So this weekend, I tagged along with my wife to go to Nashville because she had to attend a conference. We stayed at Grand Opyrland (That’s an entirely different story in itself. The place is like a mini-city/compound that is a monstrosity of a hotel.) I wasn’t too sure that we were going to the ‘Roo, being that tickets sold out and we were only going for a day. My keen Spidey sense told me that there would be mony grubbing scalpers at the event, however, what my sense didn’t tell me is that they scalpers would be waiting on lawn chairs right off of the freeway exist for Manchester off of the loop. Kind of scary, for them atleast. Disclaimer: The pictures of the bands that I took are pretty bad (it was too fucking HAWT to be getting amidst a sea of people that hadn’t showered in two days, and I’m clausterphobic to boot, so these photos will have to do. However, for much better pictures, you can check out Stereogum or Muzzle of Bees for better coverage. Dr. Dog brought all the kids to the tent for the first part of the day. I’m unfamiliar with their music , but from what I heard, it sounded like it was heavy on the psychadelics. Gogol Bordello was a gypsy punk paradise that was heavy on the ARRGHHH and not so heavy on the scurvy….. The Hold Steady was the story of the day. I can’t remember, but they played That stage, but it was packed, and mind you, I was in the way back, and I could actually feel the Hold Steady belting out their best Springsteen. I was never a big fan of theirs until Saturday. One of the plus things about Bonnaroo is the fact that they have food stands everywhere, unlike ACL, where they just have one giant large section dedicated with even longer lines. We met up with some friends and hung out for a bit, caught Ziggy Marley on the main stage, heavy on the the Bob covers and no Arthur theme music 🙁 Spoon played one of the best sets of the afternoon. Last time I saw them, it was pretty uninspired, but wow, the energy was pretty unmatched for the rest of the day . Damien Rice’s set seemed like a fish out of it’s bowl. Franz Ferdinand commanded a new found sense of authority playing some good sounding new tunes. Last part of the day found us trying to find the exit, listening to Ben Harper play Dazed and Confused with John Paul Jones. Pretty surreal. On the way back to Nashville, we spotted a White Castle, my first ever……