Saturday @ Rothbury

By Saturday, the mildly uncomfortable heat had transformed itself into burning-hell-sauna-like conditions. The lines for showers, ice and the sinks were all about an hour/hour and a half long.
Still, we headed back out to the blistering heat to see some more shows.

We briefly saw State Radio at the Odeum. I liked a lot of their older songs, but they played this new one about Guantanamo that was absolutely horrendous. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to politically-charged songs ( I love em) but they made some stupid rhyme with Guantanamo and screamed it at the top of their lungs, over and over and over, until the horrible song was over. I guess, in a nutshell, you could say I wasn't super impressed with their performance.

We skipped the rest of their set and headed to the media tent...where we met this dude:

Look it's Kyle Gass!
The GMNext folks booked us some time to chill with the musician/comedian/actor (He's 1/2 of the band Tenacious D and did the voice of KG Shaw in Kung Fu Panda, among other things)

So we chilled with Kyle for a bit, talking about Tenacious D, Kung Fu, breakfast foods (specifically a hatred for continental breakfasts at hotels) and the strange ways of the band Of Montreal.

Then he showed us his (and GMNext's) bus.

This is where Kyle does all his interviews with artists at the festival. The videos from them can be found on the GMNext Plug In site.

The Black Keys at the Ranch Arena
They seem like very interesting characters...

Their facial expression alone were enough to keep me entertained.

Another great face...

A new method of avoiding paparazzi? Or just a rockstar-kinda pose?

The Black Keys were great...They played a decent amount of songs from their new album but didn't neglect their old songs either. They were really fun to listen to and watch.

Confession time: After Rachel had taken a sufficient amount of photos, we decided to lay down on a lawn blanket and ended up completely zonking out. This is most embarrassing because we weren't too far back from the stage. It must have been the heat/lack of sleep/exhaustion because that music was LOUD. I guess you could say we got rocked to sleep? Okay bad joke, I'm sorry.

In the evening, we put on some warm clothes and headed to Dave Matthews. By the time we made it to his set, the venue was PACKED.

We sat way back at the top of the hill, so we could barely see Dave (forget trying to take pictures) but this is a little peak at what the surrounding area looked like at night

We decided to go exploring through the Sherwood Forest after Dave. We followed a bunch of blue Christmas lights until they brought us to a little Zen garden. After walking along the Zen garden, we stumbled upon this...a secret stage (apparently State Radio had a "secret show" here the night before). Saturday night at the secret stage brought on a mix of theatrical/mime-like acts of talent and some DJs.

We did see some of STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9). Maybe it's because I'm not familiar with their music, or that whole scene, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be expecting. Everyone who liked STS9 said that their performance was amazing. To me? Meh?

On the way out, we did end up catching a little bit of DJ Rekha, which (according to her MySpace) is a combo of hip-hop and electronica infused with South Asian styles of music. It was really really cool sounding, I highly recommend her.

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.