3rp.net Blog

Erin, Randy, Matt, Tim and Jeff are recording the followup (more…)

[insert various apologies, excuses, etc. for the great gap between posts]

OK, now that that’s overwith, let’s get down to it. Sunday was the last day of Bonnaroo, and as such, I was pretty fried. Sunday is the day people start leaving, and it seems that a lot of the “misc” acts of the festival get sent to Sunday. If you look at the number of pictures I took all day Sunday, you’ll also see an indication I was tired: there were just a couple of dozen, compared to literally hundreds on each day Friday and Saturday.

So I’ll start with the one picture that is maybe my favorite from the entire festival. I took it during Jerry Douglas’ set. Jerry is the fabulous dobro player who tours with Alison Krauss and Union Station. It kind of sums up the new culture of the camera phone…and how photos are now being used to document every moment of life. Lots of interesting philosophical discussions that I’m sure could be had around this topic, but for now I’ll just post the photo:

Stacy and I also went and (more…)

OK, this post is not for the feint [sic] of heart. Wait, you’re not supposed to “sic” your own words, are you? And anyway, even if you are, I’m not sure that first sentence means anything except that I’m trying to be cute.

Geez.

So, what I mean to say is that you really should navigate away from this page if you are easily offended.

Ben Folds was the next act I saw after DeVotchKa. And no, I didn’t end up going to KZoo to see them (DeVotchKa) on Thursday. Too much going on that day. Way too much actually. But that’s another story entirely. (Been saying that a lot lately, yes I have…)

So all y’all know that they typically play music through the PA before a concert starts that may or may not be related to anything, right? Well, the last thing we the fans heard before Ben walked out on stage was this. When the song first came on, everyone was kinda looking around at each other like…wtf is going on?? Weird… But then, the chorus hit. And everyone started giggling guiltily. Giggles turned to guffaws, and soon we were all laughing merrily.

Remarkable how using the eff word and God in the same sentence makes peoples’ skin crawl, I think. You should really click that link if you haven’t already. You’ll be glad you did. Because you will be laughing so hard you’ll be crying. Truly. Unless you have a stick up your butt. In which case, you probably navigated away from this page already, like my above warning asked you to. Right? So no flame-o-grams? K, thanks.

Right, so this post is actually about Ben Folds…well, I guess the “Ben Folds Bonnaroo experience”. Suffice it to say that I’m now a Ben Folds fan. He put on a fantastic show. He was funny, engaging and his songs are great. Great melodies, clever lyrics, blistering satire and all that. He’s actually a little too clever for his own good at times, but it was a whole ton of fun to watch. First thing out of his mouth when he got to his mic was, “Wow, you are a sh*tload of people!” Well, we were, actually.

He started off his set with a song he wrote in a Waffle House. It’s called “All U Can Eat” and just about perfectly sums up my angst with our great country. And yes, it IS a great country. Just a little sick sometimes.

I was close enough to get some great action shots:

There were a couple different times he had us sing along with him on harmony parts. I know it sounds cheesy, but it was actually great fun.

Especially when he was conducting us:

BF and Dr. Dre wrote a song together. Hilarious, actually. Even more use of the eff word. I think I probably laughed the most at this show out of all of them. Many of the other folks performing were taking themselves rockstar seriously. You’ll understand that with the next coupla posts.

So then at the very end, he told us that he was going to take a picture to submit to the Bonnaroo photo contest. He got up on top of his Baldwin baby grand, waved at us, flipped us off, and here’s the result:

I also think that between the “explicit content” of his lyrics and the opening song, the BF show was the highest density use of the eff word of the whole weekend. Which is saying something, given that it’s a favorite of rock stars everywhere.

So, check back soon…more to come!

When I was in the UK a couple of years ago, I had a religious experience in a pub. A friend (new friend, but friend none the less) was playing with his blues band at a lovely little pub called The Greyhound Inn. At some point during the evening, after having had a couple pints, I went to use the loo (restroom). On my way back to the main room of the pub, I made a wrong turn and ended up on the back patio of the Greyhound. Looming behind the pub in the indigo darkness, was a monstrous shape…and I felt the pull in my gut that happens when there is something magical about to happen.

Here is a shot of the same silhouette I saw that night…during the daytime when we went back a few days later:

The place is called Corfe Castle. If you have any interest in its history you can find it here. The short story is that it was a royal residence that was destroyed by Parliamentary engineers in a fit of democratic zeal. I took three rolls of film there. It was a blast. My friends were *very* patient with me!

Check out how thick the walls are! You can see Corfe Village and the town church in the distance here:

Not only was it a phenomenally picturesque area…but it was also one of the most lovely days we had during the 10 days we were in the UK.

More pictures of the surrounding areas to come!

There is a theatre in Plymouth (6 mile and 275) that is one of the most intimate and lovely places to play we’ve seen. Their literature says it’s like a big living room, and the truth is that’s not too far off the mark. Not only does the room sound great, but it’s comfortably lit and every seat is fantastic. The place is called Trinity Theatre, and it’s a venue that all kinds of “folky types” love to play.

The Ragbirds opened for Paul’s Big Radio, and they knocked it out of the park. It was a fantastic show to an over-capacity crowd. What a great night!

Since the theatre has its own sound guy, I was able to roam free and do my photo thing after getting all our gear loaded in and set up.

The Ragbirds opened with “Believe It”, which is one of my favorites. It features a great accordion riff (believe it or not…):

Erin playing her mandolin:

Adam singing “Better”:

Not sure quite what Randy and Erin are up to in the costume room….but I bet that’s not Banana Juice in that flask…!