One Big Holiday

Anyone who knows me knows I'm something of a music geek, and those who know me well probably wish I would shut up about My Morning Jacket. As of last week, I think I'd seen them live six times. I also saw Jim James on his solo tour last spring. I get the band's email newsletter, and last summer they announced that they were hosting an event at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico (just south of Cancun). One Big Holiday, as they cleverly called it (that's the name of one of their bigger songs), was to be an all-inclusive event for four nights, with the band playing three of those nights. I kind of freaked out about it, then tried to convince a few friends to go (especially Courtney, with whom I'd seen them three times before, but she was about to have a baby...) and finally found a willing companion. Eric, my classmate in computational linguistics, and I booked it in August, and soon after, it was announced that the Flaming Lips would play a show on the one night MMJ was off. Bonus!

It's been an exceptionally harsh winter in much of North America, with no exception for Bloomington, so when it came time for the event (January 26-30), we were well ready to go.

Travel there was very smooth, and about eight hours after we left my apartment shivering, we were outside the Cancun airport, sweating in the heat and looking for our shuttle. There were five other guests on the shuttle, and the hour ride from the airport quickly turned into a geekfest of tales of concerts past. A couple of the guys had been at the 4-hour long performance at Bonnaroo 2008; one had seen all five of the Terminal 5 shows in 2010; another was at the Okonokos recording; the 2009 NYE show at MSG, etc. One guy was from Louisville, so we'd seen a few of the same shows and chatted about that.

When we arrived at the resort on Sunday, we went to check in and were handed drinks as soon as we walked in the door. We checked in, got our bracelets, bought a t-shirt, and went to get some lunch. The resort is huge. It must be 50 acres or more, including a golf course. It's kind of split into two sides-- Hacienda, which has the larger pool and beach and caters more to families, and Heaven, which is more geared for adults. There are several restaurants and even more bars, and additional bars and buffets set up most days around the pools and beaches. Every day there, we had lunch at one of the two main buffets, but we had dinner somewhere else each day. And room service later some nights. It was hard to believe I could walk into any restaurant, order, eat and just get up and leave, but that's how it worked.

The beach view from lunch.

The main pool at sunset.

We wandered around for a short while, then headed back to rest a bit before the night's show-- we'd left at 4 a.m, and I don't think either of us slept much before that. We had some dinner at a Mexican place called Frida's, which was pretty awesome, and made it to the stage in time to stand about four bodies back from the front. The stage was set up facing a big concrete courtyard, with the ocean behind. Some people set up chairs along the edges, but the crowd was all general admission, standing only. Those in the buildings around the courtyard could watch from their balconies. But I always like to get front and center as much as possible, especially for this band. There was no opener on Sunday. We chatted with our neighbors-- met two really cool women from Toronto-- and lamented that the iconic taxidermied bear didn't make it (probably not easy to get through customs), and waited for the show. It was awesome. The highlight for me was probably that they played their cover of "Tyrone" by Eryka Badu, which I've always loved but never heard live. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead made a surprise appearance and MMJ jammed a couple of GD songs with him. I didn't take many pics that night, but this should give you an idea.

Jim James wearing his jacket at the first show.

After the show, we hit the buffet and then turned in.

On Monday, we slept in, then went out for lunch. After lunch, we explored the smaller Heaven side, watched a lip syncing contest at the pool, judged by Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips (who was prone to wandering around the pool decks in a speedo with a model on each side), and swam in the ocean a while. The ocean must be a bit dangerous, because the beaches are really like little harbors protected by rock barriers. The weather and the water were perfect. The event agency had several excursions organized, and we booked a day trip to Tulum for Tuesday.

ZEN, the resort's Asian/hibachi restaurant.

Panorama of the main pool.

The stage, behind the large palms on the left.

It's a Hard Rock Hotel, so the lobbies and bars were full of instruments and clothes from performers. This is JT's track suit.

The ceiling of one of the lobbies featured this mosaic of blue and white bottles.

We got ready, had some dinner (pizza, I think) then made our way back to the stage in time to see the Preservation Hall Jazz Band open. Bob Weir jammed with them, too. We were again about four people back, but a little left of center. There was kind of a long wait between sets, and I was exhausted, but when MMJ came out, they really turned the energy level up to 11. Highlights that night: they played "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream (Pt. 2)", which is a fun dancey song, and "Phone Went West", which is my favorite MMJ song. When it began, the guy next to me and I burst out singing the opening line, then turned and shared a knowing look. At the end of the verse, he said "What a great song," and I said, "I think it's their best." About eight minutes in, he leaned over and said, "You're right." :-) We went to bed after the show to rest up for the excursion.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

MMJ guitarist Carl Broemel, with bassist Tom Blankenship.

MMJ bassist Tom Blankenship with drummer Patrick Hallahan. Patrick's parents sat across the aisle from me on the flight to Mexico.

MMJ's Jim James on his Flying V, with Bo Koster on keyboards.

Yep, this is what an MMJ show feels like. I love it when Jim climbs up on the drum platform.

Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead jamming with Jim James.

Bob Weir, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and MMJ.

Tuesday morning, we got up went to board the bus. While we waited, we looked out the window at the line of people still boarding, and Eric said, "That looks like McLovin." "Nah," I said. Then he got on the bus with a young woman and two young men with radios, and we heard his voice as he walked past and knew it was really him. It's always weird to see someone famous in person, but he was kind of the last person we expected. Anyway, we tried to be cool and let him enjoy himself in peace, and as we crossed paths a few times over the next days, it seemed other people did, too.

The trip to Tulum was about 30 minutes. It's a walled city built on cliffs over the ocean. There are still several stone buildings standing. It was really neat and Eric and I were both glad we went, but we missed breakfast and were starving by the time we'd toured the site. We dipped our feet in the ocean below, which was an awesome little beach in a natural cove, then walked back to the entrance to get some food. We got back to the resort around 5:00.

Tulum.

Eric photographing iguanas at Tulum. Someone remarked, "Iguanas are like the squirrels of this place." Pretty much.

Ruins with columns, and another iguana.

The beach at Tulum was lovely.

I think this was an Italian place.

We cleaned up, got some dinner at an Italian place, and made our way to the show. We missed the opener (Mariachi El Bronx), and watched Flaming Lips from further back, just beside the sound tent. FL was pretty good, but I'm less familiar with their music. They staging was awesome; Wayne had a platform about five feet off the ground from which he sang most of the time. In front of him was a mound of tangled LED string lights, the kind in a clear rubber hose. These splayed out across the stage and climbed up to the rigging overhead. They would pulse and run in different colors and patterns with the music. The crowd was a little thinner and less enthusiastic, but that was to be expected. At one point, we made our way into a large gap closer up, and again spotted our celebrity. After that show, we made our way to the dance party at the Heaven pool, where Patrick and Tom, the MMJ drummer and bassist, were DJ-ing. We joined our Canadian friends there, dancing and chatting. At some point, the celeb and his friends appeared beside us and more or less danced in our little circle for an hour or so. I went into the adjacent lobby to use the restroom, and when I came back out, Tom was sitting alone on the concrete rail beside the stairs. I walked a couple steps past him, then did a double take and stepped back. I didn't want to bother him, but I was star struck and couldn't resist, so I tried to make it quick. Imagine Robert Downey Jr./Tony Stark as a rock star, and you've got Tom Blankenship. I blurted out "Awesome... Tom! You're awesome!" Then gave him a fist bump. He said "thanks" and cracked a big smile, although he was probably just laughing at me. :-)

The Flaming Lips are up there somewhere. I really liked the motif around the stage, which was the design on the tshirts and poster.

Celebrities need vacations, too. That's one in the striped shorts.

The Flaming Lips, with Wayne Coyne standing atop his tentacled LED monster.

The next day, Wednesday, we slept in a while. It rained off and on throughout the afternoon. I sent a couple postcards, we scoped the wares at a charity auction. I was getting heartburn, so I laid off the drinks and spicy foods and chewed some antacid tablets. That night we ate at a Spanish style place.

Led Zeppelin statue outside one of the lobbies.

That night, we got to the venue during the opener (PHJB again), and took up the same spot a few rows back, just in front of Carl, the guitarist. The rain had let up, but it was quite humid and looked cloudy. It started raining a few minutes after MMJ went on, but fortunately the rain only lasted about 15 minutes. It's a bit weird to blog about all this live music. What can I say, really? I don't think there's a better live band in the world right now, and you kind of just have to experience it to believe it. I can't really point to a single performance from this trip or before and say it's the best I've ever seen, because each time, it's different. They always bring something different to the stage in terms of energy, or arrangement or interpretation. Highlights of the final show: PHJB came out and played horns on a couple of songs; they covered "Harvest Moon" by Neil Young, which was really cool; Wayne Coyne joined the band onstage for a cover of "Careless Whisper", which, ironic as it may seem, turned out to be a pretty intense jam, with Carl absolutely wailing on the sax, and the chorus spiraling into Wayne and the crowd chanting "Ba-na-nas" as he, the band, and some stagehands tossed bananas into the crowd, one of which Eric caught, and we devoured immediately; and finally, a really long jam of "Dondante", one of my faves, with a lot of improvisation at the end. And, of course, they closed with a killer rendition of "One Big Holiday", and Jim thanked the crowd and said, "See you all next year"! So maybe this is going to be an annual thing for them. After the show, we went to the dance party again, which was DJ-ed by Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation. Eventually, I lost track of Eric and made my way back to the room, and he appeared shortly after.

Carl, rocking again.

Carl, still rocking in the rain.

Carl and Jim, with Tom and Patrick in the back.

A caped Jim James working the crowd, with Bo on keys behind.

Wayne Coyne (center) joined the band for "Careless Whisper".

Carl wailing on the "Careless Whisper" sax riff. Patrick's hair is awesome, btw.

Carl throwing a bit of the Townshend windmill at his Les Paul.

Tom really getting into it with Jim.

By Thursday morning, my stomach felt like a wreck. I took some over the counter stuff and managed to suppress it, but I had made a couple of mistakes, namely brushing my teeth with the tap water. I read about it after we got back, and apparently that's risky, as is eating green salads or raw vegetables, which may or may not be washed in tap water, and apparently antacids can make one more vulnerable to "traveler's diarrhea", too (sorry for the TMI). At any rate, it was manageable and only lasted about two days, but I didn't have much appetite, which is a real shame in the land of all-inclusive.

Nonetheless, we had a good time on Thursday. The event was officially over, and a lot of people left that day. We had added one more day to the trip. We spent the day at the beach and pool on the Hacienda side. There was a water slide that was pretty fun, and we really enjoyed playing playing some pool basketball organized by the staff; it was "Mexico vs. The Whole World", and the whole world won.

A friend designed this shirt for a trip we took to Cancun in 2010, but the shirts weren't ready in time. Mine finally made it to Mexico!

Obligatory selfy at the Hard Rock beach.

Our rock star digs.

I couldn't help but think of the jacuzzi scene in Dumb and Dumber.

So that's what an "in-room personal liquor dispenser" looks like...

Swanky little bathroom.

I liked the translucent stone (quartz?) partition.

The Hacienda lobby at night.

Huge stained glass piece covered most of the ceiling in the Hacienda lobby.

Mexican pirates entertaining at the pool.

We had some teppanyaki at the Asian restaurant that night, where the chef put on quite a show at the hibachi in front of us. After the show, we went to watch a band of costumed pirates play drums while some fire dancers performed on the deck of the pool, but it was a little too rainy to fully enjoy it. That was pretty much the end, as we had to leave at 7:30 a.m. the next morning. The trip back was a little longer, with a five hour layover in Atlanta, but it went smoothly nonetheless. Apparently the Midwest was just coming out of a deep freeze by the time we got back to Indiana that night, so at least the transition wasn't too painful.

Now it's back to the real world, but I feel refreshed. I'll definitely consider going again next year, if I can afford to.