WHITE RABBITS “Heavy Metal”
I’ve been a big fan of Brooklyn-via-Missouri band White Rabbits since their debut release Fort Nightly in 2007. In fact, both of their previous albums easily made it into my Top 10 lists in the years of their releases.
Obviously, I’m looking forward to their upcoming third album Milk Famous (due out in March), especially after hearing this post-punk sounding early single.
White Rabbits @ ACL Festival
White Rabbits @ ACL Festival
ROSS’ TOP 29 ALBUMS OF 2009
#5
WHITE RABBITS It’s Frightening
Featured Song: “Percussion Gun”
I loved White Rabbits’ debut album Fort Nightly, but It’s Frightening didn’t really click for me upon my first few listens.
After hearing the songs live at Bonnaroo, I came back to the album and really fell in love with it. Spoon’s Britt Daniel produced the album and it definitely has hints of Spoon throughout it.
Looking at it now, this album is probably more consistent than Fort Nightly…and a positive sign for the band moving forward.
ROSS’ TOP 29 SONGS OF 2009
#18 White Rabbits “Company I Keep”
White Rabbits normally provide a frantic flurry of heavy rhythms, jangly guitar and speedy piano…but this is the band at their coolest, the relaxed side of White Rabbits.
White Rabbits performing “Rudie Fails” at KEXP Studios in Seattle
Yus!
White Rabbits return to Daytrotter to record a session of songs from their second album It’s Frightening and one unreleased track.
Setlist: Percussion Gun / Rudie Fails / Foxhunting / The Salesman (Tramp Life)
After a great two day trip to get to Tennessee, Thursday was when the real fun was going to start. Ginger and I made the short trip down to Manchester, looking for Coffee County High School and the VIP check-in.
The lines were a lot longer than I expected and it took us at least an hour to get through the check in.
By the time we got to the actual check-in, Ginger had to pee really bad. She decided to pop out of the window and ask a guy hanging out of an RV in the line next to us.
“Can I use your bathroom?” she asked.
“You got to be kiddin’ me!” the guy replied. “Yeah, come on in.”
Ginger hauled ass into that massive vehicle and came back out smiling ear-to-ear about 90 seconds later.
After that, we met up with a large group of Inforoo and ACL people to form our camping group. We all formed a caravan onto the site and pulled into our perfect camping spots.
We were just about 50 yards from the hospitality tent, showers and bathrooms…and could see the What Stage pretty clearly from our campsite…
Camp set up was a bit of a pain. It took a surprisingly long time to get everything set up (much longer than our trial runs in Ginger’s backyard) AND it rained during the middle of it.
After 3 or 4 hours of camp set-up, we finally headed into Centeroo to see our first bands, starting with…
ALBERTA CROSS
I didn’t pay a ton of attention to Alberta Cross before the festival, so they were a pretty welcome surprise.
They have a very heavy 70’s blues rock sound. People might think of something like The Black Keys when reading that, but they’re more sweeping and smooth in their sound and production.
Before the band even took the stage, we got the best surprise of all: the intro guy announced that Delta Spirit was delayed in arriving to Bonnaroo and their set was being moved back to late night.
This erased one of my worst conflicts of the entire festival (Delta Spirit vs. White Rabbits), so I was overjoyed. I think I even gave Ginger a high five upon hearing that.
With that conflict erased, we headed over to This Tent to catch a full set from…
WHITE RABBITS
I was really excited when White Rabbits were added to the Bonnaroo lineup, and that excitement only grew upon hearing their new album It’s Frightening.
It’s a nice step up from their debut album Fort Nightly, which I also really liked.
We hung in the back before their set started in order to easily meet up with a few members of the Lollapalooza message board. A handful of guys showed up and we had a great time during the set.
The band really played off the Bonnaroo crowd’s eager energy, something that sets it apart from other festivals that I’ve been to. The crowd even kept the beat going when the stage power cut out mid-song during “While We Go Dancing.”
Setlist: Rudie Falls / The Lady Vanishes / While We Go Dancing / They Done Wrong/We Done Wrong / Right Where They Left You / Midnight and I / Kid on my Shoulders / Company I Keep / The Plot / Lionesse / Percussion Gun / Foxhunting / The Salesman (Tramp Life)
After a great set from White Rabbits, we made a quick stop over to Murs before heading back to camp for some dinner and rest.
The VIP Party was well underway by the time we got back, with food running low and Chairlift on the tiny stage. Ginger and I ate a little bit and then she went to take a nap in the tent while I caught a little bit of Arj Barker’s surprise performance at the VIP party and then ventured back into Centeroo.
TO BE CONTINUED…
White Rabbits
