Pearl Jam – a constant noise

Like I said before I’m not made of money, and the Bonnaroo lineup never really appeals to me to go for the whole fest. This year, however, was much more appealing than previous years. Friday and Saturday were especially great, but the headlining spot for Pearl Jam really solidified my desire to go on Saturday. I kicked around the idea of finding someone on craigslist to buy a pass from, but no luck on there, so I bit the bullet and bought the pricey shuttle pass from Nashville which was actually super convenient. If next year only has one day that suits my taste I will probably do the shuttle pass again.

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I arrived at around 11:30 off the shuttle and walked from the VIP camping area where they dropped us off at to get to CenterROO. I was trying to make it in time to see the new Seth Rogen comedy Sausage Party that was playing as a sneak peak in the Cinema tent. Unfortunately I was unable to see it because the line was already too long so I found my friend Mekenzie and we wasted a couple of hours near the Which stage in the shade. Chicano Batman was the first act of the day, and their first song started off strong but I quickly got really bored of them. After a while of sitting around I decided to walk around and get food and take some pics of the Farm before venturing over to see The Knocks. I had seen them before, and they were decent but it was still crazy hot so I wasted a couple more hours chilling in the shade near the Which stage.

My day really didn’t get started until about 5:30 when I was able to enter the pit area before Band of Horses came on. I had been trying to see them for a few years, and now I was five people back for them! Their set was pretty incredible, and I can honestly say they were worth the wait. After them I decided to catch some of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats while chilling by the Fountain and watching people cool off/ clean up. Since I had seen Haim the weekend before, I only listened to a couple of songs before getting a decent spot for Macklemore. I wasn’t really looking forward to him because I only really liked a couple of songs. Macklemore exploded out from the gates as soon as his show started, and the only thing to stop him was the lightning storm that caused an evacuation for a while. After that we reconvened and he was able to finish his set. I left his set with a new appreciation for him, and his music, and left happy that he brought out Chance the Rapper, and Eric Nally for “Downtown” which was one of the main songs I wanted to hear anyway.

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Heading over to catch some of Ellie Goulding for the third time this year was relaxing because there was no need to get close because the plan was to go right back to the What Stage for Pearl Jam. Ellie was great as usual, but I needed to get a good spot for PJ, who are one of my favorite bands of all time. I knew they were going to do it big, and they blew my expectations away. I had seen them twice before, but this was the best performance I had seen by them, making me ecstatic that I decided to come. The solo that Mike McCready did during “Jeremy” was a testament to their pure talent, and the reason they continue to hold a top spot in live music. Pearl Jam did hits, deeper cuts, new songs, and some covers showing their versatility as a band.

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Rounding out the night we caught some of the Superjam, which was incredibly boring and lame, then wandered over to see Big Grams again. Big Grams sounded much better than they did at Hangout which made me happy because I knew they would be great in a better setting than the beach. I said goodbye to my friends, and caught the 3 am shuttle back to Nashville to end up getting home to a nice shower at 5 am. The day was totally worth it, even if I didn’t get to see all that many bands. I am still happy that I went for Pearl Jam.

-KEGS

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