popwreckoning

Bonnaroo X has as announced its lineup with a little help from Conan O’Brien.

The festival is June 9-12, 2011 in Manchester, Tennessee.

As always, the festival is a diverse mix of electronica, jam bands, folk, rock, indie and rap. Among some of the biggest names playing the fest are Eminem, Arcade Fire, Lil Wayne, Widespread Panic, the Strokes, Girl Talk, Neil Young and more. Buffalo Springfield is even reuniting for the fest.

You can watch the lineup announcement video with Conan below or visit Bonnaroo.com for further details.

For those sitting at home, wondering how Bonnaroo kids survive on practically no sleep for the entirety of the fest, the answer is simple: it’s too hot to sleep. Though most had been up until 4 a.m. Friday night with LCD Soundsystem, the humidity made it hard to sleep past 7 a.m. Which kind of sucked because there wasn’t too much going on at Bonnaroo until the early afternoon. And it especially sucked because the day was only going to get hotter.

The high temps didn’t damper the spirits of Pennsylvania’s Langhorne Slim. Langhorne Slim is like a non-pop version of Jason Mraz, which I would argue, is the better version. Langhorne’s music was laid back folk rock. Even the surprise appearance of a little kid dancing around the stage didn’t disrupt their good-mood. In fact, it improved it. Langhorne incorporated the kid into the act, dancing with him, lowering a mic to his height and even giving him a high five. Adorable.

Next, it was time for perhaps one of the biggest buzz acts of the fest: Conan O’Brien. Conan’s band performed an introductory jam that had them all out playing their saxophones and trumpets out in the audience, and giving high fives in between notes. The band returned to their spots and a video appeared projecting Conan: bearded and in a fat suit. He looked like Santa’s cousin. The video followed Conan around looking miserable and being depressed: he was eating junk, ignoring his daughter, etc. But then he gets a call: “Want to do a tour? Are you in shape?” Within moments, the beard was trimmed and the fat suit dropped. Then Conan himself appeared in the flesh. The jokes were a mix of being kicked off TV quips and jokes about Bonnaroo…and of course, some that combined both:

“In six months, I’ve gone from hosting the Tonight Show to performing at a refuge camp.”

The set was also highlighted by the appearance of Andy Richter, Dion Cole, a Triumph the Insult Dog video message, and of course, the infamous Walker Texas Ranger clips. Although, the Walker clips did inspire the audience to chant “aids, aids, aids,” which might not be the most appropriate thing ever. Other cute moments included when Conan took the time to take a picture with a fan in the front row.

This being a music festival, there were also plenty of musical aspects, too. Joke songs and White Stripes covers (just two days before, Conan recorded a live album with Jack White). There was even Meatloaf‘s bat out of hell inflatable. Hideously awesome.

When the show ended, the audience demanded more, so Team Coco obliged with a cover of The Band‘s “The Weight.” During an instrumental break, Conan went out to give hugs and high fives to the audience. A nice gesture, but one that almost got him killed as people swarmed him for a chance to touch that infamous red hair. But he handled it well and was all smiles as 15 minutes later he worked his way back to the stage. Too funny; too cute.

When I came out from the Comedy Theatre, the soulful singer and pianist Norah Jones was performing on the Which Stage. Unfortunately for the talented writer, her tunes aren’t the best to experience in the sun outdoors. They became swallowed up in the dead air and she became more like bore – ah Jones, not Norah.

Disappointed with Jones, I returned back to the trusty comedy tent to catch the Bonnaroo Roast with Roastmaster Jeffrey Ross. Ross did a funky walk out to to some jam music freezing to point at an audience member, “Ugly,” then the sign interpreter at the front, “Deaf,” then himself, “Fat,” before going up to twirl with his attractive female stagehand, “Yeah.” The Roast was pretty funny and Jeff took the time to make fun of Bonnaroo bands, people in the audience, himself and even the heads of Superfly productions: “Nice work, guys. Really. You got thousands and thousands of people to come, but only have seven bars of soap.” He even took a jab at Jay-Z: “Think he’ll perform Empire State of Mind for like the millionth time? Always ripping off “New York State of Mind. He’s not Jay-Z. He’s fucking lazy.” Also, I must say, that sign interpreters have the hardest job at the fest. The comedians sure put this interpreter through some uncomfortable hand gestures.

As fun as it was to take a laugh at ourselves, I ventured out of the Roast a little early to catch some of the talented Avett Brothers. They’ve got some beautiful harmonies going with their blend of bluegrass rock and I love their use of strings on their songs.

The Avett Brothers by Joshua Hammond

Speaking of great harmonies, Mumford and Sons owned That Tent with their performance. The UK group absolutely blew me away and I think it is just a matter of time before these labelmates of Phoenix blow up. They play pretty mellow folk music a la Noah and the Whale style, but they still brought plenty of rock, with one member lifting his upright bass above his head while playing it…those things aren’t light. The band seemed to be having a great time and so did the audience. This was just one of those feel good performances and perhaps one of my top performances of the fest.

Jack White’s current project, The Dead Weather, with The Kills‘ Allison Mosshart soon took over the What Stage. Jack White primarly plays drums in this project, proving that the man can and will do absolutely everything in music with near perfection. He does come out from behind the set to sing and even play guitar. However, with how big of a name as White is, Mosshart was the star. The woman prowled the stage while singing, cigarette down to her side, making her look and even soundlike the classic movie image of those smoky lounge singers – and I do mean that as a compliment. I love how her voice fits into this southern rock style. In fact, I like her much more in this than I do in the Kills, and from the looks of it, she seems to enjoy this more, too.

Weezer is not how you typical think of rockers, with their frontman Rivers Cuomo being a Harvard graduate and a stereotypical image of a geek as opposed to one of those high school drop out rock stars that don the leather jackets and always have a flask of Jack Daniels at their side. But I’m glad this band has managed to defy stereotypes to become one of the biggest, and longest lasting groups around. Almost every song in their very long set list has been successful on the radio – these guys just know how to write a catchy tune. Their set was also improved by the change that has come over Rivers in the last six years. When I first saw the band in 2005, though the songs were familiar and catchy, the performance was stale. The band just did not seem into it. Now, six years later, it is like they’re a whole new band. Rivers has a renewed energy and wonderment – almost like a kid at an amusement park. “Hello, plane. Hello, plane with banner behind that plane!” shouted Rivers. At another point, he stole the camera from a photog in the pit and snapped a crowd shot. Then, his quirkiness hit a new extreme during the encore when the band played a mash of “Kids” by MGMT and “Poker Face,” by Lady Gaga. When he got to the Gaga lyrics, Rivers put on a blonde wig and began thrashing around. Hilarious. I love when music is simply fun.

Weezer by Joshua Hammond

Speaking of fun, how about the epicness that is Stevie Wonder? The crowd at Bonnaroo tends to run a little younger, so the demographic here kind of missed out on Wonder’s prime, but that doesn’t mean everyone wasn’t still excited about the legend’s performance. I think everyone was surprised by how many of the tunes we all knew and Wonder did a great job of helping the crowd singalong.

Kanye. This is how it is done. Rapper Jay-Z started about ten minutes late. That’s it. And it was Stevie Wonder’s fault for starting his set late. Then Jay-Z played a set full of his hits and he was nice about it. No attitude. He thanked Wonder, fellow artists like Alicia Keys for their help on his record. We bounced with him. We froze him. We sang with him. It was great. The only disappointment was that with Beyonce side stage for all the set, it was a bit of a bummer that she didn’t come out and join him for any of the female vocal spots on his tunes. It’s not like we were promised that, but it would have been cool.

Jay-Z by Joshua Hammond

As hard as it was to part from Jay-Z, there will some other great performances getting ready to start over at the tents.Thievery Corporation got people dancing with a blend of India-influenced DJ beats and their singer’s strong vocals amping the crowd up. However, this performance couldn’t even begin to compare to the crazy dance parties that were about to erupt over at This Tent.

Dan Deacon Ensemble was interesting to say the least. The stage was covered with xylophones and drums and keyboards as well as a glowing, green skull. Like I said, interesting. Before even playing a song, Dan Deacon tried to put everyone in the same mood: “Put your fist in the air. Then point your finger. Now put your left foot just behind your right foot. Now rock back and forth. Now rock down so you’re on your knees.” We all obliged, chuckling. Well, we all obliged save one guy in a white hat: “Too cool for this,” said Deacon. “Everyone point at this guy. Now stare at this guy.” It was weird, but bizarrely fun. After this “crowd bonding” moment was over, the ensemble finally exploded into their crazy dance jams. At some point in your life, go see Dan Deacon with the full ensemble. It will probably blow your mind and be one of the best moments of your life.

Dan Deacon wasn’t the only one with crazy stage theatrics. Gwar was playing a stage over from Deacon. The nordically clothed rockers began with a video history of their odd inception. Then the costumed warriors appeared, showering everyone in waves of blood and rock. Even the Bonnaroo Fountain got in on the crazy Gwar action and was turned red for the night with LED lights.

But for those wanting to dance into the twilight hours, the party was at This Tent. DJ Deadmau5 was playing the his beats well past 5 a.m. to an enthusiastic crowd covered in glow sticks. The mysterious Deadmau5 wore giant mouse ears and sat high up on the stage in DJ booth. It was like he was the electronic lord and we were his dancing minions. He held such power. With a raise of his arms, we’d dance harder and faster. He was still going strong by the time I finally made it back to my tent to rest for the final day of Bonnaroo.

Check back for more photos and recaps from Bonnaroo. View a recap of Thursday here and a recap of Friday here.

Bonnaroo Friday had a rocky start for PopWreckoning. Sweltering temperatures and a “knock” on our tent woke us to inform us that we had camped in the wrong spot. Frustrated, we packed up our tent and began rewandering the muddy roads trying to figure out what we couldn’t figure out the other day. Fortunately, the Bonnaroo fates finally took mercy on us and we at last got our new camping spot: in VIP. Huzzah! Free showers and close to Centeroo!

Press goes through orientation on Friday, so after resetting up our tent, we headed to the media area to hear the ins and outs of Bonnaroo with the wonderful Big Hassle Crew. They shared some good insights, photo rules and a few good jokes.

Press got a special treat today: an acoustic performance of Dr. Dog. The band played about three songs rich with banjos, guitars, and light drumming. acoustic. Check back for a video from the band’s acoustic performance a little bit later.

I glimpsed a bit of alt country act Jessie Baylin and a long line waiting to see Conan O’Brien, while I was walking over to the uke wielding Julia Nunes. The quirky singer played a very long set list of her original tunes and fun covers. Never has a been a ukulele been more bad ass than in her hands. When it came time for her to play a cover of Weezer, Nunes hinted that she might be joining the band for their Bonnaroo set on Saturday. Nunes also announced she had been camping with the rest of us plebes instead of enjoying a trailer or hotel like many other artists. All the more reason to love her.

Then, it was off to see Canada’s Tokyo Police Club over at the Other Tent. The young rockers began with the feedback that kicks off their first song on the newly released, Champ. “Favourite Food” is one of my favorites on the new album and it was a great way to start their set. The band looked absolutely jubilant at the audience’s warm reception. They followed it up with the classic “Nature of the Experiment” before delivering another new one. The old hits were there, but so were plenty of new ones. I can’t wait to see these guys take off with Champ.

Begrudgingly, I pulled away from TPC to go to the Troo Lounge to see Young Veins, a new 60s revivalist rock band. I went into the set knowing nothing about them, but the tunes were catchy and it was a well done homage to rock of old. As I bobbed my head along with the tunes I couldn’t help, but think something was…pretty odd. For a band I had never heard of, they sure looked familiar. Turns out I knew them better than I thought. This is the new band of former Panic! at the Disco members, Ryan Ross and Jon Walker.

No Springsteen at Bonnaroo this year, but we did get Jersey’s second best: The Gaslight Anthem. These guys just released the killer, anthem-heavy American Slang and delivered a set chock full of those tunes as well as the stuff that helped get them national attention.

It was a rough decision where to go from there: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes were singing their heartwarming tunes out at the Other Tent and the Gossip would be setting up at This Tent, but as great as it is to see some of the bigger stages/acts, the best part of Bonnaroo is seeing the up and coming talent on smaller stages. So I made my way to Troo to see PopWreck love Kevin Devine. He’s been doing pretty well for himself, playing nearly all major US festivals this year, and it seems word of his passionate rock is beginning to spread. Troo was packed – and not just with general public fans. It seems Kevin was the musician’s choice, too. Members of Manchester Orchestra hung around backstage watching their fellow Favorite Gentlemen perform his tunes that range from the political to the heartbreak. I also spotted Person L/The Starting Line’s Kenny Vasoli watching, too.

Of course, I didn’t spend too much time people watching. It was hard to take my eyes off Kevin as he dipped down with his guitar just to pop back up to yell into the mic on an especially emotionally-charged chorus. Kevin modestly talked to the crowd, but some of the stuff he said in between songs was just as great as the songs: “You might be saying ‘are there two bass rockers on that stage?’ There are! You’re not fucked up on mezclin yet. You wil be. And I’ll be selling it to you.” He must have been feeling the Bonnaroo love because he then played a new song, “She Stayed a Steam,” off an upcoming Fav Gentlemen release. The song starts slow, but the buildup is great to an especially big chorus. I can’t wait to hear more. Kevin ended with “Brother’s Blood,” and I had a gut-feeling that nothing left at the fest would even begin to compare to his performance.

Giving my feet a break from all the walking, it was back to press for a mini-press conference with some big name artists such as The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Ok Go’s Damien Kulash. While the band members talked about the differences between playing music at a fest vs. a club and what Bonnaroo means, comedian Jeffrey Ross stole the show with his clever quips about the fest: “I saw a band called The xx. They put me to sleep. They should have been called The zz,” he joked. But it was all in good fun: “I only roast the bands I love. All comedians are wannabe rockstars. That’s where this comes from.” Jeff is in charge of the Bonnaroo Roast and based off this sampling, it’s going to be a good roast.

The next chunk of the fest was like a special movie edition of Bonnaroo, and no, I didn’t go to the Cinema Tent. Three of the next four acts I saw consisted of people well known for their work in films. Zooey Deschanel (Elf, Yes Man) sang vintage rock in She & Him with the amazing guitarist that is M. Ward. Though She and Him basically is Deschanel and Ward, they were backed by a band that included several girls simply there to give back up vocals and harmonies. The music was pleasant and made more rockable by Zooey’s constant jumping up and down. Though many went to go see Zooey, they got hooked in by the music and stayed for the whole set.

The only thing that kept me from staying for their whole set was that The National was set to begin playing soon and I love the way the bass vocals carry over their big brassy and string heavy indie rock tunes. Half-expecting good music with little stage presence, I was blown away by the energy and enthusiasm they delivered. Lead singer Matt Berninger joked with the audience and even crowd surfed. It was big; it was fun.

Then it was time for movie star number two: Jack Black in his band Tenacious D. This was also my first glimpse of Conan O’Brien who had been emceeing the What Stage all day. It was fun to have a comedian introduce the comedic group. The set was like a cross between a play and a rock concert. The guys are skilled musicians, but their stage banter was just as essential to the act’s performance. For example, at one point, Jack Black pretended to accept an emergency phone call: “What? You want to make a ‘Pick of Destiny 2’? But there’s a catch? You want me to do it with the guy from ‘Mall Cop’?” This caused Kyle Gass To storm off and Black to perform “(Dude) I Totally Miss You.”

My third and final movie star act was none other than Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. It was kind of insane the reaction Martin got. The guy had only walked out to the side stage to huddle with his band before the set and people swarmed the barricade to get a picture of him…again, not on stage. Martin took the almost-too strong reaction kindly, “I’ll tell you one thing. I wish I practiced,” he said. “It has been a long time dream of mine to play bluegrass at Bonnaroo. Today, I feel one step closer to that goal.” Then the band began their bluegrass tunes. The pluck of banjos, the flying bows of fiddles: it was furiously fast and fun. Then time for more jokes before the next jam: “This is a song that…well, that pretty much says it” or “I wrote all the songs you’re hearing myself, which I think distinguishes us from every other bluegrass band at Bonnaroo playing their own stuff.”

I left Martin a little bit early to explore and walked by the psychedelic jams of Les Claypool and the piano songs of the adorable Tori Amos. This was on my way to jam rockers Dawes at the Troo Lounge. Dawes again proved that Troo, despite being one of the smallest stages, had one of the best lineups of the day. Dawes was the type of rock music that you could sit back and relax to, but you could also stand up in dance. Definitely, check them out.

Kings of Leon had the undivided attention of Bonnaroo for the next chunk of the night: no one was up against them. The What Stage was packed as the Southern rockers blazed through tunes “Sex is on Fire,” “The Bucket” and even a Pixies cover. To be honest, I found it a bit boring, but there are thousands of other people who seem to disagree with me. Oh well. I do give the band props on the long set and also the long encore that included the popular “Use Somebody.”

Without a doubt the Flaming Lips were one of the primary draws of Bonnaroo this year. Not only was the band going to perform all of Dark Side of the Moon with Stardeath and the White Dwarfs, but they were also treating fans to a regular Lips show. The infamous hamster ball made its return after the “birth” of the other members onto the stage. Coyne wheeled around over the audience, immersed in a sea of confetti. It just got bigger from there: more confetti, more fog, more dancers and guest singers (Beth Ditto and Margaret Cho). In stark contrast, the Dark Side performance lacked the theatrics of the preceding performance, but that was still pretty cool, too, because it proved the Lips weren’t just a gimmick band. I guess there was one major theatric. They ended with a giant fog projection of the artwork from Dark Side over the audience. Epic.

Though it seemed like at first that everyone and their moms were at the Lips, the Black Keys did somehow manage to wrestle a sizable crowd to their set at That Tent. The set wasn’t as crazy a spectacle as the Lips, but it was still a good show in which they invited up extra musicians and played a decent number of brand-spanking new songs.

I know that it is almost blasphemous that I didn’t return back to the Lips to see all of Dark Side of the Moon. But Bassnectar was beckoning. Bassnectar is a bad ass dj and he turned This Tent into a giant dance party. I would have been content just dancing into the morning twilight with him, but even though it was 2 a.m., there were still tons of acts to go.
Rumor was that Kid Cudi wouldn’t be able to perform since he was arrested in New York the day before. So I skipped it. Turns out he did perform. Alas. But it wasn’t too bad because it just meant I had more time to enjoy LCD Soundsystem. They were surprisingly awkward, but it was fun and worked well for their style of music. It was still a dance party at the This Tent, but a different sort of one from the remixing of Bassnectar. Not surprisingly, people went crazy for “Drunk Girls,” considering that’s what half the crowd was. I love how intimate the band made this performance feel and in their hands, it was pretty easy to find the energy to party with them until 4 a.m. What a great way to end the night.

More photos and recaps from Bonnaroo coming soon. You can view Day 1: Thursday’s recap here.

Dear Internet,

Why must good things always come to an end and why is that when it rains it pours?

The same week that late night TV fans had to bid adieu to CoCo, Kansas City was bidding farewell to JoCo.

The Beaumont Club Saturday night was as packed with people as the line up for the final Josephine Collective show was as packed with bands. In what might be a Kansas City first, people actually showed up early to see all openers, which might have been in part to most of the openers being the new projects of Josephine members.

Though all information listed 5 p.m. for the show, the first band actually started at 4:45 p.m., so showing up at 5:10 meant I missed Holy Mountain, but based on the size of the crowd and hum of kind words about the act when I arrived, it seems like it would have been a great set. They’re local to KC, so I’m sure I’ll get another chance to review them.

The first act I did catch was amazing and set the bar high for the rest of the groups. I had no idea this sort of group-this sort of music-existed in Kansas City. The group seemed to have the recipe for awesomeness down. They had the basics: drums and guitar.  Then, they made it a little unusual by rounding the foursome out with a violinist and a cellist. But what really made them unique was what the drummer, Jared Bond did on the first song.

Jared already had me excited when he came out on stage because he is also the drummer for Josephine Collective and his group was the first of the offshoots that I was seeing. I guess he was inspired by the string players in his new group and he thought, ‘Hey, why not bow the drums.’ Can you imagine the shock of seeing someone whip at a bow to run along the cymbals? That’s something you don’t see every day.

The group’s sound, abetted by the Americana folk-style vocals and the driving riffs on the cello, was reminiscent of Murder by Death. They were all very skilled, but perhaps too much so — Chaski Zapata: loosen up. This isn’t a school orchestra concert. Granted, the group has only been together since fall 2009, so stage presence has room to grow, especially when the musical talent is already there.

The only real problem with this act is that they’re a little difficult to track down on the webs. At this show, all the promotional material billed them as Dolphin Lounge, but on stage it sounded like they kept introducing themselves as Root & Stem and then when I tried to track them online, they appeared to be known as Casa Real. I could understand being confusing and hiding if you are a shitty group, but these guys are good and I’m trying to shout about them from the mountaintops…well shout about them from the laptops at least. I’ve tried to contact them about their real name, so hopefully I’ll be able to update soon.

The indie pop trio Sailor Sequence followed the mystery band name group. I’ve talked about these guys before, but that show was colored by a drunken interference. It was kind of exciting to go from the folk rock into their cool piano melodies with crashing cymbals. They played five songs with each song better than the last. They’re like Explosions in the Sky meets Postal Service meets Twilight Sad.

They group glided through their five songs, taking just a few brief moments for singer Noffy to thank the crowd and sadly say that this would be the last in Kansas City, for awhile at least, while they adjust as some members move to Nashville. This group is fairly new to the scene, and already one of its greatest rising acts, so I’m sad to see them go. I look forward to seeing where the future brings them though.

The show was about midway through and it was time for two of the most anticipated openers. Ninety-Four and Black Oxygen. These two groups are the side projects of Josephine’s two lead singers, Alexander Sandate and Dillon Devoe, with Alex leading the Atlanta-based Ninety-Four and Dillon helming the Kansas City-based Black Oxygen.

Watching both groups, it was pretty obvious that the Josephine spirit would at least live on. Heck Ninety-Four practically looked like they were Josephine with six members swarming the stage. The same sort of energy and crazy intense rock was present in the acts. Ninety-Four leaned a little toward the harder metal with screaming more prevalent in the band’s first few numbers. Black Oxygen has been around for awhile, but they’ve gone through a minor rehaul since Dillon has joined. Regardless of their changes, I think they’ll still leave metal fans gasping for more. I felt Black Oxygen had a bit more consistency and control than Ninety-Four, but I think any Josephine fan will easily be pleased with what will come out of either band’s camp in the near future. At least the audience at this particular show seemed equally pleased with both bands and responded with appropriate fist pumps, moshing and claps to the beat.

After the taste of Josephine given by the side projects, the audience was geared and ready for JoCo, but while the singer’s got a rest before their final performance (and time to change their shirts), a final opener took to the stage: Kansas City’s popular alternative rock group Queen’s Club.

This is about the third or fourth time I’ve seen these guys and I just didn’t get it. To me they’re like the KC Nickelback if Nickelback added a dance beat to all their tunes. What I mean by this is that I just don’t get why the music is popular and yet it inexplicably is. The kids just ate that shit up. They danced, body surfed and I was in disbelief over the amount of fists pumping the air. Seriously? I want to like these guys. My friends say I should, but I just don’t get it and this is one club I won’t be joining.

I love getting more bang for my buck and at $5 a ticket, this show easily gave buyers their money’s worth, but all these bands later and I was getting extremely anxious for the headliners. When the full Josephine Collective (including Bond) finally came out, it was complete chaos, but in a good way. The band already has a bajillion members, but their close friends and the other bands surrounded the group as well serving as cheering sections. If you’ve ever had the privilege, it was like being at Girl Talk show minus the toilet paper and instead of electronic remixes, it was heavy rock tunes in the vain of The Used, Say Anything and Taking Back Sunday that got the bodies moving. Even during some of the band’s few slower numbers, moshing and crowd-surfing ran rampant.

Josephine Collective know how to throw a going away party. As they blasted through songs from their Living EP and We Are The Air, crowd-surfers ran rampant causing security to sweat, but Josephine to smile as Alex and Dillon hardly missed a beat as they dished out hugs and high-fives to the kids landing on stage.

One of the highlights of the set came early with the popular single, “Living.” When the guys sang, “It just stops,” the entire mass of bodies intensely moshing, surfing and singing froze before jumping back into the chorus as raucous as ever. Other great moments included an impromptu and jokingly sung tune about this being the band’s final shows that included mentionings of mustaches and other things. I also loved when one of the Sailor Sequence guys joined for a tune, and of course, I loved the colouration that the softer “Lye,” brought to the set.

“Josephine, Josephine, get back together,” Alex and Dillon quipped back and forth. But then they pointed at that much like an ex-girlfriend, you can get back together and, “Yeah, the sex is great, but then you start dating and you remember why you broke up.” Sad, but understandable.

We wanted the show to keep going, but with their entire catalog pretty much done, the boys had to let the final tune fly.

“Freebird.”

Yes, the group began to play “Freebird,” but sans special appearances of Will Ferrell and co. It was all in good fun before they began their final song of the evening and of their band’s lifetime: “Pray for Rain.”

January 23, 2010 – Josephine Collective reunited and ended it the way it should have ended. They will be missed, but with Dolphin Lounge/Casa Real/Root&Stem, Fire for Effect, Ninety-Four, Sensational News Commentary Groove and Black Oxygen, we can all still continue the JoCo love for years to come.

Pitchfork is reporting that The White Stripes will make an appearance on the final Late Night with Conan O’Brien. As far as we can tell, this is Meg’s first performance with The White Stripes since cancelling their appearance at the 2008 Austin City Limits music festival.