So it’s been a week since I begrudgingly left Bonnaroo after yet another one of the greatest weekends of my life. It was my fifth year back on The Farm (making me have spent four days a year x five years = twenty days at Bonnaroo!), and the festival just keeps on getting better and better, always impressing with a near-perfect star-studded lineup. Yes, this year didn’t have a draw of Radiohead or Paul McCartney‘s caliber – probably why the festival ultimately did not end up selling out – but from top-to-bottom it was absolutely stacked with legendary acts, some of the current hottest acts in music right now, some left-field you’ll-never-see-anywhere-else acts, and some of the most sought-after up-and-comers. And in addition, one of the broadest palettes of genres, which is what makes Bonnaroo so very special; with a little something for everyone, the festival boasts some of the best acts in rock, hip-hop, pop, R&B, punk, bluegrass, world music, and jam bands.
Bonnaroo is one of the lengthiest festivals: a four-day music festival, two days of which have music happenings until the wee hours of the morning, enabling each attendee to see upwards of thirty acts throughout the course of the weekend. Because of this, it’s nearly impossible to touch upon every incredible set witnessed throughout the four-day weekend, so without further adieu, here are some of the magical weekend’s highlights.
Also a quick shout-out to the incredibly talented Chuck Madden for contributing some incredible photos and who continues to reaffirm the universal power of music to me.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Most Mind-Blowing Transformation – Jack White
When it was announced that Jack White would headline this year’s Bonnaroo, the Bonnaroo community seemed to have mixed reactions: on the one hand, he’s played the festival three different times as a part of three different bands and is considered somewhat of a legend in Tennessee, but on the other hand, is his solo show really at the headlining caliber when The White Stripes didn’t even headline back in 2007?
Once the first note of “Icky Thump” was played, we all knew that the answer was a big resounding yes, as Jack White tore through a two-and-a-half hour career-spanning set that was definitely one of Bonnaroo’s best ever headlining sets. I had seen White perform solo three times previously (one being the weekend before at Governors Ball), but this was an entirely new Jack White full of witty banter, funny stories, words of wisdom, and showmanship beyond anything I had ever seen from him before.
The twenty-five song set, which included a ten-song encore(!!) was absolute fire and ended up going a full hour over schedule to everyone’s excitement. He pulled from his entire discography: songs off Lazaretto that were only released a few days prior, tracks off his solo debut, and of course, songs from The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and two stellar covers (Led Zeppelin’s “The Lemon Song” and The Chantay’s “Pipeline”). Highlights included a particularly moving version of The White Stripes’ “We’re Going To Be Friends” that had many of us in tears, a particularly rock & roll rendition of opener “Icky Thump” that really showcased White’s guitar chops more than ever, the one-two punch of The Raconteurs’ “Stead As She Goes” into “Top Yourself”, and of course, an incredible “Seven Nation Army” that had the audience begging for more.
Not only did Jack White prove to all 80,000+ Bonnaroo attendees that he is, in fact, a festival headliner, but he managed to transform before our very eyes into a rock & roll legend, who will surely be up there with the rock & roll greats one day with one of the most solid discographies and greatest performances that I’d ever seen. Not only did he play his songs well, but he elongated them and breathed new life into them, often jamming and improvising with the rest of his band, giving them a whole new dimension. And speaking of his backing band, they were one of the tightest bands out there with the greatest variety of instruments that included the occasional fiddle, theremin, and lap steel guitar.
“Don’t thank me for this, I’m just doing my job”, White told the audience after a massive round of applause. At the end of the day, the White Stripes frontman and label-owner remains humble after putting on a game-changing, once-in-a-lifetime show that cements him at the top of current rock music.
Photography by Chuck Madden
Photography by Chuck Madden
Best Late Night Madness – Flaming Lips
There’s no band more suited for a Bonnaroo set past midnight than The Flaming Lips, which was only reaffirmed by their post-Jack White Bonnaroo set that Saturday night, equipped with the most over-the-top, maximalist production I may have ever seen. There were dancers dressed as mushrooms, dancers dressed as giant aliens, a levitating platform for frontman Wayne Coyne, bright colored tripped-out LCD screens, glittering streams, over-the-top costumes that included a silver-feathered Coyne, and of course, tons of confetti. Nothing says 1am in the middle of rural Tennessee than a crazy set by everyone’s favorite Flaming Lips.
The over-the-top production, though, should not draw from the band’s musical talent and incredible showmanship: centered around Mr. Coyne, the band performed a career-spanning set that drew, almost equally, from all of their greatest albums, giving us an equal dose of The Terror experimentalism, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots pop songs, Embryonic psychedelia, impeccable songwriting of The Soft Bulletin, and more, which even included a spectacular encore one-two punch of “Do You Realize??” into a magical cover of The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”. I don’t think there’s any band more Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles right now than the ‘Lips.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Photography by Anna Carey
Best Villain You Love To Hate - Kanye West
One of the reasons why everyone loves Bonnaroo is the “positive vibes” throughout the festivities: the festival, whose mantra is “Radiate Positivity” and where you’ll get high-fives from at least ten random people a day, is supposed to be a happy place full of happy people and happy music. But even so, ever since 2008 Bonnaroo has had its one villain: Kanye West. For those of you who are unaware, Kanye was scheduled to play right before Pearl Jam back in 2008, but right before the festival began, he demanded to play in the dark, for his Glow In The Dark Tour setup would be best then. After Bonnaroo moved around nearly every single act to fit Kanye’s request, he finally was given an after dark set following Pearl Jam, even though that meant shortening some other sets. While West was supposed to take the stage at around 1am, he was nowhere to be seen until the sun had already begun rising at around 4 or 5am. This is why Bonnaroo has been covered in “Fuck Kanye” graffiti ever since.
When AC Entertainment and Superfly announced this year’s lineup, you’d bet that nearly every Bonnaroovian was surprised at the inclusion of Kanye West on the festival’s lineup: after what happened six years ago, would Bonnaroo ever forgive the festival’s only villain, when scrawls of “Fuck Kanye” continued to be displayed throughout the grounds?
Friday night saw the guy who Bonnaroo loves to hate finally return with mixed reviews. Kanye classics like “Stronger”, “Heartless”, “Jesus Walks”, “Touch The Sky”, “All Of The Lights”, and “Good Life” got the crowd riled up and drenched in nostalgia, while newer Yeezus cuts had everyone put on their best aggro-Kanye face, feeling like kings, rapping along to every single word over the aggressive production of “Black Skinhead”, “New Slaves”, “Bound 2″, and the powerful encore of “Blood On The Leaves”.
But that isn’t to say that there weren’t a few bumps in the road: the rap maestro stopped and restarted around three or four of his tracks, because he “didn’t like how they started”, causing people to roll their eyes and want him to just get on with the show. Instead of classics like “Gold Digger”, “Monster”, and basically anything off Late Registration, West performed snippets of too many G.O.O.D. Music songs that weren’t his own and didn’t even bring out any guests (Pusha T had performed some of these the previous night but was no where to be seen on Friday). And what was that “Run This Town” cover about? There was also the matter of stage production: while the rest of the Yeezus tour saw some of the most elaborate stage production the world has ever seen, his scaled-down festival Yeezus-supporting tour left too much to the imagination. Yes, the stadium Yeezus production would have been impossible to set up at Bonnaroo only an hour before, but the only glimpse of Kanye that the audience who wasn’t directly in front of him could see was a distorted silhouette on an LCD screen behind him. Rapping along to songs like “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” was a blast, but it would have been nice to at least see who we were listening to.
And finally, of course, were Kanye’s all-too famous rants. Beginning each rant asking “Where’s the press at?!” (which henceforth became a new Bonnaroo slogan) and slamming the press, Kanye managed to do the opposite of radiating positivity, taking stabs at the “Fuck Kanye” port-a-potty graffiti (“we should all just go in there and piss all over it!”) and countless “Kanye is a gay fish” signs. He even spent nearly a half hour in the middle of “Runaway” to give us an autotuned(!!) account of how amazing he is, comparing himself to the likes of William Shakespeare and Henry Ford amongst others, after which referring to himself as the “#1 rockstar in the entire world” and bragging about how Bonnaroo’s 90,000 attendees were here just to see him. All of which was sung with Kanye’s autotuned mic still on.
It’s not to say that it was a bad show – when not rolling their eyes, the majority of the audience seemed to have a blast, the front half rapping along to every single word of every single song off Kanye’s discography, and everyone seemed to especially have a blast giving “toasts to the douchebags” and singing along to “Runaway”. The stage production, although not always the most visible, was spot-on as a scaled-down version of the Yeezus tour, full of waterfalls and visuals that perfectly complemented Yeezus‘ aggressive production.
The note I will leave you with is the following: while Kanye West put on a great, career-spanning show, it jarred with the positivity that Bonnaroo is known for, causing for it to be one the most notorious and talked-about set of the weekend, and Kanye continues to maintain his position as Bonnaroo’s biggest villain whom everyone loves to hate.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Best Sing-A-Longs – Elton John
After Paul McCartney’s career-spanning set last year at The Farm, I thought I had witnessed some of the greatest sing-a-longs of all time, no-contestf. And while nothing will ever compare to 90,000+ people singing along to “Hey Jude” and “Yesterday”, Elton John‘s Sunday night US festival debut came as close as I could have ever imagined.
While some may not be familiar with his entire discography, there’s no denying Elton John’s genius songwriting and the general genius of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, where he drew eight of the set’s twenty-one songs from. And everyone always forgets how many of the world’s greatest songs were written and recorded by the UK singer/songwriter and piano maestro: having 90,000+ people singing along to “Bennie and the Jets”, “Tiny Dancer”, and the one-two punch of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” into “Rocket Man” in the set’s first half was absolutely magical, completely restoring the festival’s positivity from the Kanye incident a few nights before.
While most people seemed to have been most excited for Kanye West and some of the late-night electronic sets throughout the weekend, Elton John showed everyone how it’s done, putting on a spectacular performance, hit after hit, showcasing his incredible vocals, songwriting ability, piano-playing, and showmanship that is the reason why he’s known as one of the world’s greatest musicians and songwriters of the past few generations.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Best Way To End The Night - Darkside
One of the reasons why Bonnaroo is my personal favorite music festival is because there is music going from noon every day until the wee hours of the morning; Friday and Saturday nights especially, there is always something happening until sunrise, the sets for which Bonnaroovians tend to look forward to most, and this year was no different. While EDM heavyweights Kaskade and The Glitch Mob were playing to packed stages, Darkside was holed up in a roomy tent for one of the most aptly-late-night sets of the weekend. Kicking things off at 3:30am, Nicolas Jaar and David Harrington played their dark, sparse, atmospheric brand of live electronic music that had the all too-empty tent having the time of their lives.
Not only was the show and atmosphere perfect, but we heard Darkside like we had never heard them before: relying heavily on last year’s standout Psychic, the duo put new spins on their own songs, dragging them out and employing the “jammy” nature that Bonnaroo is known for. While the EDM ravers were elsewhere with their rave kandy and maximalist in-your-face production and songs, Jaar and Harrington succeeded with a less-is-more attitude that had audience members getting lost in the underground dance party.
And while that may have been the end of the night for many, when Darkside ended at around 4:30am or so, the energy from the show kept people going: some just walking around the festival grounds in awe of its beauty, while others headed over to catch the tail end of Kaskade’s set. But no matter what they did afterwards, everyone was able to agree that Darkside provided the perfecting ending to a perfect night, culminating in a beautiful pink sunrise less than an hour later.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Best Intensity - Deafheaven
As mentioned, Bonnaroo’s late-night (everything after the headliner/after midnight) sets are what make the festival so special and tend to be the most anticipated sets of the weekend. While Friday night had your usual late-night-appropriate sets like Disclosure and an incredible Derek Trucks-led Superjam happening, there was the surprise “metal tent” that popped up on the schedule, featuring back-to-back performances by Mastodon, Deafheaven, and Meshuggah.
Having caught Deafheaven put on one of the best sets at Governors Ball the weekend before, I thought it would be appropriate to see how the shoegaze metal outfit would thrive in a 2am slot. As expected, the tent was probably the least crowded I’d seen it all weekend, but that made everything even more powerful. Because the San Francisco act was sandwiched between two metal stalwarts, I was wary and had expected the tent to contain permanent mosh pits, but instead, the audience refrained for the most part (not to say that I was almost sucked into a pit or two) and allowed themselves to get hypnotized by Deafheaven’s intense, powerful music, again relying heavily on last year’s immense Sunbather.
Yet again it was intense, loud, powerful, atmospheric, and beautiful – and I stand by my comparison to a metal Explosions In The Sky. Again its power was complemented by frontman George Clarke’s commanding stage presence and piercing gaze, as well as by some more mosh pits and crowd surfers. But unlike last time, it was incredibly intimate, giving everyone enough space to soak in the band’s powerful nature, and it had an added intensity due to the fact that this occurred in the dead of night from 1-2am, making it reach one of most powerful and moving sets I personally have ever witnessed (after Sigur Rós and My Bloody Valentine). Definitely a show to check out amidst their forthcoming fall tour.
Photography by Chuck Madden
Photography by Chuck Madden
Best Reaffirmation – Sam Smith
I can’t remember if I’ve seen a meteoric rise to fame quite like that of Sam Smith: in a few months, the young UK crooner went from “that guy who sings on that Disclosure song” to selling out the freakin’ Apollo Theatre in New York City.
When the Bonnaroo time schedule was announced and Sam Smith was given a not-too-coveted 2pm tent slot, you bet I was confused (while 2pm may not be early in the real world, anything before 4pm is considered “early” in the Bonnaroo world). Well, whatever the reason was – maybe the team behind the festival thought he needed to prove himself in a live setting? – the Bonnaroovians managed to wake up and head over to Sam Smith’s set early enough to secure a great spot, so by the time he took the stage, the tent was overflowing albeit at the ungodly hottest time of day.
And man, did he deliver, demonstrating how and why he was able to sell out his forthcoming massive US tour, showcasing a powerful voice unlike anything that I had ever heard. Sounding equally-Motown and equally-angelic, Smith cut through his all-too-short discography with incredible power and showmanship with songs like In The Lonely Hour favorites like opener “Nirvana”, soon-to-be classic sing-a-long “Money On My Mind”, and of course closer “Lay Me Down”, along with a stellar cover of Arctic Monkeys‘ “Do I Wanna Know” (the second out of three times I heard that song all weekend) and an acoustic version of the song that started it all, his Disclosure collaboration “Latch”, which he would later join the young UK duo to beautifully perform.
After seeing him put on a stellar set at Bonnaroo, I’m reassured that Sam Smith is the real deal: with an incredible, timeless voice and a show that gave me goosebumps in the 80-something-degree weather, he is here to stay.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Best Sunday Tradition – Bluegrass with Yonder Mountain String Band + Ed Helms’ Bluegrass Situation Superjam
One of the things that makes Bonnaroo one of the world’s greatest festivals is the diversity and accessibility of music that you would normally not consider seeing, so while I would never normally find myself at a bluegrass concert, I’ve made catching some bluegrass during Bonnaroo an annual Sunday tradition, and again, this year’s bluegrass lineup didn’t disappoint. After three days of catching shows / partying / getting barbecued in the Tennessee heat there’s nothing better to do than sit under a tree right outside some bluegrass, soaking up the mandolins, banjos, lap steel guitars, fiddles, etc.
Kicking off my bluegrass Sunday was a stellar performance by bluegrass-jam heroes Yonder Mountain String Band who showcased some of the best musicianship of the weekend, equipped with some of the fastest finger-picking on both the banjo and mandolin as well as some spot-on multi-layered bluegrass harmonies. For a bluegrass band, Yonder Mountain was sure able to display some diversity, playing a mixture of folk, acoustic, straight-up bluegrass, all culminating in an absolutely gorgeous, mandolin-filled cover of Bob Marley’s “One Love”. I don’t think there’s a better set suited for Sunday mornings at Bonnaroo.
The other bluegrass set worth mentioning was Ed Helms’ second annual Bluegrass Superjam Situation. The Superjam - curated, hosted, and featuring The Office star – proved to be a festival highlight yet again this year, as the comedian and banjo-afficianado brought nearly every bluegrass musician at the festival onstage for an all-star set full of bluegrass classics and incredible covers – including an extra special banjo-heavy cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”. I also heard that this Superjam is something that Ed Helms looks forward to every year, and rightly so – even though I may not be a bluegrass aficionado, there’s no denying the incredible amount of all-star talent that Helms was able to congregate for an absolute all-star performance, which Helms himself admitted to be one of the highlights of his year yet again.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Best Excitement – Chance The Rapper
There’s no denying that 2014 had become the year of Chance The Rapper, so no one was surprised to see him land a coveted 2am slot Friday night where he absolutely lived up to the hype. While he set at Governors Ball was excellent, his Bonnaroo set went above-and-beyond as he solidified himself not only as one of hip-hop’s most talented up-and-comers, but also one that surpasses the rap world, touching upon R&B and even some funk.
Out of every performance of the entire weekend, Chance’s probably displayed the most excitement: both the rapper himself and the audience were getting hype throughout the late-night set’s duration. Drawing from the majority of his stellar Acid Rap along with a new cut and a reggae-tinged cover of the Arthur theme song, Chance absolutely delivered, surpassing “The Rapper” aspect and heading into Motown territory with his singing, backed by his incredibly tight backing band, The Social Experiment. As a side-note, the hip-hop world should take a cue from Chance and his band: hip-hop with a full backing band makes everything so much better, and while this year’s big names in rap like Kanye, Pusha T, and Ice Cube put on great performances, they were hindered by their lack of live musicians, which only caused Chance to excel.
Even in the wee hours of the morning, the audience, Chance, and The Social Experiment continued feeding off each other’s energy, yielding not only one of the best performances of the weekend, but also leading Chance to genuinely seem the most grateful as he kept on thanking the crowd, half ecstatically and half completely shocked that the entire packed tent was cheering just for him. But even having said all of this, the most excited person in the tent happened to be a kid, probably around sixteen years-old, with shaggy blonde hair who sat in his wheelchair in the assisted viewing section who rapped along to every single word to every single song whilst flailing his arms and going absolutely HAM for Chance. This kid’s reaction to Chance The Rapper was absolutely beautiful and made me even more thankful for the communal power of music.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Best Introduction – The Griswolds
We at Unrecorded absolutely love one of Sydney’s greatest newcomers The Griswolds. After having hosted them at both our CMJ and SXSW debuts, I was looking forward to catching the Aussie band at a proper festival making their Bonnaroo debut, where they sure as hell didn’t disappoint.
The Griswolds seem to embody the whole essence of Bonnaroo more than almost any other band on the lineup by radiating positivity at every note they play, for their unique brand of tequila-infused tropical pop couldn’t be more suited for any other setting. Marking the beginning of their summer long American tour, The Griswolds tore through singles “Beware The Dog”, “Mississippi”, and “Heart Of A Lion”, as well as showcasing brand new sun-kissed tracks set to appear on their forthcoming debut Be Impressive later this summer. And damn, was it impressive.
Not only was their Bonnaroo debut a success, but they also managed to rope in tons of new fans who were either sitting nearby for some shade or passing by in between sets by the Arctic Monkeys and Avett Brothers. So after securing some new fans and proving to the Bonnaroo community that they are one of the best-suited bands for the festival, I wouldn’t be surprised to see The Griswolds return in a prime slot on the bill in the next few years.
Photography by Chuck Madden
Best Reason To Wake Up Early - Seasick Steve with Special Guest John Paul Jones
As I mentioned earlier, anything before 4pm at Bonnaroo is considered “early”, making Seasick Steve‘s 12:30pm slot seem to be at the break of dawn. But boy was it worth the wakeup: the eighty year-old musician showed the audience that age is nothing but a number as he showcased incredible showmanship, musical chops, and some of the best banter of the weekend. Oh, and he had Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones join him on bass.
Combining elements of rock & roll and blues with some incredible storytelling songwriting, Seasick Steve introduced himself to the onlookers lucky enough to head into the festival grounds early enough in the day where he somehow managed to show off his guitar chops better than most guitarists at the festival, despite the fact that his guitar only had three strings.
So while Seasick Steve may not be a household name here in the States (for some reason he’s got a bit of a following overseas), he definitely proved that the years he’s cumulated performing have paid off, as he put on a one-of-a-kind Bonnaroo debut that even had him becoming one hell of a ladies man when he brought up and sang to a woman from the audience without coming across as that “creepy old guy”.
Photography by Chuck Madden
Photography by Chuck Madden
Most Likely To Return As Headliners – Arctic Monkeys
Between Jack White’s triumphant return to The Farm and the Arctic Monkeys’ triumphant Sunday afternoon set (apparently tied with Vampire Weekend as the most packed non-headlining set of the weekend), it looks like our generation has finally found its new stars of rock & roll.
While the Arctic Monkeys have been headlining festivals overseas for as long as I can remember, they’ve only just finally reached new heights in the States as was reaffirmed by their career-spanning Bonnaroo set that saw them drawing from everything from their debut across their catalogue until last year’s critically-acclaimed AM with stadium-ready live renditions of everything from “I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor” and “Fluorescent Adolescent” to “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” and “Snap Out Of It” - the latter of which was dedicated to Sir Elton John who would be playing later that night. And don’t forget the excitement of finally hearing “Do I Wanna Know?” performed by it’s rightful owners (following fantastic covers by MS MR and Sam Smith earlier in the weekend).
Not only did the UK four-piece show America why they are as big as they overseas, but frontman Alex Turner really proved to be one of the best frontmen in the game right now, seeming like the new Elvis emanating an aura of inescapable coolness with his effortless guitar solos, minimal banter, and of course, his Elvis-inspired slick-backed hair that he would occasionally comb after a particularly rocking guitar solo.
To add to the rock & roll nature of the Arctic Monkeys’ stellar Bonnaroo set was the very rock & roll audience which not only featured crowd surfing and everyone rocking-the-fuck-out, but also some of the most ridiculous audience antics of the weekend. There was a young boy in a bathing suit and swimming goggles crowd surfing across the entire audience afloat an air mattress as well as a woman towards the front who hoisted herself on someone’s shoulders before managing to take off her bikini top, waving it in the air and leaving herself completely topless right in front of Alex Turner (who as imaginable, kept his cool, because that’s just who he is).
After proving themselves at this year’s Bonnaroo, there is no chance that the Arctic Monkeys will ever play a festival and not headline, as their live show is ready for stadiums worldwide and not just overseas.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Most Triumphant Bonnaroo Debut - Damon Albarn
Ever since catching him put on the best set I saw at SXSW, I’ve been slowly found myself becoming obsessed with everything that Damon Albarn touches, be it his new solo album, Blur, Gorillaz, or The Good, The Bad, & The Queen. Like Arctic Monkeys, though, he’s one of those acts whose US following is for some reason a fraction of that overseas. And while I wish more people would appreciate the genus of Damon Albarn, it was nice being able to rock up to his set not too far in advance and secure a nice close spot in the pit.
For some reason, this was Damon Albarn’s first venture to Bonnaroo, where he made a triumphant debut, playing some of his greatest songs across his entire discography with some definite guest-heavy highlights: Albarn brought out De La Soul for an incredible rendition of their smash-hit “Feel Good Inc.”, Del The Funky Homosapien came out yet again for “Clint Eastwood” (though no Snoop Dogg this time), and a super talented gospel choir joined in for a gorgeous gospel-heavy closer “Heavy Seas Of Love”. Musically, the show was absolutely on-point as Albarn and his band The Heavy Seas showcased incredible musicianship that even had them rotating instruments occasionally (Albarn was seen on guitar, melodica, and piano, while one of his bandmates picked up a ukulele).
So while the special guests, the musicianship, and being able to sing of timeless songs along with their mastermind himself made the show particularly incredible, nothing proved to be more moving and special than the multi-talented musician’s crowd interaction. Albarn, who is sometimes presented as somewhat hard to please (especially the near-empty Coachella-Blur debacle), had nothing but too-kind words for his Bonnaroo audience, however small it may have been compared to his UK festival counterparts. Every few songs throughout his set Albarn turned to the crowd, expressing his genuine gratitude for being a great audience and for partaking in and creating a festival that is “as close to Glastonbury as he’s ever seen in the States” – probably the biggest possible compliment coming from the UK festival master himself.
So if a US Gorillaz tour ever happens again, I’ll bet that it will include a special stop at Bonnaroo.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Best Feel-Good – Lionel Richie
Barring Ice Cube (whose set’s first fifteen minutes I saw and loved), Bonnaroo’s biggest WTF booking was probably Lionel Richie: yes, the festival has boasted sets by older legends like Paul McCartney and Neil Young throughout the years, but how did Lionel Richie fit into the Bonnaroo scene, especially seeing as the festival had already booked Elton John in the “legendary act” slot?
Although up against one of the toughest conflicts from this year’s Bonnaroo - his set overlapped with those of Ms. Lauryn Hill, Cut Copy, James Blake, and Zedd – Lionel Richie managed to secure an absolutely massive crowd, chock full of older Tennessee ladies only there for his set, where, from the bit that I saw, managed to be a nostalgia-filled, feel-good set that radiated positivity.
While I was only there for around the final thirty minutes of his set, Lionel Richie’s Bonnaroo debut became a definite highlight of mine, in equal parts due to its where-else-would-I-ever-see-him factor, his undeniable charisma that put almost every other act on the bill to shame, and the sheer delight of being able to sing along to some of the greatest songs ever made, which culminated in the impeccable one-two punch of “All Night Long” and the encore of “We Are The World” that the entire audience - hippie and hipster, college student and grandparent - swaying and singing along, forgetting about the hardships of the world for just a few moments.
Photography by Melissa Scheinberg
Photography by Chuck Madden
Best Surprise - MS MR
When I begin my annual journey to Bonnaroo, I tend to pack my music schedule full of bands I had never seen before who I would usually not see elsewhere, but even so, I thought I would check out a few usual Unrecorded favorites along the way who I had seen in the past few months. CHVRCHES unsurprisingly absolutely killed it as usual, Haerts expectedly provided the perfect Friday afternoon soundtrack, and Chromeo brought the funk back to The Farm. While these were great shows, they not incredibly surprisingly noteworthy as they went exactly as expected. MS MR on the other hand, a band I’ve seen more times than I can count on one hand, seem to have all of the sudden transformed from a synth-pop niche duo to a full-blown festival band.
When I arrived halfway through their set (Real Estate was playing nearby), I was surprised to see an overflowing tent full of fans singing along to every song off last year’s Secondhand Rapture. Maybe it was because of their extensive touring schedule this year, maybe it was the magic air of Bonnaroo, or maybe it was something else, but the duo + friends seemed to have turned over a completely new leaf, breathing new life into the songs I had seen them play countless of times, including especially cool-yet-dragged-out covers of LCD Soundsystem‘s “Dance Yrself Clean” and of course Arctic Monkeys’ “Do I Wanna Know?”.
Then there was the fact that they seemed to be having an absolute blast, thanking the crowd between almost every song for being so high-energy and enabling them to have so much fun. So while, yes, there may have been other bands that put on more solid shows that showcased their musical chops more, but none of them surprised me into becoming the perfect festival band as much as MS MR had.