Most people with any knowledge of live music whatsoever know Bonnaroo to be THE behemoth of all live music events. And as a 12-stage, 130+ band monster of a festival sprawled across 700 acres in the middle of a Tennessee farm, it is certainly one of the most amped up and ambitious musical undertakings that I can fathom – attracting more than 80,000 fans, the festival singlehandedly turns Manchester, Tenn. (a city that normally has a population of around 10,000) into the 7th largest city in Tennessee for four days each June.
I can only imagine Bonnaroo to be the mother of logistical nightmares for its organizers (though you would never know it from the surface – it is certainly an impressive and tightly run ship). But it is a nirvana for thousands upon thousands of lovers of music of every genre, who have the opportunity to coexist in a beautiful pop-up city for one long weekend, fueled equally by the power of live music and Bonnaroo’s number one mantra “Radiate Positivity,” which permeates the event in unexpected ways throughout the weekend.
Bonnaroo intrinsically inspires the sensation that, no matter what awesome thing you are doing at any given moment, you are inevitably missing something. And yes, despite a well-planned (and -executed, I might add) attempt to catch as much as humanly possible, there were things I regretted missing over the weekend - like that timeEarth, Wind & Fire brought Kendrick Lamar & Chance the Rapper on stage to perform with them Friday night, for example, or whenZach Galfanakias gave a surprise opening set for comedian Chris Hardwick in the comedy tent. Apparently Mumford and Sons had an epic encore that included members of My Morning Jacket, The War on Drugs, Dawes and Hozier and I was nowhere near the stage.
THAT SAID - as I’m sure was the case with most attendees, my 2015 Bonnaroo experience was brimming with its own moments of beauty, joy, hilarity and awe-inspiring sets of live music. Below are a smattering of my favorite moments and highlights:
THURSDAY NIGHT (in general)
When it comes to marathon weekend festivals, Thursday night line-ups are often crafted as a warm-up night of sorts. But Bonnaroo 2015 came on strong right out of the gate, with a Thursday line-up brimming with acts that were at the top of my “to see” list. While some from that list - Iceage and Temples, to name a couple - admittedly fell a bit short of expectations, outstanding sets like Courtney Barnett, The Growlers and Mac DeMarco definitely succeeded in getting my Bonnaroo juices warmed up and flowing for the rest of the great weekend.
THE GROWLERS (in particular)
Purveyors of self-described “beach goth” music, California-based The Growlers produce a unique brand of psychedelic music that draws from garage rock, surf pop, and country music all at once. Known for their theatrical live performances, they often incorporate costumery, elaborate set design, trippy lights and other props into their live sets, though with such short stage turnarounds at a festival of this size, their ability to carry all of that had its limitations at their Thursday night Bonnaroo set. Still, the band kept fans on their toes and waiting for a good 20 minutes after their set was supposed to start, with a few members coming out here and there to pick up and tune an instrument and then disappearing back off stage. Finally, the overhead house music started playing the band’s 2011 lo-fi reggae-inspired anthem “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSX6dc8Fthg">Drinkin’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSX6dc8Fthg"> the Juice Blues” and the band emerged onstage, picked up their instruments and seamlessly started playing along with the song as the house music faded out. It was quite the groovy stage entrance and they followed it up with an hour of high energy surf and reggae flavored garage rock – a killer kickoff to a great weekend of music!
FLYING LOTUS
Flying Lotus’ midnight takeover of “The Other Tent” (my personal fave of the three main Bonnaroo music tents, all of which essentially play second fiddle to the festival’s two primary stages “What Stage” and “Which Stage”) rose to the top for me, not only for sets this year but as one of the most compelling late night sets I’ve seen in my 5-year Bonnaroo tenure.
Sheathed between two large-scale screens that were fraught with colorful laser projections working in conjunction to create intense and fast moving 3-D images, the crowd could barely make out the L.A.-based electronic producer and musician save for a pair glowing green goggles and his occasional silhouette. The high energy electronic set was dark, complex, deeply groovy and at times utterly beautiful, leaving fans awestruck with the feeling they just traveled to another dimension and back by the time it was over (or was that just me?), jaws open and wanting more.
ODESZA
A young electronic duo from Seattle known for their frequent collaborations and remixes, Odesza pulled together a supreme, high energy live performance at Bonnaroo’s This Tent on Friday night. A crew of several horn players joining core members Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight on stage at several junctures throughout the set (primarily the bookends), which primarily focused on high energy, glitchy electronic remixes in the vein of other highly lauded acts of the same genre Caribou or Tycho, though in mu opinion ODESZA does it in a more interesting manner than either of those acts. They threw in the original and fantastic party anthem “Say My Name” as the second to last song of their set, which succeeded in being the song stuck in my head more than any other song I heard that weekend for the days that followed.
Brimming with energy and talent and with just two studio albums to speak of, it’ll ne exciting to see where this act goes in the coming years. And for anyone still complaining that electronic music is not compelling to see in a live setting, sets like this might just exist to prove you wrong. The energy was through the roof and not a soul near the tent was caught standing still.
Watch Odesza’s entire Bonnaroo set on YouTube
KENDRICK LAMAR
With just a handful of full length releases under his belt, I admit I initially thought the relatively green hip hop artist was a surprising headliner choice for one of the biggest festivals in the world. But in stark contrast to Kanye West’s polarizing 2014 set on the same stage - during which Yeezy wowed thousands of fans with his high caliber, technically impressive and theatrical performance, and lost thousands of others with a series of nonsensical rants condemning the press, denouncing Pearl Jam and blaming pretty much everyone but himself for his botched, hours-late 2008 Bonnaroo performance – Lamar seemed to singlehandedly win over every fan in the massive “What Stage” field on Friday night with his upbeat and charismatic performance, and to stake his claim as one of this generation’s most influential hip hop artists.
Other highlights:
Jon Hamm. The “Mad Men” actor who you might know as more or less defining the term “tall, dark and handsome” provided Bonnaroo fans with several random surprise appearances, including one during Belle and Sebastian’s Saturday evening set, during which time he came on stage and tossed jelly beans into lead singer Stuart Murdoch’s mouth for a few minutes, for reasons unknown. (Apparently he later gave his Bonnaroo wristband to his waitress in Chatanooga so that she could enjoy the rest of the festival from the “artist wristband” vantage point. What a guy!)
SLAYER.
Enough said. What Bonnaroo’s lineup noticeably lacks in metal it made up for by including arguably the most metal band imaginable. I watched from the sidelines - not the mosh pit, I sat that one out - but the performance was fierce and unrelenting (and the high energy reaction from an alarmingly sweaty and amped up crowd even more so).
Sturgill Simpson.
While it wasn’t the first time I’ve caught the Kentucky hometown heroes live, seeing them in the context of a packed house at Bonnaroo was a completely fresh and animating experience, and not just because I share a high school alma mater with Sturgill and his drummer. I don’t think that watching the waves that these guys and their unique and modern take on classic outlaw country continue to make across the country and world will get old any time soon.
The Comedy Tent.
In the five years I have attended Bonnaroo, this was the first time I had set foot in the comedy tent, and now I kinda get why fans line up across the field for hours to get a seat each year. A circus style tent decked out with air conditioning, awesome mood lighting, seating in the round and an ever-killer line-up of up-and-coming comedians, it’s a great way to chillax and break up 4 sweaty days in the sun.
The Kalliope Stage.
New in 2014, the Kalliope Stage is nestled between “This Tent” and “The Other Tent” right next to the “Food Truck Oasis” – a section of food vendors that includes Lexington’s own Rolling Oven – and provides a late night dance option for anyone not ready to call it a night when the primary stages close their eyes around 3 a.m. Essentially a stage that looks like a boat with pretty incredibly laser lights and pyrotechnics (!), the stage features a rotating cast of surprise guest DJs and apparently kept the party going until the sun came up.
Saraya Brewer
Editor-in-Chief, tadoo.com
Managing Editor, Chevy Chaser and Southsider Magazines