The Disco Biscuits' glowstick armageddon
When the Disco Biscuits hit the Ranch Arena stage at Rothbury at 11:15 Thursday night, a flurry of fans tossed big, colorful handfuls of glowsticks in the air, a practice which continued throughout their set. To me, it felt like Rothbury's first Moment. The picturesque Ranch Arena stage is the coolest of the fest's three stages -- it's surrounded by trees and has a healthy green lawn in the front of house, unlike the Sherwood Forest stage, whose lawn is more like a field of busted straw -- and as it came alive in bright bursts as glowsticks came flying every which way, it felt like something special was happening at the Double JJ Ranch. As for the band itself, I was stumped by the band's funk- and electronic-tinged jamminess. There were two 30-second sections about an hour into the set where I finally felt like I was "getting" it, but those moments were quickly lost as the noodly spirit of the jam took over.
Sherwood Forest is magical at night
You've gotta see pictures, I can't describe it in words. Let's just say I saw some dude hugging a tree with all his might, and I didn't blame him.
OK, for real this time: Rothbury has officially begun
"Hey Rothbury, how you guys doin'?" With those words, spoken by Don Strausburg of AEG Live, Rothbury officially kicked off at 6:30 p.m. sharp. Strausberg intoduced Rothbury festival director Jeremy Stein, who introduced the Kyle Hollingsworth Band, the first band to perform at Rothbury. Hollingsworth took the stage and said, "Alright guys, Rothbury '08!" and launched into a keyboard-heavy jam that is still going as I type this, and doesn't sound like it's going to let up anytime soon. Welcome to Rothbury.
Right now in the swimming area...
There are more lifeguards (three) than swimmers (one).
Kyle Gass talks up Rothbury
Actor/comedian Kyle Gass, one half of comedic rock duo Tenacious D, is on site at Rothbury all weekend long, goofing off with bands and doing "anti-interviews" for General Motors' GMnext site.
Gass is doing the festival thing all summer long for the site, and has already visited the Rock on the Range fest and will be at next month's Lollapalooza.
Of all the fests, Gass says Rothbury is probably the greenest festival of the summer.
"This seemed to be the best festival for me to score weed at," he said, inside Rothbury's media tent Thursday afternoon. "If I can't score some really tasty bud here, I'm in trouble, because this is the stoniest lineup that we have."
Gass, munching on several pieces of nicotine gum and wearing a "Motor City" T-shirt, said a new Tenacious D DVD, "D-Tour: A Tenacious Documentary," is due out in September. He calls it "an unflinching look behind the scenes at all things D," and it chronicles the D's last tour, as well as the failure of 2006's "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny" (failure is Gass' word, not mine).
The band is also working on a new album, Gass says. "We're about one and a half songs in," he says. "We're older now, we're less creative, but I think we can still do it."
Need anything at Rothbury? Try the General Store
So you made it all the way out to Rothbury, you're setting up your campsite, and all of a sudden you realized you forgot rope. Or flashlights. Or shoes. Or marshmallows. Or Krispy Kremes. No worries, just hit the Rothbury General Store, which sells all of the above, as well as anything any Rothbury camper could ever want or need: beer, Doritos, Chips Ahoy, milk, eggs, fresh produce, disposable razors, deodorant, Graham crackers (a personal fave), bagels, bread, Gatorade, Chap Stick, toothpaste, cereal, cheese, and lunch meat. Not everything comes cheap -- a case of Budweiser runs $35 -- but you can't put a price on conveinence.
(The long wait to) set up camp at Rothbury
Campers are saying they've been waiting in lines up to three and a half hours long to get into the Rothbury campgrounds. Long lines of cars are pouring in, and then comes the fun part: Watching as people struggle to set up their tents. So far, I've spotted license plates from Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Idaho, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington. And there seems to be an influx of cars from Tennessee -- must be some sort of exchange program with Bonnaroo.
Rothbury: And so it begins
I'm here. I'm all checked in and I've got internet access in the media tent. So far, so good. I was brought to the media area by golf cart -- fancy, I know -- and I'm about to go see how people are faring with their tents and such. The first band doesn't go on until after 6 p.m., so right now it's all about setting up camp, both literally and figuratively. Stages are set up, cars are pulling in, and Rothbury is underway.
Pulling in to Rothbury
I'm here. OK, not quite -- I'm in a line of cars waiting to get into the fest. Traffic was a breeze, and there's only a slight buildup of traffic at the Rothbury exit, which is Winston Road. I just ran into my main man Troy from the Grand Rapids Press who told me I need to pick up my media credentials at a nearby high school -- first I've heard of this wrinkle in the plan -- so I'm following him to Rothbury high. All of which is to say, Rothbury, baby! The weekend has officially started! More soon once I get settled.
More Rothbury coverage than you can shake a (hippie) stick at!
You ready for Rothbury? What's that? You are? Well then more power to ya.
I'm ready for Rothbury alright -- the car is gassed, my sunglasses are packed (three pairs! Bring it, sun!), and I've been practicing my Phil Lesh dance for the better part of the last six weeks (step 1: Act stoned. Step 2: Repeat step one).
That's right, while the rest of you are mowing down hot dogs and watching fireworks, I'm going to be covering the BLANK out of the inaugural Rothbury festival, where me and more than 30,000 others will be rocking out to the soothing sounds of more than 75 bands, most of whom are known to throw an improvisational jam or two into their sets (Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Widespread Panic and just about everyone else on the bill, I'm looking at you).
So while you're mowing down on those hot dogs and watching those pretty fireworks burst in the sky, not unlike the ramparts we watched which, if I do say so myself, were so gallantly streaming, come back here to this blog and to detnews.com all weekend for live coverage from the fest.
If someone passes out from the heat, I'll be there. If a drum circle gets randy and out of control, I'll be there. And if Jennifer Aniston shows up to watch her beau John Mayer's set, I'll totally be there, and I'll try to get the scoop on the rumored "Friends" movie while I'm at it.
I'm your man in Rothbury all weekend long, and I won't let you down. Holla at your boy! And happy birthday, America!
Photo: Nick Tremmel/ Special to the Detroit News
