I arrived at Rothbury, with expectations of a total Bonnaroo clone, and while they feature many of the same artists and bring much of the same crowd, they are different in ways. One noticable difference is the amazing Enchanted Forest at Rothbury. At night it's dark but lit up with lots of glowing objects, light strings, black lights, strobes and more. It's amazing and impressive. Rothbury may not be as large as Bonaroo, especially since it just started last year, but they certainly have a good thing and a great vibe going.

Thursday was a lighter packed night of music, but had awesome bands for those of us that came a litte early. Keller Williams set the fest off to a nice start with a little lighter variety of jam music to a nice big crowd. Next I checked out Lotus. This younger jam band has a tight sound, mixing electronics and guitars with a nice steady beat. I'd never seen them before, and so far they've been one of the best discoveries for me.

Lotus

I also swung over and caught some of Future Rock, a group from Chicago that puts on a live electronic / band set featuring lots of break beats. Can't beat live house and techno, especially in a jam format.

Future Rock

Indie rock band Cold War Kids broke away from the more jam oriented schedule with a little more lyric and songs that have start and stop points ;). They're a great band and put on a nice set.

Cold War Kids

Disco Biscuits were definitely the highlight of the night. Also well known for their infusion of jam and electronics, they have more of a progressive sound. By the end of the weekend I'm sure they'll still be some people's highlight from the weekend.

I'm realizing now that most of my blogs this weekend will just talk about how awesome the bands are here, but what can I say? Rothbury 2009 has one of the most solid lineups I've seen in my life.

Disco Biscuits