The FINAL DAY had one mission, and one mission only. To find Robert Plant and the Band Of Joy and listen to them with all my being. I am very glad to say that the FINAL DAY was a complete success.
1) The Head & The Heart
I thoroughly enjoyed their stuff. We saw about half of their set before moseying on, but they played some fun music that was highly enjoyable. I would check out Lost In My Mind for sure. They also referred to slowing it down in the afternoon at a music festival as "not super kosher." Needless to say, I dug.
2) Mavis Staples
I was really looking forward to this one. I remember listening to an episode of "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me" where they interviewed her, and she told a story about when she was singing with her family in the Staple Singers. People would often ask who the guy was singing the baritone parts and they'd be shocked to find that it was Mavis instead of a man. She tells the story much better and much funnier. But you get the idea. Anyways, she belted some wonderful gospel music, prefacing it by saying, "I know it's Sunday but Bonnaroo is the closest you're gonna get to church." She had a couple members of Robert Plant's aforementioned Band Of Joy perform The Band's The Weight. Extraordinary doesn't do that justice in the slightest. And we may have missed Buffalo Springfield performing For What It's Worth on Saturday night of the festival, but we sure heard Mavis rock it.
3) Galactic
Some guy from Curb Your Enthusiasm, someone I couldn't quite figure out who it was, introduced this New Orleans band of wonderment, letting the crowd know that "we have to get intergalactic. But before we get intergalactic, we have to get Galactic." It started off a sweet jam session. My friend, Andrew, had informed me that I would really enjoy them. He hedged a little bit and said he used to like them more than he does now, but I was having a blast. Their trombone player got off the stage and went down into the pit and walked around playing his 'bone while walking amongst the Bonnaroovians. It was outstanding. They had Corey Glover from Living Colour come out on stage and he sang along with about half the set. They killed Heart Of Steel. The drummer later pulled his snare off and had a couple techies come to the front of the stage holding drums for him and one holding a guitar. He then played a wicked drum solo for about 5 minutes, banging on several drums and whacking the guitar as well. By far the best drum solo of the festival. To end it all, Corey Glover announced a dedication to the next man to grace the stage, Robert Plant. It has always been beyond a dream, fantasy, or death wish to see Led Zeppelin perform live and in form. And seeing Galactic cover How Many More Times may be the closest I get. It was amazing, in every way. Truly phenomenal.
4) Robert Plant and the Band Of Joy
There was little I could ask for to end four amazing days than to be 200 feet from my favorite male vocalist of all time, no matter who he plays with. I would prefer Page and Jones and Bonham, like any red-blooded music lover, but this is a wonderful close second. Most of his new band is from Nashville, and they play Zeppelin with that feel to it. They began their set with a bluesgrass-twinged Black Dog. Some of their music lends itself very well to the new style. What Is And What Should Never Be fits better than Black Dog with the new aesthetic, but nothing fits with it as well as Gallows Pole. I highly recommend checking out the Bonnaroo version here. They also played plenty of their non-Zep stuff, such as In The Mood (which is a solidly wonderful '80s video) and Angel Dance. But I'd be lying if I said I went there to for the music post-1979.
Well. I must say it's a wrap. Bonnaroo 2011 was an immense success of music and fun. THE OFFICIAL WINNER, with all apologies to the Decemberists and Matt Damon, was most definitely My Morning Jacket. Although they get nothing official for such an honor, I will attend every show of theirs humanly possible from now until the heavens collapse on me out of jealousy for witnessing such wonderful music.
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