Langerado: Friday cont'd

So here is why I love the Roots: they can come onstage half an hour late, not apologize, rip into a song, and have the entire crowd in the palm of ?uestlove's hand. They had the unfortunate position of opening the night sets and leading into the Beastie Boys- many people in the audience left to grab a spot by the stage for the Beasties. If you did, you missed a haunting version of Dylan's "Masters of War" and a kickin' rendition of their concert staple, "The Seed."

The Beasties did exactly what I thought they would- got onstage and rocked a set composed of staples such as "Ch-Check it Out," "Sabotage" and the jam tracks from 2007's instrumental departure "The Mix-Up." I was disapointed with the set. Here we are surrounded by some of our favorite jam bands and all I wanted to do was have the Beasites rock us into the late night sets. All three of the guys are amazng musicians- but come on, dig deep, give us "To The Five Boroughs" and "License To Ill." I want to jump in the mud to "Brass Monkey" and get silly to "Girls." Ah well.

The Beastie Boys got off the stage and then it was time for a decision: STS9 or Umphrey's McGee. I've heard that the STS9 set was transcendent (no surprise there) but I stuck around for the entirety of Umphrey's. These guys have just gotten so good. As a long time fan, I'm glad that the buzz that could have destroyed them only helped them create a loyal following which these musicians deserve.

Here's the set list from last night:

"JaJunk"
"Higging"
"40s Theme"
"Wappy Sprayberry"
"Bridgeless"
"The Floor"
"Utopian Fir"
"Mulche's Odyssey"
"Rocker (part II)"
"Padgett's Profile"
"All In Time"
"Nothing Too Fancy"
"JaJunk (reprise)"
Encore: "In The Kitchen" "Bridgeless (reprise)"

I got back to our tent just in time for mother nature to show it's apprication. The sky opened up, sheets of rain came down and lightning lit up the Everglade sky. Let's see what happens during Disco Biscuits tonite.