Well, here I am on the last morning of Rothbury, still trying to collect my thoughts from Day 2. To say there’s a lot going would be an understatement. To say that I’m borderline A.D.D. and unable to pay attention half the time would be the truth. So, I will attempt to be as coherent and concise as possible.

A good portion of Day 2 was spent fixing computer glitches – slow internet, timed-out uploads and other things of that nature. But all headaches aside, Rothbury really kicked into gear on Day 2, with the first full day of music getting underway at 12:30pm with Lansing, Michigan’s Steppin’ In It.

I managed to see at least a half-dozen artists through the course of the day – some for a full set, others for only a few minutes. I also headed over to the Tripolee area to check out a panel discussion on Green Jobs, what they are, and how to get one. I learned a lot about what they were and why we need them, but there wasn’t much focus on how to get one, other than the repeated call to action and “just go out and do it” mentality. But the content was interesting, and I hope to post a recording of the entire discussion at woodtv.com.

Music-wise, I started the day with Macpodz, from Ann Arbor, MI. They had a 70’s funk sound… that would quickly turn to a latin jam, or some Jethro Tull inspired flute-work. The band was all over the board in terms of styles – an interesting complement to the overall picture of Rothbury. Take a listen to a little of The Macpodz set: the-macpodz

I sampled a lot of other acts throughout the afternoon, from Femi Kuti to Damian Marley, G. Love to Soulive. I was most impressed by the 10 minutes I got to spend with Flogging Molly. A driving, frantic, Celtic-Punk sound lit up the Ranch Arena stage. I had other places to be, I thought I was in a hurry. But these guys made me stop and forget everything else I needed to do. It was loud. It was reckless. The crowd was eating it up, and I look forward to checking them out further.

The big show of the night came on the Odeum stage. A crowd of 30,000+ gathered to see the official reunion of the String Cheese Incident. That show meant a lot of things to a lot of people, or so it seemed. You can read my thoughts and check out the setlist in my full review.

We ended the night with a little Chromeo – an electronic outfit. Our buddy Wade is the expert on this genre, so you should definitely check out his review.

I managed to make it to bed before 2am. A little embarassing, given the plethora of late-night options.. but I had an early morning (8am) date with a shower, and I didn’t want to let that shower down.