So what do you do while waiting to talk to a bass playing mega star like Bootsy Collins? Might as well recap last night at dusty Bonnaroo. I caught some of My Morning Jacket's as always awesome evening show which took place on Bonnaroo's biggest stage. It was interesting comparing the relatively intimate show they put on last week at the Louisville Palace to the one they performed before an endless sea of humanity. How in the world Jacket still made last night's show seen intimate while still being large and all encompassing I'll never know. I asked drummer Patrick Hallahan that very question today and he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Just playing." Guess that's why they're one of the hottest bands in the world right now. People sat enthralled and were still buzzing about our local lads this morning.
I left MMJ early to get front row seating for one of my favorite bands, Primus. I ended up being situated against the right bank of speakers and you can't imagine how loud Primus was. Les Claypool's bass rattled all of my organs and my teeth. I shot some video and high tailed it out of there to a safer distance.
The show was a little different than I expected; they favored their newer material over tried and true fan favorites, but the crowd stayed with Primus. Indeed, many of us were still in our seats expecting an encore that never happened. The show's highlight actually had nothing to with what the band was throwing down (and they can't help but throw down!) but actually occurred over our heads. Four skydivers with open parachutes appeared high in the sky with some sort of vapor trail following them. This vapor trail was illuminated by high powered lasers shot up from the ground creating an incredible effect. The skydivers slowly circled around the WHICH stage and landed behind it as silently as they appeared. It may be the coolest thing I've ever seen... oh wait, Boosty just walked in the door. That's the coolest thing I've EVER seen!