June 14, 2007

The ramp-up to this year’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is all but over, and the real action begins in earnest in just a matter of hours. Trying to make me wholly jealous, I’m sure, our weekend reporter TJ texted me earlier today: “First man gone in a three-man war. Waiting in line. The sun is shining.”

Nothing better than a kids card game, a trusty RV and a line of heads waiting to get into what promises to be one of the best American music festivals in decades. But for those of us unlucky asshats that won’t be attending this weekend’s festivities in Manchester, the AT&T Blue Room is at our rescue again.

Specific times and shows have yet to be released — really? nothing? why? — but click on this giant image above for all your live streaming video needs.

• Previously on Bonnaroo: Coverage Begins: Key Conflicts; Under the ‘Roodar Bands; and SuperJam: Strangest Trio Ever

And remember to check back with Hidden Track all weekend long as we post live reports from the sure-to-be scorching field. Sure that means my bringing a laptop out to Fire Island and sacrificing a little beach time, but we work for you…and tips.

**UPDATE** The official webcast schedule is out, and the lineup follows after the jump. Also, our Intrepid Bonnaroo Reporter TJ has sent over a few photos from the trip and the grounds, just an appetizer of things to come. Make sure to check those out after the jump as well…

Our main man Danfun‘s been all over the place. Today he supplied us with photos of last night’s less-than-stellar Booker T & the MGs with Sharon Jones show, a night removed from his experience at Akron/Family at the Bowery Ballroom. His brief review and pictures from Tuesday’s show follows below…

Over the past few years, Akron/Family has stood out as one of the few bands I’ve tried to outwardly push on everyone I meet. People often ask me in return to describe their sound, and I generally have a very hard time doing so. Most of my description compares them to some sort of mythical rock beast that would shoot red-hot rock ’n roll from its mouth instead of fire. I usually get funny looks.

But Tuesday’s show opened my eyes to what it really is that these guys do so well: everything. A typical show features all kinds of singalongs, wild noise freakouts, tight energetic jams, a stage full of fans playing all types instruments, a four-piece horn section, additional drummers, a crew of back up singers and four musicians with serious chops. It’s tough to tame this mythical rock beast.

Read on for more of Dan’s review and photos from the Bowery show…

Summer tour season has started with a bang: Huge acts such as Smashing Pumpkins, The Police and Genesis are headlining the summer with reunion shows, but many smaller acts are also kickin’ ass this month. This week’s special Thursday edition of Grousing The Aisles takes a look at four concerts that have taken place within the past two weeks that you definitely need to hear…

The White Stripes 06/02/2007 SBD Rock Im Park Festival (FLAC, MP3):

For the past few weeks I’ve been hearing about how The White Stripes’ new album Icky Thump is a masterpiece. I finally got around to listening to the album last night, and it was so good I played it three times in a row. After that I decided to download a recent show from the Rock im Park festival that our good buddy mikessong uploaded. All of the Icky Thump tunes sound awesome live, and it is always a treat to hear other White Stripes classics like My Doorbell and Seven Nation Army. Of particular note is the triple encore of Blue Orchid, I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself, and the aforementioned Seven Nation Army.

The quality of this recording isn’t the best I’ve ever heard, but it is certainly listenable. I kinda like hearing the audience, and you can hear fireworks going off towards the end of the band’s set. If you are looking for a laugh, listen for the off-key audience warbler singing along with Seven Nation Army. I’m really excited to see my first White Stripes show next month when they play MSG. For now I’ll just play Icky Thump and this bootleg over and over again.

Read on for three more gems, including Keller Williams and the WMDs, Pearl Jam and a clip from Genesis’ tour opener in Helsinki…

And I’ll ruin the suspense up top: Unsurprisingly, Green Onions was the highlight.

Booker T & the (newish) MGs brought their organ-led instrumentals to the Hudson River last night as part of New York’s River to River Festival, and the free show was totally worth the price of admission. The Dap-Kings-less Sharon Jones joined the band for the last half-hour of their 90-minute set, adding her awesome brand of struttin’, sqwuakin’, shakin’, and singin’ to what I thought was, unfortunately, the ultimate nostalgia act. Thankfully for me, I enjoy nostalgia acts.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see Green Onions and Groovin’ (and the other greatest hits that sound like Green Onions and Groovin’) played by the man that actually wrote them. But outside of a few sparse moments of inspired performing, I was quite shocked by how underwhelming this talented group could be.

Read on for many more great photos from our resident photographic rockstar Danfun and for more on this evening of soul on the Hudson River…