-A.S. This summer, I have had the chance to see many of the rock icons of my youth. At Langerado that meant seeing Beastie Boys and R.E.M., and at Bonnaroo that meant Metallica and Pearl Jam. Both Blake and I were quite exhausted while we were waiting for Eddie Vedder and the boys to take the stage. As a result, we employed the only standing up for our favorite songs method.The first such song was “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,” which Vedder explained they were playing because they were standing there looking out into a town. After the song he said it wasn’t until then that he realized how far back the estimated 70,000 people really went. Another great stand up song was one of everyones favorite Guitar Hero song, “Even Flow.” Guitarist Mike McCready played the entire solo behind his head, a favorite show off move of Zack’s when rocking the video game version.One personal highlight was “Release,” which has always been one of my favorite Pearl Jam songs. As not to be shown up by Metallica, who seemingly played three encores the night before, Pearl Jam came out for their first encore and had the entire place singing along to “Alive.” For their second encore, they came back out and played a great cover of “All Along the Watchtower.” Despite being very tired, I enjoyed my first Pearl Jam show a great deal.

-A.S. After sitting around and enjoying some Ben Folds, it was time to check on another rock legend. A lot of people might not immediately think legend when they hear the name Levon Helm. If you have ever listened to the Band, you will know who he is as soon as you hear his voice. As we walked up to his set, the former drummer of the Band was sitting front and center on what looked like a mandolin from how far we were.

The band had a great southern, soulful and sometimes gospel sound that went beautifully with Helm’s voice. The first song Blake and I heard from them was the old folk standard “Deep Ellem Blues.” After that they did an old Band tune, “Rag Mama Rag” that took all the old timers at the fest on a trip down memory lane (not likely the only trip they’ve ever had). After that Helm moved over to drums and we fully filled our seeing a rock legend in his element quota. It was time for dinner.

-A.S. After a nice little bit of Zappa plays Zappa (we left before I got all Zappa’d out), it was time for some Ben Folds. He always draws a big crowd at festivals, and he knows how to bring his A game.

He announced that he plays a certain song written by Dr. Dre, and that it was going to be the last time he played it. Ever. He said he didn’t want people coming up to him whille he was with his kids and calling him the bitches guy. With that Folds launched into “Bitches Ain’t Shit” for what he claims was the last time.

Due to our desire to catch some of Levon Helm and get back to our campsite for some grill action, we headed out after crowd favorite “Rockin’ the Suburbs.”

B.E. Ben Folds was a little tardy so we decided to hit up Zappa Plays Zappa and then come back. We walked up and on cue they began the ever popular “Joe’s Garage”. Dweezel Zappa was joined on stage with Ron White, a former member of The Mothers. Together they tore the canvas off the That Tent.

Since I had already seen them and Andy can only handle so much Zappa (though I know that he enjoyed what he heard) we decided to head back and see if Ben Folds decided to come to work.

-A.S. The mayor of Manchester, TN presented the king of blues with a key to the city before the set. I get honoring the guy, but what’s an 82-year-old man going to do with a plaque? Move aside Grammys, get out of the way Lucille.

The BB King Blues Band took the stage and warmed up the crowd for a song before ol’ BB was introduced. He gave the exact same intro speech about being old as he did two years ago when Blake and I saw him.

Due to scheduling conflicts we only got to catch the obligatory two or three songs from the guitar icon, but they were a great few tunes. The man is an entertainer and arguably one of the best guitar players I’ve ever seen live.

-A.S. You should know by now, Blakes a metal guy. We made sure that we wouldn’t let out metal buzz from the night prior wear off by heading to Mastadon. We both stood and watched a couple of songs before I spoke up. They weren’t that impressive.

Maybe Metallica is a hard act to follow. Maybe Mastadon just isn’t that good live. Regardless, we were pretty ready to get to B.B. King.

-A.S. Blake will do a full and proper review of Metallica as soon as he gets a chance. I just wanted to make a quick post about my first Metallica experience here at Bonnaroo 2008.

They do rock, and don’t let anyone that hates them because they ruined Napster tell you otherwise. Lars Ulrich is a great drummer, and bass player Robert Trujilio is a freak. Plain and simple.

The set closed with pyrotechnics, explosions, “One” and “Enter Sandmanm.” Rawk. I recognized several tunes and enjoyed them.

My qualm with Metallica is that as someone not familiar with their catalog, it all started to sound the same. Rocking same, but same none the less. James Hettfield screams, Kirk Hammett wails, Trujilio stalker walks and Ulrich stands up to play at the end of every song. That being said, I had a good time despite the steady rainfall.

-A.S. I had a talk with Zack a while back about comedy at Bonnaroo. I told him I would rather see music than comedy. Chris Rock opening for Metallica and the main stage in front of 70,000 people is a different story.

The man is a comedy legend and deservedly so. The echo of that many chuckles was unbelieveable. Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich of Metallica intoduced Rock for his hour long set.

He touched on many different topics, including his usual politics, racism and the difference between guys and girls. He called Barack Obama the blackest name ever and asked the crowd why Hillary wanted to work in an office her husband got blow jobs in.

He told the crowd that proof of racism exists in his community where there are only four black people. Mary J. Blidge, Jay Z, Denzel Washington and himself. His neighbors job, you might ask? A dentist. And not like a hall of fame dentist. He said a black dentist would have to invent teeth to live there.

Despite the steady rainfall, the crowd ate up every last joke. Chris Rock officially got my Bonnaroo comedy seal of approval.

B.E. Jack White is the man. I thought he was awesome live with the White Stripes and I was blown away when I saw the Raconteurs last year at Lolla (even though I thought their first release, Broken Boy Soldier, was just OK).

Their newest album, Consolers For the Lonely, translates even better live then its predecessor. In “You Don’t Understand Me,” White gives up his battle ax in favor of the, perhaps, softer piano. However, there is nothing soft about Jack White. At points he went absolutely crazy, falling over during a particular solo.

After playing songs from Consolers for the first half of the show, The Raconteurs switched it up and played the fan favorite “Steady As She Goes” off of Broken Boy Soldier. The crowed loved the dueling guitar intro.

Things concluded with a killer encore: “Many Shades of Black,” then “My Baby’s on the Level,” followed by an amazing performance of “Salute Your Solution” that got the crowd singing and clapping along.

Overall, great show. Jack White never disappoints.

-A.S. Blake and I got to Stephen Marley right about at the start of his set. There was already a decent sized crowd for our first What Stage experience. We had already seen people in Metallica shirts waiting to get into the stage area at 11:30 a.m.

Marley had lots of people on stage, including one child waving a Jamaican flag throughout the entire set. The whole band was great, and they had the full reggae sound, complete with great back-up vocals.

The set was a mix of songs off of Stephen Marley’s last album and classic Bob hits. The whole crowd sang along to “No Woman, No Cry” and “Jammin.’” It was a great day set, and a fun start to our Friday.