The What Podcast Bonnaroo Isn't About the Headliners Anymore: Brad Steiner's Don't-Miss Picks Season 9, Episode 3 Published December 24, 2025 https://thewhatpodcast.com/episode/bonnaroo-isnt-about-the-headliners-anymore-brad-steiners-dont-miss-picks It was a really sat in the car with the door and windows open listening to Shins on repeat for no less than seven hours. You woke up. I was in my underwear for part of it. I was in my boxers and my stupid socks. Meanwhile, the rest of us are coming and going. Coming and going. Coming and going. Coming and going. And one thing that we can count on is Brian still being there listening to Shins. Hey guys, welcome to the what podcast you will notice this is a little bit of a different environment and a little bit of a different show. I'm Barry. I'm the host along with normally Brian and our producer Russ. Russ is traveling. Brian and I had a surprise guest drop on us this week. Brad, our man Brad Steiner dropped in on us yesterday. Sort of we didn't know it was coming. We kind of knew, but maybe not so much. And we ended up at Lo Main, my nephew's place. If you don't know, Brad is a radio programmer out of New York City, co-founder of this show, lots of insights. We get his pics on basically as our man Tuba Smith from C3 says on the green bananas. So if you'll stick around towards the end, you'll get some pretty good insights on maybe who are the bands to go see. If you're looking for contest information, please continue to send them. What is it? 423-667-7877. Tell us why you should get two tickets to Bonnaroo and a camping pass. I promise you the next episode we will devote, if not entirely to that, more to it. That's what Brian and I had planned as of yesterday. And then Brad said, hey, let's get together and do a show. And so that's what we did. So here's a whole bunch of nonsense from Brian and Brad and I. And again, Brad's pics. And we will be back next week. Thank you guys so much. Please hit that subscribe and like. And again, we will be back with the contest entries next week. You know what's really interesting is that you guys, I saw that it was the number one word of the year was Barry on the podcast. I have been on this podcast in two years and my number one word is Barry. I just sit in the house laying in bed. Barry. Yeah, Barry. I had that nightmare the other day. So I should have great. Did you see? Do we ever tell you the story about when Barry and I took a road trip to Louisville the first time Barry's been out of the state of Tennessee and I think damn near 15 years. And it was with me for forecastle. All right. So we first off, I drive. Barry was not happy about that. He was uncomfortable the entire drive, you know, because Barry needs to be in control. And so I'm driving and we get we get to we get to the festival. Everything's fine. But we are in this Airbnb that is this massive house. And I don't know. Maybe I was I had hit it a little too hard the night before the night of. But I just shocker. I just stayed up all night with one wall between the two of us just screaming. Barry. Yeah. And who was with it was it was his name that was with us downstairs. Oh, God, I forgot we brought a Scragler. I don't even remember. Yeah, you do. We'll think we picked up a guy on the interstate. And he just did it. He's going to. Oh, I remember. No, I know this guy. I love this guy. Yeah, he's daughter daughter's daughter used to listen to the radio station all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. I can't believe I've forgotten his name. But anyway, Brad's in the room next to these Barry Barry hours. Brian, I did this for hours and I'm thinking I could go beat him. But it'll just get worse. And it's like I kept trying to be nice. Yes, Brad. What is it, Brad? Go to sleep, Brad. And I would just say I would just say ridiculous things. So do you think that snowmen exist in the summer? It made no sense. It doesn't sound like it. Yeah, it was the best. It was horrible. He was he's never been more miserable in his life. I think that's why he's never taken another trip ever since. Where have you got? Have you gotten anywhere since? Yeah, I was shaking knees this year. Atlanta, big, big drive for you today. Yeah. Stayed overnight with two days of the first. I mean, it was great. Yeah, that's it. That was your first shaking. He's tripping. Wasn't it? Yeah. You've never been a shaking. No, it was great. I wanted to see Devo. All right. Was it the 1900s? The last time you've been to Atlanta? Oh, not nice close. Yeah. 2001, 1900s. Stayed with my buddy. He's got a house down there. Condo down. Yeah. How about in the highlands? Now, I think that shaky knees is the best curated festival of its size. I liked everything about it. The park was great. It was centennial, which is that's what it's in Piedmont now. Is it in Piedmont Park now? It used to be in Centennial. Then it was in Central. OK, now it's in Piedmont, which they've announced are going to be in September again next year, as a matter of fact, they're going to be where same place, but September dates. They moved from April to September last year. Because apparently it lets the field, the park generate and also the neighbors complain. Yes. So they don't stress out the neighborhood every year. Oh, these nimbies shut up. That's what I was told. But it's great. I love the. I'm sorry you can't go to the Mellow Mushroom earlier than you really wanted to. Shut up. I like the multiple stage or the dueling state. You know, one ends in the other. Park was huge. Everything was clean. Yeah, it was great. I think it's a really, really well done festival. The guy that runs it is he's tough, but he's really, really good at it. He's really, really good. Yeah, it was I'd go back. Yeah, it's a bit. But the lineup, though, always feels as though something almost perfectly tailored to like Brian and I. Well, it's a rock and roll festival and an all rock festival. And you. It was a great lineup for me. I'm sorry, the Temptations played. Well, no, Devo played. Devo. Why wasn't I listening to that? And we're now. Oh, yeah, we're now. We're now was there. No, I don't. Several are a Michigander. He was down there. He was great. Who was the other one? There was a couple others of not. What is it? Hey, nothing. Hey, what is Barry listening to right now? If I were to open up yours, what is your Spotify rap? Right now, it's Christmas music, of course. But you are such a sucker for the season. You are so good. Yeah. And have you ever actually played the role of Santa? Have you ever put on the beard? No, you would be a great Santa bear. I know I'm getting. Yeah, I'm getting there. Yeah. What did the age or size and age? No, I've never. All right. So what's on the spot if I wrapped? What was your number one, two and three played song of the year? I'd have to look back. I don't remember. Barry, you don't know the number one song you listen to all year. The number one album you listen to all year. No. Come on. Oh, actually, I do. I mean, it's my morning jacket. OK. OK. Well, that's predictable. Brian, I was just going to look it up. So I figured I was coming to me now. A lot of dead in company. OK. Yeah. Well, I saw Pearl Jam earlier at the end of the Dark Matter tour. So, yes, that's going to fall in there. And then Oasis, of course, Oasis Mania. I got sucked in. Yeah. So Oasis was all over my playlist. Did you you didn't go any of the shows? No, no. Yeah. Was it going to be so? Had you guys that's a problem for me for a little bit? Like it was difficult for me to talk about. I don't remember if we've ever said that we told the Shin story. Have you guys told the Shin story about his when he saw? No, it's not that good of a story. It's a great story. It's my favorite Bryan Stone stories. So Barry, do you remember the Shin story? This is 2012, I think. Barry, I want to come back to the Oasis thing. And it's part of the Oasis thing, I think. So I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't actually believe that you're a big fan of Oasis. I think that you got you got really into it the last year. And you've been listening to it like crazy. And if you had gone to the show, you had left 15 minutes early and be like, dumbest show ever. All right. So that's not true. But I know why you're telling what you're in the car listening to the whole thing. All day long. Now you're OK. Now you know that was the Shin. I do remember. So what year was the Shin show? 2012. OK, so I tell Brian on one of these shows, I say, Brian, you really need to go. You're going to like the Shins. So he spends a month listening to the Shins, gets all into it. He's obsessed with them. He doesn't see it comes show day. It's like a Saturday. He is so obsessed with the Shins. He doesn't see a single show the entire day. At Bonnaroo you're talking about. Yes, at Bonnaroo. It's the Saturday of Bonnaroo. Shins are playing. I think it was Saturday. You sit in your car all day, all day. It was really nice that day. It was it was like. Thank God you sat in the car. It was like 83 degrees. You sat in the car with the door and windows open, listening to Shins on repeat for no less than seven hours. You woke up. I was in my underwear for part of it. I was in my boxers and my stupid socks. Meanwhile, the rest of us are coming and going, coming and going. Coming and going. And one thing that we can count on is Brian still being there, listening to Shins. All right. All right. So now he's ready to go to the show. It's like a six o'clock start time. It's an evening. It's an evening show. And I've seen the Shins. I've seen them a million times. So we kind of leave early. And as we get back to the the camp, who's sitting there? But Brian Stonk and I said, Brian, the Shins are on. He's like, yeah, I know. I went. I hated it. No, I said my love affair with the Shins is over. I said, I'm done with the Shins. I'm done with the Shins. I did. That is a true story. I said, I'm done with the Shins. I think that's exactly how you had done Oasis. I think I liked it for an hour and a half. And now I'm. I have liked Oasis. It's the mid 90s. Don't do this to me. Don't call me out on that. I'm waiting. The story is ridiculous. I'll give you that. I'm waiting for you to blame Brad for you not seeing Oasis. Yeah, it's going to get you take everything. That's number one. Number two, you've had probably the greatest year of anybody's life. About two years in a row now has been going pretty good. Most other people have been paying for it. That's what I mean. He goes to the sphere. New York a couple of times. Well, they didn't get to go to Oasis. Well, yeah. Yeah. Well, I didn't ask early enough. And it wouldn't matter how early. And your Mets guy, you said you had a Mets guy that you do stump. I mean, I don't want to out you on this. He was my date. I took my buddy Vito. Because he takes care of you at Citi Field. He's my he. Yes, he helps me with Mets tickets. And he's also he was the producer of one of my favorite radio shows in the history of mankind, the Bennington show. And he I took him as my date instead of you. Yeah. Yeah. So there's nothing you could have given me that would have helped the situation. I didn't press. I didn't act like a dick about this. I knew that I had kind of overstepped my faith asking for a couple of years. You have come close a couple of times of saying. Complaining about not being able to go to the Oasis, but even you backed off. I had to. I had a good two years because we got Madison Square Garden Rage Against the Machine. Yeah. The garden again for Pearl. That Rage Against the Machine show was one of the best shows ever. In twenty twenty two. We all agreed on that one. And so, yeah, even I realized I should kind of get right up to the. Yeah. Yeah. Like I could have gone. But, you know, it just didn't work out. Why did you buy a ticket, man? Well, why didn't I buy a ticket? They were going in seconds a year and a half ago. There were plenty. You could have. Aftermarket. No, there was all kinds of aftermarket issues. We don't need to really relitigate all that. But there were. You could have bought a ticket, man. I could have sent you a bilink, at least. I can't do all the cool things. OK. Let me tell you about this Oasis show. OK. So I am not a big Oasis fan. You're not an Oasis fan at all. I'm not. And I'm not going to pretend to be. But I will say, Barry, we we as the fans of what we like, right? The rock fans that we are, we very rarely ever get a moment that that is ours. That's as big as Taylor and Beyonce. You know, there are a lot of tailors, a lot of Beyonce's. There's a lot of, you know, those things feel universal to a different crowd. I'll give you that. This was this was ours. And I don't remember having a moment where we got to do something like on this level together. And man, I'll tell you, like there was a moment inside that stadium at MetLife where it was quite literally moving. The building was moving. It was the energy was so unbelievably off the charts. 11, 12, like it was beyond electric. And I'm not even a fan. I don't even know 90 percent of the songs, but my God, the emotion that's like pouring down people's faces, you know, the feeling of unity. I did not expect this. I thought you were about to say it was the most boring thing you've seen. Because it was the same set every night for 41 days. I didn't go to 41. I know, but I was in a special, a major event. You make that point all the time. I don't understand that. I agree with you. I don't understand your point. Yeah. Who gives a damn about the 39 other shows? I my point is there was nothing special going on that night. That didn't happen the night before at East Rutherford, New Jersey. Eighty nine, five thousand people weren't at that one. I've just I figured you thought it would be annoying. I thought you thought it would be boring because they just stand there. They don't talk to the crowd. They don't do anything spectacular. They just play music and get off the stage. I will say so. I have conflicting feelings about this. So no, it's it is a show where six dudes stand on the stage and play songs. Yeah, they barely acknowledges anybody in front of them. They that is true. And I think in the moment that was kind of weird to me. But then after reflecting and talking to people, especially those who like it mattered to, they didn't need to do anything. Well, they needed to do was reunite and play the damn songs in front of. They did. Because the the set list was by most super fan Oasis people that it was perfect. It was that this was a case where I wasn't that irritated that it was the same thing every night, but it was from the open to the end middle end. It was the exact same thing. So that's why I thought you might say, well, it's just another one of those. Well, I OK. But it was a career. It was a spanning of their best albums of an eight year stretch of a 20 year career. Hear that. I also think this is a tad bit of projecting on your part because I think this is your same argument with the stupid bit that you do about Paul McCartney. Yeah. Your thing about Paul. I saw this show a year ago in Atlanta and a parking garage. Best ever. I think what a stupid argument you make. All right. Your description is not really getting several people talk about seeing it over in Europe. Yeah. And here. Same thing. Yeah. It was generational. Yeah. Moving. You know. Yeah. That that interests me. Yeah, me too. And like, I don't we don't have many of those. And so like, I know that this is I can't I don't want to go here, but we're going to this is how I feel that will happen. And maybe not on that level. But I think that if. Pray to God, fingers crossed, if the rumors are true that the talking heads reunite, I mentioned that last week, the next one that we get and my God, that's the one that I want. I don't like you can have the oasis. I understand it. I get it. It's not for me. I want the talking heads moment. And that will be my weeping out loud in front of people. If anybody wonder where I got that last week, it was this guy. And I wasn't sure. I just said, I'm hearing that there could be a talking heads reunion. And I heard that from you. But I did. Much. Wow. Thanks for outing your source on that. No, you just outed it first. I wasn't. I didn't say I didn't say on the show. It's not a crazy revelation. Like there it is. Except Dave Burns at the jazz fest. Just him. So I don't know if that means anything. Got a new record. Once he gets to this record cycle, I think there might be something that they they start talking about. By the way, this new record is great. It's really, really good. And I think that he kind of needed to see what the reaction was going to be before something happens. If it does happen. I hope it does, because Barry, that's going to be the moment. That's my Devo. I will travel anywhere. That's why I was getting ready to say that on a much smaller. That for me was a moment. See in Devo down in Atlanta. I never saw them before. But that's one at that age. I would have been what 13, 14, 15, probably, you know, that that that's the age where your life changes. And I've said it before, but seeing them on Saturday Night Live was life changing. It was like, this is the music I'm listening to. And now it's on television. You know, and it was crazy. So well, just to clear up on the Paul McCartney stuff in 2013, you're still I was being an asshole about that. You don't say God. Wow. What a news. I don't have a fucking Wolf Blitzer shows up breaking news. I was I was leaning into this that Brian hates the Beatles shit, which is not true. Don't like them a lot, but I don't hate them. But this is why you like you. And I don't care if bands play the same set every night, but there is a certain level of specialness from one show to the next. And sometimes if a thing is carbon copied for 41 dates, hey, they played last night. What was it like? The same as it was the other 40 times. Yeah. You know what, though? That show, I mean, we've said it. That show was different. I mean, he he's a professional. He's played how many shows? So they're all going to be somewhat the same. But there was a certain amount of Paul McCartney. I'm going to show the young kids I can still frickin rock. And he did. I mean, that show was amazing. I mean, he said it was a lot of youthfulness still left in him. That was 12 years ago now. Like, it's crazy to think it was 12 years ago. Man, that is incredible to think it's been 12 years. I haven't even I didn't even think about it that way. You've been beating this drum for 12 years. You know, I haven't mentioned it. I don't mention it. You guys bring it back up. Sure enough. OK. It started with someone like, oh, my God, I can't believe you open with Live and Let Die. Open with it. Memphis student two nights ago. You can't believe it. So frustrating. The song I swear to God two nights ago. For those who don't know, Brian stayed in camp. Yes, he did. And didn't watch a second. It's a little more complicated than that. And you know, I don't know. You're listening to the podcast, by the way. And you want to go grape ape on me for just saying your name out loud. That is bona fide. Beat the hell out of this. I was sick that night. It is so irritating. Allergies that you just said you blame completely on the state of Tennessee for your woes of allergies. I was sick that night. This setless argument is I miss this so much. That you have. I miss this. So much. How's mom? The kids. Everybody's good. Mom and them are good. Mom and them and everybody. I'm good. How's the pastor? Everybody's great. Yeah. OK. We want to reset the show here. What we're doing. I'll be sure for those who are just tuning in. This is Brad. Three rambling assholes on your screen. That was the original name of the show. That'd be good. Yeah, that'd be good. So those who don't know, this is Brad. How are you? I'm Brad. You can call me Brad. OK. Just Brad. Asshole Brad. OK. Actually, the technical. One of my asshole Brad friends. Down from New York. Yeah, doing great. You're visiting your sister-in-law, right? Yeah. Your nephew. We did the tour to Florida. We went down to Florida for the holidays and then came up here because, you know, you got family and you hit a certain age where everybody starts to get very ill and it gets scary. So, you know, you got to let me tell you guys something. This is what I didn't want to do. I want so badly to go overseas all year this year. I've been like, I just want to go to Barcelona. I just want to go to Portugal. It doesn't matter. I don't care. We didn't do any of that. Instead, we spent three thousand dollars to go to Jacksonville, Florida. Boy, oh, boy. What a what a time to be alive. Swing in Jacksonville. That's right. Boy, oh, boy, did we have a blast anyway. But it just gets that time of the age. You get parents that are really, really ill and you got to you got to see them. And when I say that, I mean you. Again, we don't know, Brad, you are what is your title? What do you do in New York? I know your radio. So the company I work for now is Odyssey. We have 12, I think something like that. Alternative radio stations. And I have a piece and a few of them. That's about it. So I'm on the air around the country. That's about it. In a minute, I want to get your don't miss us on the Bonnaroo lineup. What's that going to matter? He's just going to ignore it. Somebody I don't ignore your suggestions when you give me authentic suggestions. Somebody will actually listen and care. I don't know who, but somebody will. Yeah. Yeah. No. And I'm really interested. You always have the as as our friend Tuba with C3 says the green bananas. You're good at telling us about these acts that are don't miss us because they're going to become OK. All right. So we'll go through that list here in a little bit. OK. All right. How's everything been since you were last on? I don't even remember when I was on last, but this lead up to the last year's fine. You know, I think that, you know, Brian is OK. So Brian and I have fallen in love with a love hate relationship. Yeah. We fall in love with Scott Galloway. I love Scott Galloway so much. And his book notes on being a man is so poignant and beautiful, especially on top of watching the movie or that TV show Adolescents. You put all this together. And this is a big side street. The reason I'm saying this is because me and Brian talked about this last night. You know, he says something in there that in this book that is so poignant that I have tried to embody based on an old friend of ours, Tony San Antonio, never say no. His his in the book, in the book, Scott Galloway says over and over and over, say yes, say yes. And, you know, I have the last two years been living with the mantra of never saying no. So, you know, being 44, that's a little harder. The last year, it is, you know, it's night after night after night after night after night of doing something, going somewhere, seeing some show. I mean, I don't like saying it this way, but this is why it was hard for me to ever come back to Bonnaroo, not because I don't love it or I love the camaraderie or I don't think it's a great festival. It's that I'm just I run myself ragged doing Bonnaroo almost every week of the year. Yeah, I don't know how you do it. There's no way. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Brad doesn't do a lot of social media traditionally, but Snapchat, which is within your group of your friends. I watch your Snapchat and think, how in the hell do you get out of bed every day and go to Madison Square Garden three times a week or one of some of the smaller clubs you'll see wet leg or something at or or Lord the other night. Looks amazing. Looks exhausting. It is exhausting. But look, I get these are these are very privileged problems, man. So I'm not worried. I feel bad even talking about it. You know, it's one of those moments where if you in New York, if you get too good of apartment, you can't show it to people because they're going to get very mad at you. Like, I don't like even talking about it because it feels so privileged. Well, what's the deciding factor? Why do you go to this show and not that show? I feel that if if I've been given this opportunity that I probably do not deserve, that I should take advantage of the gifts that I'm being given and saying no to something feels almost presumptuous and insulting. I am being afforded a very comfortable life. But you could literally every night. Yeah. And I try and probably four or five choices every night. Yeah. This one over that one. And why this night over that night? Or I don't know. Maybe mostly based on relationships and the people I'm trying to show up for. Like, I think that the other part of this book that I love so much is, you know, trying to put out more than you take in. And I spent way too much of my life taking in and not putting out. So if I can give back and this is the way I can give back is showing up for people. And, you know, if you've got an insert band here that that you know, you need people to show up for and say that you did something for, let's say Barry has a band and, you know, he needs this band to. By the way, I show up for Brad Parker. That band is great. That in color band. He's got a real one. You know, I want to show up for him because he's got he's got a he's got kids that are giving everything they have to this thing. He stepped out off the ledge. And I feel like I needed to show up for that. Yeah, that's cool. You know, I'm not I'm not, you know, holier than hour trying to pat some myself on the back. But like, this is this is the easy stuff. Showing up is easy. And I don't I feel like I better. All right. Yeah. Anyway, that's why I say yes to everything. Reminds me of our conversation with Jared and Kristen. You remember that? Which one? Repeat, repeat. Yeah. What about that was the first question? Or our our big thing with that's right. They did say that. Yes, they did say that. Always say yes. That is a great point. Maybe that's where that idea got born into me. I mean, I've tried to live by it. I've never forgotten that. Yeah. You know, we asked them to come to our camp to do a podcast and they did. Do you think Barry says yes? He barely answers the phone. This is a yes. Well, there's an entire philosophy of learn to say no to that. That is that there there's a there's a line where saying yes to everything, I mean, can run you into the ground. I think maybe. But I don't know how much of this I got left in me. I think how much longer do I have to do this? Well, now you sound like me putting yourself in the ground at mid 40s. I do this all the time. I don't know how many more times I got. That's not what I mean. We we live in a world where I live in a world where everything is rift. Like there are there are rifts happening every three weeks in this industry. Right. So I don't know how much longer I got in it. Oh, in the industry. Yeah, I'm shocked you're still there. Man, thanks, Brian. Well, I mean, when you first got there in 22, the the first station you were on, the home of Howard Stern, the stick that Stern started on, flipped the news talk like three weeks later. It was like, oh, my God, are you OK? I got eight solid months. Yeah, eight solid months. So that's what I mean by I'm surprised you're still there, not because of you, because of the industry. My God, it's it's it's brutal. It's hard being the most successful media personality in the history of Chattanooga, Tennessee. You know, it's hard for you to understand. It must be also hard for you that most people don't look at you that way. Well, I don't really. I don't think of it that way either. I don't care. I don't care. Luther might have something to say about that. But really, really? Whatever. OK. All right. Look at the list. Tell us. By the way, I actually was thinking about him the other day because of you guys remember, do you remember the thing that that what is the artist from Peewees Playhouse? Oh, Wayne White. Yeah, I was looking through the photos of his Luther cardboard cutout. That was so good, man. Tell the story real quick about when Jason and was it Parker? Yeah. Locked him out. And they were all ready. Yeah, Luther Massingale is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest running. Radio personality at one place, single handedly, it's like 75 years or something. He announced D-Day and 9-Eleven on the same radio station. Yeah. He got confused at the end, so he announced both at the same time. I love that joke. But no, he he got inducted in the Radio Hall of Fame the same day as Howard Stern. And I'll never forget listening to Stern talk about the old guy that's being inducted with him named Luther. Who the hell is Luther? But no, so the funniest story that ever existed, Luther was a dottering old man. He's a lovely, lovely human, would never hurt a fly. He's the sweetest, sweetest man, but he would do radio every morning and it would be lost dogs and cats. And he would read a whole list of lost and brainered. Yeah. Milkshake, who is a Jack Russell Terrier? And that was the entire radio show. And so that's how I learned of Luther. So I wasn't a big fan at first. But yeah, he was an institution. He lasted forever. Seventy five some odd years anyway. So in the morning show that I was working with at the time, they there was a studio outside of Luther's studio that was Sports Talk. It was ESPN radio. And so what they did is they recorded a fake radio show called Mark and Mark in the Morning. And it was so they recorded themselves talking to each other. Mark and Mark in the Morning ESPN radio at the time of seven 14. God damn it. These motherfuckers at the do you see the Orlando Magic? They were swinging their dicks all over the place last night. All right. And it just got ruder and ruder and nastier by the second. I mean, it was the most crude, disgusting things you could hear two people say. So they recorded this, changed their voices a little bit, and then took that recording and played it outside of Luther's studio on repeat for like half an hour. And the old man who was 80 something at the time would open his door and hear that coming from the speakers. So he would say to him, he said to himself, Oh, my God, they're cursing on the radio. He was panicked. So the old man, I swear to God, I've never seen him walk more than, you know, one small step at a time. This dude started running through the halls, try panicking, trying to. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. They're cursing on the radio. They're cursing on the radio. And it's all because Jason and Parker literally almost killed him. It was that day. I will never forget after that, the bosses. Once Luther was gone, they measured the hallway to see if they could get a gurney up and down the stairs in a studio, because they thought that he if something were to happen, Jason and Parker are going to give him a heart attack and they would have to come get him out of the studio. It's a good story. Yeah, that's funny. That's Luther. All right. Go through the list. Who are the don't start off with when you first heard then you probably had an I probably probably had in advance. But I don't know. I haven't looked at much of it. But just at glance, it hits the you know, it's released on what? Two weeks ago on a Tuesday. What do you think immediately? I don't I don't think that the the headliners are very strong, but I don't think you need them to be. I don't think the headliners because for the longest time, Bonnaroo really the headliners popped and the undercard and I think the undercard is really strong. I think Friday and you don't think they needed to be this year or any year. What do you mean? They said the headliners, they don't know. I think the headlines are fine, but I think that the strokes Rufus the Soul and Noah Khan is probably the same line if you're going to get shaky these. I don't find I don't find it to be overwhelming on the top lines, but that's fine. I think the rest of it is really, really strong. The strokes are going to have a new album. So I worry about that show. I'm not going to lie to you. I love the strokes. You worry in what way that it's going to be very good. Well, I worry about that, too, by the way. I love the strokes. I think they're fantastic. I just think that, you know, you get the strokes on a bad day. And with the new album, I think you're getting a lot of stuff that you've never heard before. But I've heard that new album is great. So I don't know. I I hold very. I hold them in very high regard. So you're trying to turn me on to Noah Khan very early. You know what? Three or four years ago, we had one of my favorite. Yeah. And you were telling me that that's something I needed to follow. Of course, I didn't listen to you. You know, yeah. When I when we brought up the show, when we brought him on the show that before that, I told both of you, you and Taco, I said, guys, this dude is going to be massive. Yeah. Yeah. And he was I love it. It was a great interview. He's sweet. Very sweet, man. Very open, very authentic. And we'll be very open about his own mental struggles. I find his authenticity to be my favorite part of him. I look, I'm going to see the strokes probably five times next year. I love them. They're my favorite bands in the world. I just, you know, I don't know if that's a, you know, I mean, they're the type of band that's going to put out a new album, headline Bonnaroo and play half the new album, like to start the show or something. Yeah, they're that. OK. I think that the one to not miss on that list on Friday is Turnstile. Dude, that Turnstile show is off the charts. Great. I love the band. I love the show. I can't see it enough. I really can't see it enough. I saw him under the bridge in New York. I saw him in a tiny club in New York. Every time they play, it hits. It hits so hard. They're they're they're probably the I don't know. Maybe not the hottest. That's a weird way of putting it. I don't think there's a better band in the world right now. They're on everybody's list. I mean, if that makes them the hottest or not, everyone we've asked, you know, their top two or three. Yeah. And you got to think that's going to be like main stage. What before strokes? Are they doing anything after there's no late night show on the what anymore? Do they do that anymore? No, we're still trying to figure out some things here. That stage. Yeah. Yeah, you see that? I did see that. And that's to the field. Yeah. What do you think about that? I think so. It's going to be a little bit. I think maybe they're trying to reduce footprint. Well, they had there's there's reasons that have been given. But my bet is they're reducing footprint for a reduced crowd size. That's part of it. Yeah. The other part of it is they said, if you remember that corner, trees have grown up. It's a it's a load in load out an issue. The road is right there. And so maybe some bleed from the other. Yeah, I don't know if anything just need to be worked around a little bit. This tent, which I thought was there. If there's a show on that that I was even thinking about going to, that was a waffle. I'm not going because that tent was the worst experience every year. So, I mean, glad they're trying something new. But if it wasn't this isn't any much better. This is much better. I like this a lot because you can attack it from any angle. That was like as as a patron to watch a show. Yeah. But I mean, the bleed between which and this can be significant at times. That wasn't bleeding much until now. The other I think the other is becoming a problem because it gets louder and bigger. And as Tuba said, it's not getting any quieter. No, I like the bleed. I think that's part of the whole magic of it. Like, I don't like what am I going to? I'm not going to this tent to look for artistic beauty. I'm not advocating they move any of it. So I thought they were fine to where they are. And I think the what is they just a a beautiful aesthetic of a field and a stage. And oh, and here's a circus tent over here. And I just don't like it. I want to go backwards real quick. Where where is Thursday happening? There basically isn't a Thursday. I know. But what where it's all it's all in the what field. So basically, so spiritual is playing the what stage? That's what we're I mean, whoever that is. Original thought. Now I'm wondering if they're going to put some of these smaller ones on that stage and use both. Oh, that's smart. That's a pretty good idea. I don't think they know yet based on my. Well, let me tell you something right now, Bryan Stone. I am circling for you spiritual cramp, spiritual cramp, spiritual cramp. I'm obsessed with this band. If there was one thing that I wanted to do this year, it was try to break that band on the radio. They have my my boss said the perfect thing about this band. I fell in love with them earlier in the year. And I was trying so hard to figure out a way to get them to work on the radio. And I brought it to a meeting one day and my boss said, you know why you like this band is because they sound like a dive bar. Oh, my God, was this guy in dive bars? It was the perfect description. All right. You are going to fall in love with spiritual cramp. Listen to a song called Louie. I am obsessed with those kids from. OK, no. All right. So I'm going to I'm going to check off turnstile. I think that you got to go see Mount Joy. I think they put out one of the best albums. I love Mount Joy. I think Lucy may be the song of the year for me. Love my leg. Love. Wet leg. Wet leg is a is a is a tight 60 minutes. You don't need more of them. They don't have much more. They they give you everything they have in 60 minutes. You got two albums, maybe they have two albums, but all the songs are like two minutes and 15 seconds. Yeah. You put me onto them way, way early. Yeah. I was like, you figured out the shoulder pads. I'm asking everybody what the shoulder pads are all about. What are you talking about? You see the tiny shoulder? Yeah. They're like rugby. Oh, right. Yeah. Why is she wearing shoulder pads and a cod piece? It's called artistry. I don't know if you know. I was hoping there was some other meaning. I think that she I think that the mantra is like trying to fight back. So I think that she's preparing for battle, I think is sort of them. I mean, Monstert. I mean, if you read it, it's man get out. So I think the whole purpose of the album is to is about a fighter. There you go. There you go. OK. I was not being snarky. I didn't take you to be snarky. I think that you need to see hot mulligan. Talk about a absolute ra ra raucous atmosphere. I love hot mulligan, a punk explosion. I love I love those dudes. Those dudes are a lot of fun. The dare, of course, if you want to meet a hot girl, she's going to be at the dare show. Somebody tell Taco all the hot girls are going to be at the dare. I saw Geese at Brooklyn. I'm having trouble with Geese. I think that they're really so we saw them a few years ago and I really got into them. I just I I don't know. I know that they've hired a PR person. Because out of nowhere, they become the industry darling. And everybody's talking. Yeah, it's been an explosion here. Real close. That just blitz in the market. Well, it's usually due to a new PR company. So I'm betting they hired a new person and they've done a really nice job. I think session them, I think listening to them in headphones is the ideal way to to experience them. The live show, I'm not going to lie to you. I love this band, but the live show is kind of weird. I'm not going to lie to you. It's kind of weird. Well, I don't. It's that Bob saying is he is two or three years old and they're quite young. Yeah, I mean, they're not even 25, 25 years old. So, yeah, I'm I'm I'm hearing the buzz. I'm feeling the buzz that I've watched a couple of these videos. I'm like, really? Well, this is what this is about. It's just like you hear some of these songs and watching kids mosh to them. The math just doesn't add up. I love the band. I just think for me personally, I like sessioning them. So you think if you're guessing of the big PR push, they're probably going to. They could get a big stage. Oh, a what? Early what? Early, what? Yeah, I think that's a that's a what stage act. I'm going to move to Saturday. I know this. I can't. You know what I'm going to say? You know why your Alabama Shakespeare higher on the. No, I don't care about how high they are. They they are so inspired. The live show is so unbelievably dialed in. They're going to have a new album. I'm so in love with where that show is. I saw it four times in a span two weeks. I think it's never sounded better. She's never sounded better. The band is so, so tight. You think I don't like them? I just don't understand why you like them so much. It's not that I don't like. I don't even understand how to answer that question. She's the best voice in all of music for me. She's got the best voice. She's fine. She's fine. OK, she's fine. Also, we have a history with this band in Bonnaroo. That band became what they are because of that show on Thursday night. Twenty thirteen, I want to say. I'll never forget. I'll never forget when they had actually they started Jattanooga. They did the first show ever. They blew up the first show ever as I remember. I tell Kevin, their manager, this all the time. Do you remember their very first show as Alabama Shakes? He said no. It's like who named them Alabama Shakes? Because first they were just the Shakes. And he told me the story of somebody in their in their group. They were driving to a show like we just we need something differentiated. We need something else. And they just whipped up Alabama and put Alabama Shakes. And then they pulled in to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and open up to the drive by truck. Yeah, that was a trucker show. The first ever show a year and a half later, the truckers were opening for Alabama Shakes. That's right. That's right. Them and and. What's the other show that blew up there? Our buddy St. Paul. Yeah. Yeah, those two like early viral. Yeah. You know, Internet like, oh, yeah, that much will show. Passion. So so the thing about the Shakes and her at Bondur, that show on Thursday exploded them and made them huge on a national level. And I'll never forget, there was a second line that she did off of the stage and through the entire festival. And I'll never forget as we were following the second line, she was walking next to me the entire time. And all I wanted to do was hug her. That's all I wanted to do. Everybody was coming and getting hugs and she could not have been happier. This the the the happiness, the glory that she was feeling walking through the field was, I mean, infectious. And so what did we do? The reason why I wanted to go to forecast so back to the trip to forecast. Why did I want to go there with Barry to see the Alabama Shakes and get the hug that I missed at Bonnaroo? And what did I do? I walked right up to her and said, you know, I really wanted that hug at Bondur. She said, come here, baby. And so this is how good she is and how much I love her. She's at her solo show in Nashville. And I'm standing there and look, we've only had a couple of interactions in 10 years. She's had no reason to remember. Remember me. She met her daddy. I did me. Yeah. Well, her daddy's pretty fun. So she walks right behind me and I could feel this huge presence behind me. And it's her. And I turn around. She goes, how you doing, Brad? Oh, I melted. Oh, my God, I melted. There's no reason for her to remember my name. So I'm going to you know, I'm going to I say the shakes first, second, third and a million. I think that you need to see Rufus to soul. I've seen it once. I don't need to see it again. But it's a massive show. And for a band like that to be able to pull off what they do, that is just so boring. I tend to find a lot of those acts to be kind of dull. It's just a lot of throbbing. You know, well, you're not selling it real hard here, Brad. They do such a great job. Boring, real dull. You should go see it. Don't miss it. No, but they're the exception. Like the one that I saw had a marching band come through. They had incredible pyrotechnics on the stage. They're playing instruments. I really thought the roof is to soul show of the bands in their space. They do it the best. I think you need to see these ones Saturday on the what? I'm usually there no matter what. You want to you want to get crazy and start losing your mind like you do in hot mulligan. Go to Amel and the Sniffers. Hot mulligan and Amel Sniffers are in that same vein of go there, lose your mind and do a little. Have you ever you never moshed? Have you? You never you're not moshed. No, have you ever have you ever have you ever done any sort of like crowd surfing? No, man, but I wouldn't lose my wallet because it's on a chain. It's on a chain. OK, congratulations. I was off camera. And then and then I'm going to I'm point you to talk and then I'm going to point you to RC Drive, another really, really cool New York band that I've fallen in love with. RC Drive, RC Drive, like Marcy, drop the RC Drive. I like those kids a lot. And that's about it for Saturday. Yeah. And you have to flip turn. I mean, I know, you know, they are. Do you do do you like what they do? I listened to that the other day. I like it even better. They've gotten so much better. I'm a big fan. OK. I mean, we we helped like break them. You know, we did we did a lot for them. They were at Moon River sat with us. Oh, OK. That's the one member tacos to tell your grandmother, call me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. One of my favorite. Yeah. Yeah. One of my favorite moments ever. Boy, a man does have a way with ladies. He said nothing for 30 minutes. Why shocker? They had a what's the song? They did like an Earth, Wind and Fire song. Oh, tears or fears. Everybody wants to everybody wants to rule the world. And one of them says my grandmother likes it a lot. And taco 30 minutes, that same thing. And we're like, oh, thanks for the sitting with us and to you guys later. And he said, by the way, have your grandmother call me. Good line. So great. There it is. That's why you're God, guys, please, please, please make for this year's Bonnaroo. Do a taco shirt. Do his cartoon face on one side and on the back print. Have your grandma call me. That's actually pretty good. Do a taco. That's a good idea. Sunday, I love Noah Khan. I love modest mouse. I I love Tramone Shorty, but I'm not going to lie to you. I am packing up and leave Sunday morning early. I look I think I think Japanese breakfast is great. This is the third time I think I've seen them on a Bonnaroo lineup. I there is all respect, all respect in the world. There is nothing on Sunday that keeps me around this. Really? Not a single thing. No. Well, I couldn't agree more. This Sunday has this. This might be the weakest Sunday I think I've ever seen Bonnaroo have. OK. Yeah. About I want to go back to Tash Sultana. Love her. Yeah, I've heard a lot of people. There's all kinds of buzz for that. And I'm I'm they're great here for people. I respect their thoughts on it. So yeah, there's there's nothing on Sunday that's keeping me around. So your favorite you say start strong, slowly fizzles as it goes. Yeah, I mean, I might I might even leave early on Saturday night. After that shake show, I think I might be leaving shakes and gone. Yeah. The neighborhood is one of these weird, interesting industry bands that, you know, they have one song, Sweater Weather, and that's the one that everybody knows. But if you look, this band has this band has billions of streams on every one of their songs, billions of streams. What's the demographic that's listening to this? Because because I think that he's tied into the Billie Eilish group. And I think there is so 25 to 35 year olds are listening to this stuff. Yeah. But like, I I don't know a single person that's ever gone. I don't know whether it's a great song. It is a great song. It is a great song. But they're dealing in a crowd that I just don't know. I don't know. I don't know a single person that's ever been to a neighborhood show. I've never heard someone say, hey, you want to go to the neighborhood show with me? I've never. But they have a massive audience. I just don't know who they are, but they have a huge, huge audience. I mean, guys, billions. Go look at Spotify. The second, the second highest song of theirs has like eight billion streams. It's not I didn't I didn't know that. I don't understand it either. But what about when you heard Weird Al? Mary's eyes are throbbing. How you feeling? Taco. How you feeling? Talk. I'm good. About Weird Al, you're not throwing. I saw a little bit of it at Shaky Knees. That was Taco's big don't see. Don't miss Shaky Knees. Did you have any childhood fond memories of of of of? No. Weird out. No, I always thought he was clever. We used to listen to it on family trips for years and years. Yeah, we'd pick them up CDs at the get the Rand McNally Atlas and a Weird Al CD and head to Chicago. So I have nostalgia vibes with it, but it's not making me excited. I'm not excited about barter. I'm still trying to make an argument for Sunday. Tedeschi trucks I've seen. Yeah, that's why your backyard, if you pay. Yeah, that's kind of he's one of the great guitar. You know, I'm an almond brother. Yeah, I'm an almond brothers in the whole tree guy. But, you know, they play all the time. Yeah. They literally they have you on speed dial. That's how accessible they are. Well, what was it? I'm not happy unless they get almond brothers cover bands all day, every day, all day, every day. Yeah, there's I'm with you there. There's just nothing on Sunday, guys, that I have any any. See, I will say, though, I think Kesha is phenomenal. And I do think that Super Jam might be one of the better ones that you've seen. Yeah. Boy, when you say it that way, stick around for versus is there something I can go see on Sunday? I think the line there's plenty for me to see on Sunday. I mean, role model. I don't I don't get it. We played the hell out of that. I don't know what it is. We played the hell out of it in our format. Sally, don't let the wine run out. And it's a good song. But he's he's another one of those sort of like L.A. creatures where he's got an audience. I just don't I don't hang out, hang out with any of them. I don't I don't know. But look, I love I love Modest Mouse. I've got one of my favorite stories in the world is with him. I love him as a human being. He's so fun. And but I mean, I've seen Modest Mouse, I don't know, 200 times in my life. I can see them any other time of the year. Where are you at with the the state of of EDM and how binary you utilize it? I'm the wrong guy to ask. Well, we're the wrong people to talk about it. But I mean, they they lean into it a lot. And I just wonder if you think that's the right thing to do. They should. Yeah, I mean, I think I agree with that, too. Doesn't mean I like it, but. But that's the audience. Those are the people buying tickets. They're the ones showing up. I mean, you're not. You wouldn't even be your favorite band of all time. You wouldn't come off a couple hundred dollars. They can't count on you for shit. This is not my favorite band of all time. Now you're changing your top three or four, maybe. OK, it wasn't about a couple hundred dollars, Brad. It's about you not getting me tickets, first of all. It just knew as a bound to be Brad's fault. Everything's Brad's fault. What about you guys? What are you what are you excited about? Not much. I mean, you should be. So I have not even begun my discovery. That's starting in January and into February when I start making playlists. I'm going to find Youngblood. We talked about it yesterday. I shocked you that I that I'm starting to really turn around on or turn into a slowly a fan of Youngblood. I think I will be by the time we get there. Let me tell you something about that kid. Twenty five years of doing this for a living. By the way, Barry. Yeah. How long were you at the paper? Thirty seven years. Thirty seven years. I just and I didn't realize this. I turned the calendar over to year 26 in December in radio. Wow. That's nuts, right? To think that you do something for so long. I meant to tell you that anyway. But in twenty five years of doing this, I have never met a more authentic, genuine, sweet kid that like Youngblood, that Dominic, he is such an absolute A plus character human being that it may. I told you this last night. I want to run through a wall for that kid. Yeah, I may not love the music. It may not be for me, but I don't care. I love him so much. You mean the two of us have met some like Noah Conn, I think is just a super person. Yes, yes. That little time that we've had and so many others that you and I have interviewed or talked to or. Well, I mean, similar. Why the young blood is going to potentially be the what comes out of this festival that I walk away being, you know, my big find and surprise and lifelong fan might might. I don't know that yet, but I'm feeling like that might be true. I don't know. And he likes always. I don't know if you can get a more of the moment group than turnstile young blood and geese. I mean, those are the three, you know, darlings of the industry right now. So all of that in one day is is pretty strong. I think Friday is strong just in general, but those three in particular. You know, when I first saw on up, I thought Friday. But now it's that's that seems to be the Friday. Friday is really good. Friday is ready for everybody. Yeah, I'm trying to go the Saturday. I like a lot, too. You know, but if I had to tell you my one, two and three that you wouldn't expect spiritual cramp, RC Drive and Mount Joy, those are probably my three for me. Wet legs got to be in there. Yeah, it looks a great show. I got a fantastic show. I never have. And I'm fascinated by them. Yeah. What about just the idea with Burle Jan, Bonnaroo pulling back from Thursday? How he moved in Pearl Jam? I don't know. He just dropped Pearl Jam and just random conversations because he's thinking about Eddie Vedder's wiener all the time. Every second of your day is thinking about Pearl Jam. What do you think? What do you think he's doing right now? What do you think? What do you think? You're right now on Thursday. What do you think he's doing right now? I saw Super Jam. I somehow got a P involved in saying Thursday. Jesus, Brad. OK. I'm sorry. I think it's. What's the question? Pearl's economical. I think I know why they, Brad, I know why they did it. I was a big fan of Thursday. Alabama Shakes, we just discussed. It's sad. Courtney Barnett on that Thursday in 2015. That's right. A lot of really amazing things have happened on Thursday. And now it's gone. I still am struggling with that. Our favorite day of this festival was the Thursday Discovery Day. It was always our favorite. That's why I asked. Yeah. Thursday was our favorite day because you got to show up. There was low pressure. The grass is green. Everything was was was plush. And then you knew that they were going to curate somebody great that was going to be the next big whatever on the Thursday night. This. Yeah. I thought you agreed with that sentiment. That's why I'm asking. I think it's sad, but it's economical, man. I mean, you guys know the economic problems that this festival is running up against. In all festivals, they haven't had a festival. They have you remember to make any money. I remember, Brad, because I know you were with with us when Ashley Capps said it. It was off air, but he was like, they keep wanting to move this thing into Wednesday and then Tuesday. And he said, I think that's the worst idea. Yeah. Yeah. Did he not want it even Thursday? Did he just wanted the three days? He just wanted the three days. And I know I'm speaking, you know, he said basically, don't don't repeat this kind of thing. You know, he's got to speed up right now. You know, if you saw it coming is my point. He saw that bleed. I mean, it got too big. I think that what we've learned here is that neither one of you assholes can keep a secret. Both of you have outed your sources. I'll give you that. I didn't out your name. I said, I'm hearing you pull this shit on people all the time. Don't give me. Don't give me that. But no, I think he's I give all my information to RooHamm now, guys. I've turned the corner. I've given all my. Oh, speaking of, did you did you hear Jake talk about Teddy Swims? Did you listen to their last episode? Jake, Jake from RooHamm. Oh, that's him, too. Him, too. Yeah. Sorry, I don't remember his name. Parker Reed, Jake. Yeah, I thought it was free. There's three of them. Now they got Michael. Lovely kid. But he went off on the Teddy Swims being on there. He doesn't like Teddy Swims. Doesn't like it at all. I'm not going to lie to you. I don't know what it is. Well, look, I have a I have a I have a problem with Teddy Swims, and I'm not allowed to say this out loud, but I really at first, I really liked it. And then it just became so smarmy and icky. The longer it went like I just can't take it seriously anymore. But like two years ago, I was like, God, this guy's great. And now I feel so bad even saying that out loud. Back to I think the more I think about it, Brian, I think they're using this year as an opportunity to squeeze it down. And that Thursday, smaller being smaller. The Thursday night thing is already bigger than what they made it. Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, I mean, what stage has been open for two years now on Thursday? Or we go, you know, no, no, I'm saying like two months ago when they said, oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just this, you know, one little event type of it's going to already starting to to branch a little further than they said. Their opportunity to get a handle back on how many days staffing and all that. I wouldn't even be surprised if next year is an off year. If you really want to take that theory and that conversation to its full conclusion. I think that you might have a year next year back to we got to replenish the grounds. I think there's a I think there's a the possibility is pretty, pretty real that, you know, somebody's surprised you went there. Well, I just think some of these some of these festivals need to, you know, the finances are really, really difficult. And, you know, some of them take some years off and come back. You know, Okeechobee took a couple of years off. Aren't they back? I talked to I ran into the guy. It's local, the the Christian Music Festival here in town, which draws 12, 13000 people. And again, I'm probably speaking out of turn, but they're having they're having difficulty. Talk to the guy who runs it. They're a little bit of trouble booking bands. I mean, it's just the industry's in a flux. Nothing. You know, they're very successful. Yeah, it's just things are things are in a flux. And I don't know how else to put it. Yeah. But you guys are excited. You're ready. You have a plan yet. Have you put together your your strategy for June? Now that it's December 20th? No, no, no, no, I haven't, Brad. I have not. You're already stressing, aren't you? You know, it's not even 26 yet. You are the most high strung person I've ever known in my life. You know that? And I can't believe you're not already stressing about it. Well, I took a Klonobin before I got here. So I'm doing all right. All right. Let's wrap this up. Brad, Merry Christmas. Glad to see you. Glad to see you. Love to the family. Yeah. Tell Hillary hello. I haven't seen you. Him. Not so much. You see him more than you do me. I don't. Not by choice. Yeah. He just he demands my time and my energy. Just when I need something. Yeah. Just when I need something. All right. That's it. That's it. That's it. Well, you got something else. I got nothing. I didn't have anything to begin with. Except you took over the whole show. I've been making up. I've been making shit up. Which is why I would. Which is why I agreed to that. I knew it. Yeah. Right over there. Yeah, that's right. Yesterday, Brad said, let's get together tomorrow. And I said, Brian and I have to record. He said, let's do it at the at Lomane. I didn't really mean that part. I mean, you guys could just do it. You guys just. And I said, Brian, he said, he said, that asshole. And I said, it's his idea. It wasn't really my idea. I just wanted to eat food. And you guys brought the mics. By the way, have you have you done any sort of like digging into Papa Rod? No, because that's my if you look at anything on this lineup that I'm most excited about. But that's what I want the grandkids to call me from now on. The grandkids. Papa, you don't know that. I don't think that that sentence should be said again. Try not try not. What about Lambert, Lambert, Guinea or whatever the hell that called girl. You heard of that? Any girl? I don't know. OK, no, no. But did you hear Barry wants children to call him Rod? Papa Rod? Like, there's a problem here. No more, Barry. OK, OK. All right. That's it, guys. I'm done.