Bonnaroo Saturday quick notes: Haale, Galactic

Haale A band maybe you didnt catch? Haale. As an amateur music lover witha guiltily acknowledged draw to more mainstream bands, my indie-lovingBay Area boyfriend coaxed me into sampling more Bonnaroo-centric bands,like New York-based psychadelic sufi trans-rock group Haale. At first their music closelyreminded me of the eerily trance-inducing oboe concoctions of JohnCorbett’s character in theüber-cheesy rom-com Serendipity. But the more I gave it a chance, themore I came to appreciate the melding of the bongo-style drums withbeads rattling in the center, two electric guitars,and the soothing crooning of the lead singer, a Persian SalmaHayek-Jennifer Connelly hybrid could-be (only with vocal ability) whosang in a mix of Farsi and English.The whole set felt as if it could have been the soundtrackfor my own mythical soul-searching trek through the Middle East. I canonly imagine what the impact would have been had I been high andheavily clad in mirrored garments and heavy bangles like the rest of thecrowd, as opposed to sipping on my second Woodchuck Cider of the day.The music was so electric and spiritual that it made the hairs onScott’s arm stand on end– and he’s someone who takes in at least two orthree shows a week, so that’s a feat.

Galactic This was my fourthtime seeing jam band Galactic live and, though it’s been a coupleyears, initially I remembered them being more jammy than the rap they performedtonight. But throughout their three-hour set, their signature stylebegan to creep back into the tent. Maybe it was the factthat they followed a mild and disappointingly mellowPolice performance (still love the guys) or possibly some stellar guest additions totheir repertoire of songs (including Lyrics Born and Boots Riley), butthe crowd was rockingout to some post-midnight Galactic, myself included– and this from agirl who was groggily awakened in a field from a funnel cake-inducedcoma to attend yet another late night show againsther will.