And the Winner Is...

Although the time I spent in Atlanta could not have been better.  I entered into the weekend with a single thought on my mind.  Who could play the best show through the course of the weekend?  With so much talent around, and 3 great acts to catch, who could tell which show would be the best.

Due to the long drive, my group arrived into Atlanta well after the 4pm opening of The Masquerade Music Park.  Assuming that the venue had scheduled some small openers we never thought we would miss a show if we showed up around 630 or so.  Unfortunately, we were way off...after a cab ride that still sparks conflict between the group,  we arrived well after the start of the music.  We soon learned that Bob Weir & Ratdog had already left the stage, this was not a good start.  We waited for Moe. to begin, and I made sure the missed show did not bring me down, and as soon as the music began all worries were lost.  Starting the set off just like Bonnaroo with Plane Crash got everybody in the mood, and our night was off to a start.  In my eyes however, Moe. made their presence known when they played one my personal favorites, Tailspin.  As the show continued, Moe brought the crowd back down to reality at about 11pm, which to me was a suprise considering they had played for around 6 hours at Bonnaroo.  

After the crowd dispersed from the outdoor music park, our group made our way upstairs into the Heaven floor of the indoor venue.  Perpetual Groove started out with their song life, but followed it up with a similar version of the song 3 Weeks, that they also played at Freebird Live, on our journey to Jacksonville, FL.  Their first set however was closed out with another personal favorite, Green Tea, a great song to get the crowd ready for the late night they would be playing.  

The second day, was started out making sure we were able to get to the venue with some time to explore its surroundings including lot tailgates and vendors and also making sure we were there for all the music.  Moe. once again lit the stage on fire, however unfortunately I can not say the same of Bob Weir.  Although a fan of The Grateful Dead, I do believe that this set should have been played before Moe.  with the adrenaline and excitement that Moe. had already brought to the stage, Ratdog seemed to have almost lost the crowd until they played Shakedown Street, always a classic.  However, this night was still young.

Leading into the end of the night, the question still lingered.  With Ratdog fading into the background of the weekend, would Moe. or Perpetual Groove be the band to take the weekend away?  My question was soon answered with one of the best Perpetual Groove sets I have seen.  Opening the stage with Teakwood Betz, a crowd favorite, as well as an amazing cover of A HA's- Take on Me.  While playing Take on Me, the crowd seemed to wonder if Brock could hit the high notes, and not only did he hit them, he killed them!  Long story short, although Moe put on a great show, the late night crowd, atmosphere and sheer greatness of Perpetual Groove's late night shows took the weekend away.   

Perpetual Groove

Two days of sheer greatness...my weekend with Perpetual Groove was more successful then I had ever expected. When originally coming up with a plan, I did not expect to be in Jacksonville at all for the show, but ended up sharing a hotel room walking distance from Jacksonville Beach's Freebird Live. Although we arrived a bit late due to our journey from Tampa, I was excited to see my name on the guest list for the first time in my life, thanks to Adam Neelly who is a close friend and promoter of P Groove. The venue, Freebird Live, is located footsteps from the beach, and is two stories. The first floor has a decent sized bar and ample room for dancing, and the upper level balcony looked over the stage as well as offered smokers an area to get outside and fire up. Although the entire show was a hit, the twenty plus minute song Three Weeks was a perfect close to the first set, generating energy for the second half of the evening. I chose to spend the majority of the second set overlooking from the upstairs balcony, after realizing the amount of dance space available upstairs, it wasn't a difficult decision to make. The evening was capped off with a great encore of Robot Waltz and a trip to the beach after the show.

Within 24 hours, I found myself in Ybor City's Crowbar in Tampa. Now, even as a Tampa resident it was my first trip to the Crowbar, and it quickly has become one of my favorites. The very small venue makes it easy to have a very intimate time, and the outdoor patio makes it easy to cool off from the dance floor without missing a note. Although both nights were great, I would have to say Tampa was a much better show simply because of the small and intimate size of the Crowbar, not to mention the cover of Fatboy Slims' Praise You that ended the evening. 

Long story short, if you ever have the opportunity to see Perpetual Groove in concert, do it. Not only will you have a blast at the show, but you will quickly come to find that this band is extremely dedicated to its fans. They made my weekend something I did not think it would be just days before they arrived in Jacksonville, Florida. Thanks for getting us on the list, thanks for cutting me a deal on merchandise when I was down to my last $20, and thanks for being awesome enough to be playing after Moe. and Bob Weir in Atlanta next weekend. See you in ATL!

Bonnaroo 2009!!!!

As you can see I have recently posted my videos from my recent trip to the glory that is Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on the Eye Candy.  For those that were in attendance, the content of these videos is quite probably very recognizable.  To those who are not familiar, Bonnaroo is simply a large camp out, this year of about 100,000 of my closest friends.  During the 4 day camp out, different musical artists, craftspeople, painters, and other types of things do their best to provide many different types of entertainment for the people in attendance.  Artists that performed this year included Phish, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, and then some of my more personal favorites Moe, and The Mars Volta.  The posted videos give you a simple idea of how the weekend progresses as you can only imagine what 4 days of camping out and partying can do to you!!!  

This years trip was in fact my second to the festival held in Manchester, TN, my first being the summer after my high school graduation in 2005.  This years journey started with a 10 hour drive from Tampa, FL which began at about 10:15 pm.  Upon arriving into Tennessee, we were welcomed with a flat tire but we did not allow this to spoil our spirits.  We continued to get into the line for the security check points, only to end up waiting for a grand total of eleven and a half hours before setting up our campsite in the pouring rain!!!!  However, these minor details would not spoil my vacation to the 700 acre farm where the festival is held.

After getting a few hours sleep and waking up to a breakfast of dry Fruit Loops, I set out to begin my first full day at the festival.  Where many people seem to have enough time going to many of the different crafts people and vendors to see what is available at the festival, it has been my experience that I have very little time to spare with all the music that is occurring on the festivals 5 stages dedicated to all day and all night LIVE MUSIC!  Upon arriving to the uniquely named "The Other Tent," concert goers like myself came across the african styles ofToubab Krewe.  Although this was my first time seeing the group, I was somewhat familiar with their music when I approached the stage.  After a few hours of mind boggling percussion beats, I snapped back into the strange reality of Bonnaroo, and continued to proceed to the different stages for different acts including my first Phish show ever, an accomplishment I hold near since I believed they would never reunite to play together in my lifetime.  

The next two days followed similar patterns involving different bands, however I continued to find myself in my dancing void that would come shattering back into the real world when the music would stop.  Toubab would take the vote for the best show of the weekend but I could not have been happier to have the opportunity to see Phish, The Itals and Snoop Dogg!!!  Now watch the Videos and see exactly how good of a time, and hopefully we will see you at BONNAROO 2010!!!!