popwreckoning

You’ve probably never heard of The Boxer Rebellion. No, not that one. The unsigned band from London. But I’m sure if you check out the new Drew Barrymore and Justin Long flick, “Going The Distance,” you’ll know who they are. Come to think of it, prior to a certain point in 2004, I bet you had no idea who The Shins were. I had never really heard the song “Mad World” by Tears for Fears until 20 years after Gary Jules‘ cover of it appeared in “Donnie Darko.” Nor did I know who Gary Jules was. Did you?

It’s amazing the influence movies and television have over music popularity. Whitney Houston‘s mega-hit “I Will Always Love You” skyrocketed because of “The Bodyguard.” Everyone knows Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” because of Jason Derulo‘s sample of it, but he probably wouldn’t have used it had it not previously gained popularity from it’s appearance on “The O.C.” Perhaps the most perfect example of this is Lisa Loeb back in ’94 on the “Reality Bites” soundtrack. “Stay (I Missed You)” gives her the distinction of being the only artist to ever have a #1 Billboard hit in the US without being signed to a label. The exposure allowed her to be signed to several different labels over the past 15 years, all because Ethan Hawke and Ben Stiller liked her tape.

So what does this mean for The Boxer Rebellion? When asked if there’s any hope for a Loeb-esque Cinderella story, they say that they’ll remain unsigned by choice. Bold, but wise move when you consider the current state of the music industry. Artists signed to major labels make little to no money off of their record sales. By choosing to remain truly independent, they’ve had more success releasing their music on iTunes than they would have had otherwise. So much so that their 2009 release Union was named “Best Alternative Album” by iTunes US (Check out the PopWreckoning review here). They also get to maintain far more control over their music. No Diplo remixes unless they want to. No pressure to write any certain kinds or numbers of songs by any certain date, unless they set the standards themselves.

The movie itself looks promising. A couple has a summer romance in New York City and once they’re forced to part ways, they don’t want to let go and make a go at a long-distance relationship. The cast promises honesty and comedy, and couldn’t say enough great things about The Boxer Rebellion. The band plays an important part in the story for Justin Long’s character. Before an executive from New Line had seen the band play in Los Angeles, the filmmakers were planning to cast actors to play a fictitous band. Director Nannette Burstein claims that the band instantly fit her vision for the movie. “They have such a fresh voice, and their sound is just so cinematic. When I heard it, I could instantly imagine the scenes that their songs would play to.”

The band joins great acts such as Cat Power, Band of Skulls and Passion Pit on the soundtrack, where they contribute three songs written specifically for the movie. Check out the lead single, “If You Run,” as well as the movie. You never know if you’ll find your new favorite band because of a Drew Barrymore flick. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.

Day 3 of Bonnaroo promised to be huge. Unfortunately, after going to bed after 4 am and waking up to the ridiculously humid weather in Tennessee, the only thing I could foresee being huge was my headache. I honestly don’t know how some of those people can show up to this fest and hardly eat or sleep, while drinking and doing drugs and still function enough to make it from band to band. Is there some secret Bonnaroo trick that I was missing as a first timer?

After downing a few Advils and using a water bottle to semi clean up, we made our way back to the main grounds for Day 3. Though it was early in the morning, already ILO and the Coral Reefer AllStars were getting a lot of buzz. And rightly so, turns out this basically was a set of Jimmy Buffett and friends singing his songs. It was weird to see a usual headliner start things off.

So as Buffett was making his way down Margaritaville, Joshua and I made our own visit to Dearland and caught Elvis Perkins in Dearland. I had seen these guys before and they were just as bombastic, if not more. Constantly switching between instruments and tempos, the guys give folk tunes an edge. Just as before, the drummer really impressed when he came out from behind the set with his one man band get up. There was just one sad moment in this set when Perkins tried to get Becky Stark, who was at Bonnaroo on Saturday to perform with the Decemberists, to join him on stage for a song she had performed with them on the record. It must have been too early for Stark because the boys had to play on without her.

Like a ping pong ball, we bounced back to the Which Stage to catch a bit of Heartless Bastards. With a name like that, I was expecting something completely different and was pleasantly surprised by the front woman’s voice rock voice with a bit of a twang.

Bon Iver was next on the agenda and this group was apparently high on the list for many as Drew Barrymore and Justin Long were spotted in attendance. It was a good set to watch and for “Yo La Tengo” the boys in Elvis Perkins in Dearland even came back out to join in the number.

Saturday was a busy day, so Joshua and I had to split up for a bit to catch all the acts that we wanted to see. Having a love for redheads, he went over to That Tent to see indie darling Jenny Lewis who rocked her solo works and was even joined by Elvis Costello for a number.

Meanwhile, I stuck around This Tent for Of Montreal, which I think was the smart move. Their theatrical performance was one set that was not worth missing and whether you like their often high-pitched sound or not, I recommend seeing them at least once in your lifetime. In fact, this performance was so big, I gave it its own post.

We couldn’t miss the legendary Wilco, so Josh and I regrouped to walk over to the What Stage for some Jeff Tweedy action. As we were walking there, I had to stop to see the band that was rocking the Troo Music Lounge. Alas, BrakesBrakesBrakes, we will meet again. With the recent death of a Wilco player, and knowing that Tweedy has a tendency to be a bit more of a curmudgeon than most, I was surprised with how genuinely excited the band seemed to be at playing Bonnaroo. They delivered all the hits and left the crowd pleased, but as usual, there were so many cool things going on at Bonnaroo, it wasn’t long before we were off to see our next bands.

Partly because I knew my mom would kick me if she knew I skipped him, I went to That Tent to see some of Elvis Costello. I guess in this case, mother knew best, because Costello is a classic for a reason. He had me charmed the moment he waved his hat as he walked on stage.

From here I went over to the Decemberists, who were acting out their tale of the Hazards of Love. Not too different than when I saw them a few weeks ago, Shara Worden, really was the brightest of all the gems in that band. Although, I must admit, that Stark wasn’t as wispy and a lot more confident this time around. They ended with a cover of a Heart song.

Meanwhile, Josh was watching the rock storm that was Mars Volta. They were delivering old hits and new songs off their soon to be released album.

Nobody was up against the Boss, so Josh and I regrouped for Bruce Springsteen. Bruce was there to please and which was noticed by the crowd who was yelling “Bruuuce” not “Boooo”, which sound surprisingly similar when chanted by thousands. I preferred the people shouting “Bruceroo” instead. Not only did he bring out all the hits, but he even played requests from the crowd. That’s right, as a response to a crowd request, he even played “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in the middle of June. If anybody can get away with that, it is the Boss.

Josh and I split again and he went to shoot NIN‘s final show on American soil. A weird mixture of sadness and great joy filled the crowd as they said goodbye to Trent Reznor amid a mix of smoke and stage fire.

I left early to see some of Yeasayer. I walked by a weird circus sort of performance on the Sonic Stage before witnessing the beauty that was Yeasayer’s set up.

Yeasayer played amidst a stage filled with glowing orbs of different sizes. Their indie yelps and synth heavy tunes resonated nicely off the orbs.

Ending out the night was MGMT. This finally explained Drew Barrymore’s strange face paint from earlier as I soon learned that it was actually quite common for MGMT fans to don facepaint for the group a la the “Time to Pretend” music video.

The band played songs from their album, about three new songs and were even joined by Chairlift‘s Caroline Polachek for a few numbers. That Tent was glow stick central as the crowd danced away to the band’s too cool for school rock tunes. If you couldn’t see, which was the main complaint from this packed tent, I wouldn’t worry. The guys weren’t that crazy on stage and mostly just delivered a tight sound.

Another late night, but overall a fun day. Just one more recap to go and loads more pictures. Look out for Day 4…

Bonnaroo: website | Day 1 | Day 2 | Of Montreal @ This Tent | Spotted: Drew Barrymore | Quick News 1 | Quick News 2

Internet is sparse and hard to come by when you’re camping, but Joshua and I wanted to let you know what we have in store in our Bonnaroo coverage when we can get back to a secure connection. Here are some of the craziest Bonnaroo moments:

Bruce Springsteen pulled a girl on stage because she was wearing an “I Heart Jersey” shirt. New Courtney Cox Arquette?

Bruce Springsteen played “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” as per a crowd request.

Triumph the Insult Dog sang with Bruce Springsteen.

Of Montreal broke  all their instruments and dived into the crowd as feathers shot out cannons.

Paul Oakenfeld played until 6 am.

Elvis Costello joined Jenny Lewis on stage.

Jimmy Buffett kicked off the Saturday shows.

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long watched several sets from side stage.

NIN finished their last American show.

More to come in greater detail and with pictures!

Excuse my paparazzi moment, but these pictures were too cute to not share. It appears that Bon Iver was quite a popular set at Bonnaroo. In attendance (aside from the usual crowd) were several members of the Decemberists such as singer, Colin Meloy. Comedian, Kristen Schaal, of Flight of the Conchords fame was spotted as well. However the most buzzed about celebs in attendance were Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. Check out the pics of the two hanging out side stage: