Bonnaroo is just forty-one days away, but for many people like myself, listening to and talking about the bands playing is a topic that seems to come up every day of the year in my conversations. Some of my friends, I’d imagine, are probably pretty sick and tired of hearing the word “Bonnaroo” come out of my mouth.
For months, I’ve been trying to focus mostly listening to only the bands that are on the lineup, and unlike recent years, a lot of these bands are very new to me. I’ve also been spending a lot of time trying to filter out some of these bands – seperating those I absolutely have to see from the ones that just don’t do very much for me. Right now Bonnaroo has a little over 160 bands booked, I think it’s 163, and while I can honestly say that I’d very much like to see about 75% of them, I felt I had to take things one step further and try to come up with a list of twenty of my must see picks. I’m pretty content with my selections right now, but at the same time, I’m not going to say I won’t make any changes here. I’d also like to mention that of these twenty bands, I’ve only seen five of them in concert. Here are the twenty bands I’m looking forward to the most at seeing at Bonnaroo 2010:
The Avett Brothers (playing Saturday, June 12)
This acoustic, roots rock quartet has been around for a decade now, but it wasn’t until I heard last year’s album, I and Love and You, that I gave the band the keys to my heart. They’ve got quite a discography, having released something every year of this decade besides 2001, and in many cases, have released multiple discs in the same year. I’m still working through their entire catalogue, but I’m finding it terribly hard to break away from the material they’ve released over the past few years, including songs like “Die Die Die”, “Will You Return?”, “Murder in the City”, “Bella Donna”, “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise”, “Laundry Room” and “Ill with Want.”
The Black Keys (playing Friday, June 11, Late Night)
I’m certainly not the biggest Keys fan you’ll find around, but I will say that over the past few years I have grown to love the sounds of Auerbach and Carney a little more and more. I’m currently working my way through their entire catalogue, pretty much just putting the iPod on shuffle, and am thrilled that I’ll get to spend the late hours at Bonnaroo becoming a little more familiar with their music and live show. It really sucks that they’ll be up against the Flaming Lips, but I’ll have to plan accordingly to catch a little of both.
Dave Matthews Band (playing Sunday, June 13, What Stage)
Not only have I been following these guys around for the better part of my life, but I’ve been listening to them before they even got huge. I’ve even got their “fire dancer” logo tattoed on my lower leg. I’ve seen thousands of bands play over the years, and the DMB were the second concert I ever attended, which was in 1997 at Riverbend Music Center with Los Lobos. I’ve seen them nearly every year since, including my memorable 2003 road trip where I saw them perform six times over the course of two weeks in three different cities. Last year they were named the “most successful touring act of the decade” by Pollstar, and having seen them roughly thirty times, I certainly have the memories to back that up.
Love them or hate them, there’s no denying the fact that not only are they one of the hardest working live acts, but also one of the most well received. They even found the strength to pull through the death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore in 2008, playing just hours after learning of his passing. It was clearly their most emotional performance ever, with the band members and their fans finding the strength to pull through together to celebrate the life and music of Moore.
They’ve made a few adjustments to their lineup over the years; keyboardist Butch Taylor left the band in early 2008 for personal reasons, Rashawn Ross of Soulive joined the band several years ago on trumpet, and they’ve added saxophonist/flutist Jeff Coffin (of Bela Fleck’s band, the Flecktones) and lifelong guitarist friend, Tim Reynolds. Their last appearance at Bonnaroo was in 2005 – my favorite show I’ve ever seen – when they played roughly three hours covering many new and old favorites, also covering The Zombies “Time of the Season” and Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”, as well as bringing out guests to jam like Warren Haynes and Robert Randolph.
Dr. Dog (playing Friday, June 11)
I’ve seen this experimental, indie rock group from Philly a few times since 2007; from the fields of Bonnaroo in 2007, to the stands at Louisville’s Slugger Field, to the tiny Mad Hatter club in Covington. Their live show never grows old or stale, and neither do the songs from three very solid albums like Fate, We All Belong and Easy Beat. I have not yet heard their new album, Shame, Shame which was released earlier this month.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (playing Friday, June 11)
This huge diverse group of musicians is one of my newest fav bands, and that partly has the do with the song “Home” that threw me into the den with them. Everything I’ve seen with these guys and girls just evokes spirit, love, freedom, and just generally what Bonnaroo is all about. Maybe they’re becoming big rock musicians, but they certainly don’t walk around acting like it. I’m really hoping I get to meet this band at some point, because they just seem like a great big group of real, down to earth people.
The Entrance Band (playing Thursday, June 10)
The Flaming Lips with Stardeath and White Dwarfs (playing Friday, June 11, Late Night, Which Stage)
This time, I’m not missing the Lips set. I’ve had two previous chances, but passed on both of them. The first, was at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2006, but because they were playing against Ben Harper, I went with Harper because he’s been one of my favorite artists for a very long time. The second, was at Bonnaroo 2007, where I missed their set due to some personal reasons. If only I could’ve made their set that night, when they landed a fake UFO on the stage at midnight. The third time’s gotta be a charm, because I’ll never forgive myself if I miss them covering Pink Floyd’s Darkside of the Moon album at 2:30 am with guests Stardeath and White Dwarfs. From what I’ve heard in the past about Lips shows, I hope frontman Wayne Coyne does a little less talking this year in between songs, a lot more playing.
The Gaslight Anthem (playing Friday, June 11)
Here We Go Magic (playing Thursday, June 10)
Jay-Z (playing Saturday, June 12, Late Night, What Stage)
I’ve never much been a fan of rap and hip-hop, but in my opinion, Hova’s the best at slinging rhymes, the best showman and the most respected in the biz today. Not to mention he’s got one of the finest girls around in Beyonce. I also like the chances that she might possibly come out and join him, after hearing about his Coachella set a couple of weeks ago. He played in town late last year, at NKU’s Bank of Kentucky Center, but I had absolutely no interest in going. That’s what Bonnaroo will do. It’ll make you want to see bands and artists you wouldn’t of otherwise wanted to see anywhere else. Hopefully after his late night performance this summer, people will forget the infamous Kanye incident at the farm in 2008, and realize that not all rappers all created equal.
John Prine (playing Saturday, June 12)
I only discovered Prine through Bonnaroo, when I went in 2005 and he was featured on the free sampler they were handing out. He was also playing that year, but I passed on him for other obligations. I’ve become a much better and educated fan of his since that time, and I don’t want to miss him this time because I’m not sure if I’ll ever get a chance to see him play again. I’m looking forward to spending a hot Saturday afternoon, kicking back in the grass with the relaxing, simple tunes and charm of this country/folk singer-songwriter.
Lucero (playing Sunday, June 13)
The National (performance date TBD)
These guys are from my hometown but sadly I’ve only seen them play once. That was at the free Obama rally on Fountain Square in late 2008. They’re also one of my favorite indie rock bands of all time, and have what I think are two of the greatest albums released in the past decade, in Alligator and Boxer. They recently had the follow-up, High Violet, streaming for free online but if you didn’t catch it you’ll have to wait until the album comes out on May 11. The album is said to be their defining album. Whoa!!! That’s huge considering my love for their past two records. When it comes to music only, I think this will be my favorite set at Bonnaroo this year.
Neon Indian (playing Thursday, June 10)
Phoenix (playing Sunday, June 13, Which Stage)
Here’s another band that I’ve previously had the chance to see, but because they were playing opposite Phish at last year’s Bonnaroo, I went with the latter because I knew Phish and their music but had never had the chance to see them. Even while Phoenix was playing their late night set last year at Bonnaroo, at the time I wasn’t familiar with songs like “Lisztomania” and “1901″ which became the hottest indie rock commercial hits of 2009. I still love both of those songs even after hearing them a million times, but I have moved on to the rest of their album, which is equally as great, and am still in the process of working my way through their back catalogue. Rumor has it they’re closing the Which Stage on Sunday evening this year at Bonnaroo. Sounds about right when you look at some of the past bands who’ve held this spot like Band of Horses, The White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse.
Stevie Wonder (playing Saturday, June 12, What Stage)
It always feels good to know that I’ve seen one of the most legendary artists in concert, even if I’m not a huge fan of his music. Months before the lineup was even announced, Wonder was rumored and I’m actually very excited that this rumor came to be truth. I’m sure the organizers of Bonnaroo had been working on getting him for years – rumor has it, that it took three years to get Radiohead to play the festival in 2006. Obvioulsy I had heard Wonder’s music before now, how can you be this into music and not know who he is or what he’s done, but I was actually unfamiliar with songs like “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” and “Higher Ground”, and also that he was the one who wrote “Boogie on Reggae Woman”, a song I discovered through Phish/Trey Anastasio covers.
I don’t want to pinpoint the fact that he’s blind, but I just can’t fathom all that he has overcome with that by being a musician. In my opinion, this is by far the greatest headliner Bonnaroo has ever landed, and along with his track record and everything else he has done throughout his near fifty-year career, I’ll guarantee that this performance will go down in the books as the best Bonnaroo set ever, the best festival set this year and the best show I’ve ever seen.
The Temper Trap (playing Thursday, June 10)
Umphrey’s McGee (playing Saturday, June 12)
Here’s a band I found solely because of Bonnaroo. I first saw them at the festival in 2005, when they played during the day on the Which Stage, and have seen them in a number of venues and settings since. Their music also seems to change every time I see them; whether they’re adding in elements of progressive rock and metal, or reggae and dub, they’re always jamming away for extended periods of time, and have probably the greatest guitar duo ever, Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss. I last saw them at the Madison Theater in March, and not only was it their best show I’ve ever seen, but it was one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen in the area. I was really hoping they’d get like a three or four-hour late night slot this year at Bonnaroo, but even though they didn’t, that won’t change the fact that they’ll bring it hard and heavy every second of their set.
The xx (playing Thursday, June 10)
Zac Brown Band (playing Sunday, June 13, What Stage)
Anyone that knows me well enough, probably knows about my dislike for country pop music and mainstream radio stations and they way they are run. We all know that the music played on mainstream radio is selected by corporate executives who build playlists based on what they think people want to hear. Sadly, for years these stations play these same songs and bands over and over again, unlike a station say like WNKU, who have the broadest of spectrums, playing thousands of different bands (even local) covering all styles of music. You will never hear the same song twice in the same day. Sometimes you won’t even hear the same artist twice in the same day. It’s also nice to hear the DJ’s get excited about the music they are playing. If only the employees at every radio station were fans themselves of the music they play everyday; I think the radio industry would be in a much better place.
Although Zac Brown is surely a mainstream country pop radio sensation, there’s a lot more to this band and their sound than the few songs you’ll hear on the radio. They’ve been a hard working band for the past ten years, but didn’t find that mainstream success until just the past couple of years, having won “Best New Artist” at the 2010 Grammy’s. Unlike most other country pop acts, this is a band that, to me, seems to represent something fresh and original with this style of music. When I think of this band, I see hard working, talented musicians that incorporate elements of bluegrass and rock into their sound. These guys are real, they seem down to earth, they even seem like the people who might live next door. I used to think of country pop artists as talentless entertainers who were built from the ground up into something the music industry folks thought they should be. Not this band. Zac Brown and company are the real deal through and through.