A day of altered expectations

Whoo. Been too long. I need to be better about posting these in a timely manner. Especially considering Bonnaroo was over a month ago and I'm finally getting around to posting about it. But time does not matter when you have awesome things to write about, such as The Black Keys:

 They were the must-see of DAY THREE, thanks in large part to their wonderful album, Brothers.

But first, the introductory acts:

1) Old Crow Medicine Show

Very cool to listen to them for awhile. They had some technical difficulties with the guitar but the show was still solid. At this point, it was early afternoon and we were boiling. There were people already camping out for Mumford & Sons five hours before they went on, so it was an interesting vibe there. In the interest of not dying of heat exhaustion, Andrew and I moved on early from that show. We did have the pleasure of hearing Wagon Wheel from a distance. But moving around and not letting the moss grow on our rolling stone became the theme of the day. The heat just got to you, so we kept moving.

2) Deer Tick

This was another short show. It was enjoyable, a band I was looking forward to hearing a little bit of, but nothing much needed to happen. The good thing about the Saturday afternoon ramblings was that it was easy to keep moving because there were no shows that we were clamoring to see in a bad way. We could just soak in a bit, get slightly overwhelmed by the heat and the humanity, and then find a tree to nap under. It was a nice little cycle that repeated itself a few times that day.

3) Portugal. The Man.

This was a show that came highly recommended by pretty much every passer-by and random conversationalist. While waiting in line for water, I was told on several occasions that this was a show to see. So we stopped by for a bit and caught the end of their set. This was another one of those "if I had the time/energy..." sets. Enjoyed what I heard, wanted to hear more. But about the coolest thing about this band is that they hail from Wasilla, Alaska, home to our dear Sarah Palin. So they can see Russia from where they practice their music.

4) Wiz Khalifa

If you know anything about my musical tastes, you may be shocked to learn that I went to see Mr. Khalifa. I was there for one reason only, and that was to get as close as possible to the railing for The Black Keys set. So we sat through 45 minutes of "music", and I can't stress those air quotes enough. Sorry, just not my style. At all.

5) The Black Keys

The must-see of DAY THREE was no disappointment at all. It began when comedian Aziz Ansari came out and introduced himself as Ken Bonnaroo and then led the crowd in a chant to welcome the "Black-Eyed Keys" to the stage. It was quite entertaining. I was actually expecting some comedic bantering with the crowd from the band, especially considering the introduction and their videos. Howlin' For You, Tighten Up, and most certainly Next Girl are very entertaining videos. But they just start rockin' and bluesin' your face off, and do a damn fine job of it. Their drummer, Patrick Carney, seems very angry, like he's constantly talking to his drums and getting very upset with them for not playing properly. And then he sweats more than I've ever seen anyone sweat onstage before in my life. It was ridiculous. They played some outstanding stuff and finished with about 15 minutes to spare on their set. I think everyone was expecting an encore but none came. I've never been so disappointed to hear the Killers on the PA system, truly signaling that the set was done.

And rather than witness some Eminem excellence, I thought it was time for my first shower since Tuesday. Best $7 shower. Ever.