Show Your Summit Spirit Wherever You Go

Share your travel tales, or how you enjoy down- time while listening to The Summit, and a photo with the 91.3 logo.   My husband and I and our three children have just returned from a memorable trip to Italy.  I thought it would be nice to have our picture taken in front of the iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa, while holding a Summit logo that I had cut from a bag.  Next trip, I'll try to make sure that the logo is more visible.  Wouldn't it be cool to see where in the world people are loving The Summit?  Maybe even in your own backyard.  Send your photo stories to summitblog@gmail.com or to The Summit's Flickr page. 

Roo Wrap-up

Well, Bill and I survived the Bonnaroo Festival and we're back in Akron (although I should mention that due to a few incidents involving a tour bus bunk, I nearly didn't make it, and Bill developed a serious addiction to samosas which almost prevented him from voluntarily returning to Ohio).

I know Bill had a lot of cool experiences (hanging out with Alejandro Escovedo and his band was a highlight, I believe) and he's writing about those here.

I've been to the festival four times now, and I've seen a lot of crazy stuff, but I have to say that every year something new and cool happens that I never expected.

Musically speaking, my favorite experiences were seeing Phoenix, Grizzly Bear and Rodrigo y Gabriela for the first time, and seeing of Montreal for the fourth (their stage show is bizarre and always interesting; this time it included crowd surfing, people in pig costumes and instrument demolition).

On Sunday night, we happened to be hanging around the radio camp when backstage passes for Phish got handed out. Having been backstage at the Main Stage last year, I knew Bill and I had to go. Bill was a little doubtful, but when we got up there and looked out over the thousands of crazy Phish fans he understood why I was so anxious to go up there.

Earlier in the day, Bill happened to start a conversation with one of Bruce Springsteen's security guards (apparently the Boss was checking out some live music) and found out that he might be joining Phish onstage that night.

Sure enough, Bruce came out and played three songs with Phish: Mustang Sally, Bobby Jean and Glory Days. We had a prime spot to see the whole thing backstage and got some great pictures.

That was the last show of the festival and a great way to wrap up Bonnaroo 2009. I can't wait to see what kind of stops they pull out next year!



(Don't forget to check out our Flickr page for more pictures)

Radio Bonnaroo!

Yes, the festival has it's own radio station (and it's own newspaper, post office and ferris wheel, but that's another story).

It's called Radio Bonnaroo and it's run by DJs from across the country who choose all the music you hear. Tonight I will make my second appearance on the station from 6 to 8 pm Eastern time (right before Springsteen show - I keep telling people I'm opening for Springsteen).

It'll be weird, probably messy, and musically interesting, but definitely fun. You can join me and listen online at www.fantasyradio.com. Just click on the link for Radio Bonnaroo halfway down the page.

Tune in tonight!

Backstage at Bonnaroo

Bill Hall and I have been backstage at Bonnaroo for the past three days, and you really never know what you're going to see behind the scenes. Met Ani DiFranco yesterday, lots of artists sightings as they come back to record interviews or just to hang out.

I've got a pass that gets me into some of the backstage areas at the shows, which sounds glamorous but only occasionally really is. You're generally stuffed onto a side-stage viewing area with a lot of other people, and while you're waaaay closer to the show than pretty much everyone else, it doesn't make for great pictures (I have some of the back of Gomez - that's why they call it "back" stage).

Even if all of my pictures aren't fantastic, we do have a friend here who is a much better photographer with better access than I've got. Josh from Music Allies has been taking a ton of artist pictures, and you can take a look at them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/musicallies/

I'll have more of my own when I get home, but in the meantime, check out Josh's page!

Bonnaroo tips

This is Bill Hall’s first year at the Bonnaroo Festival and my fourth, and one of the many things I’ve learned coming here is that as soon as you step on site, you have to let go of whatever standards of cleanliness you normally hold yourself to.

Also, get a good pair of rubber boots.

The first day of the festival was stormy and by the time the sun went down there were giant puddles everywhere. I made the rookie mistake of not turning my flashlight on until I was mid-puddle, but thankfully I had the boots (especially considering that this particular puddle happened to be right outside of a big row of porta-potties).

Once you’ve got your boots and your lowered standards of cleanliness, you’re ready to see some music. I caught some of the Passion Pit show last night, Gomez and Animal Collective today. Tonight it’s David Byrne, Phoenix and maybe Al Green! Also got to meet Ani DiFranco backstage. Hope you’ve been enjoying all the backstage interviews and performances on the Summit.

And you don’t even have to brave the puddles.