Bonnaroo released some news about what campers can expect in the plazas this year. Biscuits and gravy anyone? Also, Brad and Barry share a High Five Clip from their 2018 interview with Johanna and Klara from First Aid Kit. The sisters tell the guys from The What Podcast how they found their Nashville sound while living in Sweden.
Get your Bonnaroo update and check out our conversation with First Aid Kit in the High Five Clip above, and then check out the full original episode here.
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Welcome in to the What Podcast, Barry Courter, Lord Taco, Brad Steiner. How are you guys? Good to see you. The Mad Taco is here. What in the world is the Mad Taco? This is a gift from David Bruce. Uh-huh. He sent it to me over the weekend. Okay, but you're the happiest, jolliest man in the world. Why in the world would you be described as the Mad Taco? Do I not seem angry to you? Yes. You're a rageful, rageful man. Yeah, I don't know. But shout out to David Bruce. Thanks for the hat. Appreciate it. How is David? Doing well. Taco, when was the last time you actually got angry and rageful? Uh, what year is it? Is this going to be one of those Jerry Seinfeld throwing up scenarios? June 20th, 1989. Yeah. David said he's considering trying to come to Moon River and take some photos if he can get a pass. Okay. Okay. So we've got some big news. Can we share that already or is that, uh, do we know? Who has some big news? Who has some big news? Oh, we have big news? David has big news. What was the big news? I haven't heard. I've reached out to him and they want to use his photographs. As they should. They're phenomenal. Yeah, yeah. 100% agree. That's why I want to brag on him. Yeah, he's great. Yeah. And he's a classic Bonnaroo story. He's the guy who came one time because I think his daughter, right, was coming and he said, I'll go with and been ever since and started taking pictures and, um, and now they're going to use them as they should. Like you just said. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Yeah. How many times have they used the Barry Courter shots? How many Barry Courter shots have they used it for? None times. None times. None times. I have mine. I like them. You like them. You want to? Yeah. Yeah. And the paper. Yeah. My screenshots are made. My screensavers are all from Bonnaroo. So I mean, nothing like that takes. That's that's where I mean, Michelangelo said the same thing. I've had all my good work on my phone. Never made a dime. Did you do? Did you do this upside down too? Did you put your screensaver on it just like he did? Yeah. Yeah. All right. So big high five episode today. Explain how we're going to go back in time and talk to first aid kits. Yeah. This was I didn't realize this was our first year. Twenty eighteen. If you remember when I was listening back, it was kind of a surprise. We'd been trying to get them on the show and it was the week before we were to leave, I guess. And I guess management said, hey, let's do it. And they were so great and jumped on and we talked about, you know, they had just done the show with Patti Smith, which was amazing. The song is so good. But we talked to them about, you know, how it is a couple of sisters in Sweden have such a Nashville country sound. And that's what this clip is about. And it's pretty funny. They were great. Really, really cool. I love the first aid kit. I really like it. Right about the time we interviewed them is about where I found them or when I found them. And that album just knocked me off my feet. How good that was back. It was twenty eighteen. Huh? Yesterday. Yeah. Season one, we were all just babies back then. I actually hesitated to go. I don't know. That's that's up to you, TACO. Was it a baby? Yeah. Yeah. Twenty eighteen. Yeah. We were young. That's a baby. OK. Well, I had hesitated to go back because I thought it was too too recent, you know, and behold, it was first year. So it's really good. The other thing, too, that came through this week and look, I know we kind of say this every year, but the plazas look fantastic. Really well thought out. I was overly impressed with bringing the heat as as the RooHamms would say, it seems lit. Exactly. The vibes are high. The vibes are high. It's lit. Yeah, I can't keep up with all that. I know I can either. I make fun of Parker all the time. He'll just send nonsensical like collections of letters to me. I'm like, what does any of this millennial speak mean? It's mid bra. It's mid bra. What is Tony talking about? I promise you, every time I listen to one of their shows, I have to go to Google and I don't even know what that means. Yeah, there's some sort of they had their own urban dictionary at some point because I have no idea half the things you're saying. All right. So tell me about the plazas. Run through what we've seen so far and your first impressions. First impressions are when we had Corey and Brad Parker on from C3 a while ago. They remember they emphasized that wanted to they wanted to reemphasize the plazas, which I mean, I never felt like it got away from, but they just thought there was a way to do it better. And they had come up with sort of the space theme. And you see that all the way through this. So they always had cool stuff, but now they seem a little more lanes, as we always talk about. I will say the one thing that I noticed was that we lost Snake and Jake's and it feels as though the super fly slash New Orleans connection in in Bonnaroo is damn near gone. And it feels it makes me feel bad because I'm so tied to New Orleans. But you know, that festival, if not for super fly in New Orleans, you know, I'll never forget one of my favorite moments in all of my Bonnaroo is that in all my Bonnaroo is leaving the Alabama Shake show and following a second line through center with, you know, the was present with Pres Hall was a present was in Pres Hall, but it was like a New Orleans rebirth brass band, his rebirth brass band going through a second line. That was so that was so New Orleans. And the fact that we lost Snake and Jake's and then, you know, my buddy Shaggy, who does crawfish from Crawfish King, he does the crawfish boil backstage every year, every night for media guests. And he's not coming back. They didn't invite him back. I just feel like the soul that was there that was born out of New Orleans is just all all gone. Well, that bums me out. My favorite moments I'll never be able to recreate was seeing Elvis Costello with Alan Toussaint, which New Orleans legend. I mean, Elvis Costello loves. By the way, did I tell you my Elvis Costello story? I don't know. I don't think so. Right before Mardi Gras, the day before I left for Mardi Gras, I met and hugged Elvis Costello. Oh, man. Good for you. I cried like a baby. So I got so he's doing he was doing this run at a very, very small theater for only like 500 people. He's doing a run of 10 songs and no 100 songs and 10 nights. So he would do 10 different songs from his catalog each night. And then the rest of it was just sort of things that he felt like fit the moment on the fly. He went 25 songs. He was there for two and a half hours playing by himself, by himself. And the last like, you know, 20 minutes or so he had like a like an orchestral backing for him. But they only played maybe five songs with them. The rest of it was just Elvis. And so afterwards, I walked backstage and I was like staring and he just walks up to me like, it's great to see you. And then gives me a big bear hug. Oh, God, I was so sweaty and wonderful. Everything about it. I love it. It was a bit. Oh, God, I loved it so much, Barry. And the voice just is still so good. And it was so crazy how, you know, 10 songs in the first few songs like, man, Elvis, I don't know if he's got it anymore. But boy, it just gets stronger and stronger as the show went on. Man, what a highlight of my year. When Burt Bacharach died, you know, what, last month? That's what we listened to all day was Burt. And obviously that leads to Burt and Elvis together. Yeah, that's right. Look, I totally agree. And when he brought the Burt Bacharach thing up and played a song for I cried. I mean, you couldn't see you look around and it was just gross. By the way, every person in an Elvis Costello show all look exactly the same. They all look like the liberal arts professor at insert college here. You know, they've got the, you know, round glasses and the flowing gray hair. It's hysterical. They're all wearing what Barry's wearing right now in a vest. It's just the most interesting group of people. But they're not a single person wasn't crying during the Burt Bacharach tribute. God, I loved it. But you're right. I mean, the reason I bring that up is because on the back of his guitar, one of his guitars is said New Orleans or nowhere playoff of New York or nowhere. But he loves New Orleans. I forgot how much he's tied into that city. Yeah. Well, like I said, that was one of those that I was very pointed. I wanted to see Elvis. I didn't know a lot about out in Tucson. But when I, you know, when we went over and saw it, I was like, wow, this is one of those historical moments that only at Bonnaroo and will never happen again. Yeah. That's one of those when people ask what your favorite shows and you know, what do you've seen them? I mean, that's one of those moments you can't really describe to somebody unless you get it like, you know, you get it and get the whole history of it. But yeah, you're right. Your point is well taken. Where the festival is losing some of its Cajun flavor. Well, I mean, I guess I guess it's to be expected. I mean, I don't know how long you can keep that tied together when there was no there's nobody left that's still tied to that community. It just bums me out because I love that community so much. And then at the end of the day, that is where Snake and Jake's in New Orleans, the dive bar that's in New Orleans. That's where we found out that Lord Taco really doesn't like PBR. That was the bar we learned that his favorite beer is actually a Miller High Life. That's what we call a callback in the business. Well done. Yeah. So legendary Snake and Jake's no longer part of it. And I hope they figure out a way to bring Shaggy back because, you know, I love crawfish in June. I love crawfish every day. What am I talking about? I want that crawfish boil back. All right, you want to get into this week's high five? Yeah, let me go through real quick because there's a couple of things you asked about the plazas. We're in the woods, of course. Oh, sure. Sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We went off the tangent there a little bit. Galactic Giddy Up is going to be there with late night performances, all that. And for people who are new and they're listening, the plazas are basically where you're going to camp, but they have become a life unto themselves. Right? I mean, Centauru and the music is the main thing, but they have really put a heavy emphasis on life outside of Centauru. Like what are you going to do the rest of the time? And really, really cool. One of the things, and this sounds like a kind of simple thing, but I think it gets to the point that we were talking about with Corey and Brad, where these guys do a pretty good job of kind of paying attention and listening, you know, not just within their own room, but what other people are talking about. I think this space cadet camp and having Cracker Barrel be part of it with TVA. Oh my God, I didn't see that. Really? Yeah. Oh, I totally missed that. Yeah. Cracker Barrel is going to be offering homestyle brunch bites. Oh my God. I know, right? I mean, if only they could bring in that Waffle House. I mean, I've been to that Waffle House so many times. If only they could figure out a way to get the Waffle House truck in there. On one end of camp, you've got Cracker Barrel. On the other end, you've got Waffle House. That would be perfect. Oh my God, that would be perfect. They do have a food truck. Waffle House does. So they do. Oh, that's right. Yeah, I know they have it. Okay. I thought you meant they have it at Bonnaroo. I've never seen it. I want to bring the food truck. Bring the food truck, Waffle House people. Isn't that fun though? I mean, that's clever. Yeah, that's clever. People coming out of town and get a sausage and biscuit or a biscuit and gravy or whatever. Little piece of the south. So anyway, we can get into that. When is the last time you went to a Cracker Barrel? It's got to be 15 years for me. Probably same. Yeah. Probably same. You know me, I'm not out at 2 a.m. in the morning. That's the only time you ever get to go. You're not out at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. You don't leave that house. And I'm not going to a Cracker Barrel at 2 p.m. That's a 2 a.m. Taco, I bet of all of us, you're the last one to go to a Cracker Barrel, aren't you? You've been to a Cracker Barrel recently. Yeah, I love Cracker Barrel. I'm two miles from a Cracker Barrel here. Actually, I'll take it back. I have been within the last five years. This Sunday. You know what? I don't remember exactly when it was. It was a trip to Memphis for high school girls soccer. We used to always stop in the Cracker Barrel in Jackson, Tennessee. I did it for four straight years. I think I can mark the last time I've been to a Cracker Barrel, the last time I went to church because it just went hand in hand after church. Forgive me for I have sinned. All right. Anything else you want to get to at the plazas? Nope, I think that's the main thing. We don't know what music and those sorts of things just yet. That'll probably come in the next couple of weeks, but it's good stuff. Yeah. And we do have information about the ticket giveaway. We will share that next week. Next week, we will talk about the ticket giveaway. Other than that, let's do a high five clip with First Aid Kit on the What Podcast. Hello. Oh, hello. How are you guys? We are good. We are good. This is very good. Enjoy the sunshine and dark fall. When we started doing this show, we identified the artists that we really wanted to talk about on the air. And then we started trying to pinpoint the artists we really wanted to talk to on the air. And you guys were at the top of the list because I find you guys have such an intriguing story. I love your live show so much. The way that you guys harmonize to me is as good as it gets in the business. And you guys do something so interesting with your harmonies. It's like you choose different ways to say simple words. You figure out very interesting ways and phrasing is very, very important to you guys, isn't it? I think so. I mean, it's something we do sort of very intuitive. Like it's just something that we design or like put any real thought into it. Yeah, it just kind of comes. It sounds like it's too easy, but it's it's kind of is true. Yeah, true. I'm glad he asked it that way because a lot of what I hear has a very Nashville, a very country sound. Nashville is two hours from us. You guys are obviously not two hours from Nashville. So how do you how did you get that sort of because it very much is obviously. Really intuitive and ingrained in you guys. So where did that come from? I think just from listening to that sort of music from a very early, I mean, not very early, but from our early formative years. Yeah, exactly. You know, I think there's an age like when you're around like 12 to 14 where the music that you get into then becomes really important to you. Like it shapes you. Yeah. And those songs will always be really special to you, and that's the music that we listen to at that age. And I mean, still do. And I think for us, it was just so refreshing to hear. Like we grew up listening to like mostly pop on the radio. And then we heard that kind of music and it was sort of a revelation. Like it felt so simple and so real. And there was so much emotion in it. And that was what inspired us to want to write. The startling part of it is that you guys are from Sweden. I mean, if it was something like from somebody in Missouri, that would make sense. But you guys are from Sweden. I guess I've just I didn't think it would take two very, very pretty Swedish women to bring back the steel guitar. How did you guys find American music to begin with and not like the stars of Sweden when you were a kid? You're talking about being 12 years old and you're into like Emmylou Harris type stuff and Danny Smith. Right. That's more 16, you know, angst, not 12 year olds. Yeah. Let me pile on to his question. Yeah. Well, I think we're pretty premature. Like, well, we wanted to be like older than we were. Like we didn't like we didn't go through like the regular like sort of teen angst. Like, I mean, a little bit. It was very short lived. But we were sort of like, let's be grown ups and like be serious. Very soft. Although I will say, like, I mean, the band that we started listening to was Bright Eyes. And there's definitely a lot of it. A lot of emo, a lot of it. So, well, I think the answer for you is the Internet. I mean, the Internet just doesn't borders don't matter. Borders don't exist on the Internet. You can find any kind of music. And we found it, you know, we just started searching for that kind of stuff. And to us, it was very exotic. You know, it wasn't what we I mean, we grew up with American music. Yes. But that was like Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, you know, which is actually written by Sweden. So I'm taking that back. But yeah, like, you know, it's very exotic to us. And it didn't have like, I think if you grow up with country like in America, it's just has to be a totally different kind of like, you just have a different attitude towards it. And for us, it was super exotic and like, interesting. And I think we just like very objective in our way of listening to it. Like, yeah, which came from a different perspective. And I think you can tell how much we love it when you listen to our songs.