Soundcheck Magazine
Bonnaroo 2009 - Day Four Reviews: Snoop Dogg, Okkervil River
words by Andy Pareti
photos by Randy Cremean (Snoop Dogg) and Andy Pareti (Okkervil River)
The thing about Bonnaroo is, you think it has lasted forever until Sunday comes to a close, and then you realize it wasn’t forever at all, but a millisecond in time. Bonnaroo follows a bit of a bell curve in its schedule, with Sunday tapering off leave a few big closers. That doesn’t mean it didn’t have its share of noteworthy music, though (especially with Springsteen coming out to play with Phish during the festival’s last show).
Okkervil River:
Another band that attracted The Boss to come watch, Austin’s own Okkervil River were truly engaged and animated. Frontman Will Sheff, dressed in a sports jacket and slacks with thin, wirey glasses curled under his head of red hair, lurched over the microphone in passionate song, opening up with “Plus One”, off the band’s 2007 album The Stage Names. Springsteen’s very aura must have reached the band, because they turned the crashing start-stop rock of “For Real” into a full-fledged arena anthem that stole the whole show. Okkervil River were a gradual, swelling storm that day, which built from the cheery ballad of “Plus One” into a steadily-growing tidal wave, eventually splashing into a cover of the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B.”. The band turned the Brian Wilson classic into a cymbal-crashing march not at all dissimilar to, say, a garage rock version of “Little Drummer Boy”. Okkervil River later snuck some gloom into the set with the grim bluegrass murdertale, “Westfall”. It had the crowd moving despite its dark tale, which in microcosm describes the band’s success in general. They were another strong showing that undoubtedly had the approval of Boss.
Snoop Dogg:
It was a hazy day in Bonnaroo when the Dee-oh-double-gee took the stage. In a way, Snoop Dogg was the official farewell performance of Bonnaroo, and not just because of his “Na na na na/na na na na/hey hey hey/Snoop Dogg” loop that closed the set. While Phish provided a laid-back, trip-and-nod excursion, Snoop’s set was a death rattle party, less of a concert than a celebration of the festival’s completion. As soon as he opened his set – complete with black sunglasses and what looked like a black shower cap (!?) – with “The Next Episode”, the crowd began shedding vapors into the sky like some sort of organic, smoke-spewing machine. Snoop soaked up every bit, closing the song with the question, “What do we do every day?” before the crowd answered with the now-anthemic answer. The actual songs performed were all classics, including “Gin and Juice”, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, and “Let’s Get High”. Snoop made sure things didn’t get stale, though, inviting Erykah Badu on stage and darting through covers like Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” and House of Pain’s “Jump Around”. He led the crowd through a very entertaining east versus west chanting contest that, naturally, ended in him screaming “fuck the po-lice!” His closer, the reinterpretation of the Steam hit song, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” was a mix of whimsy and hilarity, what with Snoop deciding to don a very exaggerated Jamaican accent and take the crowd through a reggae version of the song.
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