play in Popup | Download

It is the recovering Monday after Langerado, and I’m still in the process of working out the kinks in my muscles and uploading photos. Also, not killing my cat, who is overjoyed to see me and Wade (more me) and keeps cheerleading her way around my apartment. Noisily. Not to mention her kneading my sunburn. In case you don’t know what that’s like, let me tell you…its fucking horrible.

Langerado, as a whole, was a good experience. There were a few downers and things I didn’t like, but overall, I had an awesome time. Got to see some great bands plays, had some great neighbors camped next to me, did a good deed, and got to hang out with my boyfriend the whole time, and he is always making me laugh.

Let’s get the nasty out of the way first:

• 25,000 people and….ONE podable water drinking station. One that was not a well, it was a tanker that had to be refilled, and on Saturday morning was empty. Which to me, when you’re talking about the essence of life, you should never have it run dry. Also, when the dirty hippies want to shower under it, let them. You’re doing the world a favor.
• Programs and maps were not given out at the station where you drive in and get your wristbands. I found one at the Official Merchandise Tent, and whenever I had mine out, I had about 20 people ask me where I got it.
• The map was wrong. It had ice and water marked on the map in the wrong places. Which is a little ridiculous, I think. Especially the WATER part.
• Definitely not enough trash cans and recycling bins. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of them, but considering the amount of people that were there, drinking beer, water, etc, you need more if you don’t want the area in front of your stages to look like a landfill.

Non-Langerado-staff-related bad stuff:

• I got a freaking sunburn, because apparently when Coppertone claims to be SPF 30, what it really means is “you are spraying cold shit on your back, and it won’t do a damn thing. Enjoy skin cancer.”
• I got bit by fire ants. My left foot is still swollen. I’m okay with that, though. I’m from Florida, it happens.
• It torrentially downpoured the first night, and the second. I mean STORMS. People’s tents were flying, because I guess they thought their air mattress would keep the tent down….
• The third night, Saturday, was BALLS COLD. Like, below 50 degrees. And I was in shorts. We went back to camp to change into warmer clothes, saw some of Matisyahu, and skipped REM so we could huddle in the back of my Jeep with the heat on and eat hot tomato soup. And then froze our asses off in our tent. I didn’t go to sleep until my exhausted mind figured out that my face was keeping me awake because it was so cold, so I stuck it under the covers and finally had some semblance of not-as-fucking-cold-as-outside-of-the-covers.
• The “HELL YEAH FUCK YEAH” girl. We called her that, because with a the exception of about 10 other words, that is all she would say. At the top of her lungs. I’m not kidding. At 3am. Across from my tent. “Hell yeah to the fuck yeah to the hot MAMAS!” “I’m LOVING YOOO, family! Fuck yeah, I’m LOVING YOOO!” “FUCK YEAH FREE CIGARETTES!” “OWOWOWOWOOOO FUCK YEAH!” I could go on, but I don’t want to. Unfortunately, I didn’t see her after that night of keeping me up for hours with her incessant yelling. She didn’t ever talk, just scream. And either “fuck yeah” or “hell yeah” was in every sentence. And I am NOT exaggerating. I told Wade if I saw her again, I was going to punch her in the face, and as she hit the floor, scream “FUCK YEAH” in her face. But we didn’t see her. Sigh.

We had some kickass neighbours, they were from Georgia. We shared a tarp for shade and used their grill when ours wasn’t working. They were chill, and not noisy. Stayed pretty clean throughout most of the festival. I always use Bonnaroo as my reference, because that was the dirtiest I’ve ever gotten. The rain at Langerado actually helped, kept the dirt and dust down, but then, it caused some mud. The weather was nice for the most part, with the exception of the rain and the freeze on Saturday. I saw lots of people from up north, because when it was 80 degrees, they were stretched out in bathing suits napping, because they were hot. I also saw (HAHA) people crowded around a fence. Me and Wade went to investigate, and discovered that they were watching some trappers handle alligators in a little pond. And people were ‘wowing’. We just kept walking and laughing at the tourists.

They had a smoker’s lounge, sponsored by American Spirits. Way cool, had couches and free samples of cigarettes. Like, they gave you two packs of cigarettes each day you went in there. Which is cool not only because they’re free smokes, but because I actually got to try more American Spirits, a ciggie brand I really like.

I got a free tube of Raspberry Mint toothpaste from Nature’s Gate, and a free beer cozy, keychain, and bag from Crocs. Apparently Crocs are a big thing, I’d never heard of them until like 2 weeks ago when I asked someone what kind of ugly shoes they were wearing. Free stuff FTW.
I picked up a pretty mousepad with a design by Katzinn on it for only ten bucks. There were two veggie places to eat at, which was way cool (to me, anyway, because I’m vegan). The staff was friendly on all the grounds, so were the cops that I talked to. Apparently the cops were busting a lot more people than expected. Generally at festies its common knowledge that, drugs are everywhere. A couple of busts is expected, but there seemed to be a lot more than a couple at this one. The first night we were there, we were watching Les Claypool and my boyfriend helped drag a guy who had passed out out of the crowd and bring them to the medics.

Also, I’d like to point out that I’m a decent person. Sort of. At a veggie place where we got some food, the food was 7 dollars. I handed the guy a 20, and he handed me 3 ones, and a hundred for change. I gave it back to him, even though I had ample opportunity to walk out with it. I went back, gave him his hundred dollar bill (sigh), and got ten dollars in return. Being nice sucks.

Concert reviews, pictures, mp3s forthcoming…..

I might be a bit ballsy, writing a post aimed at being a festival guide when I’m on my way to my second. Ever. But, I learned a lot from the first one and am using that knowledge while preparing for the second one. So, nyah.

Last year I went to Bonnaroo, the year in which The Police and Tool visited, and was awesome in general. All of it. I got to see tons of great bands, and missed some great bands. I also went with a group of 7 people, not including myself. This year I’m headed to Langerado, and just me and the boyfriend are going. Bonnaroo last year was awesome. But I did miss out on somethings because I wasn’t taking as good of care of myself as possible. Camping was slightly awkward, and I was FUCKING hungry the whole time. Unless I had just eaten a veggie corn dog.

ESSENTIALS

Water. No, really, I’m saying water. Someone dies every year at Bonnaroo, and its usually because of heat stroke. The boyfriend and I took water bottles and refilled them at the podable water stations. Two of my friends had Camelpaks. Which was way more convenient, and I’m pretty sure they stayed more hydrated the whole time. Most people wear backpacks to carry their shit around in, so get a Camelpak that is a backpack, equipped with a hydration bladder, also. These run like 30 to 40 bucks, at Walmart. Totally worth it.

Air mattress. I’m a pussy. When you spend the whole day walking around in the sun, at night, when you get back to camp, and have to undress awkwardly in a tent, its all better when you lay down on an air mattress, and your bones won’t feel achy when you wake up. I did this last year and was thankful for it. This year Wade and I bought a double-tall air mattress, a queen size that is 18 inches off the ground, so when Wade makes a 2am run to portajohn to take a piss I don’t wake up because my bony ass hit the cold ground.

Light. Wade and I were woefully unprepared for Bonnaroo, in the camping aspect. Setting up a tent at night before the festival starts with flashlights sucks. Bring a powerful lantern of some kind. Always have flashlights, because making a trip to the portapotty at night can be very nasty if you can’t see what you’re touching. Could be somebody wiped their shit on the walls, you never know. You’re with a bunch of hippies. Also, you can’t have open fires, so you’ve lost that light source, too. This year Wade and I have stocked on flashlights, lanterns, and bought a lantern for the tent that is LED and takes 4 double A’s. It’s bright.

Food. Last year Wade and I brought something like: 2 cans of peas, 1 can of soup, one carton of soymilk, one package of hotdogs….I think that was it. We just didn’t think about food, or how hungry we’d be, trekking around in 95 degree weather from 11:30am to 12pm. The food vendors provide is of course expensive; for a large corndog it was 4 dollars. When you want two of those and theres 2 people, and you’re hungry enough during the day to do that 3 times in the afternoon, thats 25 bucks a day. A hundred bucks in 4 dollar food. This year Wade and I are stocked: hotdogs, cereal, instant oatmeal, granola bars, trailmix, chili, canned vegs, apples, PBJs, applesauce, etc. Enough for us to eat for 4 days without buying anything, but we’re aware we probably will. We just won’t go through all our mad money by buying alligator rice or lemon ices. Maybe we’ll come back with a sitar.

We also forgot a can opener. No one else had one, because everyone else there was an omnivore (we’re vegan) and was eating packaged food. We had to wait for our neighbors to come back before we could eat. That sucked.

Typically, unless you pay, you can’t shower for 4 days. If you’re camping and doing the whole stretch. For 4 days. Bring deodorant, body powder, body spray, something. Bring handiwipes to clean off the dust and caked on sunscreen. It’s disgusting, it sucks, but you suck it up because you’re having a good time. You can still control the dirt and the BO, though. Last year, on Saturday, I ended up forking over 7 dollars and showering in fart-sulfur water for like 15 minutes. It was amazing. Not as amazing as washing the water turn brown at home on Monday though. If you do take a shower, bring a washcloth. Sucks to not have anything but your hands to wash the dirt off.

Also, toilet paper. Yes, the porta potties have TP, but you don’t want to end up in one that has run out. About 65 percent of the people in line in the morning were all armed with TP. Its a good idea. And maybe consider Clorox wipes, or something. To wipe down the seat. You don’t understand. You’re shitting over a hole, and you can see everyone elses ‘crap’. It’ll gross you out, and youll feel better for wiping down SOMETHING while you’re in there.

Multivitamins. Wade and I take multivitamins to ensure we get everything we need. We started doing this when we went vegan. I brought extra, just in case someone wanted one, and whaddya know, every morning when I asked my group if they wanted one, they all rose their hands. They wanted the extra security of their health while they were there. So put ‘em in a ziploc and bring more. Its kinda fun, dealing pills loaded with ginseng and your B vitamins. I shoulda sold them like they were ecstasy.

That’s my take on it. I’m sure I’ll have more wisdom when I get back from this one.

Here’s my total checklist:

TOILETRIES
toothpaste
toothbrushes
deodorant
facewash
tampons/pads (if necc.)

MISC.
birth control
extra pair of contacts
glasses

condoms?

SHOWER
bodywash
washcloth
shampoo
conditioner

CAMPING
tent
air mattress
sheet
blanket
pillows
mallet
lanterns
flashlights
camp stove with extra fuel

GOOD IDEAS
toilet paper
bugspray
sunscreen
first-aid kit
walkie talkies
pen and paper
extra cash
poncho
umbrella for shade
backup batteries
hotpad for handling hot items from stove
stereo for tunes

 Moldy Peaches - Who's Got the Crack: Play in Popup | Download