Flying to Bonnaroo: What You Actually Need to Bring

Because as we've said, the three of us are pretty doggone spoiled.

We probably don't even start packing until that morning.

You know, your basic tent, basic sleeping bag.

You need some kind of pad, but I would recommend just buying a moon mat

when you get there.

But if I have to, I can also go full backpacking mode

with an ultra lightweight 10 lightweight sleeping bag.

But I now know a lot more people in Tennessee.

So I'm just going to get Brian to do everything this year.

And how this is going to work.

Welcome back to another version of The What Podcast.

If you are listening to this, we are almost right at two months.

It's a beautiful day in Tennessee.

It's gorgeous. Got a little cool again, but

we've had a nice and warm spring.

I don't know if that means so far.

Like, it's early, I know. Oh, yeah.

It's been pleasant.

But can does does that lead to a really nice June?

We'll see, because last year we were starting to get rain and rain

and just in cold.

Well, we're still getting hot cold flashes, but

so far, very dry spring.

So we'll see. But looking forward to June.

I'll be here for you know, it's snap your fingers.

All right. Quick introduction.

I'm Barry. That's Brian. That's Russ.

And joining us, as she does sometimes, our West Coast correspondent.

How are you, Beth? Thanks for getting up.

It's especially early for you.

It is. This is my sunrise service.

So that's what I do for Easter.

We've never been called that before.

That's a first.

On the show, we're going to go

rush through some just a little bit of news and notes here at the front end.

And then Beth has been doing as you got,

if you've been watching or listening for a while, Beth is a

a teacher by day, right?

That's your right.

That's your actual pays the bills gig.

But you're also a professional photographer

who does festivals and you have a regular gig at a particular club, right?

Yeah, I have a I have a venue near me that where I just shoot all their shows

when I'm in town.

Yeah. So we're going to catch up on some of those shows,

some of the music that you've been seeing,

particularly last night, I think, right?

Last three days, I'm on tour.

I'm still on tour. I'm in a hotel right now.

And also, Beth lives in Washington state.

And so we're going to get your tips again,

going back to this fact that we're about two, two months out.

So what it must be like to travel across the country

to come to a camping festival in Manchester, Tennessee,

because as we've said, the three of us are pretty doggone spoiled.

We probably don't even start packing until that morning.

Make that 55 minute drive and we're there.

So we roll down the hill.

Oh, yeah.

Russ is already washing everything and packing.

I actually am. I'm getting ready.

Yeah, I am, too.

So but we're so that's going to be the show should be before we start.

Barry, I want to just say, so I checked out the the math rock thing

you guys were talking about last week.

So I got I got so caught off guard.

I didn't know what we were talking about.

And now I do, though, I don't know anything more than I might have known before.

I never heard of math rock.

I thought that was a made up thing.

No, it's an it's an actual genre of music, as you pointed out, taco.

And do we know how to say this this band name?

I wrote it out and tried to even do it phonetically and that was a hard no.

Yeah.

What a wild act that thing is.

And or those two are, I should say.

I don't know what to think about it, but I did the late homework.

So I just wanted to get that out there because I mean, I know I was like,

what are we talking about here? What is it?

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

We threw you a loop there, but I don't know much about it either.

But I like it.

Pun intended. That's what I was getting ready to say.

Oh, the loop. Yes. Yeah.

I know, Brian, you like some looping.

Oh, I love this. I love it.

I love it when I mean, it's more I like to watch it than necessarily.

I love the sense because if you don't know any better, you might not know

if you're just listening to something.

But watching people do it.

Keller Williams is when I first got into that from the jam scene.

I know he didn't invent it or anything, but that's when I first got introduced to it.

And it's just it's just fun to watch the whole looping process.

And it's very difficult as anybody, I'm sure, would guess.

It's harder than you even think.

So, yeah, I don't know that I like this sound, though, Ross.

I'm not sure if it's my you know, I get the King Crimson parallels.

Yeah. Yeah. That's what draws me in because, you know, I love King Crimson

and I love all that stuff.

So, yeah. But you know, it's not for everyone.

I'm into it. I really like it.

Yeah. I like that.

She is pretty pretty open.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm I don't know if they need the gimmick,

although that would be fun to shoot as a photographer.

So I actually would like to shoot photos of that band.

Oh, yeah, that's a good point.

The photos would be amazing. Yeah. Yeah.

So if they can't if they if they played Bonnarooo 27, you'd be in.

Absolutely. Yeah. Or if they played here.

Oh, yeah. I wish we could. I wish we knew their actual name.

I don't even have it written out, so I can't try to pronounce it.

Anjin De Poitrine.

That's my best guess. I don't really know how many of us are going to get.

Yeah. I said gimmick.

And it made me think how many gimmicks were too many gimmicks?

Because they got a bunch.

Well, what I was thinking, it made me think of Jack White

talking about how the reason that they did the red and white stuff

was to draw attention away from the fact that he was playing the blues

and he thought he wasn't kind of allowed to do that.

Or whatever style of rock that he's doing.

So I thought, well, OK, Jack White did it.

And it was pretty smart because everybody was talking about,

are they brother and sister? Yeah.

Are they they're always wearing the same clothes?

Oh, we're talking about the origination of the white stripes.

The original white stripes. Yeah.

Yeah. Sometimes a gimmick gets you in. Right.

Well, I mean, Jesus, I mean, Guar and St.

Clown Posse, so many of these.

I mean, that's all gimmick acts for sure.

Gimmick doesn't necessarily mean bad at all.

No, it certainly could.

It certainly could. It's a tetragetter.

Yeah. Oh, Freddie, too, who we saw at in Mexico City,

are wearing the kind of Elizabethan clothes or whatever era that is.

So, yeah, we remember them.

Yeah. I just always had a wondered

why an act, a band, an artist performing

entity would make a name so difficult to say.

It's French and we don't speak French.

It's probably not.

It's easy for people to speak French.

It's probably the Smiths.

Yeah, something.

Something simple. Anyway, I did check that out and go and I couldn't help.

It's like a car crash.

I couldn't look away, but I didn't know what I was looking at.

But anyway, I got caught up on that for sure.

And then, you know, as far as Bonnarooo stuff, I mean, we're pretty there.

They're just kind of in cruise control right now.

Just getting, you know, as we as we approach.

Yeah. Not really anything new as far as dates that we need to be looking for.

Just yet. I'm sure that'll change soon.

You know, we'll start to see some.

Yeah, we've got to be close as far as dates.

We've got to be close to a schedule soon. Right. Good call.

Usually come out in April. Yeah. Yeah.

Good. Good call. And I guess you would think that would be pretty soon before May.

Certainly before May, as we are now officially in April.

Oh, no, I guess we were April Fool's last week.

But, boy, that's going to be a fun day.

So that that'll really that'll really tell the.

Yeah. Or at least set the expectation.

Yeah.

A calendar for all of it.

It's when it becomes even more real.

The schedule comes out.

That's when you get all of the conflicts and then, you know, the anguish.

Oh, my God. There's this one's playing up against that one.

And I wanted to see this and that.

So I'm not going to have any conflicts to worry about.

I'm probably not this year.

Probably not this year.

They're going to lay out probably pretty good for me. Yeah.

I wanted to mention to you guys and get your opinion.

My kids are they're making a couple of day trip to Nashville.

One's going coming from here.

The other's coming up from South Georgia to go see what's called Freely Fest.

This week, it's at Bridgestone Arena.

This is the lineup.

The Killers, T-Pain, Dominic Fike, Janelle Monae and Avery Anna.

Hmm. It sounds awesome.

They're super excited.

Yeah. And enough so that they're making that trip.

But Janelle Monae is such a visual performance.

I don't I mean, is she going to do 20 minutes?

Are they all going to get an hour?

I'm trying to imagine how this event's going to go.

Yeah, I haven't heard of this one in Freely Fest in Nashville.

Yeah, they're they're wondering, too.

It's like, are we supposed to see that?

The it starts at five thirty.

So are you going to sit in an arena for that?

I'm curious. I know. Yeah, it's weird.

That's in an arena.

What do you think, Beth?

It's just a one day.

You have a lot of bands one day in an arena with lots of bands.

Yeah, it's it's the day this show is released, right?

April 8th, the 10th, Friday.

So, yeah, if you want to hurry and get to Nashville, go, go, go.

You can see it tonight.

Well, they're super excited about the killers.

I think that's the draw for them, which I get.

But I'm a huge Janelle Monae fan.

I don't you did you guys see the Bonnarooo show

where they wheeled her out on a two wheeler?

No, but I've seen it. I've seen it.

It was so cool.

I'd say, well, speaking of Bonnarooo and this this lineup,

the killers is where I learned to I won't say love,

but really understand and like what the killers do until until that.

What stage I believe is on a Friday set in what 18, maybe.

I think it was 20, 18.

Yeah, it was 18, because that's the one I missed.

Yeah, the one the one.

But I'd seen the killers a lot before.

That's partly why I missed it, because the headliners.

Well, I'm going to see.

I'm with you, Brian.

I thought they were a great Bonnarooo.

Oh, I thought it was great.

And quickly, I just thought of this that year.

I had a similar thought to this year's lineup.

I didn't get it exactly.

Wasn't sure it had a little bit more rocks oriented music on it.

So that would have grabbed me quicker.

But I remember going, wasn't that the same year as Muse?

Pretty sure Muse was headlining that too.

Yeah. And I didn't know what the buzz was with either of those two bands.

Two decades in.

And after that weekend, I was like, oh, totally get these two bands now,

especially the killers, because I knew Muse because they're a little bit older.

They're they're they're probably five, six, seven years older than the killers.

But I didn't get the killers at all.

And now I get it. They're from Vegas.

They're flamboyant. They're rockers.

And they dress great. Right.

So going into that, I didn't I didn't appreciate any of those things.

So maybe that'll happen this year for me, Bonnarooo.

And I and I'll have a similar stories going forward.

That Muse show is one of those that I am super glad I saw.

But I remember I was with our friends, Mike Dewar and Chrissy.

We were in the bleachers, so I had great seats.

The sound was incredible.

They were talking about looping.

They were putting putting things in there with the computers and whatever that.

You just sat there and you were awed.

But when it was over, I looked at them, my Mike and Chrissy.

And I said, I couldn't hum you a single tune.

And we just heard it.

Yeah. Unlike the killers, which is an earworm from the job.

Yeah. Yeah.

Like it's immediately in your head.

Yeah. Anyway, it was a lot of it was fun.

I'm glad I saw it.

That's to me that I put that on the list of bands that I would not have seen

otherwise, were it not for a Bonnarooo.

I love Muse. I've seen them several times even.

That's right. Your wheelhouse.

Yeah, I like it.

I mean, you know, you and I have similar taste.

I'm not as fanatical about the what would we I don't know if that's math.

I saw them open for you, too.

Back in the day. Yeah.

Back before they were headliners on their own.

Speaking of Muse, they've got a new album coming out.

So, you know, maybe we'll see them start headlining festivals

coming next year. I don't know.

I don't think interesting.

First time I saw you two was in Birmingham and it was PIL

and Public Enemy opening.

Wow. Wow.

That's a line up.

That would be amazing.

Yeah, it was pretty cool.

Flava Flav and Bono on the same stage.

Go figure. Yeah, we just saw Public Enemy at Shaky Knees last year.

Yeah. Yeah, that's right.

I'd like to see them.

And speaking of concerts, I think I figured out how I'm going to see Rush

on tour this year.

I don't think Brad's going to come through for me on Madison Square Garden,

but they are playing. Our buddy Brad up in New York.

Yeah, they are playing down in Tampa.

And I'm going to be in Florida like the week before.

So I think if I extend my trip just a little bit, I can do it.

It's like an hour.

So I could drive and see that show before I fly home.

So that's my plan. Nice.

Have you seen them before? Rush? Yeah.

Cell Phones. A bunch. I know you're a big fan, but. Yeah.

And, you know, they pretty much called it quits after

Neil Peart passed away.

And, you know, then they announced this big 50th year tour

with Annika Niles, I think is her name.

She's a German drummer.

So, you know, I think this is probably it.

If you want to see Rush, this is probably the last chance.

And they started with a very limited number of tour dates and they've expanded.

And then next year, they're headed to Europe.

So I think this is pretty much my only chance to see him.

So I'm excited.

Probably in November.

November. How do you replace Neil Peart?

You don't. You can't.

That's a tough one. Yeah.

And I'm really surprised that they that they are attempting it.

But she's really good.

I don't know if he's watched any videos of her playing.

I mean, she can. She gets close.

Does she play the ginormous drum kit or she, you know,

she plays a normal size kit?

I don't know. A human size kit.

Yeah, I haven't seen her.

I haven't seen any footage from the tour, so I don't know what they do on stage.

But just just from what I've seen.

Yeah, she can she can get close.

So as I mentioned at the at the beginning,

you come obviously from Washington State to 700 acre Manchester.

Great stages park, which nobody calls it.

Nobody calls it great.

Yeah, that's officially what it is on Google Maps.

It is officially a great stage park.

It is a great stage.

It's a good name, too, actually.

And you've done it many, many years.

So what are your what are your tips?

We you're starting to pack.

We joke, we half joke, but not really.

Now is time time to start

shaking things out and making sure that things exist.

But what do you? Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I've been I've gone many times from three different places.

I started when I started, I was coming from Maine, driving,

no, flying, flying for me inside to fly with camping gear and get all that.

And it was those are muddy years.

So you had to bring the boots and everything would get muddy

and figure out how to dry it in a tiny apartment bathroom in Philadelphia.

Hang up your tent in the shower and all that stuff.

So I did that.

Yeah, so I started Maine around.

I'm sorry, Beth, around 04, right?

That was your first. Yeah.

04 is when I started going from Maine, pretty quickly moved to Philadelphia.

So I was flying from Philadelphia or driving, depending on the year.

Eventually got to the point where I could drive, which is great,

because then I could pack a whole car full of stuff.

And now I live in Washington state, so I'm back to flying.

But I now know a lot more people in Tennessee.

So I'm just going to get Brian to do everything.

Now that's going to work.

That's the plan.

I'm going to make a list of all the things.

Yeah. OK, so seriously, that's a good point.

So is it do you are you planning to like

ship stuff to him or send him a list and have him go to the REI,

the Walmart or Academy or because I'm

thinking of other people who might have similar?

You have I have I've actually deployed things all over the country now

because I spend a lot of time in Maine to, you know,

so I have my little kids, my camping kids all over the place.

So I go to Maine a lot.

So I have a lot of clothes there, my parents house and camping gear.

I was keeping a lot of camping gear in Tennessee in our friend Mike's garage.

He's since moved, but

because you can get a cheap tent, you can get away with a really cheap camping gear.

And if you do make a friend who lives in Tennessee,

some people have garages and are willing to, you know, Mike just had a bag,

like a duffel bag of stuff for me that we would add to a little bit every year

with, you know, you buy a tapestry or have a moon mat there.

So I don't have to take everything with me every time.

But if I have to, I can also go full backpacking mode

with an ultra lightweight, 10 lightweight sleeping bag.

You know, you you can get away with not having all of the comforts

at home of home when you're in such a different fun environment.

What are the eventually, you know, what are the bare minimums?

You need a sleeping bag or something to sleep in.

I don't know. I guess it depends on how much you drink.

Like if you're if you're really into drinking, maybe just pass out anywhere

and you're fine. But if you're not, then which I'm not and never have been,

then you have, you know, your basic tent, basic sleeping bag.

You need some kind of pad, but I would recommend just buying a moon mat.

When you get there, those are the mats that are made out of earplugs

or they they punch earplugs out of them.

And the remnants are the moon mats.

Is that what they're made out of?

I didn't know that. Yeah, that's the idea.

That's why they have all those holes.

And that's why they sell the the earplugs also.

So I think I think what they discovered was that they had these big things

and they had punched all of the earplugs out.

And then they still had this thing that is actually great for a sleeping pad.

They're not really made on the moon, is what you're saying.

No, no, they're not that I know of.

No, no, they just kind of look like the moon.

We now have the entire country questioning

whether we ever went there to begin with. So we'll know.

It's funny about the moon now.

It's funny about the the moon mat, though.

I that's the first time I ever saw one was at Bonnarooo 15 years ago.

Yeah, and would have thought it was a fly by night.

You know, speaking of gimmicks, kind of gimmicky product.

And that thing has really like put its place

in the festival and camping ethos.

That thing really does seem to hold up and be worth all the hype.

First time I saw Crocs were at Bonnarooo, too.

I never heard of Crocs.

I think they unveiled them or at least pushed on marketing

to Bonnarooo people like 20 years ago.

20 years later, it would be like the fashion footwear.

The beginning of the end.

Man, if your feet are sore at Bonnarooo, though,

and you're walking around in shoes that don't fit or it's wet

and you've been walking around in rain boots or Crocs.

Yeah, the Crocs. I don't I don't have any, but I could see that.

I could I could see how they work.

That point, you don't care what it looks like.

You just want to be comfortable.

So, I mean, you've had the advantage.

You have friends, the dudes that live in Nashville now Brian.

So you have that advantage of knowing.

But and I don't want to put words in your mouth.

One thing we have learned and I did this early on that first year

for me was I felt like I needed to pack everything like

like I was going to the moon by myself.

Literally. Yeah.

Now, I think we've learned there's stuff you can buy stuff there.

There's a Wal-Mart down the street.

Now, you can't come and go once you're in.

But you can get stuff in Manchester.

Right. If you. Yeah, that's also people.

I mean, a lot of people who are asking questions on loophole,

you know, you get all this advice that's very car centric.

And the problem is when you're flying in, you may not have a car. Right.

So if you're renting a car, that's one thing, because then you can stock up.

And and I've done it that way before.

But if you're not and you're taking the shuttle,

the airport shuttle to Bonnarooo, then the packing is very different.

So I would advise if you're doing it that way.

Think of this as a backpacking trip.

You're doing the ultra lightweight, high protein

gels and liquid IV and that type of stuff.

And just we don't get to bring everything

when we're flying, because you're going to be miserable in the airport

trying to fly with an easy up and camping chairs and whatever else.

I would say the first year you do it, if you don't know anybody,

next year you will know people. Yeah.

So you just get through this year with the absolute minimum.

Pretend you're going on a backpacking trip and it's going to be fine

because other people bring too much stuff.

I mean, if I were driving, I would bring so much extra.

I would bring so many extra blankets and all sorts of stuff.

Yeah, I bring a lot.

Well, just mostly because it's already in the bus.

The bus is pretty much back year round for anything.

So, you know, I have a lot of extra stuff that I'm happy to,

you know, provide if somebody forgets something.

Yeah. Yeah. You can rely on your neighbors.

And that's one of the things where the group camping experience

has really become such a good option for a lot of people, because you can.

That's a good point. That's a great point, especially.

I mean, you would have to this would involve, you know,

getting into the ethos of Bonnaroo and meeting a few people.

It doesn't take very long for that group.

But yeah, that's a perfect spot for somebody who's traveling long distance

by air is to figure out an end through group camping, because, boy,

they party out there well. Right.

And I don't even mean that like party, party, party.

I just mean they they do it. They do it well.

Yeah. And you have a place to camp.

You can talk to them year round about who's bringing what.

So you don't have to bring an easy up if somebody is already bringing an easy up.

So you kind of make those tradeoffs, I guess, or those compromises.

So collaborations.

So all right, let's take a quick break.

When we come back, we're going to hear about Beth's world tour.

All right. And we're back.

Yeah. So last three days, you've been.

Yeah, I've been I've had three shows in three days.

I'm on spring break, but I have to go back to work tomorrow.

So this is the end of my end of my tour.

But speaking of bands that replace.

So I saw a band last night that is one original member out of four.

And it was still really fun.

So it is possible to do that sometimes.

And that band is Color Me Bad.

OK, here's here's the tour.

Color Me Bad.

Wow. Friday night.

This is the one I really want to talk about, because it's one of my favorites.

But I saw Jeff Tweedy at the Moore

on the Moore Theater in Seattle.

And then the next night was at the Tractor Tavern, which is

kind of a it's a small like five hundred

standing room venue, Tomo Nakayama, Maita and Plash.

Plash is math rock, by the way.

So they're kind of in that category.

And then last night, I saw Montell Jordan and Color Me Bad

at the Clearwater Casino, which is in Suquamish.

So you take the ferry across from Seattle and then it's just a short drive to.

The casino.

Well, talk about talk about the more real quick.

The more the more open than 1907.

It's eighteen hundred capacity.

It's kind of say it's in the in the neighborhood of of our Tivoli.

You know, your local mid-sized to a large sized city.

What do we call that Victorian era kind of construction, even though

the more doesn't look like that.

But it does on the inside.

Talk about the the venue.

I guess it could be Art Deco.

It's more columns and more

Greco Roman kind of looking interior.

I always got to remind myself what all those things are.

All we could Art Deco and all that.

It's so cool. I wish I could speak like this.

And I always forget I was a Victorian.

You're really making me think early in the morning after a casino show.

Like, what's that type of architecture called?

No, it's beautiful.

Anyway, my point is, it's just it's beautiful in a way.

It is beautiful. Yeah, it's beautiful.

And it's got the ceiling with the.

I don't think it's actually a chandelier, but, you know, the beautiful ceilings.

It's that that type of theater experience with two balconies.

And notably Nirvana played a big show there.

I told Brian to look this stuff up for me so I could try to get it in my head.

But 1989 and 1990.

Thank you. You got me. OK.

So it was it was their Halloween show that they put on an album. Right.

Yeah. Nirvana. Yeah. Yeah.

That was not officially released as an album,

but they had the the Bleach right after Bleach was released in 1989.

And then in 1990, they had the Halloween show that you're talking about.

And then the Paramount or the Paramore Paramount

is a is a 3000 seat theater in Seattle.

And because Nevermind hit,

they had to move the the recording that they did release the live album on

from the more to the Paramount because of the the extra seating capacity.

Two seconds after Nevermind hit, then, you know, music world changed in that moment.

Now, were you there shooting?

I was. Yes. Yes. I got my I got my Tweety shirt on.

Just Tweety. So their shirts, they put I don't think you can really see it,

but they put the tour date on the front of the shirt.

There's nothing on the back of it. So it is different.

Yeah, I kind of like it.

So I just said I need to get it.

And also, it's black and I only wear black as a photographer.

So I do like Jeff Tweety a lot. How was the show?

I love him. He's one.

He's one of my all time favorites.

And I've seen Wilco a lot.

I've seen Jeff solo completely solo.

This was with the family band.

So he's got his his two sons and then their friends.

Everybody grew up within like a block radius of each other.

So he is just this is my first time actually getting to shoot him.

I'm hoping to do Solid Sound, which is Wilco's festival.

So that would be end of June.

I have a request in to shoot that, and that would be really amazing.

But this is such a great show.

He just seems so happy and comfortable

touring with this group of people, and they're doing

a song in each city that's from that city.

So they do a cover of

something that comes from that place.

Nice. Mermaid Avenue is one of the great records of all time.

I could listen to that anytime over and over.

And they're doing that.

They're doing Mermaid Avenue at Solid Sound this year.

Billy Bragg's going to be there.

Yeah. Talk about Solid Sound real quick, Beth.

What is it and where is it?

It is in Massachusetts.

It's a Mass Mocha, which is an art museum.

So it's a really unique festival.

It happens every two years.

So it gives them time to kind of rejuvenate in between

and everybody to get excited about it.

Just like a pretty good model.

There's a lot of buzz around it when it comes every two years.

I mean, the special thing is that it's

it's at this amazing venue where you can go inside the art museum,

walk around the exhibits.

It's an indoor outdoor festival.

It's all contained within the Mass Mocha grounds.

And this is this is like a hosted by Wilco.

Yeah. Yeah. Wilco's festival kind of.

Yeah. But unlike a FISH festival.

So when FISH does a festival, it's all FISH, no other bands.

Wilco, it's a lot of their bands.

So it's it's the main band.

It's sometimes Jeff Solo in a smaller room

with the Tweety band and all of the Wilco members side projects.

But they also invite other people.

So they have the Breeders this year and they're doing the Billy Bragg thing.

And they have some other people, too.

Real quick inside baseball, because I'm curious.

I've never shot in a venue like that.

How does that work?

I mean, I didn't get to shoot it last time.

I was I went two years ago.

So I did go to Solid Sound and I brought a film camera

because you could bring in a small camera.

And it's the type of place where you can kind of walk up to the stage.

So that was doable.

It's the same where there's a stage in the courtyard of the museum.

There are ones in the rooms.

And then there's also a big amphitheater,

whatever it is, big stage with a grassy hill.

I was thinking about Friday show in the Greco.

That's Friday.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

And that type of venue like our Tivoli or whatever.

I'm trying to picture how they would allow people to take pictures.

Yeah, first three, no flash.

It was a it was a seated show.

So there is sort of a pit, but it's just a not a velvet rope.

But, you know, that type of.

Yeah, I guess I can see your question, Barry, now that I think about it.

Like, where where is the camera?

Well, right. Or whatever you would call it.

Yeah, it is challenging because you're going to you will be blocking people.

So I usually just go and talk to the people in the front row

and who are sitting and say, hey, I'm I'm only here for three songs.

Just so you know, I might be in your way a little bit.

And they're usually really cool once they know you and you're not just.

Yeah. Getting into their space.

Going to be in front of the whole time.

Yeah, I've never done these front row seats are great.

Yeah, except for the first three songs of both.

Yeah, it was till 10 minutes ago or five minutes ago.

But if we're if we're doing well, if things are going well

and your camera is not malfunctioning and you have your settings basically right

and it's not dark or foggy or whatever,

we should be able to just do a couple in one spot and then

to a different angle.

We're moving around, right?

You should be moving.

Ideally, you're moving if you're not.

Something's going wrong. So interesting.

Well, how did the so how does the

the color me bad Montel Jordan double bill

throwback nostalgia show get on your radar?

I honestly don't remember if you told me that.

You probably I told you on the phone the other night.

You get it.

How did that come?

I was such a big 90s hip hop R&B R&B fan in junior high.

So I was a big fan of them as a kid.

And the reason the casino came on my radar was that I met.

I think I'm going to talk about this on the podcast before,

but I met the band Les Zeppelin, the cover, the all female Led Zeppelin

cover band. Great night in the airport.

Yeah. Yeah. Great band, too.

So we got stuck in the airport overnight in New York City

and basically spent the whole night together sharing snacks

and strategizing and whatever.

They were going to play the Clearwater Casino for New Year's Eve.

So that's why they were trying to get to Washington that night.

So it was kind of on my radar and I actually drove by it that night.

I was trying to get to another show that I had already planned to do.

So I wasn't able to stop in.

But that put it on my on my radar that they have shows

and that I might like to go see one here.

And when I saw that Color Me Bad and Montel were playing,

I had to I just asked if I could do it.

Oh, I have my I have my Color Me Bad hat.

This is visual, but it's gigantic.

It's one of those ones that's just going to have to hang on my wall.

This just got the classic Color Me Bad logo.

That's the one where there's only one original member left.

So it's the one singer and then two dancers.

And I think because you may have.

There's a whole viral situation where the one singer pushed the other guy on stage

and there were restraining orders and whatnot.

So the one singer, the main singer was kicked out of the band, is my understanding.

But it just felt so fun.

You know, you think about nostalgia shows that maybe it's going to be kind of sad.

Recapture or former glory.

This was absolutely packed.

And the audience was great.

And they just seem to be having such a great time on stage.

Same with Montel Jordan, where he doesn't need this.

He he just recovered.

Well, she recovered from cancer.

He had cancer last year.

And he was saying on stage that his numbers were at zero.

Now he's become a pastor.

There's our Easter tie in.

So he doesn't he doesn't do too much of it, but he does talk about it on stage.

That that's part of why he is back on the road, because he wants to just kind of spread

the message that this is really important in his life and that if somebody needs to hear it,

that he just does a little bit of a talk about being a pastor

and mixed in with a lot of really fun 90s R&B hip hop covers.

And this is how we do it, which is his main.

That's what everybody knows him for.

Quick thought.

Brian, you did a podcast the other day as part of a 24 hour.

And one of the questions I heard somebody ask, or you might even have asked, was how old?

When does a band become too old?

Do you remember the?

I'm paraphrasing.

Never.

Yeah, never.

We were stretching for stuff to talk about.

I know, but it was an interesting question because I've thought about it.

And what it's funny you say that.

Oh, I think, yeah, I think we were talking about that.

We were talking about how when we should be done with it.

I think I mentioned that I was even thinking Pearl Jam's age is getting to a point that I'm

not sure I need to see this, you know, too much longer.

Yeah.

OK.

There, there aren't too many bands that can still that can still hold.

I think the Stones, obviously, probably Pearl Jam and your universe.

To me, I think what, because I've thought about this for years.

To me, what happens is they become they're not scary anymore.

Rock and roll, you know, bands when we were kids.

Not scary is not the right word.

I never you're kind of going.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You never know what they were going to do.

And they made your parents nervous.

Almost like this mythical.

What's what is happening here?

Kind of.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then all of a sudden, it's like they're not bad anymore.

You know, I don't know.

At some point, they cross over.

And to me, that's the only way to.

I'd put Rush in that category and in my universe for sure.

You know, they're out there.

I still want to see them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But yeah, they're not.

Still really nostalgia is still really selling hot right now.

And for those of you that would might be a little confused, like I would have been a

year ago about the casino.

There are a lot of casinos and we're talking about Washington state.

There's a lot in Washington state.

Tacoma has several.

There's several Indian reservations.

There are a lot of them more than we know here in our southeastern corner here that

Carolina has several.

Yeah.

Cherokee Carolina.

Cherokee.

But Tennessee doesn't.

Georgia does not.

They're trying to change all that and eventually they will.

But yeah.

Bristol, Virginia just recently has one.

They have a hard rock.

I've actually been there.

Long story.

But there's several of these out there.

Right, Beth?

I mean, have you thought about looking in?

I mean, did you think, hey, maybe I'll shoot some shows at a casino someday?

I guess I would guess that.

I mean, I'm, you know, I'm pretty busy anyway.

So it's been great because I have my own venue.

So I basically shoot all of their shows that I can.

So, you know, I don't always branch out because I always say it takes two and a half

songs to get to the Quill Scene Lantern.

So it's such a short drive.

Know the people.

That's her home venue.

Shoot the whole show.

Get my coffee.

That's my home venue.

So, so I'm pretty busy with that.

So I haven't had to look that far afield.

It's just for bands that I'm really into that I'll travel to Seattle or here's kind

of in between.

So it wasn't on my radar before, but now it is.

Two questions.

How many shows a week are you shooting and have you seen anybody that's on this

year's Bonnarooo lineup?

Oh, good question.

I'm shooting two or three a week.

I wish I had my list with me because I did write out who was, who I'd seen from

the lineup.

I don't have it in front of me.

You can find it quickly.

But the answer is yes.

Anybody that was new to you?

On the Bonnarooo lineup?

Yeah.

Like who do we need to add?

I mean, and we'll probably ask you later when, maybe when the schedule comes out,

maybe we'll have you back on and we'll do, we'll all do our conflicts and our,

our, our M.S.C.'s and all that.

But, yeah.

I thought about it so much on December 2nd, which is my birthday and was lineup

day. And I really got into researching all these bands and making the playlist

and figuring out all of those tiers of, okay, who have I seen?

Who do I want to see?

Who do I need to research?

And then I've kind of set it aside because it feels almost too early to be,

or it did then.

It felt too early to get really into it because then sometimes you're over

prepared and it takes, it's like when I spend hours and hours editing a set of

photos versus just doing it, knowing it's not going to be perfect, posting it that

night, moving on to the next thing.

I think it can lose a little bit of the excitement if you spend too much time

thinking about it out of time, especially the lineup.

Yeah.

Let me go, let me go backwards real quick.

We'll be out of time for you.

I'm excited to know it.

Your home venue, The Lantern, which has not been open the two times I've been there.

It's been an off week, so I have actually not seen it.

500 cap or 250?

I think 500.

I think that, well, maybe 300 in the barn part.

They've got a big, it's like a big hay barn.

Through the pictures, it doesn't look very big.

Just to set up the reason for that question is, speaking of our bands, my band,

Pearl Jam, when was this that Matt came through there?

Just a couple of weeks ago, the now former drummer of Pearl Jam, who just

stepped down, Soundgarden drummer for all those years and took over when Soundgarden

quit in 2000, so for 25 years was Pearl Jam's drummer, just showed up in this little

place over off the peninsula, way off the path from Seattle, Matt Cameron, to do a

jazz trio show at The Lantern, and of course, Beth was there to shoot it.

I was mesmerized by that.

Talk about it.

And somebody was in the crowd too, talk about that real quick.

Oh yeah, so that was pretty amazing because I was equally into 90s hip hop R&B

and grunge, so I was both.

I was always into all different types of music.

Yeah.

And I think Bonnarooo made me...

She likes everything!

Yeah, I do, but I think I was always like that.

I was naturally predisposed to that, but then Bonnarooo made me even more so because

the point of going to Bonnarooo was to get to see all this different type of music,

everything that you're into.

So anyway, I was a huge grunge fan too, obviously, and seeing Matt Cameron

knowing that he had just been in arenas, I mean, the biggest stages in the world.

And then, you know, he's like six feet away from me.

I'm just taking pictures of him in my normal venue drinking my coffee was really

incredible because I've actually been listening a lot more to Soundgarden,

listening to the drum parts, and he is really an incredible drummer.

If you just listen to the drumming on both Soundgarden and some Pearl Jam stuff,

he's just one of the best in the world.

So that was very exciting.

And then Ben Gibbard was in the audience.

I wouldn't have even known that, but somebody, he said something to me and

another guy I was talking to and he's like, oh, you know, that's Ben Gibbard.

I was like, that was not on my radar.

From Death Cab for Cutie.

It leads to Death Cab for Cutie.

One of my absolute favorite bands.

Yeah.

Also one of my favorite bands.

So that was...

Maybe we'll get him there too.

Matt Cameron plays a...

I'm sorry, the music sounds awful.

Like this jazz trio thing, right?

It's the weirdest thing ever.

What is essentially the middle of nowhere.

And I'm sorry to call it middle of nowhere, but it is just way off away from Seattle.

It's way off from Seattle.

And then Ben Gibbard from Death Cab shows up just to hang out.

Like what a wild night.

Man, that was a night I hated to miss, but that's...

Yeah.

That's one thing I love about living in the Seattle area.

And it's probably the same with Nashville.

I would imagine that it just has such a long music history and a lot of the

people who were big in the scene in the nineties are still around.

I just saw the band Earth with Dylan Carlson last fall also, and he was,

you know, famously friends with Kurt Cobain and in that universe too.

They're just kind of around and sometimes you see them, you know.

A lot of folk.

A lot of folklore out there though.

A lot of, yeah, me and Kurt, man, back in the day, you know.

Me and Lane and Jerry Cantrell, we were boys, man.

We went to high school together.

The difference between me and Brian is I believe all that stuff and he doesn't.

Some of it is true.

We got to meet in the middle.

I just believe them when they tell me that.

Yeah.

It's better to believe.

I think so too.

I was looking at, and Bera, we might chat this up next week.

There's a lot of the different festivals that have dropped here recently.

And a lot of them are really good, but one that jumps off is bumper shoot.

Am I saying that right, Beth?

I was just, yeah, we didn't even talk about that, but I was just saying

yesterday that I want to try to shoot that one.

I just saw it yesterday.

That's why we haven't talked about it.

Cause you didn't tell me cause we haven't discussed it.

It's happened on tour.

Yeah.

This is a smaller festival in Seattle proper, correctly?

Correct?

Been around forever.

Been around a long time.

More, not one of those big city festivals, but kind of in between in a big city.

And the headliner, speaking of Death Cab, the headliners are Turnstile

and Death Cab for Cutie.

That's a little bigger than normal, isn't it?

Or am I off and I'm not remembering the history of this festival well?

I think it's always, it's always fairly big names, but not a lot of them.

I mean, it's only small in that I think there's a smaller group of people.

Okay.

Then I'm just thinking.

These multi-day festivals, but I, you know, I honestly don't know.

I've never had a chance to go because it's always a weekend when I'm

shooting something else last year, the, the Lanternata festival that same weekend.

But this year that festival has moved.

So I am, I'm going to try to shoot bumper shoot if I can.

Yeah.

Just thought that was a.

Report back.

Turnstile making all the, the, the appearances this year.

And then Death Cab, I like more and more, but Barry, what did

you have we were talking about?

Sorry.

I'm well, I was asking Beth if she has seen any bands during her tour, her

North American tour, if she's seen any bands that are on the Bonnaroo lineup

in particular, maybe some that you didn't know about that you've now seen and,

you know, can offer thoughts.

But either way.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we, I mean, obviously we know about Skrillex, Grizz, Geese, having

been at the farm before we talked about Wetleg that I really think they're a

must see, I've seen Blues Traveler a million times, so I'm excited to see them

back again.

I've seen the neighborhood.

That was an interesting photo situation because they told us that we could

only publish photos in black and white.

This was like 10 years ago.

And when, when they said that only black and white of the neighborhood, I thought

they were talking about the neighborhood around Boston, that you could only do

black and white photos of the area, which was not accurate, but I mean, it was

just a style choice, I guess they wanted to keep their stuff consistent.

So whatever, I can't blame them there.

Just like I have seen Tash Sultana.

Excellent.

Love Tash.

Yeah.

Love it.

Yeah.

Yeah, that was, that was great.

So I'll definitely be going to that one.

Um, there's a couple more.

Obviously we've seen Tadeshi trucks a lot.

Um, Japanese breakfast we've seen at the farm.

Modest Mouse has been around a lot because they had a member who lived in my town.

Um, their drummer who passed away.

So they've been here a lot, but yeah, there's not actually a lot, uh, on

the undercard from those things.

Usually there are a lot that come over from Thing Festival, which is, um, a

festival here run by the same people who own the Moore and the Paramount and

the other theaters.

Okay.

I hate to cut things off, but it's Easter and I gotta go watch grandkids

chase eggs or something.

Yeah.

I think it's, I think that just about covers it for this week.

Um, Beth, thanks so much for getting up early and doing this.

And, um,

Thanks for having me.

And beautiful sunrise service.

Thank you.

Yes.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

Any what's on the horizon for the next, uh, you know, six weeks, four weeks,

three weeks, anything going on that that's notable?

I go back to go back to work tomorrow.

So I'm on the border system.

So I got some real life coming up, but, um,

What age do you teach?

I'll be showing as many shows as I can.

It's college.

Yeah.

Okay.

Do they know how cool you are?

No, I don't think they're, I don't think they think I'm very cool.

None of my teachers were ever as cool as Beth.

Yeah.

None of mine were rocking Jeff Tweedy t-shirts.

Yeah.

All right.

Thank you so much.