Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival 2015: Fourth Time’s the Charm!
Every day that passes on the farm is so bittersweet. It’s exciting because you have a whole other day of great artists to watch with people that you connect and share a deep bond with. It’s also sad because it’s another day closer to being over. My afternoon was spent at our campsite with friends. Being right in front of the arch made it simple for friends, both new and old, to visit us.
The first show that I caught was Jeffrey Ross and Ralphie May at the Comedy Tent. The Roast Master picked about ten people from the audience and did what he does best. He asked one Bonnaroovian what he does outside of the festival to which he responded “Nothing…” Jeff Ross quickly snapped back, “Well, you’re certainly qualified.” This dude is as sharp and funny as he is on those Roasts. Some of the funniest situations presented themselves on stage that couldn’t be planned… like the Macklemore-meets-the-Love-Guru-looking guy who kept interrupting during the show, which Jeff dealt with like a champ. Ralphie May was so over-the-top funny that I had tears in my eyes. He closed his show out by demonstrating his old finger-banging technique to the tune of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”
After regrouping, my crew and I made our way to Jamie xx‘s highly anticipated set. While making our way through the crowd, we noticed someone on the floor with his friends holding him. His bone had popped out of place and he couldn’t be lifted up without feeling excrutiating pain. Carlos left the crowd to get help while I waved down the Safety Volunteers in the front. After about ten minutes, a safety crew made their way to him. Once we knew he’d be safe and there was nothing more we could do to help, we made our way to the front just in time for the show to start. Jamie xx, also known for his production with The xx, has a very mature sound. The setup was very minimal with only a couple of lights, a fog machine, and a small disco ball in the background. It was reminiscent of Flying Lotus’ 2012 set, where he just had a folding table with his equipment on it and a big bottle of Jack Daniels. There’s something special about the way Jamie blends different genres and finds this nice groove that makes you feel all warm inside but still keeps you moving. The beats are simple enough to dance to yet complex enough to get lost in if you close your eyes. His debut album, In Colour, was released the week before Bonnaroo, and everyone knew all of the songs already. The mix into “Sleep Sound” was my favorite part of the set.
SBTRKT was the next artist to take the stage. I had seen him DJ before but missed every opportunity to watch him perform a live set despite being a fan for several years. I was sacrificing My Morning Jacket just to catch this set. As he walked on stage with his signature mask on, his drummer, and vocalist, I knew that it was definitely worth the wait. He performed everything I could have asked for from his first album including my favorite track “Hold On” and also some of my favorites from his latest project Wonder Where We Land. Seeing him fidget with his gadgets to create these crazy sounds and effects really made me reconsider what I consider artistry. All of these electronic producers get paid thousands of dollars to come out and press play on a turntable while artists like SBTRKT are going above and beyond to recreate these beloved songs for his fans. I stayed for about half of his set before heading to see Childish Gambino’s set at the Which Stage.
Childish Gambino was everything that KanYe West’s set should have been the year before. His third year on the farm was his strongest one yet. He came out to “The Crawl” with tremendous energy as the LEDs shined bright red, similar to KanYe. The audience caught every ad-lib which hyped the crowd even more knowing everyone was on the same wavelength. “Worldstar” had everyone jumping and rapping the lyrics to each other like two friends would in a car with the music blasting. I figured that he had a live band, but they were hidden behind an LED until they separated to reveal them. I hate to continue the Gambino/KanYe comparison, but everything that KanYe tried to do and failed, Childish succeeded in. KanYe overused autotune during his set to make his singing sound “better;” Donald used delay since he has a good voice and didn’t need pitch correction. The most entertaining aspect of his set was watching Donald dance around the stage as the crowd sang his lyrics for him like when he performed “Sweatpants.” The rapper debuted the song “Me & Your Mama” and closed his set out with his hit single “3005.”
Mumford & Sons was the next band on my agenda. In 2013, they were one of the main reasons whyt I bought my ticket to return to the farm. Unfortunately, they had to cancel the day before their performance because Ted Dwane, the band’s bassist, had to get immediate surgery for a a blood clot in his brain. This was their redemption show, but a lot has changed since then. With the release of their new album, Wilder Minds, they’ve denounced their old style altogether, including the country get-ups and banjos, for a more traditional rock sound. I was a bit concerned that this wouldn’t be the performance we were promised. All my worries went away the moment I heard the beginning of “Lovers’ Eyes.” It was surreal to be sitting in the field with my closest friends singing along to music that really helped me through certain periods of my life and meant a lot to me. Granted, they performed their new as well with songs such as “Believe” and “Snake Eyes,” which sounded great, but we first needed to be reassured we would get the show we didn’t get in 2013. Marcus brought out and introduced Ed Helms who joined them for the song “Awake My Soul.” One of the most memorable moment in the set (and the entire weekend) was when they covered The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends” with Hozier, Jim James, Danny Clinch, and Ed Helms.
I went to Bassnectar‘s set for a short time because I really wanted to see the Superjam. The time that we spent at his was intense. The bass was so loud you could literally feel it vibrating your body. It could even be heard from just outside the Other Tent on the opposite side of the farm. This was another set that didn’t utilize the screen of the Which stage but had amazing visuals on the LEDs behind and in front of the DJ/producer. We headed to the Superjam shortly after to get a good spot for the set.
This was the first Superjam that I’ve been able to catch during the four years that I’ve been to the farm. Last year’s, which was curated by Skrillex, was extremely packed and couldn’t be enjoyed from outside the tent due to sound bleed. History was being made at the Other Tent; I was determined to be a part of it and succeeded greatly. This was hands down my favorite set of the weekend. With an introduction from John Hamm and Zach Galifianakis singing “We Are The World,” the Superjam was off to a great start. Pretty Lights took to the stage with the Superjam’s band for the night and Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 on MC duties. Pretty Lights kicked it off with “Hip Hop Hooray.” A lot was covered songwise, as different artists were introduced and would perform one or two song covers. Every artist felt right at home, and they looked like they were having as much fun as we were watching all of this. Jack Antonoff performed “Dancing In the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen and later returned for “Psycho Killer” by Talking Heads, “Need You Tonight” by INXS, and “Under Pressure” with SZA (by Queen and Bowie). Robert Trujillo of Metallica was introduced and performed an impressive cover of “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne with Jason Huber of Cherub doing the vocals. The crowd lost their mind when they played “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. Pretty Lights dropped Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend,” a Bonnaroo favorite, and had the entire crowd singing along. There was a very real, very strong feeling of love in this crowd. My friends and I really bonded over this set in general. Jamie Lidell came out to perform “Do I Do” by Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long.” Rhiannon Giddens impressed me the most during the Superjam. Her one-song appearance where she sang “Roxanne” by The Police had jaws dropping. Corey Feldman made the most unnecessary appearance since the Lost Boys sequels, adding little more than a selfie on his cell phone while running around on stage during Jason Huber’s performance of “Eye of the Tiger.” At least Mouth was having fun! Can’t be mad at that. A highlight of the set was when DMC came out in a Nirvana t-shirt and performed some Run DMC classics such as “King of Rock,” “It’s Tricky,” “Peter Piper” and “Walk This Way” with Robert Trujillo and Jason Huber channeling a young(er) Steve Tyler. Chali 2na told the crowd, “I am fanning out right now, god damn it. This is one of my idols right here.” Chance The Rapper was introduced again and got the crowd with a cover of “Poison” by Bel Biv Devoe, leading into the night’s closing song — “This Is How We Do It” By Montell Jordan.
“I’ma get a little intimate with ya’ll. I’ve been doing this Hip-Hop/Rock N’ Roll thing for 30 years! All these musicians up here… Bonnaroo, we do this for you. So understand this, night after night, stage after stage, show after show, concert after concert, stadium after stadium, coliseum after coliseum, amphitheater after amphitheater, block party after block party, house party after house party, bar mitzvah after bar mitzvah… I would do you bar mitzvah! I got a confession to make. We put our lives on the line for ya’ll because we do this for you. Bonnaroo is gonna go down in history because of THIS crowd. If it wasn’t for you, music wouldn’t mean a damn thing. It’s because of you, Bonnaroo, this is what we like to do.” — DMC
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We ended our night/morning at Kalliope until the sun came up. DJ Ascension fed my trap addiction before Cherub jumped on the decks to bring the sun up. The lights on Kalliope have got to be some of the coolest I have ever seen. A rainbow laser covered the crowd, then did a wave which appeared to be in sync with the music. This marked the first time I’ve ever stayed up a full 24 hours at Bonnaroo and watched the sun come out while still partying. Needless to say, my tent and air bed felt like a 5-star hotel.
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