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R.I.P. Vegoose - 10/29/05 - 10/28/07


Basher

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Apparantly word from AC Entertainment is that the 2007 incarnation of Vegoose was the last. IMHO, the promoters screwed this one up by trying to expand beyond the "jamband" festival that rocked the town in 2005, then started a downward spiral.

Too bad - 2005 was incredible, 2006 was fun but much smaller, 2007 was a total bust (I have heard 12k tickets sold per day).

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who played the latest one...indie bands?

Well, you could've checked my link ;)

Vegoose 2007

Rage Against the Machine

Daft Punk

Iggy & the Stooges performing the album Fun House

Muse

The Shins

Cypress Hill

Queens of the Stone Age

moe.

Public Enemy

Michael Franti & Spearhead

STS9

Umphrey's McGee

Thievery Corporation

M.I.A.

Mastodon

Robert Randolph & the Family Band

Ghostface Killah & The Rhythm Roots Allstars

Blonde Redhead

Gogol Bordello

U.N.K.L.E.

Ghostland Observatory

Pharoah Monch

Battles

Lupe Fiasco

Animal Liberation Orchestra

Atmosphere

Infected Mushroom

Federico Aubele

Vegoose 2006

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Phil Lesh & Trey Anastasio...

Widespread Panic

The Killers

The Mars Volta

The Keller Williams Incident featuring Keller Williams backed by the String Cheese Incident

The Black Crowes

Fiona Apple

The Raconteurs

Ben Folds

Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley

Medeski Martin & Wood

The Roots

The Rhythm Devils feat. Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Mike Gordon & Steve Kimock

G. Love & Special Sauce

Jurassic 5

Galactic

Praxis

Yonder Mountain String Band

Gomez

Built to Spill

Guster

Jim James of My Morning Jacket

Mike Patton's Peeping Tom - Cancelled 9/14

Dr. Octagon aka Kool Keith

Band of Horses

Jamie Lidell

The Yard Dogs Road Show

Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band

Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins

Vegoose 2005

Dave Matthews & Friends

Widespread Panic

Jack Johnson

Beck

Phil Lesh & Friends

The Meters

Trey Anastasio

Arcade Fire

The Flaming Lips

The String Cheese Incident

Primus

Ween

The Shins

moe.

Spoon

Talib Kweli

Sleater-Kinney

Gov't Mule

Digable Planets

North Mississippi Allstars

Michael Franti & Spearhead

The Decemberists

Umphrey's McGee

Atmosphere

Blackalicious

The Magic Numbers

Lyrics Born

Devendra Banhart

ALO

The Codetalkers featuring Col. Bruce Hampton

Beans with Holy F*ck

King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan

Steel Train

Blue Man Group

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Without getting into who I like don't like, who should be on the list who shouldn't and all that shit - the reality is that these are the bands that people fly to see (ie. dead offshoots...):

Phil Lesh & Trey Anastasio...

Widespread Panic

Dave Matthews & Friends

Widespread Panic

Gov't Mule

The String Cheese Incident

moe.

Phil Lesh & Friends

Trey Anastasio

The Rhythm Devils feat. Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Mike Gordon & Steve Kimock

The Keller Williams Incident featuring Keller Williams backed by the String Cheese Incident

The Black Crowes

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Wow, you're right. Apples ARE better than oranges!!

well your right that the lineup being good is a matter of opinion, you gotta admit that this years lineup just wasnt as fun as previous years...except rage would've been cool to see

although i guess if ure making that apples/oranges comment you disagree...and thats cool...

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Vegoose 2007

...

Iggy & the Stooges performing the album Fun House

...

This degree of specificity is just dumb.

not sure why you think that? the Stooges have toured recently, but, to the best of my knowledge have not performed that album in its entirety. That's what made this performance special. When bands perform a whole album that's usually announced ahead of time. A few years ago Cheap Trick played some multiple night runs in different cities, and featured a different album each night. I think that's pretty cool actually.

-------------------

The first Vegoose was awesome. I had a blast. I've never seen that much music over a similar time frame. It suited my tastes perfectly. I still can't believe that I walked out on a Phil show at the Hard Rock. I haven't had the opportunity to see him since. (I had no idea that he was gonna do 3 sets, and the rest of the 2nd set - I saw the setlist - wasn't that exciting. I had already fallen asleep once and was starting to feel ill from exhaustion And I needed some energy for the Halloween Panic show later that night.)

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Basher I think you are right too much "non improvised" music can detract from the fest..much like Bonnaroo recently..

But even so in 2007 can STS9, Umphrey's, Public Enemy and the Stooges and Dafte Punk...that's pretty good regardless..

..but yes they shot themselves in the foot...never a good idea to alienate your audience

Edited by Guest
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general review:

my wife and I had a great time @ vegoose (we only checked out the 1st day)! I haven't been to others, but the attendance appeared pretty solid to me (if a 10 to 1 normal haircut vs dreadlocks ratio is something to complain about, then so be it and close down the festival).

Gogol Bordello kicked things off and rocked in every way! Their unique blend of punk and gypsy punk (with a touch of dub) got the sleepy crowd at 12:45pm jumping! These guys are a blast to see live; highly recommend it!!

Afterwards we had time to kill before Public Enemy so my wife and I got hitched again at the festival's on-site Chapel! A Britney Spears impersonator serenaded us with "I'm not a Girl" while the gay black Rabbi officiated the wedding! We couldn't have asked for anything more...

Although Public Enenmy and Cypress Hill were simultaneously performing on different stages, I picked PE in a second (never had the chance to see them live, and I've lost count with how many times I saw Cypress back in the early 90's). Public Enemy served it up raw with personal chants of "Fuck" to every high-seated official in the republican gov't. PE dropped old skool jams (ie, Bring da Noise, Brothers Gonna Work it Out, 911 is a Joke, Welcome to the Terrodome); even the new skool stuff sounded bad-ass! And to say the least, Flavor Fav was in full effect! In between songs, you could hear Cypress serving up old skool hits like "Real Estate" and "How I could Just Kill a Man". By the end of PE's set we rushed over to Cypress' stage to catch the last song "Superstar" which incited a nutty beefcake mosh pit.

As for other on-site activities, there was a lame erotic haunted house, a sports bar-tent, ferris wheel, and an American Spirits tent giving away free packs of smokes!?!?

Next up on the list for us was Iggy Pop and the Stooges (with Mike Watt (from the Minutemen+Firehose) on bass (who was in fine form and delivered some heavy chops!!). Fun House was played in it's entirety and was sick; at moments I felt transported to a dingy bar in Michigan circa 1970!!! Besides Fun House, classic Stooge trax were welcomed with open arms (ie, 1969, I Wanna Be Your Dog).

Now the unexpected highlight was stumbling unknowingly into M.I.A.'s celebratory set! I've never heard of her before but I was instantly hooked! She laid down an infectious blend of east-london techno + hip-hop + dub that got most people either grinding or gawking. What made it all the more mesmerizing were the synchronized wacky montage videos screened behind her (imagine the old intro to city tv's The New Music mixed with Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing thrown into a blender with Neneh Cheery's Buffalo Stance and Technotronic's Pump Up the Jam video hosted by Master-T).

Then there was Daft Punk... wow! Everything you've heard about their current tour is true. Definitely the sickest light show I've ever seen!

So overall Vegoose was a satisfying fun time! If the numbers were too low to keep it going a nother year, then I'm sure something else will come around to satisfy concert goers needs for music and vegas debauchery.

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an American Spirits tent giving away free packs of smokes!?!?

proof america should be less GWB more Las Vegas

Next up on the list for us was Iggy Pop and the Stooges (with Mike Watt (from the Minutemen+Firehose) on bass

wow, score! love the Mike Watt... perfect match up there... anyone I know who's seen Iggy in the past 8 years has given it a big thumbs up

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an American Spirits tent giving away free packs of smokes!?!?

proof america should be less GWB more Las Vegas

eh? please explain...

i don't get the connection to bush...those tents were at phish shows in the 90s and at every fest and many club shows i've attended abroad.

Edited by Guest
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Nobody told Chart magazine that Vegoose was finished.

October 27-28, 2007

The Sam Boyd Stadium

Las Vegas, NV

by Lisa Ladouceur

Rage Against The Machine announced that their limited run of reunion shows will be extended in 2008 to Australia and Japan. But if you live in North America, the last blast for the L.A. foursome was this past weekend at Vegoose, a Halloween-themed music festival that drew 40,000 people to a field beside Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. In an even more explosive performance than their return for this year's Coachella Music And Arts Festival, the '90s hit machine proved their rebel yell is still very much in style. Their closing set on Sunday night drew fans from across the country for the weekend event, which featured almost 30 bands on three stages.

In its third year, Vegoose is gunning to be the next must-see festival on the American concert calendar. Formerly known as a jam band affair, this year's lineup followed a more Lollapalooza approach, mixing alt.rock, hip-hop and electronic acts. Although, judging by the amount of tie-dye amongst the vendors and the shantytown of illicit products in the parking lot, the original crowd is still coming out. Either that, or they've been camped out here for a year — it was hard to tell.

What makes Vegoose special isn't the programming — it's the audience. Landing on Halloween weekend, Vegoose encourages dress-up, so beneath its Great Evil Pumpkin mascot paraded everything from bumblebees to wannabes: there were multiple sightings of Amy Winehouse, Justin "Dick In A Box" Timberlake and DuffMan (oh yeah!).

Even some of the acts joined in. On Saturday afternoon, The Shins donned scary black jester costumes to go with their not-very-scary music and Mastodon rocked the main stage in the spirit of the season. Drummer Brann Dailo donned a full Spider-man spandex suit, bassist Bill Kelliher was a suitably Satanic priest, guitarist Troy Sanders did the zombie thing and singer Brent Hinds simply went as a '70s-styled bad-ass rock star — you know, himself. Muse drummer Dominic Howard also appeared as Spider-man on Sunday night, but hopefully not in the same suit. It was a real blast. Sure, you could see M.I.A. do her rambunctious rebel party girl routine in a more intimate setting, but you wouldn't be dancing next to "Devo."

Not everything was perfect. Someone programmed Public Enemy and Cypress Hill at the same time on side-by-side stages, possibly while high. And since Flavor Flav's giant clock doesn't seem to tell the set time, Cypress Hill had the crowd at its feet before PE even took the stage. Not that it was difficult, all Cypress Hill needed to do was reference getting high every 30 seconds to keep the crowd buzzing.

The star of Vegoose 07 was, without a doubt, Daft Punk. Headlining on Saturday night, the French house duo appeared as robots in their now-trademark pyramid stage and blasted out non-stop dance magic with state of the art sound and lights for almost two hours. Masterfully remixing their greatest hits, they turned a desert field into a galactic party that probably shook the aliens at nearby Area 51. Twenty-four hours later in the parking lot gridlock, cars were still blasting "One More Time." I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

It's pretty hard to top the showgirls and neon lights of the casino strip as a reason to visit Vegas, but Vegoose seems well on its way.

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