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Bacchanalian Bonnaroo

  • Post Author
    by Web manager
  • Post Date
    Tue Jun 25 2013

st.vincent_

“This ain't a party, it's a celebration,” Kendrick Lamar yelled at the end of his set on Sunday, the last day of Bonnaroo. Bonnaroo celebrates many things: Tennessee, community, drugs, but above all else, music.

With over 300 musical acts, Bonnaroo turns little known Manchester, Tennessee into a downright must-see. With an estimated 150,000 tickets sold for general admission, Manchester swells from a quaint city into Tennessee's seventh largest city. Bonnaroo is huge, if you meet someone once you will never see him or her again.

You have to be a certain type of person to go to a four-day camping music festival. Some Bonnaroo shows start at 10 a.m. in the morning and some end at 5 a.m. at night. If you followed that schedule every day of the weekend, and woke up at 9 a.m. (which one naturally does in 80 degree heat) you'd only get a collective 20 hours of sleep for 4 days. Add in the fact you have to walk from your campsite to the festival grounds, affectionately titled Centeroo, which could be as far as a mile away, and soon every part of your body hurts. My feet swelled from walking everywhere and standing for shows, the sun brandished my body and my head pounded from the loud noises.

But it's all worth it.

With such acts as Sir Paul McCartney, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, The xx, R. Kelly, Passion Pit, Pretty Lights and many more, Bonnaroo functions as a nonstop musicgasm. The whole weekend is so over-packed with different and great acts that there's no way someone can see everyone they want. Hell, there wasn't enough time for me to do all the other cool things at Bonnaroo like: the comedy tent, the Ferris wheel, and the Big Ass Water Slide.

With the amount of acts I witnessed in a weekend, it's tough to rank them. I remember which bands I really gelled to, which ones I danced to, and which ones sounded the best. But did any one act rise above and dominate the rest as “best show?”

For now, how about I just talk about what I (and Natalie, WSUM's music director) saw.

Thursday, in general, is the black sheep of Bonnaroo. Many attendees still haven't arrived and both stages (aptly titled What Stage and Which Stage) have no acts set, hell the Which Stage was still being constructed. Nevertheless, Thursday was still an awesome day and a lot of great acts performed.

On Thursday I saw Haim, the last 15 minutes of Walk The Moon, Purity Ring and Father John Misty.

Haim, a Los Angeles band made up of 3 sisters, packed a crowd at That Tent even though they haven't released an LP yet. Haim played the 3 songs off their EP Forever and their singles “Don't Save Me” and “Falling.” Haim really impressed with their cover of Fleetwood Mac's “Oh Well.” At one point, bassist Este Haim saw a boy in the crowd with headphones and a sign and came down to hug him and brought him on stage for a song. Haim is a band to watch out for in 2013 and it'll be exciting to hear the sound of their first full-length album.

After that show, Natalie and I walked over to The Other Tent (god these tent names get annoying) to get a good spot for the Purity Ring show. We got to see the last 15 minutes of Walk The Moon at what was an over packed crowd, probably the most people I saw at one tent on that Thursday. I liked Walk The Moon's self-titled debut album though not enough to think pandemonium could arise, but holy crap people loved them. I was lucky enough to catch their pop hit “Anna Sun;” the entire crowd sang along. It was an energetic performance from a manic crowd, many of who has their faces painted like the band.

However, my MVP for Thursday was Purity Ring; what a performance. The Canadian synthpop band had a crazy light show set up with some sort of a light-up tree and eight light-up “bells” in front of drummer Corin Roddick that would change colors and sound with every song. Lead singer Megan James was a true performer throughout the set, she was very cautious of her face and movements as she played to the crowd. Megan wore a white dress that made her look virginal. Her appearance mixed with the darkness of their songs spawned a horror movie motif. Every song they played was energetic and their cover of Soulja Boy's “Grammy” got the biggest response. After I saw Purity Ring, I knew it was going to be a good weekend.

The last show Natalie and I saw on Thursday was Father John Misty at That Tent. Affectionately known as Joshua Tillman (of Fleet Foxes) side project turned into main band: FJM had a great set, one that sounded more country than his actual album “Fear Fun.” Nevertheless, Tillman had a strong presence on stage and played to the audience with his kooky dancing and weird faces. He was right to end the night with “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings.”

There were other acts I wanted to see: Alt-J at 11:30 PM, Killer Mike at 12:15 AM and Capital Cities at 1 AM; oh well, such is life.

Friday will affectionately be known as the day Sir Paul McCartney took over the world, however, there was something else looming over Bonnaroo, which must first be addressed.

The scheduled headliner for Saturday was Mumford & Sons, however, bassist Ted Dwane found a blood clot in his brain and Mumford & Sons cancelled their appearance along with the rest on their tour dates. It just so happened that surf rocker Jack Johnson was at Bonnaroo for the weekend just to watch and play with his friends ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) as a special guest. Johnson received a call on Thursday from Bonnaroo organizers asking if he could take over the headlining spot, and Johnson accepted, even though he hadn't performed with his band in a year. The festival had to fly out his band mates. At the media orientation on Friday, Jack Johnson came into the tent and played two new songs just a few feet away from Natalie and I. It was unfortunate that Mumford & Sons had to cancel but good for Jack Johnson and Bonnaroo to be there with a backup plan.

Friday started with the Sea Wolf show at This Tent. A good crowd was there to see the Los Angeles band as they played old classics like “You're A Wolf” and new favorites such as “Dear Fellow Traveler.” It was a catchy and fun show (and I got to interview lead singer Alex Brown Church later that day).

I missed out on both Charli XCX and Local Natives because of interviews I had set up, but I did hear Local Natives do my favorite song “Wooly Mammoth” when walking past the What Stage and they sounded great. (They will be at the Orpheum in Madison on September 19.)

I got to see some of Passion Pit in a packed crowd at the What Stage. As always, Passion Pit played an energetic, fun, danceable set, a mix of their two EPs. Lead singer Michael Angelakos, who is known for his affliction with Bipolar Disorder and dissonance during interviews, had full control on the stage as more than 50,000 fans came out to see them.

At 5:15 I got to see Foals at This Tent, I had just interviewed drummer Jack and pianist Edwin before the show, so I was excited to see them live. And wow, they were enthusiastic playing to the crowd, and an overall treat. They played songs from all three of their albums and ended with their breakout hit “Two Steps, Twice,” which came from their first album “Antidotes.” Lead singer and guitarist Yannis Philippakis was a mad man on stage and off, as he jumped into the crowd 3 times while continuing to play guitar. The third time, he jumped into the VIP area. The crowd was totally into the performance. Foals played one of the best shows that day. (Foals will be at the High Noon Saloon on July 31st.)

I got to see Wu-Tang Clan perform “C.R.E.A.M.,” which was enough for me.

But let's talk about Sir Paul McCartney. Sir Paul played 38 songs, including three encores, for a 3 hour set. He played songs from his Beatles days, from his Wings days, and just 3 from his solo career. There must have been at least 120,000 people in that crowd. Sir Paul came out first in a suit and tie, but quickly changed into a more workmanlike collard shirt and blue jeans. Nearly everyone around us sang along to classics “Band on the Run,” “Let It Be,” and the ending of his set pre-encore “Hey Jude.” In the crowd lovable stoners and music lovers joined together to form part of a community. Hell, Paul was only supposed to play until 11:30 but he decided midnight was better, and you don't tell a knight to stop playing.

Because of Sir Paul's second and third encore, The xx came on a little late to the Which Stage saying, “you can't start if Paul McCartney is still playing.” The xx played a beautiful and haunting set. Oliver and Romy's vocals captivated the audience. This was my second time seeing The xx, the first being at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee. At Bonnaroo they played more songs (all their music after two EPs). The main difference between the two shows I witnessed was the impact of their light show. At Bonnaroo, an outdoor venue, the lights lost a certain quality. Nonetheless, it was still very cool to watch lights bath trees in the colors of the rainbow. Relaxed and beautiful, the show was a great one to end the night.

I wanted to also see the first Superjam that featured RZA, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Schoolboy Q and Solange at midnight along with Animal Collective at 2 a.m. but alas, I was too tired. I heard they were awesome shows.

Saturday arrived. Portugal The Man played in the media tent and sounded really good. However, I will think of Saturday as the day Death Grips stole and killed my heart.

Death Grips is an “experimental hip-hop” group from Sacramento. It includes 3 members: rapper MC Ride, drummer Zach Hill, and producer Flatlander. Zach Hill is busy scoring a movie, so he was not at Bonnaroo. Death Grips set to do an hour set only played for 45 minutes in The Other Tent. They never introduced themselves, they never looked at the audience, MC Ride used the microphone to mockingly strangle himself and suggest a phallus, Flatlander behind an expensive piece of equipment just stared and looked pissed the whole time; it was awesome. In general, Death Grips' music attempts to alienate their audience, they'll switch up beats, scream, MC Ride's rhymes are barely audible at times; but it doesn't matter, the crowd ate it up and went wild. At least a hundred different people crowd surfed and at one point someone in the VIP area jumped from their section into the crowd and kicked 3 people on the way. Like I said, it was a crazy, amazing, and totally different show.

Death Grips got me so amped I hoped that Nas could keep my adrenaline rush flowing. Nas, at the What stage, played 30 songs, which spanned his illustrious career; a lot of the times he'd only do one verse of a song at a time. Nat King Cole's son Eddie did the backup vocals for most of his songs, except for “Cherry Wine” in which he kept the Amy Winehouse vocals as a tribute to her. The crowd was totally into it and Nas, a legend, rocked.

I only caught the last 15 minutes of Matt & Kim. When I was coming in, Kim told the crowd that the only way to get a better view was to crowd surf to the front. As a result, around 60 different people crowd surfed, a few even got past security guards close enough to touch the band members. Kim's crowd-surfing style mimicked wakeboarding. They did a Snoop Dogg cover, walked it out to “Clique,” and ended with “Daylight.” Matt & Kim are cool.

Beach House was next in This Tent. Their dreamy pop felt like a necessity after a hectic day, and the vocals complemented the setting son. Nothing more can be said about this enjoyable show other than everyone was swaying with the music.

The headliner of this night was supposed to be Mumford & Sons, but as I stated before Jack Johnson filled in. I did not go to see Jack Johnson, but I did overhear “Banana Pancakes,” so I was happy.

The last show I saw on Saturday was R. Kelly on the Which Stage. R. Kelly started with “Ignition (Remix),” which makes sense because it's probably his most famous song. The hour and a half set spanned 30 songs from R. Kelly's career; he would only do a minute or so of each song (usually just a verse and the hook). It was quite strange, only upstaged by the freestyle R. Kelly did for 3 minutes about needing a towel because of how sexy his woman was… yup. R. Kelly ended with “I Believe I Can Fly” because of course.

Later that night, Billy Idol, Empire of the Sun, and a Rock n' Soul Superjam all played but I was happily sleeping, no regrets.

Sunday was a packed day and probably my favorite day at Bonnaroo.

It started with Action Bronson at The Other Tent. Bronsalino liked to jump into the crowd and walk about while still rapping. At one point in the show he walked outside of the tent to the porta potties and basically moved the entire show with him. He sounded good while freestyling and he covered songs from both his mixtapes and his new EP.

I then got to see Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at the What Stage. Macklemore a $15 ticket at the Barrymore Theatre about 8 months ago now was playing for 40,000 fans at Bonnaroo. Macklemore is really good at crowd interaction and he had the crowd eating out of his palm after every song. For both, “Thrift Shop” and “Can't Hold Us” they brought out the featuring singers (Wanz and Ray Dalton, respectively). Also, during “Thrift Shop” Macklemore spotted a kid in the crowd wearing a fur coat, and made the fans delver the jacket via a crowd surf method, so he could wear the fur. Macklemore only did 10 songs for an hour long set spending a lot of the time talking to the crowd.

Kendrick Lamar was next at the What Stage. Kendrick sounded awesome, did most of his set from GKMC and thanked his fans continuously for supporting him. Kendrick acted like a true professional.

Tame Impala was next at The Other Tent and before the show I tweeted “They should get extra security guards for the other tent. The Tame Impala crowd is gonna [sic] get ROWDY” as a joke but then it came true . I saw Tame Impala at the Pabst Theatre in 2010 and I wasn't impressed with their stage presence, but they were a thousand times better at Bonnaroo. They played to the crowd, jammed, and made the crowd go wild.

A$AP Rocky was at The Other Tent and oh my god what a face-melting show. I got to be in the front row of the VIP area and I was glad because Rocky and other members of the A$AP mob (Ferg and Twelvvy” walked past multiple times). The A$AP mob kept the crowd hyped throughout and ended the show by asking all the female fans to come on stage with their tops off to dance with them, which over 30 girls did. I do not have a video.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ended the night at Bonnaroo. What else can you say about Tom Petty other than he's a legend and amazing. People freaked out when he played “Mary Jane's Last Dance,” “Free Fallin'” and of course his closer that night, “American Girl.” It was a great end to a great festival.

So there it is, my (and Natalie's) experience at Bonnaroo. It was insane fun.

-Michael Voloshin

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BOONAROO MUSIC FESTIVAL

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