Bonnaroo: Ten for Ten
They say “only time can tell” and that “history is the harshest judge”. These simple statements apply to a lot, especially to music. This article isn’t about the vast history of music (or how time will affect it). Instead, I’m focusing on only a small portion of a much more specific topic; the history of the Bonnaroo Music Festival, a three day event held each year in Manchester, Tennessee.
Since it’s inception in 2001, the “Roo” as its known, has been considered a modern day Woodstock. For one weekend each year, people of all age, gender, and race come together to celebrate unadulterated music. Bonnaroo has its downfalls of course; some of the ticket packages include camping sites, which raise the prices sky high. Buying a bottle of water in the scorching Tennessee heat will cost you an arm and a leg, and most times, people are packed shoulder to shoulder while sweaty hippies eat too much Acid and scream “I’m tripping balls man!”. But each year, tickets always sell out in under a day, which means all of the negatives do not outweigh the positives of the festival; incredible music.
Going on ten years strong, Bonnaroo has never failed to feature a star-packed line-up on all three stages, drawing crowds from across the country and as far away as the United Kingdom to see their favorite artists. Top billed acts span all genres of music, ranging from Snoop Dogg to Stevie Wonder and Willie Nelson and Pearl Jam. Always remember though, its not always the headliner that gives the puts on the best show at a concert, especially when every band and artist at the event is considered a star in their own right.
So sit back and enjoy the show while CultureGet celebrates Bannaroo’s 10th Anniversary by examining ten of the best performances at Bonnaroo!
(Note: The first Bonnaroo took place in 2002. The original idea for the festival was conceived in late 2001.)
2002: The line-up for 2002 including such big names as 1980s jam band Wide Spread Panic, folk music star Jack Johnson, and celebrated electronic rock band The Disco Biscuits. Among these amazing artists though, a single performer really gave an amazing one day only show that exemplifies the idea of Bonnaroo at an early start; folk reggae legend Ben Harper. Harper had not released a CD since 1999 and had not had a single on the airwaves since 2000. The man who has never known to lay down a microphone for too long had laid dormant for two years and lit up the small town in backwoods Tennessee with a electrifying set! The two time Grammy winner elated long time fans with songs from as far back as the early 1990s like “Get Down on the Ground” and “Gold to Me”, new millennium hits like “Steal My Kisses” and even treated the fans to a sneak preview of a forthcoming song to be released in 2003 now popularly known as “Diamonds on the Inside”.
Honorable Mention: 2002′s Honorable Mention goes to DJ Z-Trip, turntable extraordinaire featured on the main stage on the last day of the event. Z-Trip is best known for his work with big name artists like Prince, Chuck D, and Grandmaster Caz.
2003: Sets in 2003 once again included Jack Johnson and Ben Harper, this time with longtime band “The Innocents Criminals” as well as legend Neil Young backed by “Crazy Horse”, as well as the Allman Brothers, but 2003 featured an up and coming band that has since gone on to international fame and they only played on night on the third stage; My Morning Jacket. MMJ, gearing up for their late 2003 album release of “It Still Moves” headlined the third stage working with early material including “War Begun”, “I Think I’m Going to Hell”, and “Death is My Sleezy Pay” and songs later released on their new album including “I Will Sing You Songs”, “Master Plan”, and later popular song “One Big Holiday”.
Honorable Mention: 2003′s Honorable Mention is awarded to Philadelphia alternative hip-hop band G. Love and Special Sauce. G. Love was one of the last bands to play on the second stage during the event and their performance featured many in the audience singing along to popular hits, most notably “Cold Beverage”. Stick that in your fridge!
2004: Some may consider 2004′s line up to be the most legendary packed since the beginning of Bonnaroo featuring bands such as The Dead (The Grateful Dead minus Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, and Pigpen), Dave Matthews, and future The Black Keys, but I would have to be incredibly naive, stupid, or both to not name Bob Dylan as the single best performer of 2004. Dylan was given the longest set time throughout the event and it would be hard to argue that most of those that purchased tickets were not taking a bathroom break during “Lucky Wilbury”‘s performance. Dylan sang the classics including “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “Like a Rolling Stone”, “Jokerman”, and “Baby, Stop Crying” as well as 2000′s soundtrack release “Things Have Changed” among other classic renditions and covers. Dylan, in the hearts of man ‘Roo diehards, is considered the single best performance in the history of the event up to and after 2004.
Honorable Mention: One only has to look at future chart position and record sales to realize that the Kings of Leon, an obscure and recently signed band at the time, gave a performance that many took notice of and has since lead to headlining the first stage of Bonnaroo, Billboard charted singles and a Grammy award!
2005: The line-u for 2005 included repeats such as the Allman Brothers, Dave Matthews, and future Grammy nominee Joss Stone. Even with this star-lineup, 2005′s Best Performer(s) is late 1980s legendary hip-hop group De La Soul. Though not Bonnaroo’s first hop-hop, one cannot debate the fact that up until 2004, it was the most powerful. The tightly cramped sea of people in front of the stage detrained into a madhouse when Posdnous and his crew took the stage. From “Pot Holes In my Lawn” to “Me, Myself, and I”, “Ego Trippin’”, and “All Good?” De La Soul electrified the audience. It was more than just a light show and a trembling bass line that blasted miles across the large farm in the sticks, it was the fact that standing before countless hundreds of people, was true hip-hop royalty!
Honorable Mention: Anyone who even THINKS of 2005′s Bonnaroo is required to note the excitement and joy in the air before a complete hush came over the crowd when the Allman Brothers played their set. No matter how you may feel about them, those “good ‘ole boys” know how to put on a show!
2006: Since this my list, I’m making the rules, and I’ve decided that more than one band or artist can be noted as best performance! 2006 marks an influx of “new generation folk artists”, a notable lack of The Allman Brothers, Ben Harper, or the likes. Of note in the line-up were Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Radiohead, and Beck among others.We here at CultureGet enjoy folk music as much as the next website focused on pop culture and we’ll be damned if 2006 did not feature the best line-up for current folk music. Featuring Ben Gibbard and Conor Obrest, known as Death Cab for Cutie/The Postal Service and Bright Eyes respectively. Gibbard performed “The New Year”, “We Laugh Indoors”, and “The Sound of Settling” among other past hits and previewed both “Crooked Teeth” and “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”. Obrest wowed the audience with “Easy/Lucky/Free”, “Take It Easy”, “Lua”, and a rather drunken rendition of “When the President Talks to God”.
Honorable Mention: 2006 marked the first time in two years that the public had really heard from hip-hop legends Cypress Hill. With no releases since 2004, the fans were excited to hear one of the biggest names of alternative hip-hop since the 1990s. Cypress Hill even honored long time friend of the group Ice Cube by performing the former N.W.A rapper’s “Today Was a Good Day”.
2007: Featured in 2007 were big name groups like The Cold War Kids, The Flaming Lips, and The Roots, but just as was the case in 2004, I’m not stupid enough not to name Sting and the Police as the single best performance of the year. The Police had reunited just months early for the 20th anniversary of the group and to have such a legendary group perform at Bonnaroo, the next best thing could have been to ask for the Beatles or the Rolling Stones! The Police performed such classics as “Roxanne”, “Message in a Bottle”, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”, and “So Lonely”. The audience never seemed to move even an inch during the performance, obviously inthralled by witnessing one of the first performances of the the reunion tour and Sting once again proved what everyone already knew; the man can put on a damn good stage show!
Honorable Mention: Philadelphia rap group The Roots must be noted as Honorable Mention in 2007 simply because of their ability to perform. With what appeared to be an entire orchestra on stage, The Roots gave the people what they paid hard earned money for; an amazing hip-hop performance that they would never forget! ?uestlove and Black Thought never diminished in their performance, performing song after song for what seemed like hours on end and everyone who witnessed the set understood the true talent of the group.
2008: 2008 included many debacles prior to the show. The Black Kids were originally in the line up, only to be removed, the Allman Brothers canceled two months prior, and Kanye West decided to be an asshole, demand he be moved to the first stage, and cut Pearl Jam (the headliners) short for countless songs, only to be two hours late. That being said though, there can be no “Best Performer” for 2008 simply because the line up was far too amazing. From Against Me!, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Death Cab for Cutie, Pearl Jam, Talib Kweli, Willie Nelson, and fucking Metallica just to name a few! does anyone want to take the extremely difficult job of naming the best performer out of THAT list? Even the second stage was impressive, featuring M.I.A, Minus the Bear, and Jakob Dylan! They even had a surprise SuperJam Les Claypool, Gogoi Bordello, and Kirk Hammet! Shit, even Chris Rock was on the comedy stage and it went on record as the largest comedy performance attendance!
Honorable Mention: The organizers of Bonnaroo receive Honorable Mention in 2008 for getting so many amazing artists into one venue!
2009: Naming a Best Performance in 2009 is still tough, but not as tough as the pervious year. Featuring everyone from Phish to Elvis Costello, Coheed and Cambria, Snoop Dogg, Nine Inch Nails, and R&B legend Al Green, you’ve got to be thinking to yourself “Shit! Who could be SO awesome to actually top a line up like that as best performer?!” Its the Bruce fuckin’ Springsteen! He played everything, EVERYTHING! From “Blinded by the Light”, to “Glory Days”, “Born in the U.S.A”, “The Rising”, the list goes on and on. Its was the single greatest performance I’ve ever witnessed! The man brought Asbury Park to Tennessee! He’s a God damned rock legend and he 60 years old and rocked the faces off of people more than half his age! It was one of the first music festivals he performed at, the first in the United States, and one of his best performances!
Honorable Mention: Hip-hop trio the Beastie Boys gain Honorable Mention here. The group had fallen off the grid for a while and some fans were displeased with their new cleaner image, speaking of vegetarianism and becoming political. But at Bonnaroo in 2009, the Beastie Boys put aside much of their political opinions and allowed their rhymes to speak for them. Just like old times.
2010: Since 2002, Bonnaroo had become more and more popular, more and more big name stars have begun to show up in the line up, and 2010 boasted some of the biggest yet. A legend in Stevie Wonder and rock stars Weezer headlined. Damian Marley and Nas were together to promote their new album on the main stage. Comedy/rock act Tenacious D got a spot on the main stage as did the Kings of Leon. Gaslight Anthem and the Flaming Lips headlined on the second stage, while future rap star Jay Electronica was just coming into the public eye. Kid Cudi and B.O.B were all in attendance to celebrate their new found fame, it was like a hip-hop head’s dream! What better way to really drive home the hip-hop fantasy that has already developed at this year’s event? Jay-Z headlining of course! Jay rocked the entire place for well over an hour, doing classics like “H to Izzo”, “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”, “99 Problems”, “Big Pimpin’”, “Encore” and newer material off of The Blueprint 3 like “On to the Next One”, “Run This Town”, and “Young Forever”.
Honorable Mention: Mumford and Sons, a band that in 2011, you cannot turn the radio on without hearing at least ten times within the hour telling the world how it was their fault, not yours, they really fucked it up this time, didn’t they dear were in attendance at Bonnaroo 2010 and they played to a rather small crowd but that crowd showed interest in them. It was that interest people showed and their pure talent that propelled them to the top of the charts not a year later!
2011: Who knows what 2011 holds for Bonnaroo, but the event begins ronights, so we’re sure to find out! With a line up featuring J. Cole, Grammy winning Arcade Fire, the Decemberists, Primum, NOFX, Civil Twilight, and hip-hop superstars Big Boi, Chiddy Bang, Lil Wayne, and Eminem; there’s no doubt there will be more than one amazing performer at 2011′s Bonnaroo!
