It's pretty amazing when you sit down and think about it. Take a bunch of bands that you know and love and some you don't know or don't love yet, plunk them down in a field that is literally in the middle of nowhere, camp for three days next to strangers and trust in the fact that everything is gonna work out fine. In trusting the music and your neighbors, something metaphysical begins to take hold. Suddenly, nowhere turns into "now here" and the fun that is being had can't be calculated or measured because there's no point of reference. You have no choice but to give in to the wave of humanity and sail the sonic seas. At the end of the voyage, you are a little crispy around the edges, toasty from the sun, a little stinky from the mud, exasperated by the experience but most of all, you have become open to the possibilities.
If it sounds like Bonnaroo is more than a music festival, it's because in the grand design of things, it is. It's also more than a laugh in the beer tent, sharing a joint with a stranger or rolling from stage to stage.
We take another look at Bonnaroo from the inside, and we find that the same trust that is integral to a successful fan experience is also being played out by festival organizers. Maybe it's because they are not as far removed from being the audience as you may think.
The New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn will play host to the Across the Narrows festival on October 1 and 2. A variety of indie-rock heavyweights will take part in the multi-day festival, held simultaneously at Brooklyn's Keyspan Park and Staten Island's Richmond County Bank Ballpark. Arriving at the tail end of festival season the multi-band gathering will likely help establish Coney Island’s Keyspan Park as a hot New York destination. In the past few years, the minor league stadium has hosted a variety of acts including Phish, the White Stripes and Bjork. Artists scheduled to appear at the festival’s Brooklyn offerings include The Pixies, Gang Of Four, Built To Spill, Rilo Kiley, Death From Above 1979, Mando Diao, Nine Black Alps, Beck, Belle & Sebastian, The Polyphonic Spree, The Raveonettes, Gang Gang Dance and Whirlwind Heat. An equally impressive and eclectic offering will take place in Staten Island with The Killers, New York Dolls, Interpol, British Sea Power, Tegan and Sara, The Ordinary Boys, Lake Trout, Oasis, Jet, Doves, The Lemonheads, Kasabian and Jesse Malin all scheduled to perform. A number of additional acts will be added to the Across the Narrows lineup in the coming days.
Saturday and Sunday the Dave Matthews Band hosted its first two-day festival on New York’s Randall’s Island, a small, largely unpopulated chunk of land sandwiched between Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens. In addition to a pair of full performances by the stadium rocks, the multi-band gathering also featured two shows by Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Jem, Mike Doughty and Ray Lamontagne, in addition to single set offerings from the Barenaked Ladies and the Black Eyed Peas. On Saturday, Matthews also invited his “very good friend” Trey Anastasio onstage for an almost twenty-minute version of longtime band staple “Jimi Thing” and Robert Randolph out for a set closing take on “Louisiana Bayou.” A night later, Randolph, who has appeared with Matthews frequently this summer, returned for both “Stand Up” and “All Along the Watchtower.” Sunday, Matthews also performed a rare version of “#34,” a number which had been shelved for over a decade before the guitarist’s current tour.
