The Behrend Beacon I 8
Bonnaroo Festival lineup released
By Christopher Ealuria
editor-in chief
cslsiN>5 |f ' pMi.edu
The I.vent
Main music fans and environ-
mcnt conservationists come
together each year lor Bonnaroo.
the annual celebration ol music,
wildlife, and biodiversity. This
year, the hacks-sack-playing.
Frisbee tossing, hygiene-neglect-
ing pseudo-hippies have com
piled a list of performers for this
sear's eala
While maintaining the (heme
of disersits. the administration of
the festival has selected a rather
large variety of musical acts. In
attendance this year will be such
acts as Pearl Jam. Metalliea.
Kanye West. Jack Johnson. Ben
Folds. The Raconteurs. Ms
Morninu Jacket. Death Cab lor
Cutie. and many more.
Metalliea drummer Lars
Ullrich says that it is no surprise
that his hand was selected lor the
venue. 'lt's all about variety.'' he
sank "The fact that this is start-
ing in America is great. The fact
that we've been asked to be part
of it is so natural and obvious.
This was one of those no-brain-
The festivities lake place in
Manchester. Tenn. from June 12-
1? on Manchester farm. It is the
culmination of the top musical
talent in the nation infused with
important environmentalist infor
mation and comedians as well.
The Cause
The festival is more than just
the revival of the 60s countercul-
ture gone awry, submerged in a
surreal drug-induced three-day
long high. According to the
Bonnaroo w ebsite, the purpose of
the event is far more than that, li
is about raising people's aware
ness of important issues, via
music celebration and perpetual
awareness. "The future of our
planet is a big deal for Bonnaroo
and it should be for you. too." as
stated in the website. "We need
all of our fans at Bonnaroo to
help counteract global warming
and the devastation of our envi
ronmcnl through conservation:
reduced and sustainable living;
and the preservation of our natu
ral resourees. wildlife, anti hiodi-
vershv
The Music
Aside from all of the environ
mental issues, the stage is where
the real issues will unfold. The
announcement ol the lineup coin
cides with main various award
nominations, new releases, anti
new projects
National Music News in Brief
Scorcese reveals his latest, the charts are
shifting, and the Grateful Dead opened
for Barack Obama., wait what?
Martin Scorcese has captured
music on film once again with
his latest documentary featuring
the Rolling Stones entitled Shine
a I.iylit. The film's premiere
opened the Berlin International
Film Festival on Feb. ft with
Scorcese and the Stones in atten
dance.
Scorsese's ability to make
music documentaries was made
obvious by his 2004 documen
tary No Direction Home about
singer/songwriter Bob Dylan.
Scorsese is now' allegedly look
ing at footage for his next project
featuring the late Beatle George
Harrison.
Kanye West, a newcomer to
the lineup, leads this year's
Grammy nominees with eight
nominations. West is among the
lew hip-hop artists set for this
year's bill. Joining West in
Tennessee is Lupe Fiasco and
Talib Kweli.
Many artists for the summer
event have released new albums
over the past few weeks. Most
noteworthy is Jack Johnson,
whose most recent album Sleep
Through the Static, was released
on Feb. 5. While maintaining his
loyal crew of surfing cronies.
Johnson has expanded to include
manv more music fans.
Rilo Kilev. led by the beautiful
and talented Jenny Lewis, will
also be playing this year's
Bonnaroo. Their most recent
album Under the Blackliglu. is
the album-long tale of heartbreak
and stale relationships. Lewis'
long, drawn-out orgasmic moans
should make a noise on stage.
Longtime marijuana advocate
Willie Nelson, whose album
Moment of Forever was produced
Buddy Cannon and Kenny
Chesney. will be on stage during
the event. His take on Dave
Matthews Band's "Gravedigger"
and Dylan's "Gotta Serve
Somebody" will surely be as big
as the hit Willie will be taking on
8.8. King, longtime blues
musician, will make a stop in
Erie before the journey down to
Tennessee. On Mar. 14. King
will take on Eric's Warner
Theatre. His annual trip to west
ern PA will be immediately fol
lowed by his trek to the south.
In the midst of the musicians,
we find some comedic relief
from such acts as Jeneane
Garofalo. Jim Norton and Dav id
The Picks
While many of the aforemen
tioned artists w ill put on quite the
show at Bonnaroo. there are
some bands and musicians that
make the S2OO-ish price for
admission.
Mv Morning Jacket, who has
become popular with their live
performances, will hit the stage
in June. Their most recent live
album Okonokos was recorded in
Nov ember of 2005 and release on
CD and DVD. Jim James' cre
ativity and soothing-yodel of a
voice will resonate with the hip
pie crowd.
When MMJ makes too big of a
crowd, the concert crew s can rely
on Iron & Wine and Jose
Gon/alcv to calm down the audi
ences with their soft guitar and
whispered lyrics. Although
By Ryan P. Gallagher
rpgs(K)4(? psu.edu
Alicia Key’s album. Av /
Am. is back on top of the
charts selling 61.257
copies to beat out the Juno
soundtrack which held the
No. I one spot proudly for
one w eek.
The Juno soundtrack
was bumped down to No. 2
while the Mars Volta's lat
est Bedlam in Goliath has
shot up the the No. 3 slot.
Also climbing into the
top 10 this week was Bullet
For My Valentine’s Scream
Aim Fire at four and the
200 S Grammys Nominees
compilation at live.
rather faint in volume, their lyri
cal wizardry helped see to it that
their albums had commercial
success. Iron & Wine's The
Shepherd's Dog spent many
months in 2007 on the College
Radio Charts. Gonzalez's In Our
Nature has become his most pop
ular release to date.
There are the popular bands
and then there are the personal
favorites. The three acts that are
worth my money and time are
The Avett Brothers. Drive-By
Truckers and Mason Jennings.
The Avett Brothers, this
decade’s version of genuine
grass-roots bluegrass mixed with
90s sentimental lyrics is the per
fect blend of sound and poetry.
The three-piece should rock the
crowd deep into a chemical
Drive-By Truckers, this year's
sleeper for early album of the
year, will bring their pseudo-red
state southern rock to the frontier
of creativity. Their most recent
album Brighter Than Creation's
Dark, was mixed and mastered to
be played on vinyl records.
Finally. Mason Jennings,
Hawaii-born and Pittsburgh
raised. has my personal endorse
ment for MVM. Most Valuable
Musician.
His album Boneclouds is a
tribute to original songvvriting
and genuine music performers.
His song "Be Here Now" should
ring out throughout the state ol
Tennessee
The Reason
Whether you're the music type
or the Green Peace advocate, you
should be able to find a reason to
celebrate the summer's pinnacle
event. Bonnaroo will prove to be
the modern-day Woodstock, with
more talent and less STDs. So
pack up your RVs. y our backpack
full of hopefullv-legal parapher
nalia. make sure vour hacky sack
is full of beans, and get to
Tennessee in June.
Bonnaroo is
scheduled for
June 12-15 and
will be taking
place in
Manchester,
Tenn. on
Manchester
Farm.
The Grateful Dead reunited briefly
on Jan. 4 at the Warner Theater in San
Francisco. Ca for Barack Obama's
presidential campaign rally. The
Dead had not spoken in "years and
years" but were quoted allegedly
saying "we knew instinctively, intu
itively that we were all together on
this."
Obama felt that this was an effec
tive way to bring everyone together,
and although has never attended a
Dead concert, is said to indeed pos
sess the music of the Dead on his
iPod.
It is unsure if theband has any plans
to continue their music career, how
ever they enjoyed this rally immense-
Above: An overhead shot of the annual Bonnaroo Musie Festival, where thousands nav el across the
country to enjoy several days of music.
Submit music articles each week to
rpgsoo4@psu.edu. We are always looking for
interesting articles on a variety of music. The
Beacon is always accepting new writers.
Weekl
What is the most aired video in the history of MTV?
“Thriller” Michael Jackson C. “I Don’t Want to Miss a
“Sledgehammer” Peter Gabriel D. “One Headlight” The
Answer to last week's question: B. Adam Schlesinj>er
Musical Trivia for the Behrend
Beacon
Friday, Feburary 8, 2008
bonneuxo
Thing” Aerosmith
Wallflowers