Track 39: "Back in the High Life Again" by Steve Winwood

We'll be back in the high life again
All the doors that closed one time will open up again
We'll be back in the high life again
All the eyes that watched us once will smile and take us in

Admittedly, this song is draped in a little bit of 80's cheese (especially the overcoat-laden video). But Steve Winwood is pretty awesome. The guy was only 14 when he wrote and sang "Gimme Some Lovin" with The Spencer Davis Group and went on to do some awesome work with Traffic and Blind Faith.

But this song in particular brings about a really fond musical memory of mine. Anyone that's been to Bonnaroo knows what an awesome cluster-fuck of live music it can be. 80,000 people and nearly a hundred bands on multiple stages makes for a pretty unique experience. The festival is a beast, and the only thing harder than trying to sleep in the late-June Tennessee heat for three days is the nagging feeling that whatever band you may be checking out at the time, there are a handful of great shows you are missing.

The 2004 Bonnaroo was a pretty cool experience for me. I went on a free ticket and a press pass (courtesy of the Bonnaroo Beacon, a daily paper put out at the festival that I contributed a few stories to). It sounds a lot cooler than it actually was, but at the time was sort of the pinnacle of my freelance writing days. But aside from a free ticket, attending a few press conferences, and trying to find a way to write and email a story sans-laptop at the festival, the press pass turned out to be not as cool as I had originally dreamed.

It also rained at Bonnaroo that year, like a bastard. I went to the fest with a few good pals (including my buddy and now neighbor Sean Higgins who is a HUGE Winwood fan)and it stormed just before Winwood's set. Stormed like a bastard. Before the storm broke I remember looking at the guy and was amazed at the clear division--bright and sunny on one side ominous and scary as hell on the other.

Probably the coolest part of Winwood's set was seeing him play the Traffic song (and frequent Widespread Panic cover) "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys." And right when Winwood went into the chorus for the first time a well-timed bolt of lightning struck perfectly in the distance behind the stage.

At one point during the show he appeared alone, with just a mandolin, and after a few chords I knew it was "Back in the High Life Again." And there, newly drenched from a late-June downpour, on a muddy field with about 50,000 people, and a delicious, cold beer, all was right with the world.



I got to see Winwood again a couple of summers ago open for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And thought it was a great homage to the guy when Petty brought him out during the Heartbreakers' set and they covered "Gimme Some Lovin" and the awesome Blind Faith song "Can't Find My Way Home." Music is so good.