365 project: "but i got too much pride inside to hide or slide, ill do as i decide"

154.

Artist:blues traveler
Album:Four


I kind of cheated a little bit with this one, as I don’t actually own the CD, nor have I ever. I did, however, borrow it from the library, though, and because blues traveler has a kind of important place in my heart and my history, I decided that I’m going to go for it and use it in this project.

As many of my stories from more recent years, this one also happens at bonnaroo. The first time I saw them was at ‘roo a few summers back. I cant remember the exact year, though I believe it was the same summer that we saw radiohead down there. I wandered off by myself to see blues traveler, because no one else that I was with was interested in seeing them. I don’t remember a whole lot from that show, aside from the fact that it was one of the BEST performances I had ever seen.

I say that a lot about things I’ve seen down on that farm, but mostly that is because that is the truth. I feel like when a band shows up down there, they are there to bring it…playing a festival like that is what id imagine to be the equivalent of game seven of the world series…all on the line, you know? I think anyone that has been to bonnaroo will tell you that some of the stuff that goes on there is stuff that one would never see when dropping 50 bucks to go see one of these artists on tour. The collaborations that happen down there are really just mind-numbingly awesome (or maybe it’s the drugs).

I cant recall if there were any collaborations in That tent that first time I saw blues traveler.* I can tell you, however, that it was something id looked forward to since 1994 or so, so it was a pretty big deal for me. John Popper is a showman. That harmonica was just about the sickest thing id ever had the pleasure of hearing under that big Tennessee sky. I cant tell you if it was the excitement of being down there, or if it was the freedom of being alone, or if the crowd’s energy just lent itself to such an amazing performance, but I walked away from That tent after their set and couldn’t believe how incredible the band was.

They played a shorter set on the sonic stage a little bit later, and I only was able to catch the last few songs due to some scheduling conflicts, but they closed out that set with a cover of what I got by sublime, and that song, on top of being as close to the stage as id wedged myself, made me want to stay in that moment forever.

I got the chance to see the band again at ‘roo last summer, but the magic was lost the second time. I don’t know if that was because of how horrible of an experience ‘roo ended up being for me, or if it was something else, but I just wasn’t feeling it. It is quite possible that I had such high expectations stemming from the first experience that I thought this would be a life-altering performance. I could just be older and more jaded these days, and incapable of an experience like that one again. I sincerely hope its not the latter.

*looking through videos on YouTube i just found one of john popper and g. love getting down and dirty with a couple of harmonicas. I'm getting too old to remember all the awesomeness that has been my life up to this point.