Ed sang "I wish I was as fortunate as JT"-- was that a reference to anything specific about the night before? Or just to JT as a guy who seems to have it all?
Justin Timberlake. He headlined the night before and he has it going on.
Springfield 4/6/94, Boston 4/6/94, Hartford 10/2/96, New York 9/11/98, Hartford 9/13/98, Mansfield 8/30/00, Boston 9/28/04, Reading 10/1/04, Quebec City 9/20/05, Boston 5/24/06, Hartford 5/13/06, New York 6/25/08, Hartford 6/27/08 Philadelphia 10/31/09, Hartford 10/15/10, Boston 10/17/10, East Troy 9/3/11, East Troy 9/4/11, Missoula 9/30/12, Worcester 10/15/13, Hartford 10/25/13, Charlottesville 10/29/13, St. Paul 10/19/14, New York 9/26/15, Quebec City 5/5/16, Boston 8/5/16, Boston 9/2/18, Boston 9/4/18, Quebec City 9/1/22, Camden 9/14/22, Oklahoma City 9/20/22
What'd you guys think of the actual festival as a whole? Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra is a guy I've started to get to know through my producer, and Kevin is a founder of Pilgrimage. He's an awesome dude and it seems like they're really on to something with the setting, family friendly atmosphere, and the quality of acts they're booking year after year.
What'd you guys think of the actual festival as a whole? Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra is a guy I've started to get to know through my producer, and Kevin is a founder of Pilgrimage. He's an awesome dude and it seems like they're really on to something with the setting, family friendly atmosphere, and the quality of acts they're booking year after year.
First, shout out to the folks that worked the festival either at a merch booth, beer stand, art booth, food spot, etc. They all worked long hours in some unseasonably hot temps. Got there early Sunday when the gates opened at 10a to watch the “runners” gunning for that merch! Classic. The bill overall was an impressive lineup for a ‘smaller’ festival with big acts, bands on the fringe and bands just getting their feet wet playing a festival for their first time. Seeing Ed’s intense and emotional set was a huge highlight of course and will post that in a bit. I really enjoyed seeing families in attendance with their children, the various art booths and installations and just chatting up the locals and other attendees from out of town like myself. Franklin is a cool little town with tons of character and history so that could be a draw in years to come. Saturday was a struggle for some with long lines for the water stations, beer, food, really anything. I’ve been to a lot of festivals the past few years and haven’t seen lines to get food/water/beer/etc all roughly 20+ people deep at every point in the day. That didn’t bother me as much as it did others. Sunday felt like the 25k attendance projection which was perfect but Saturday felt like it was double that or a few thousand more. I had a great time. I stayed in Franklin near downtown and walked the mile and a half to the park each day. Almost everyone I met from out of town stayed in Nashville and knowing this is smaller town putting on its third fest that traffic would snarl so it may be a matter of planning ahead for the festival goer to avoid those type of frustrations but I’d come back if the lineup is on par to this year. JT’s performance Sat was great because he lives there now, lending his support to this new festival, etc. He’s a worldwide superstar as we know but the Tennesseans absolutely love that dude like he is their own family member. Ending at 8:30p is actually a great cut-off point (ordinance) because it allowed the 6-12yr olds with their parents to enjoy the sets and get the little ones to bed at a decent hour. Plus, parents plan ahead as do just about every single Pearl Jam I know!
^ That's an awesome recap. Thanks man. It sounds like a great festival that might have some growing pains still, but well on their way. I really, really wish I'd been able to make it. Had I been able to see Better Than Ezra one day and then see Ryan Adams and Eddie Vedder back to back on the next day- my head would have exploded from maximum joy.
Does anyone know if Jason Isbell played guitar for Amanda Shires there? I know he does that on occasion for her- especially since it's close to so close to Nashville. Then I'd truly die.
The festival was great and Ed was absolutely awesome. It was a scorcher but I had a great time spending several hours with the group around us. Everyone was very respectful and met some really cool people. We were a few rows back and the energy of Ed and the crowd made the experience special. He seemed very intense as he came on stage and that carried over to his performance and some of the messages he spoke of (nuclear bombs potentially hitting Seattle). Setlist was great and had a good mix. Seeing Matt on stage with him was the highlight. They both were genuinely happy to be up there together. Matt was watching Mavis Staples with his family before Ed's performance and he seemed to be having a blast the whole time. I thought the intensity of Porch was especially good and was near the top for highlights of the show for me. Ed coming to the rail to hand out guitar picks to the kids was awesome. He was also using the strap of his harmonica like a sling shot to send picks into the crowd which was funny. Overall, could not have asked for a better show and had a great time. Ed rocked!
I absolutely loved the festival overall. Yes, it was scorching hot, but as has been mentioned, everyone really took care of each other. We staked out our spot at 10 am and managed to be right on the rail (first time for me!!) and it was absolutely fantastic. Great crowd and great experience.
what was the "last audience member that was a disaster"?
In St. Paul in 2003, Ed was sick and a guy next to me swore that he knew the words to Lukin. (I was lucky enough to score front row on Mike's side that night.) Once the guy started singing, Ed's expression immediately changed and he was screaming the correct words into the guy's ear. It doesn't come across that bad on the bootleg, but it was pretty bad from where I was sitting. After that, I looked over at the old lady, and told her that I never expected that to happen again.
Not that St. Paul is the disaster that he's referring to, but that one was.
And side note, he really took a bleeping knee??? WTF? I know this isn't the political forum, but c'mon...
You're talking about Eddie Vedder? Member of Pearl Jam? I cannot believe he, of all people, of all bands, made a political statement. Say it ain't so! THIS band? No fucking way. I am in complete shock I tells ya.
Haha, Well put.
I'm much more dismayed that he apparently called a woman a bitch.
"Somewhere in between / There and here / I got lost / I got scared..."
He called her a dirty frank bitch. It was priceless. I’m glad Eddie took a knee. All this kneeling is starting a conversation, it’s not about the flag or disrespecting it, this is all about protesting the moron that is in the White House. If you don’t like it, then you should kneel down on 2 knees then. Everyone can kneel until 2021 and then vote some other reality tv host to run our country. Right now I like Ryan Seacreast or that guy from the Bachelor. For the next presidential vote, we can just pass out roses to the candidates!
That guy's awesome on Millionaire though! He's got my vote!
Also, people don't even know why they're kneeling. Hence why I asked if EV made a mention of why he was doing it.
If people don't know, then they are ignorant and need to fix that. If people don't know but they have an opinion anyways, then they are stupid and there's no fixing that!
^ That's an awesome recap. Thanks man. It sounds like a great festival that might have some growing pains still, but well on their way. I really, really wish I'd been able to make it. Had I been able to see Better Than Ezra one day and then see Ryan Adams and Eddie Vedder back to back on the next day- my head would have exploded from maximum joy.
Does anyone know if Jason Isbell played guitar for Amanda Shires there? I know he does that on occasion for her- especially since it's close to so close to Nashville. Then I'd truly die.
He called her a dirty frank bitch. It was priceless. I’m glad Eddie took a knee. All this kneeling is starting a conversation, it’s not about the flag or disrespecting it, this is all about protesting the moron that is in the White House. If you don’t like it, then you should kneel down on 2 knees then. Everyone can kneel until 2021 and then vote some other reality tv host to run our country. Right now I like Ryan Seacreast or that guy from the Bachelor. For the next presidential vote, we can just pass out roses to the candidates!
it's not about protesting Trump. it's about police brutality towards minorities. it became a bigger issue of solidarity when Trump issued his comments. but it's not about Trump.
what was the "last audience member that was a disaster"?
It's definitely the guy in Antwerp. He played the harmonica so badly that Ed threw it in the crowd. Ed let him sing instead and it was a disaster. Eddie grimaced so much it hurt the ears But it was so funny and a cool moment
1996: Paris/2006: Paris/2007: Werchter/2010:Werchter/2012: Amsterdam 1 and Werchter/2014: Amsterdam 1&2 and Werchter/2018: Amsterdam 1&2 and Werchter/2022: Werchter and Amsterdam 2
Franklin, TN was not prepared for the amount of people on Saturday. We started heading to the venue around 1:30pm. We then hit traffic 2miles away from parking (we had a pass) and we sat in the car for 2.5 hours to go 2 miles! Total shitshow. Missed several bands we wanted to see. Then we finally parked and got in and lines for anything were absolutely ridiculous. Couldn't even fill up water bottles. Water station lines were 70 people deep. Food and beer lines were even worse. I don't know how many people were there Saturday but it seemed WAY oversold and underprepared. It was not relaxing and super stressful. We did see Gary Clark and then the Avett Brothers but honestly sitting in traffic that long and seeing the long lines for water or food made it very hard to enjoy. Ive been to A LOT of festivals in my time and have never felt the way I felt saturday. We wanted to stay for JT but watched three songs and left. Couldn't imagine sitting in traffic again to get out. Left and went to eat and then back to the hotel. Talked to others at hotel later and they said they sat for over two hours to get out after JT. Tons of complaints.
Sunday we decided to go earlier to hopefully have a different experience. It was way better. Drove right in (12:30) parked and walked in. They had more cops directing traffic and i read a lot of people bagged Sunday because of horrible experience on saturday. They also added a lot more water stations which was huge. We filled up a ton of water bottles right away and actually got to enjoy the day. Lines were way less and we were able to get beers/food and enjoy some of the art tents. Saw Langhorne slim (awesome!) and then a little of Fits & Tantrums and a little of Pokey Lafarge. Then set up and camped out very close to main stage. Mavis Staples put on an amazing performance. Saw Matt C watching with his wife and kid (Ray?) side of stage on balcony and that got us more excited. Ed came out played that organ song (same on he started with at Ohana) and then took a knee. It was very powerful and very cool IMO. He seemed very intense at first talking about North Korea and the state of current times. Very intense and well said. He sounded great! Voice sounded very rich and always so familiar. Bringing Matt C out was super cool. Bringing the kid out he met for Society was also a cool moment. As far as the Dirty Frank thing...I actually was glad he called that woman out. He first acknowledged it and made light of it in a total joking manner (Why would you scream for Dirty Frank at an Ed solo show!?!?). But the woman just kept yelling for it. I just don't get that and don't care at all he called her The "Dirty Frank bitch". It just doesn't make sense to me. She already got him to acknowledge it, he commented on what a ridiculous request it is so why would you continue to yell for it???? Anyway, we were super close to stage right and Ed put on a very intense, real, great performance. He is just cool. Loved his voice and songs he played. Crowd overall was pretty nice where we were as well. Made up some for the bad experience we had Saturday.
He called her a dirty frank bitch. It was priceless. I’m glad Eddie took a knee. All this kneeling is starting a conversation, it’s not about the flag or disrespecting it, this is all about protesting the moron that is in the White House. If you don’t like it, then you should kneel down on 2 knees then. Everyone can kneel until 2021 and then vote some other reality tv host to run our country. Right now I like Ryan Seacreast or that guy from the Bachelor. For the next presidential vote, we can just pass out roses to the candidates!
it's not about protesting Trump. it's about police brutality towards minorities. it became a bigger issue of solidarity when Trump issued his comments. but it's not about Trump.
I think your right and wrong. All these new kneelers are protesting the idiot in the White House. The original kneelers were protesting the police brutality against minorities. Either way, kneeling now means we don’t agree with something. This country is headed down hill and it all points to Trump and the White power that is abusing its authority. I’m glad Ed kneeled.
no, they aren't. they are kneeling for the exact same reason Kaepernick did, but now more are doing it out of solidarity because of the president's divisiveness.
no, they aren't. they are kneeling for the exact same reason Kaepernick did, but now more are doing it out of solidarity because ofHughFreakingDillon said:
no, they aren't. they are kneeling for the exact same reason Kaepernick did, but now more are doing it out of solidarity because of the president's divisiveness.
Agree with Abe Froman. Saturday, I think the festival and Franklin were both underprepared for the giant leap in crowd size they had for JT compared to anything they'd done before. We got onto Mack Hatcher Parkway at about 1:55, and didn't get parked on the festival grounds until about 3:45, missing Better Than Ezra completely (they are longtime favorites--the friend I went with and I went to our first BTE show, also in Nashville, 22 years and one day earlier). We managed to grab some merch (I got 2 EV shirts, and came back Sunday for a poster once the new stash was out), see Gary Clark Jr, get some food, then over to see Avett Bros (my friends stayed for most of their set; I went to find us a spot for JT). So it was only two or three acts we got to see, plus very little of the fest's other offerings. The exit traffic was bad (we probably sat in our parking space for over a half hour before even moving, but once we did, we were out and on the road fairly quickly), but I've been through much worse (several of the Noblesville shows I've seen over the years--at PJ in 2000, I didn't even start my car for two hours).
Sunday was much better--we got there around 1:00, had time to grab our Eddie posters and some items from the craft/local vendor market, then run them back to the car; eat some BBQ, see most of Joseph's set, some of Amanda Shires, and all of Fitz and the Tantrums (that was a blast). We made our way to the main field after that, getting to hear the long-form "I'll Take You There" from Mavis Staples and her band as we came around to get a good spot for Eddie (we were a few feet to the right of the center-line rail, maybe halfway between stage and soundboard. And Eddie's show was...magnificent. The expected songs were transcendent, the knee was a great moment from where I was standing (and considering PJ recorded "W.M.A." back in 1993, I'd say Eddie knows exactly what Kaep's protest is about), and it was a pleasure to see Matt. The Clash cover was hilarious and a heck of a surprise; it was my first EV solo show since 2009 (Ryman night 1), and it did not disappoint.
The only negative on Sunday was a brief clash, about a half-hour into Ed's set, with some dude behind us who was bent out of shape over a camp chair that wasn't even ours to begin with. It had been passed back from the front pre-show, we couldn't get anyone behind us to keep passing it, so my friend sat in it for a bit. We put it away in its bag before Ed came out, and still no one would pass it out of the crowded area, so we laid it down by our feet, with no better option; it took up very little space folded anyway. The guy behind us got livid over it during the show (not sure if he tripped on it, or wanted to squeeze in to the sliver of ground where it was lying, or what), and called out my friend like she'd been the one to violate the no-chairs-zone rule, despite knowing it came to us by accident (his exact words were, "Well, you were sitting in it, honey," which, that's the point where her husband and I backed him down and de-escalated). We finally stuck it behind the guy for someone to take, everyone cooled off, and at the end of the show the chair was still there. The kid next to us, who seemed nice enough (my friend had initially offered it to him to sit in, before taking a seat herself), took it home. So, happy ending for the chair.
Yeah, saturday was a shit show with traffic. My wife and i thought we could be that awesome couple that brings a 5 month old to a festival (cause we promised to stay normal after the baby ... joke's on us
we spent most of the time figuring out where to breastfeed and change diapers and keep the little one cool in the intense heat. oh well. saw some Avett's and a bit of Timberlake (who is not my style but is crazy talented. like, really fucking talented). The stuff with him and Chris Stapleton is killer.
anyway, my lady gave me a "gift" the next day and i went solo to see eddie. waited all day to see him.
he came out intense as hell. it surprised me a bit in that environment, but i was also like, "fuck yeah, i love this eddie" and i knew what was coming. he sounded great and played/sang with heart/soul/piss/vinegar. cool seeing him on the organ too. And the Cameron and Jack West cameos were cool. I couldn't really hear matt though. Could you guys?
i was surprised he called that girl/lady(?) a bitch. she was being overbearingly annoying and deserved to be shut down, but calling her a bitch was a bit ungraceful.
as for the political stuff. i feel like eddie is (a) mostly preaching to the choir and it takes the wind out of the sails of the music; and (b) he's got a really black & white view of the world. at least that's how it sounds from the bits i always hear in the audience. Yes, Trump is a loser-punk-ego on legs, but EV complained that we needed to try diplomacy with North Korea. Dude, Bill Clinton signed the "Agreed Framework" w/ NK in 1994 to dismantle their nukes and for nearly 25 years & three presidencies (from both parties) we've been using diplomacy while NK lied to the world and developed nukes under our noses. So, yeah, diplomacy. You'd have more cred with people in the middle if you paid some negative lip service to that maniac in NK and not just our orange-tinted fool over here. kim jong un kills people who disagree with him with anti-aircraft missiles and starves his people and killed his brother with poison in an airport. Not defending Trump, but let's admit the difference between a stupid fool and a truly evil man. I'd prefer no political rants when i see music, but at least tell me something interesting and new vs. being the angry uncle at thanksgiving.
oh, and I'm kind of embarrassed, but i totally did not make the connection when Eddie knelt. duh. I blame the brownies. Anyway, in retrospect, I respect him for doing that.
All in all ... Eddie put on a great show and i love that Timberlake needed a whole band and production crew and EV needed 3 guitars, a ukulele, a mandolin and a goddamn pump organ to rock the shit out of the place.
Oh, and i had really sweet, kind people all around me. Good stuff.
Yeah, I don't think they were prepared at all for the amount of people on Saturday. They said they sold 25k tickets for Saturday, but it looked way bigger than that. I parked at my office about 1 mile away on Saturday and walked. I was sweating my ass off when I finally got in there cause it was so hot(It's going to be low 70's and sunny this weekend. Go figure), but felt bad for all the people in traffic on Franklin Road coming from Mack Hatcher. That was a total mess. I heard Sunday was better traffic wise, but I came in the back way off HWY 96 and parked at the elementary school and walked. The lines were long, but found a trailer giving out those BAI energy drinks for free. They're not really my thing, but for free...I drank like 6 of them.
I'm not a huge festival fan, but thought they did a good job of putting it on. Saturday seemed to be overwhelming for them, but it seemed like they corrected a lot of those mistakes for Sunday. It was a cool event and never saw anybody out of line or being a jerk which I don't think I've ever gotten at any kind of concert. They said they've already started working on next years lineup and hopefully they can get some other big acts there. I'd recommend it to those of you that didn't go that might want to in the future.
what was the "last audience member that was a disaster"?
My guess is it is actually the girls who won the Telluride bar's karaoke show who got to join onstage at the RIDE festival show. I remember that too not going well during Daughter I think. When were the Quebec and Antwerp shows others are mentioning?
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1/95 DC 7/95 Chicago Tor Tol Cha 96 AlpV I II Chi St L KC 98 BSB I II 99 Phx Vegas Fresno SBern 00 BSB I II 01 (met ed) Vegas Phx Fargo St. Paul Chicago Alpine V Indy Col Virg Phi I II MSG I II (got on DVD!) 03 Calg 05 Clev Vegas LA I II SBar 06 Lon Dus Cop Nij Bel 07 Phi I II DC MSG I II Har BOS I II 08, LA3/4, SD '09, MSG I II '10, Missoula, London ONT, Wrigley, SD, LA1/2, Portland. Wrigley '16 I and II.
what was the "last audience member that was a disaster"?
My guess is it is actually the girls who won the Telluride bar's karaoke show who got to join onstage at the RIDE festival show. I remember that too not going well during Daughter I think. When were the Quebec and Antwerp shows others are mentioning?
as sea already alluded to, it was ed making a joke about matt joining him onstage earlier in the set.
I enjoy his dialogue, but was there any? Did he explain to the crowd why he took a knee?
Once again, I don't want to derail this, but thinking about it, why did Sea mention it in the first place if no one is expected to talk about it?
I should really get back to work though. Mondays are my busy days. LOL
No, he didn't say anything about it. Just took a knee then went and picked up a a guitar and into Elderly Woman. There was a shooting at a church here in Nashville yesterday morning that left 1 dead and 6 injured. I'm surprised he didn't say anything about that, but it's possible he wasn't aware of it. There were a lot of people at the festival that weren't aware of it.
But it was a great show. He engaged the crowd a lot, made some great jokes and thought he sounded awesome. Loved hearing I Am Mine. Such a great song. The crowd did a great job with the sing a longs from what I could hear, but I was right on the rail behind the VIP area, so don't know what it sounded like towards the back. Matt being there was a great surprise and the kid Jack, who sang on Society with him did a great job. I can't imagine how nervous he must've been, but it didn't show at all really. Great job kid. I always love seeing Eddie do nice things for kids at shows. After Porch he went down to distribute picks to several kids who were down front. Whether you agree or disagree with his stances on issues, we're all lucky to have such a caring and stand up person to have in this band. And well, really lucky to have all the guys that are in this band
You're Surprise that Eddie didn't mention anything about a church shooting? The guy hates religion, and he's most likely not fond of religious people. I'm sure according to him they brought it on themselves some way. He'd rather go on about Trump and take a knee. He should've taken both knees and prayed for the people killed and injured of this senseless shooting. I'm sorry he doesn't pray, 'well wishes' maybe? So done with him and this band. After 37 shows I'm calling it quits, cancelling my membership. All the money I gave to these guys and they support planned parent that tears babies limbs apart? He should show those videos to his family to show what they support. Or that when his wife or girlfriend at the time had an abortion because it would've screwed up his touring schedule. Hopefully you guys open your eyes like I have and take a stance. Doesn't Eddie always say to take a stance?
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and Eddie has always been very outspoken. So are you really that surprised? I may not always agree with him, but I will always love Pearl Jam.
I have always loved their music and always will. Just can't take the political stuff anymore at a show no matter what side it is. When I was younger I just dealt with it. And the fact that ticket sales go to certain things I'm not fond of, that's an issue also. Plus the whole Dave A, thing at HOF, guy was an integral part of their success at a pivotal time in their career. It's just been a whole bunch of things brewing like a volcano for me. I'll continue to listen to their music, but never pay again to see a show.
I have always loved their music and always will. Just can't take the political stuff anymore at a show no matter what side it is. When I was younger I just dealt with it. And the fact that ticket sales go to certain things I'm not fond of, that's an issue also. Plus the whole Dave A, thing at HOF, guy was an integral part of their success at a pivotal time in their career. It's just been a whole bunch of things brewing like a volcano for me. I'll continue to listen to their music, but never pay again to see a show.
You must like Timberlake’s song “cry me a river” I hope you had a good fan club number. We all just moved up! See ya never.
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Boston 10/17/10, East Troy 9/3/11, East Troy 9/4/11, Missoula 9/30/12, Worcester 10/15/13, Hartford 10/25/13, Charlottesville 10/29/13,
St. Paul 10/19/14, New York 9/26/15, Quebec City 5/5/16, Boston 8/5/16, Boston 9/2/18, Boston 9/4/18, Quebec City 9/1/22, Camden 9/14/22, Oklahoma City 9/20/22
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
Got there early Sunday when the gates opened at 10a to watch the “runners” gunning for that merch! Classic. The bill overall was an impressive lineup for a ‘smaller’ festival with big acts, bands on the fringe and bands just getting their feet wet playing a festival for their first time. Seeing Ed’s intense and emotional set was a huge highlight of course and will post that in a bit.
I really enjoyed seeing families in attendance with their children, the various art booths and installations and just chatting up the locals and other attendees from out of town like myself. Franklin is a cool little town with tons of character and history so that could be a draw in years to come. Saturday was a struggle for some with long lines for the water stations, beer, food, really anything. I’ve been to a lot of festivals the past few years and haven’t seen lines to get food/water/beer/etc all roughly 20+ people deep at every point in the day. That didn’t bother me as much as it did others.
Sunday felt like the 25k attendance projection which was perfect but Saturday felt like it was double that or a few thousand more. I had a great time. I stayed in Franklin near downtown and walked the mile and a half to the park each day. Almost everyone I met from out of town stayed in Nashville and knowing this is smaller town putting on its third fest that traffic would snarl so it may be a matter of planning ahead for the festival goer to avoid those type of frustrations but I’d come back if the lineup is on par to this year.
JT’s performance Sat was great because he lives there now, lending his support to this new festival, etc. He’s a worldwide superstar as we know but the Tennesseans absolutely love that dude like he is their own family member.
Ending at 8:30p is actually a great cut-off point (ordinance) because it allowed the 6-12yr olds with their parents to enjoy the sets and get the little ones to bed at a decent hour. Plus, parents plan ahead as do just about every single Pearl Jam I know!
Does anyone know if Jason Isbell played guitar for Amanda Shires there? I know he does that on occasion for her- especially since it's close to so close to Nashville. Then I'd truly die.
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
'13: 10/27 Baltimore
'15: 9/26 New York City
'16: 4/16 Greenville (VS!), 4/26 Lexington, 4/28 Philly, 8/20 Wrigley
'18: 9/02 Fenway
'22: 9/16 Nashville
’24: 8/26 Noblesville, 9/12 Baltimore
I'm much more dismayed that he apparently called a woman a bitch.
Also, people don't even know why they're kneeling. Hence why I asked if EV made a mention of why he was doing it.
If people don't know but they have an opinion anyways, then they are stupid and there's no fixing that!
www.headstonesband.com
1996: Paris/2006: Paris/2007: Werchter/2010: Werchter/2012: Amsterdam 1 and Werchter/2014: Amsterdam 1&2 and Werchter/2018: Amsterdam 1&2 and Werchter/2022: Werchter and Amsterdam 2
EV: 2012: Amsterdam/2017: Antwerpen/2019: Bruxelles
Sunday we decided to go earlier to hopefully have a different experience. It was way better. Drove right in (12:30) parked and walked in. They had more cops directing traffic and i read a lot of people bagged Sunday because of horrible experience on saturday. They also added a lot more water stations which was huge. We filled up a ton of water bottles right away and actually got to enjoy the day. Lines were way less and we were able to get beers/food and enjoy some of the art tents. Saw Langhorne slim (awesome!) and then a little of Fits & Tantrums and a little of Pokey Lafarge. Then set up and camped out very close to main stage. Mavis Staples put on an amazing performance. Saw Matt C watching with his wife and kid (Ray?) side of stage on balcony and that got us more excited. Ed came out played that organ song (same on he started with at Ohana) and then took a knee. It was very powerful and very cool IMO. He seemed very intense at first talking about North Korea and the state of current times. Very intense and well said. He sounded great! Voice sounded very rich and always so familiar. Bringing Matt C out was super cool. Bringing the kid out he met for Society was also a cool moment. As far as the Dirty Frank thing...I actually was glad he called that woman out. He first acknowledged it and made light of it in a total joking manner (Why would you scream for Dirty Frank at an Ed solo show!?!?). But the woman just kept yelling for it. I just don't get that and don't care at all he called her The "Dirty Frank bitch". It just doesn't make sense to me. She already got him to acknowledge it, he commented on what a ridiculous request it is so why would you continue to yell for it???? Anyway, we were super close to stage right and Ed put on a very intense, real, great performance. He is just cool. Loved his voice and songs he played. Crowd overall was pretty nice where we were as well. Made up some for the bad experience we had Saturday.
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Agree with Abe Froman. Saturday, I think the festival and Franklin were both underprepared for the giant leap in crowd size they had for JT compared to anything they'd done before. We got onto Mack Hatcher Parkway at about 1:55, and didn't get parked on the festival grounds until about 3:45, missing Better Than Ezra completely (they are longtime favorites--the friend I went with and I went to our first BTE show, also in Nashville, 22 years and one day earlier). We managed to grab some merch (I got 2 EV shirts, and came back Sunday for a poster once the new stash was out), see Gary Clark Jr, get some food, then over to see Avett Bros (my friends stayed for most of their set; I went to find us a spot for JT). So it was only two or three acts we got to see, plus very little of the fest's other offerings. The exit traffic was bad (we probably sat in our parking space for over a half hour before even moving, but once we did, we were out and on the road fairly quickly), but I've been through much worse (several of the Noblesville shows I've seen over the years--at PJ in 2000, I didn't even start my car for two hours).
Sunday was much better--we got there around 1:00, had time to grab our Eddie posters and some items from the craft/local vendor market, then run them back to the car; eat some BBQ, see most of Joseph's set, some of Amanda Shires, and all of Fitz and the Tantrums (that was a blast). We made our way to the main field after that, getting to hear the long-form "I'll Take You There" from Mavis Staples and her band as we came around to get a good spot for Eddie (we were a few feet to the right of the center-line rail, maybe halfway between stage and soundboard. And Eddie's show was...magnificent. The expected songs were transcendent, the knee was a great moment from where I was standing (and considering PJ recorded "W.M.A." back in 1993, I'd say Eddie knows exactly what Kaep's protest is about), and it was a pleasure to see Matt. The Clash cover was hilarious and a heck of a surprise; it was my first EV solo show since 2009 (Ryman night 1), and it did not disappoint.
The only negative on Sunday was a brief clash, about a half-hour into Ed's set, with some dude behind us who was bent out of shape over a camp chair that wasn't even ours to begin with. It had been passed back from the front pre-show, we couldn't get anyone behind us to keep passing it, so my friend sat in it for a bit. We put it away in its bag before Ed came out, and still no one would pass it out of the crowded area, so we laid it down by our feet, with no better option; it took up very little space folded anyway. The guy behind us got livid over it during the show (not sure if he tripped on it, or wanted to squeeze in to the sliver of ground where it was lying, or what), and called out my friend like she'd been the one to violate the no-chairs-zone rule, despite knowing it came to us by accident (his exact words were, "Well, you were sitting in it, honey," which, that's the point where her husband and I backed him down and de-escalated). We finally stuck it behind the guy for someone to take, everyone cooled off, and at the end of the show the chair was still there. The kid next to us, who seemed nice enough (my friend had initially offered it to him to sit in, before taking a seat herself), took it home. So, happy ending for the chair.
we spent most of the time figuring out where to breastfeed and change diapers and keep the little one cool in the intense heat. oh well. saw some Avett's and a bit of Timberlake (who is not my style but is crazy talented. like, really fucking talented). The stuff with him and Chris Stapleton is killer.
anyway, my lady gave me a "gift" the next day and i went solo to see eddie. waited all day to see him.
he came out intense as hell. it surprised me a bit in that environment, but i was also like, "fuck yeah, i love this eddie" and i knew what was coming. he sounded great and played/sang with heart/soul/piss/vinegar. cool seeing him on the organ too. And the Cameron and Jack West cameos were cool. I couldn't really hear matt though. Could you guys?
i was surprised he called that girl/lady(?) a bitch. she was being overbearingly annoying and deserved to be shut down, but calling her a bitch was a bit ungraceful.
as for the political stuff. i feel like eddie is (a) mostly preaching to the choir and it takes the wind out of the sails of the music; and (b) he's got a really black & white view of the world. at least that's how it sounds from the bits i always hear in the audience. Yes, Trump is a loser-punk-ego on legs, but EV complained that we needed to try diplomacy with North Korea. Dude, Bill Clinton signed the "Agreed Framework" w/ NK in 1994 to dismantle their nukes and for nearly 25 years & three presidencies (from both parties) we've been using diplomacy while NK lied to the world and developed nukes under our noses. So, yeah, diplomacy. You'd have more cred with people in the middle if you paid some negative lip service to that maniac in NK and not just our orange-tinted fool over here. kim jong un kills people who disagree with him with anti-aircraft missiles and starves his people and killed his brother with poison in an airport. Not defending Trump, but let's admit the difference between a stupid fool and a truly evil man. I'd prefer no political rants when i see music, but at least tell me something interesting and new vs. being the angry uncle at thanksgiving.
oh, and I'm kind of embarrassed, but i totally did not make the connection when Eddie knelt. duh. I blame the brownies. Anyway, in retrospect, I respect him for doing that.
All in all ... Eddie put on a great show and i love that Timberlake needed a whole band and production crew and EV needed 3 guitars, a ukulele, a mandolin and a goddamn pump organ to rock the shit out of the place.
Oh, and i had really sweet, kind people all around me. Good stuff.
I'm not a huge festival fan, but thought they did a good job of putting it on. Saturday seemed to be overwhelming for them, but it seemed like they corrected a lot of those mistakes for Sunday. It was a cool event and never saw anybody out of line or being a jerk which I don't think I've ever gotten at any kind of concert. They said they've already started working on next years lineup and hopefully they can get some other big acts there. I'd recommend it to those of you that didn't go that might want to in the future.
My guess is it is actually the girls who won the Telluride bar's karaoke show who got to join onstage at the RIDE festival show. I remember that too not going well during Daughter I think. When were the Quebec and Antwerp shows others are mentioning?
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