Today was the first FULL day of music at Bonnaroo 2008 and what a day it was…

We started the day by checking out Umphrey’s McGee who are one of the best contemporary jam bands of our time. They played an exceptional set that included 15 minute jams which segued into the next song with no stops or breaks. Not only was it pretty impressive with how long they played, but also WHAT they played while onstage. Their melodic phrasing was some of the best I have heard at Bonnaroo and their interplay was completely phenomenal. If you have never heard of Umphrey’s McGee, I highly recommend checking them out live first since I believe them to be the total live experience and can’t really vouch for their studio albums since I don’t own any of them. Regardless, I think any musician can get just about anything from watching these guys play. They are true artists in their own right.

After Umphrey’s performance, we wandered through the southern heat to find ourselves backstage during one of the most sensational bluegrass sets a music fan could ever ask for. This group was called the Bluegrass Allstars and featured Bela Fleck (of Bela Fleck and the Flectones - one of my favorite bands), Jerry Douglass, one of the most legendary guitarists, Sam Bush, Luke Bulla, Edgar Meyer and Brian Sutton. These guys were absolutely terrific and really exemplified what it means to be a seasoned musician with every lick they played. Their sense of “pocket” (groove) was one of the tightest I have heard and their soloing was truly inspiring to watch. After their set, I got the opportunity to meet Bela Fleck and told him that I transcribed his solo one of my favorite songs of his called “New South Africa,” which is on his album called LIVE ART. He was really touched by that and when I told him his sense of phrasing is one of the most admirable features of his playing that I hope to reach one day, he simply replied, “Well, sometimes it seems to work out.” What a class act. Anyways, it has always been a dream of mine to meet him and now, I can cross that off of my list of Bonnaroo goals.

Well, time was running thin so we quicky made it over to the main stage to catch the Raconteurs, Jack White’s newest project. These guys were really killing it on stage and you can tell the blues runs deep in their blood from head to toe. Every gut wrenching guitar lick, bass groove and drum fill mesmerized the audience and brought everyone to a complete frenzy after each song. These musicians were locked tight as a group and you can tell that aim to make every note count with every show they play. I was honored to get the chance to check them out and Im sure I will be making my way to iTunes to download some of their music when I get back.

The next part of the day was spent trying to watch Willie Nelson perform. Watching Willie play his mix of country-folk songs was one of the best parts of my experience at Bonnaroo so far. Here I was, literally 5 ft away from him, watching this country music icon wail on his guitar (despite his instrument having a HUGE hole in it the size of a boot) and singing from the depths of his soul. I cannot stress enough to anyone who loves music to take the opportunity to see this guy perform while you can. You can see why he has the career and longetivity, not to mention the musical relevance, that he does. After the show was the best part for me though. Right after he finished playing his 90 minute set, he made his way to his tour bus. Luckily, I escaped the clenches of his tour manager and security to narrowily to get by to try and talk to him. While I was just inches away, he was signing a girl’s shirt (which she was wearing by the way) and making her day. He turned to me at that moment and that’s when I said, “Willie, thank you so much for the music. You truly are a living legend and your music has continued to inspire from the first time I saw it.” He graciously said thank you and knowing I was running out of time with him, I quickly told him that my favorite song of his is “Ain’t It Funny How Time Slips Away” and asked to take a photo with him.
Once again, he sweetly complied to my request and had the biggest smile on his face while posing with me. This was beyond an inspiring moment for me. Being a songwriter, I think we all are in awe of other great songwriters such as Willie and if any of us gets the chance to meet our heroes and they are even more courteous and nice than in our minds, only then can we understand where those great songs come from. Willie - if you ever read this - you are truly an inspiration to us all.

Soon after, Scott and I made our way to see Chris Rock’s set, one of the headliners of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Throughout his set, there were all kinds of racial jokes, political jokes as well as everyday life jokes that brought down the house. He was hilarious and now I understand why he was asked to grace us with his comedic quips. Im sure I will definitely attempt to find his performance here on youtube to catch a quick laugh here and there. Honestly, he definitely symbolized the overall attitude and tone of Bonnaroo - live, love, laugh (w/ music).

Metallica exploded onto stage soon thereafter and got everyone up off the grass, jumping while pumping fists in the air with their heavy metal songs. I have never seen Metallica before so this was a real treat for me. I can now see why they are the band that they are. Not only did they have great songs, but their performance of these songs was remarkable. I love seeing musicians play their hearts out and take the audience to new heights with how they perform live. Metallica have earned their position as today’s BEST OF THE BEST heavy metal bands and I would be honored to see them again. There were fireworks and bombs going off during the end of their set, but the highlight for me was hearing “Nothing Else Matters,” “One,” and “Enter Sandman” which closed their set before their encore. They were high energy, magnificent musicians who have been blessed with the gift of music AND performance. I didn’t get the chance to cross paths with them this time, but I will now make it a goal to do so from this point on. For anyone that digs their music, seeing them live is something you MUST do without question. I promise you it will be well worth the experience.

By this time, it started to rain and the Bonnaroo grounds were turning into a muddy, swampy mess, however that didn’t deter any of the fans here from checking out My Morning Jacket’s late night set from 12am-3am. This group was just voted one of the best bands to watch by Rolling Stone for 2008 and I see why after each time I witness their live shows. I first saw this band in 2005 when no one really knew who they were, but with their latest 2 albums, they have really managed to break onto the scene with flying colors. Hearing their hard rock grooves with soaring vocals in the rain almost made you forget…..until your shorts looked like someone pee’d all over them as mine did. Haha. It was at this moment that I decided to make our way home and get a good night’s rest for the next epic day of music at Bonnaroo 2008.

Saturday features Pearl Jam, Kanye West and many more acts that are the reason I first got excited to play this festival. Keep your fingers crossed for me….hoping to meet Kanye and/or Eddie Vedder tonight at some point.

The dream is happening as we speak. Can’t say that enough. Signing out for now.

Yours in music,

NK

Tags: blog, Bonnaroo, korula, Nikhil

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 11:07 am and is filed under Blogs, Nikhil Korula's Bonnaroo Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.