So, there we were, 'hell-bound' for the Country Music Festival in Nashville, when some top Aussie guys in Memphis told us about a huge 'mainstream' music festival nearby. We hot-tailed it up the 'Music Highway' to Nashville, hoping to stop briefly for some hot grits and butter at 'Loretta Lynn's Kitchen' restaurant, but she was closed so had to settle for Arby's. We got a free 'truckers shower'* thanks to my charming British accent (that is, a shower at a service station!).
We had been really disappointed about missing Glastonbury with what looked like a fab line-up. In particular, I've always wanted to see Stevie Wonder. Well guessy what? We saw him, as well as Calexico, Regina Spector, Medeski Martin & Wood, John Butler Trio, The Dead Weather (very nice), Jay Z, SNorah Jones, Mumford & Sons (great to represent - especially as we didn't get to see them with George & Zoe in Bombay a few months back), Deadmau5 (scary crazy electro trance house DJ???), and more.
I didn't quite get what Jay Z was trying to do - headlining after Stevie Wonder, following a civil rights ambassador, taking all sorts of political high ground with inane comments about oil and afghanistan, interspersed with pontificating about his 10 or 11 number ones, and that only he can be mentioned in the same breath as Biggy Smalls & 2Pac. His crowd-response repartee of "what nigga", with a 90 percent white audience from Tenessee replying "nigga what" seemed a confusing message for the kids. My honky middle class ass may have totally missed the point, but there were black people being lynched here just fifty years ago - that's a short time in history. Nauseating stuff. Wonder if Stevie stuck around for the show? Killer tunes though.
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| World cup footy: America win 1-1 |
The only other real low point was seeing the usually amusing Conan O'Brien drunk and obnoxious on stage, and having to suffer the annoying chants of Americans cheering at their 'soccer victory' (1-1 tie) against England (despite the other Stevie Wonder's efforts) to kick start the World Cup. Neko cheered for England bless 'er, but only cos its a sport Americans care nearly nothing for.
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| Neko looks amused... |
*I expect comments from Lee.
So, there we were, 'hell-bound' for the Country Music Festival in Nashville, when some top Aussie guys in Memphis told us about a huge 'mainstream' music festival nearby. We hot-tailed it up the 'Music Highway' to Nashville, hoping to stop briefly for some hot grits and butter at 'Loretta Lynn's Kitchen' restaurant, but she was closed so had to settle for Arby's. We got a free 'truckers shower'* thanks to my charming British accent (that is, a shower at a service station!).
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