Friday @ Rothbury

Happy Fourth of July everyone!!

Here's what went down on the fourth at Rothbury
(Photos provided by the lovely Rachel Hines)

The crowd seemed more patriotic than I expected from a "hippie" festival...


So, there's no photos of the Wailers because we ended up missing their show (Sorry!)...we did spot a Wailer (forgive me, I have no idea which one) doing an interview in the media tent. We eavesdropped on the interview a bit and heard him sing a new Wailers song, which was fantastic.

Then we headed to Snooooooooop Dogg.
So, you had the Wailers, who are active in ending world hunger, and then you have Snoop, who comes out with a diamond-studded microphone which is probably worth enough money to end world hunger. I'm not hating, I'm merely noting the differences between the two...and pointing out Snoops ridiculousness.


Snoop's performance was great. I don't think anyone in the crowd was a die-hard fan, but it's hard not to get excited about seeing Snoop Dogg.

In true Snoop Dogg style (aka too messed up to know what's going on), the rapper seemed to think he was in East Lansing. This was no "oops he accidentally said the wrong city" thing either, he really really thought he was in East Lansing. He started the show with "What's up East Lansing?" and later said something to the effect of "How we doin' East Lansing?" and then ended the show with a "Thank you East Lansing."

I really think his confusion with where he was made the show a million times better.

311 sounded great, they came out with lots of energy which the crowd seemed to reciprocate.

They were super animated on stage, constantly moving, jumping and running about.

The 311 crowd

More 311 ...(not sure why all that empty space is around the photo, you'll have to work with me, I'm a technology idiot)

We caught some Modest Mouse after that, which, to me, was mediocre at best. The lead singer seemed out of breath and uninterested in his performance. Still, I heard from others that later in their set they played a lot of old songs and seemed more into it.

We opted to stop by Sage Francis, who was also a bit of a disappointment. He was playing a newer song which was filled with some cliche/stupid sounding lines. We heard from another friend, however, that he ended up getting into more of his older stuff and put on a great show. Seems we had some bad timing.

We decided to take a food/water/nap break from the festival and get out of the sun for a bit. (the heat was comparable to Bonnaroo, I kid you not). We headed back out to Primus at 12:30 a.m.


Here they are on their astronaut-theme stage, isn't it sweet?

Primus is goofy, but they put on a great show. I don't know them well enough to say what songs they performed and whatnot but the show was good.

Rothbury!!

Finally, the day has come!
I'm headed off to Rothbury, MI bright and early tomorrow morning! I'm currently feeling a mixture of super-excited kid-on-Christmas-morning and over-caffienated, still-packing psycho woman (hopefully that'll wear off by morning).

For the festival, I'm taking my trustee companion Rachel Hines, my best friend and awesome photographer. We'll be providing full coverage of Rothbury shows via words (I know, boring), videos and photos.

Here's a breakdown of the bands on our must-see list--one's that we're super stoked for and will definitely or almost-definitely be covering on the blog:

THURSDAY

Disco Biscuits --11:15 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
I don't know them too well but have heard they put on a killer show.

DJ Rootz --12:00-2:00 a.m.
Another one I don't know too well, but am anxious to check out.

FRIDAY

We're gonna try to do some yoga in the morning 10-10:50 or 11:15-12:05. Its put on by the Spiritual Gangsters, which, in itself, sounds slightly enticing, slightly gimmicky.

The Wailers --2:30-3:30 p.m.
No real explanation here...Rachel and I just wanna see em!

Snoop Dogg-- 4:15-5:30
Look, I'm not a real huge fan of Snoop Dogg (sorry if I offend). But he's just one of those guys you gotta see, one of those shows you gotta see. He's sure to put on a great show too, so I'm pumped.

311-- 6:15-7:45 p.m.
I've seen them once before, years ago, they have really good on-stage energy that you'll dig even if you're not a big fan of their music.

Modest Mouse --7:00-8:30 p.m.// Sage Francis --7:15-8:30 p.m.
I'm still a little torn up about this one because Sage Francis is on at the same time...and they're both great. I think we'll wait to make a last-minute decision between the two.

Primus 12:30-2:30 a.m.
There's be some acts before Primus that we'll cover, but we're still indecisive about who (Of Montreal v. Widespread Panic). But Primus is another can't-miss band to see.

SATURDAY

Trampled By Turtles 12:45 -1:30 p.m.
Rachel really wants to see Trampled by Turtles because she likes their name. Neither of us have really heard anything about them. We'll probably cover them unless we end up being preoccupied with something else.

State Radio --2:45-3:45 p.m. // Think Tank "How America's YOUTH Are Driving the Energy Revolution --2:45-4:15
Another difficult toss up. State Radio's music is so fun, and their live performances are really great...but my inner dork wants to feel empowered by alternative energy and the next generation of American thinkers. Maybe Rach and I will split up for this. Also involved in the toss-up: The Hoop Dance Workshop --3:45-4:15 and the Dresden Dolls --3:30-4:30.

The Black Keys -- 5:30-6:45 p.m.
The Black Keys were one of those bands I always meant to listen to, but always forgot to pick up their CD whenever I went to buy music. Finally, a few weeks ago, I listened to their newer CD. It was stellar. I am so excited to see these guys live.

Slightly Stoopid 7:15-8:45 p.m.// Bus Driver 7:15-8:30 p.m.
It's another time conflict, but we'll probably try to bounce back and forth between both.

Dave Matthews Band 9:00-11:30
I don't care what you think of Dave Matthews Band, you don't come to Rothbury and skip them (another reason to go: no one else is performing during this time block). It'll be a sweet show.

STS9 12:00-2:30 a.m.
I've heard nothing but good things about STS9, so I'm going to go find out for myself and hopefully sneak out early to see the Crystal Method set too.

SUNDAY

Ingrid Michaelson 1:00-1:45 p.m.
I know I won't be able to drag any of my guy friends to this, but I'm totally getting in touch with my girly-Grey's Anatomy-loving side at this one (Hey, at least I admitted it.).

Mid-afternoon is a bit of an unknown... we'll probably try to see artists here and there and maybe aimlessly wander the festival (AKA people watching, the best thing about festivals, period.)

John Mayer 6:45-8:45
John Mayer gets bashed a lot, but come on people, he's a talented musician. He'll give an energetic performance. Its worth seeing.

Atmosphere & Brother Ali 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Wouldn't miss this one for the WORLD. Seriously, no exaggerations. Two really extraordinary hip-hop artists together on the same stage. I will say that it's a travesty that they were only given an hour long set (I'll be the one standing there yelling encore until they kick me out). I swear I'm not a creepy groupie.

So this is what we're trying to cover. We'll probably try and get to more shows than this but these are the definitely-maybes.

...And that takes us to the end of the festival, where we'll probably see a bit of Phil Lesh and Friends and then head back towards good ol' D-town for some hot showers and a nice bed. Whew.