Fallen Thoughts

:: 8.30.2002 ::

I'm off to Athens for the first time in a couple of months.. have a great weekend all!

oh yeah, someone else is on vacation, too. he's just better at announcing it. enjoy, mr. roberts!

:: posted by Michael at 4:31 PM (0) comments [+] ::

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Bonnaroo journal cont'd..

when we woke up on Sunday, Kayla had to head back over to Barbarino and see what the plan was. they had all decided to go ahead and ride back on Sunday, due to school obligations on Monday. we'd all had a great time going to shows together the day before, so I was pretty sad to see them leaving when we had an entire day of great music ahead of us. Chris came back over to our camp and we tried to convince him to stay, but he's a good boyfriend and of course he had to go back with Amanda. so we said our goodbyes and got ready for day three.

after sleeping in for a bit and seeing the Barbarino kids off, we were a good way into the afternoon. Esther came by the camp and checked in with us, and we made plans to meet back with her at camp after the Trey set. she took off to meet her friends and we decided to head straight for the Arena stage for the 4PM Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer show. Kev and ME are both Bela fans and I'd seen him put on a stellar set with the Flecktones a couple of months earlier, so we were all excited for the show. we ran into a friend of Kev & ME's from Savannah early in the show. he had a digicam with him and showed us some pictures from the press tent earlier that day. soon after, I took advantage of the well-spaced crowd and made my way up front for some pictures of my own. I wasn't able to get very close for many of the sets, so I was really happy to be just a couple of rows back and center stage for a bit. I took a few shots and headed back out to enjoy the show from afar. the set was truly a showcase, showing just how talented Bela and Edgar are. since they met, Edgar has encouraged Bela more and more to get into classical music. at the Midtown Flecktones set back in May, Bela came out and did a classical piece solo, so he'd obviously been working on it. he also just recently completed a classical album, Perpetual Motion, which features many guest artists, including Meyer. it was a quite nice change of pace - hearing some brilliantly performed classical pieces beneath the Tennessee sun. speaking of, about midway through the show, the unrelenting sun stepped behind the curtains and it began to rain! for 80,000 sunburned, thirsty, water-lacking people, it was truly a miracle. it was just a short summer shower, lasting maybe 15 minutes, but seeing everyone dancing in the rain with their heads back and smiles on their faces was one of the most memorable scenes of the weekend.

after Bela and Edgar came another decision time. we all knew we wanted to go see Phil and Bobby, but at the same time were three other great acts - The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Norah Jones (rowr..), and the SuperJam. I'll never understand why they couldn't have scheduled the SuperJam to start just after Phil, but I suppose that's how things go.. regardless, we picked up and headed over to the Stadium for Phil & Friends. I've just gotten really into the Dead in the past year or two, and had never seen any of the original members perform, and now I was fortunate enough to see Phil and Bobby on stage together! also a treat was seeing two other favorites, Jimmy Herrin and Rob Barraco, play with them, too. somewhere in between stages, ME ran into a friend of hers, Eric, and he joined us at the show. the crowds at all of the shows were great, but everyone at Phil & Friends seemed to be in such a great mood. we were treated to some amazing songs - a set opening 'Liberty', a classic segue featuring 'Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower > Night Of A Thousand Stars > Jack Straw > No More Do I', followed by 'Not Fade Away' and 'I Know You Rider'. after a very short break, they came back out for a well-received encore with 'Sugar Magnolia (Sunshine Daydream) > Tennessee Jed'. I was really eager to catch some of the SuperJam, so we headed back over to the Arena beneath a beautiful sunset and the sounds of 'Sunshine Daydream'. as 'Tennesee Jed' faded behind us, the sounds of 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone' greeted us. we watched the remainder of the SuperJam set and then made our way back over to the Stadium for the final show of the weekend, the Trey Anastasio Band.

we danced through the crowd to the eclectic spinning from DJ Z-Trip and found a nice spot to watch the show. there had been many rumors of a Phish reunion during Trey's set, but they were quickly discounted as the weekend went on. still, a very drained crowd amassed at the Stadium for the final set of the weekend. once TAB started up, it seemed there was no stopping them. I'm not very familiar with their music, but it seemed as if Trey were a director more than simply a frontman. he led the group through a blazing first set that topped out at around 2 1/2 hours. needless to say, the crowd was beat and as the band took their leave for intermission, everyone just seemed to topple to the ground. the intermission was quite long, giving everyone a much needed rest. we sat and smoked for a bit with some of our neighbors and snapped some random pictures of the surrounding pholks. I had gotten quite comfortable and when the 2nd set started up, I found myself still relaxing on the ground. after a couple of songs, I regained my feet and enjoyed the rest of the show. soon after, Trey picked up an acoustic and sat down for a couple of unplugged tunes for all the phans. this was personally my favorite part of the show, hearing him do beautiful renditions of 'Wilson' (with some great crowd interaction) and 'Bathtub Gin'. the orchestr.. er, band reappeared and they closed out the set. afterwards, a couple of folks from AC and Superfly came out and thanked the crowd for the great weekend and wished everyone a safe return home.

we slumbered our way back to camp and found Esther relaxing. we all sat and talked about the weekend and had a bite to eat. Kevin passed out pretty soon, so the three of us smoked and enjoyed our last night at the camp. after Esther and ME fell asleep, I began cleaning up a little and getting ready to retire myself. as I was walking around the camp, I heard the sounds of guitars and mandolins coming from across the path. I hadn't had the chance to play all weekend, so I headed over to see what was going on. to my surprise, a guy who had walked over to our camp earlier was there along with some of his friends. they had a nice setup and an RV and invited me to sit. we sat and jammed for a while, and I got to play a nice acoustic and another guy's mandolin! after seeing music all weekend, I was very eager to play and very much enjoyed the chance to pick with them. I finally walked back over to our camp as the sun was creeping over the horizon. after watching an amazing sunrise, I drifted away with a smile on my face and thoughts of a great weekend dancing in my head..

the next day was sad, indeed. we woke to find the area suprisingly empty, but there were still many long, long lines of vehicles trying to make their way out of the campgrounds. we, of course, were in no big hurry and took it easy, slowly getting our things together and bringing down the camp. we got the car loaded up around 3PM and made our way to one of the lines off the end of 8th. we pulled up and came to a standstill, not moving more than 3 or 4 carlengths in the span of close to an hour. it was pretty fun, seeing everyone waiting in line and partying in the face of inconvenience, but obviously everyone was ready to get on the road and make their respective trips home. our saving grace came in the form of an older guy on an ATV. he rode up and let us know that the back gate, which we had unsuccessfully tried to make it through earlier, was now open. we all piled back in the Honda and struck a trail for the exit. in no time, we were out of the grounds and riding through a neighborhood just outside of Manchester. just like that, we were back in the real world. we made a quick stop at a station for gas along with many other 'Roo-ers and then we were back on the interstate and heading for home.

the trip back was beautiful. it had been dark when we were coming up from Atlanta on the way there, so we weren't able to see the mountains and lush scenery around Chattanooga and north Georgia. it was quite nice enjoying the surroundings while watching other carloads of blue-wristbanded folks doing the same. we made it back to Esther's hotel and dropped in to rest our weary bones. we decided to all have dinner together and walked down to Steak N' Ale, another first for me. after eating bagels, pizza, and sandwiches all weekend, I felt like a king - we were actually being served! sweet tea, salad, bread, chicken.. I felt spoiled, to say the least. it was a great way to bring our time together to an end. we said goodbye to our wonderful new friend Esther and were once again on the road.. Douglas or bust! we pulled into North Pearl late Monday night and began unloading Kev and ME's things. they still had a little trip ahead, having to ride back to Savannah that night. so they got packed up and headed out and with that, our Bonnaroo weekend came to a close.

I'm guessing that it's obvious in my writing a novella that I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life that weekend. I do have a few regrets - with there being 80,000 or so people there, it wasn't always easy running into those you know. two of the most wonderful girls in the world, Shelly and Whitney, were camping there all weekend and although we played phone tag a few times, we never managed to get together. I had been looking forward to seeing some music with my girls, but unfortunately it just didn't happen. I also missed Covey, Ivey Hughes, and a few of the Nancies folk who were in attendance. I missed some good music that I'd have loved to see, too, but with the list of shows I did see, I'd be crazy to be the least bit ungrateful. regardless, I had a great group of folks with me for the weekend and I want to thank all of them for sharing such a wonderful experience with me.

prior to the weekend, I put together a little Bonnaroo site to try and get in touch with everyone and let them know my plans. since the weekend, I've posted up a few aerial photos of the grounds that everyone should check out. it really gives you a new perspective on just how huge the event was. I'll be posting my journal entries there soon and I'll also post my pictures from the weekend there just as soon as I can get my scanner in order again. I hope everyone who went had as great a time as I did and for those of you who missed it - maybe you were able to experience it vicariously through my memories of the weekend.. thanks for reading!

:: posted by Michael at 6:09 AM (0) comments [+] ::

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I watched a great meteor shower the other night and I've been working on some new music over at North Pearl. I logged on with intentions of finishing up the Bonnaroo epic, but I'm just not in the mood right now.

so instead, this:

Where Everything Is Music

Don't worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn't matter.

We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.

The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world's harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.

So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.

This singing art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.

Poems reach up like spindrift and the edge
of driftwood along the beach, wanting!

They derive from a slow and powerful root
that we can't see.

Stop the words now.
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.

from 'The Essential Rumi' - translations by Coleman Barks

and if you're reading, I hope the root canal wasn't too bad..

:: posted by Michael at 5:31 AM (0) comments [+] ::

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rest easy, Mikey..

my heart and thoughts go out to the entire Panic Family.

"I awoke from this beatific binge
With prismatic eyes, now lite is tinged
With all the vapors that the vile humans brew
Shining through the.. blight of you"

- brute., 'Blight'

:: posted by Michael at 5:17 PM (0) comments [+] ::

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