'roo diaries 2009, round two.

For day one, click here.

Friday was the first of two marathon days for me, although Saturday involved less time under the sizzling Tennessee sun. I soldiered on and was rewarded with my favorite show of the weekend. I might be a little biased since this day was five years in the making, but almost everyone who saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that afternoon didn't regret missing Grizzly Bear or Santigold (in possibly the worst scheduling fiasco to date). Anyway, on to the full recap.

Gomez, the countrified British folk-rockers, delivered a nice, solid noontime set. I enjoyed the steady stream of recognizable tunes such as "See the World," "How We Operate," and "Airstream Driver," but nothing beats the blond, tanned fifty-year-old beside me gyrating in her halter dress. The joys of Bonnaroo. Haha.

I don't get the MASSIVE hype surrounding Animal Collective. Sure MPP tracks like "Lion in a Coma," "Summertime Clothes," and "My Girls" sounded pretty good outdoors at two in the afternoon, but once Panda Bear and co. started digging into their back catalog and pulling out the pitchy electro-jams, the set turned into one big mess. Combined with the intense heat, the squeals of AC's gear were headache-inducing, especially directly in front of the speakers. Maybe twelve hours later, splayed out on a blanket a quarter mile out from the stage, I would have been okay with AC live. But for right now, that had to be the most unpleasant show I have ever been to.

Now that I'm done ranting about the worst, I'm on to rave about the best. Decked out in a kimono-like top and yellow zebra-print leggings, Karen O pounced onto the stage for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs set. Directly in front of me was the ever-cool Nick Zinner (but not for long, stay tuned). Over the course of an hour and fifteen minutes, the YYY barreled their way through new tunes ("Zero," "Heads Will Roll," "Skeletons") and old hits ("Pin," "Gold Lion," even "Miles Away" and "Art Star"), took pictures of the crowd (Nick clearly pointed his camera in my direction), launched confetti from cannons (twice), and Karen spewed beer and swallowed her mic (more than twice). Then, disaster hit. Zinner's electric guitar for "Maps" wasn't tuned properly, so the audience got a taste of an off-key version of the song before Karen pulled the plug and said they should just do it acoustically. I don't know how often the YYY do that version, but it felt like something special. Luckily, my heart didn't give out quite yet, for my favorite song "Y Control" followed. After ending with "Date with the Night," Zinner, still looking pretty pissed from the fiasco, smashed the offending guitar and stormed off the stage. "We don't do this very often," Karen declared before swinging her neon pink mic cord around and pounding the guitar with it. Brian Chase, happy as always, took the bow by himself. It was definitely a show to remember.

...and I thought Animal Collective was loud. Although I was in the front row, I couldn't stay for longer than a third of TV on the Radio's set. My legs were about to collapse beneath me. It might have been a good thing too, for TVoR was so loud, I barely recognized "Wolf Like Me" since the sound was so distorted. I did love the fleshed out version of "Halfway Home", Tunde Adebimpe's dancing, and seeing Kyp Malone's beard live.

Sitting on the grass, eating $3 samosas, and playing with glowsticks had to be the best way to enjoy David Byrne. I didn't catch much of the legend (though my friend Will was holding out for "Psycho Killer"), but from what I heard, Byrne's still rockin' it.

"Un, deux, trois," went the soundcheck for Phoenix. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs may have been my favorite show of the weekend, but the French band's brief 45-minute set was a very close second. Opening with their latest single "Lisztomania," singer (/Sofia Coppola's baby daddy) Thomas Mars brought some greatly appreciated pop-rock sensibilities to the farm. Naturally, the whole crowd recognized "Too Young" (from Lost in Translation), but the party kicked into high gear just as the closer, "1901" came on. The set proved to be way too short, and instead of leaving the crowd hanging, Mars signaled his band mates to keep playing the song's hook while he launched himself into the audience.

How do I even begin to describe Crystal Castles? It was like a club/rave/mosh pit. And yes. This was still outdoors on a farm in the middle of Tennessee. Alice Glass prowled around like a feral animal, climbing the speakers and simultanously singing and crowd surfing. With the fog machine enveloping the glowstick lit crowd, I was elbowed, kneed, squashed, cut, and nearly trampled. IT WAS AWESOME. I think I even touched Glass with my fingertips at one point. Then I learned not to stick my hands out too far, for a girl without any underwear and a guy in a loin cloth were both crowd surfing as well.

I was thoroughly bruised and extremely thirsty after Crystal Castles, but had I stayed, I would have been on the stage for Girl Talk. I opted to sit out on the grass and watched numerous costumed folk (Dharma Initiative suits, anyone?) dance the night away. My friend Mark stayed until the end and told me Greg Gillis kept the party going until six in the morning.