Bassnectar (aka producer Lorin Ashton) has become a festival heavyweight with his signature “omni-tempo” remixes, but the California native is the one being reworked in his newest release. The six-track EP Divergent Spectrum Remixes features re-edits of Bassnectar’s latest LP poduced by some of his close friends and colleagues, including West coast bass heavyweights The Glitch Mob and Beats Antique, as well as Dim Mak-founder Steve Aoki. The EP also includes a previously unreleased Bassnectar original called “Color Storm”. Stream and/or download your own copy below.

The ninth annual Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival runs May 31st to June 3rd at Mulbery Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas. Today, the festival revealed the first of three phases to its its 2012 lineup. Leading the way are Pretty Lights, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, and an acoustic performance by Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, and Jackie Greene.

Other notable includes include G. Love & Special Sauce, Beats Antique, Railroad Earth, Keller Williams, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, 12th Planet, RJD2, Green Velvet, SOJA, MiMoSA, Balkan Beat Box, The Heavy Pets, Futurebirds, and Paper Diamond. Check out the first phase in poster form below, and stay tuned to our Festival Outlook for additional lineup news and announcements.

Four-day, VIP, and other ticket packages are now available via the festival’s website.

Photo by Cap Blackard

You can never have enough treats on Halloween, which is why MoogFest has added another batch of acts to its already stacked 2011 bill. Now joining The Flaming Lips, Moby, Suicide, Tangerine Dream, Passion Pit, and M83 in Asheville, NC between October 28-30 are TV on the Radio, St. Vincent, Flying Lotus, and Special Disco Version featuring James Murphy and Pat Mahoney.

Other new additions include Zomby, SBTRKT, YACHT, John Maus, Childish Gambino, The Drums, Baths, Beats Antique, Savoy, araabMuzik, Cloudland Canyon, Moon Duo, Active Child, Grimes, Fareed Haque + Mathgames, Mimi Goese & Ben Neill, Warm Ghost, EOTO, and Fine Peduncle. You can find MoogFest’s entire 2011 lineup at our Festival Outlook.

Also, in case you missed last week’s announcement, the legendary Brian Eno will appear at MoogFest to contribute his 77 Million Paintings installment, in addition to curating one of his “Illustrated Talks”. For more details, click here.

Weekend festival passes are currently on sale for $149.50, though that price will increase to $184.50, and finally $199.50, before it’s all said and done. VIP passes are also available. Visit MoogFest’s website for complete ticketing information.

Similar to the West Coast festival Lighting in a Bottle, the event held much more than just music. Attendees that were able to wake early enough were treated with yoga classes, hoop and poi spinning seminars, and even a morning of story telling. The resort also featured a swing set, a small pond that served as both a way to cool down during the day’s heat and as a shower alternative, and a nearby waterpark that revelers could take advantage of for only a small fee – and, if they were lucky enough, land some face time with many of the festival’s artists.

While curated for a fairly distinct audience, the String Cheese Incident-heavy lineup contained artists from across the electronic music spectrum – just how many similarities do Keller Williams and Tiësto really share except working audiences into a sweaty dance party? But with stages stretching for what seemed like miles, the relentless walking through Sherwood Forest took a strain on attendees who made it for all four days. However, with the majority of festival favorites performing Saturday or Sunday, and the availability of a weekend-only pass, several thousand attendees chose to forego Thursday and Friday, a bright idea given the inclement weather that shortened several Thursday night performances and created several mud pits throughout the venue.

A failure to mention another side of the festival, a very distinct drug culture, would be a disservice to the experience. While Michigan State Police were abundant, announcements for molly, magic mushrooms, acid, nugs, and nearly every other psychedelic were never more than a few yards away. While not one to endorse experimentation to the masses, do acts like String Cheese Incident, Shpongle, Bassnectar, and/or Lance Herbstrong produce beats for the sober masses? I think not.

The following is just one writer’s journey through the Electric Forest. An event that will hopefully live on much longer than the Rothbury predecessor. Just one note to festival organizers, how about more after-parties in the camping area for 2012? Even at five a.m., the vast majority of camp was still wide awake.

-Derek Staples
Senior Staff Writer

Thursday, June 30th

LYNX – Sherwood Court – 6:15 p.m.

LYNX jump started the festival with an energetic blend of pop, electro, and beat-boxing. With festival attendance still low, the crowd turned out strong to witness one of Thursday’s more memorable sets. Even though LYNX recently put out an LP (On the Horizon), the young producer performed several fresh tracks, a couple centering around guitar-driven folk music – to quote the performer herself: “I’m a folkie who has joined the dark side.” Demonstrating a unique mixture of Adele-esque R&B vocals and live-world beats, the crowd warmly welcomed LYNX to the “dark side” of electronic music.

Kyle Hollingsworth Band – Sherwood Court – 7:45 p.m.

As the current keyboardist for festival headliner String Cheese Incident, Kyle Hollingsworth filled the void of a Cheese-free Thursday. The hour long-set was most memorable for its guest appearances, with Jason Hann of SCI sitting in on congas for a song and LYNX joining the band for an extended jam – providing her services as a beatboxer and powerful female vocalist.

Keys N Krates – Wagon Wheel – 9:45 p.m.

With the first of several thunderstorms rolling through Rothbury, several fans sought protection from the pounding rain underneath the awnings of Wagon’s Wheel permanent wooden structure. This helped generate a modest audience for the three member Keys N Krates, who already possess a sound and style that could have filled a much larger stage or venue. Keyboardist Matisse kept hyping the crowd as the band worked through inventive remixes of tracks ranging from Jay-Z and Snoop to Prodigy. Utilizing a live drummer and the talented DJ Jr-Flo, the Toronto outfit worked unlikely time signatures that kept the audience (literally) on their toes the entire set, and had one attendee exclaiming: “You can smell the bass!”

Emancipator – Wagon Wheel – 11:30 p.m.

Very few artists have a more appropriate sound for an electric forest. Aided by midi-violinist and several nature samples, most notably bird chirps, Emancipator created beautiful, mind expanding electronica. The crowd may have been reduced due to a conflicting Kaskade performance, but the duo’s intelligent dance music truly brought the audience together with a signature blend of hip-hop beats and organic, world music production.

Lotus – Sherwood Court – 12:30 a.m.

For Electric Forest’s jam-band faithful, Lotus‘ late night performance may have been the most sought after post-midnight set of the entire weekend. But then again, Lotus are not your typical jamband, at least not in the same vein of String Cheese Incident. Lotus trade the banjo, fiddle, and extended solos, for electronic-led group improvisations. The four-piece’s set exemplified the sounds of the weekend, with an aesthetic ranging from roots rock to contemporary electronica.

Friday, July 1st

Van Ghost – Forest Stage – 4:30 p.m.

The Forest Stage may have been small, but over the weekend it showcased amazing young talent to a dense, energetic crowd. Van Ghost broke in the area Friday afternoon with their charming Southern rock sound, led by the powerful vocals of Jennifer Hartwsick and song writing of Michael Harrison Berg. With most of the Forest Stage talent centered around aural and technical exploration, Van Ghost served up some good-old American rock music perfectly suitable for the Fourth of July weekend.

The New Deal – Sherwood Court – 6:15 p.m.

Friday’s appearance was one of the final shows for Toronto’s New Deal. Even with the number of shows dwindling, the entire three-piece could not show up, with bassist Robert Mercurio of Galactic filling in for the early evening set. According to long-time fans, tensions in the group run high, so line-up modification may have added to an incredibly fun performance, not a single face could be spotted without a massive summertime grin. The outfit’s analog keyboard runs, electro-focus, and group improvisation set led to a hippy-friendly dance party.

Chiddy Bang – Tripolee – 6:30 p.m.

For festival attendees not inclined on three straight days of SCI performances, the end of Chiddy Bang‘s Friday performance was the sole alternative, and the duo’s electronic Hip-Hop could not have been more removed from the headliner’s progressive bluegrass tunes. Comprised of drummer/producer Noah “Xaphoon Jones” Beresin and emcee “Chiddy” Anamege, the group closed out their set with an impressive freestyle. Beresin fielded topics from the audience, that just happened to be centered strongly around sex and drug usage (i.e. weed, ecstasy, horse tranquilizer) while Chiddy prepped the flow offstage. Chiddy hit every topic with ease, and proved why he is one of the best freestyle emcees currently around.

Galactic – Sherwood Court – 11:45 p.m.

Very few bands are more musically gifted than Galactic. Part jam band, part dance outfit, and part New Orleans funk ensemble, the expanded live seven-piece kept fans suspended on a cloud of musical bliss during their extended jams late Friday night. These jams rested on an amazing bottom end of progressive drumming by Stanton Moore and bass licks courtesy of Robert Mercurio, but Galactic’s gem is their dual horn players. The saxophone and trombone players are epic, and when either took the front of stage the group were at their most powerful, providing a Big Easy energy that few in the Midwest ever get to experience. Honestly, just try to stay planted during a Galactic performance – it’s just not possible to keep those hips from swaying.

Tiësto – Ranch Arena – 12:15 a.m.

What’s the best way to follow two sets of SCI, well apparently with the biggest name in dance music, Tiësto. Set against simple visuals, at least for a Tiësto performance, the world renowned Dutch DJ kept the performance on the harder-side, skipping ambiance, trance, and Euro-house, for more upbeat hard house and big beat. The change in style may have been partly affected by other notable DJs at the event , most notably Bassnectar and Skrillex, who have developed massive crowds with their bass heavy remixes. Unlike U.S. based DJs, Tiësto exemplifies a DJ set, flowing in and out of genres and tempos.

Dieselboy – Tripolee – 1:00 a.m.

Due to a scheduling conflict for Bonobo, it must be hard to be in both Europe and Michigan on the same day, drum and bass champion Dieselboy moved from his 2:15 a.m. indoor Wagon Wheel performance for a more appropriate 1:00 a.m. Tripolee slot. While intimate, Wagon Wheel’s stage was so cramped Dieselboy’s bass may have overpowered the setting. Utilizing a double-decker CDJ setup, Dieselboy delivered a grimy, pulsating hour-long DnB performance. Many in the crowd arrived to witness the organic sound of Bonobo, but the audience only continued to grow as people got word of Dieselboy’s epic set. The set featured an extended DnB remix of the Tetris theme-song and Nero’s “Promises”, but also included typical production elements of dub-step, which for long-time Dieselboy fans (including this writer) mildly devalued the otherwise ferocious live set.

Lance Herbstrong – Wagon Wheel – 2:30 a.m.

To adjust for the transplanted Dieselboy, Austin’s live-remix outfit Lance Herbstrong arrived on stage around 2:30 a.m. for a two-hour set. While the outfit is still relatively unknown, the four-piece, sometimes five, combine remixes of radio favorites, custom beats, and live drumming and guitar, to fill dance floors with folks ranging from candy kids to new school dead heads. Lead by producers Kamal Soliman and Bill Sarver, the performance also featured ex-Porno for Pyro’s guitarist Peter DiStefano and live-only drummer Ricky Gonzlez, and kicked off with a mash-up of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” with The Beatles’ “Come Together”. The set included LH’s take on MIA’s “Paper Planes”, Cypress Hill tracks, and “Orgasm”, originally done by DiStefano’s Porno for Pyros. Unlike the mash-up work that Girl Talk has made so popular, Lance Herbstrong put a fresh spin on their hand-selected tracks.

Saturday, July 2nd

Keller Williams – Ranch Arena – 3:15 p.m.

Having never seen Keller Williams live, the entire set caught this writer off guard. Arriving expecting a progressive bluegrass set, I was met with a mid-afternoon sun soaked dance party. When performing solo, Williams would loop vocals, beat-boxing, and guitar riffs over a pop-sensible synth beat for a dynamic one-man jamband experience. When Williams did provide vocals, the lyrics were often quite comical adding to crowd pleasing early weekend set.

Welder – Forest Stage – 5:00 p.m.

Following a performance by Jamie Janover on the hammer dulcimer, San Francisco’s Brendan Angelides stepped towards his live DJ setup to perform under the moniker Welder. Angelides, who more notably performs as Eskmo, donned an industrial welder’s mask for the set, but Welder’s soundscapes could not be further removed from the “industrial” imagery. Welder’s downtempo beats balance between synthetic sound design and organic ambient elements wonderfully suited for listeners swinging the day away in the forest’s hammocks.

Rubblebucket – Sherwood Court – 4:45 p.m.

Rubblebucket are another Brooklyn indie outfit making noise across the States, but the eight-member live outfit created a dance-pop experience Saturday afternoon that holds up against any of Brooklyn’s current crop of up-and-coming indie talent. Through the final moments of the set, the sound was energetic and uplifting. Comprised of an eclectic set of multi-talented youngsters, the live experience was a mixture of pop, dance, jazz, and afrobeat. To finish off the set, the entire group of wood/brasswinds jumped into the crowd for the finale’s final moments.

REO Speedwagon – Ranch Arena – 5:30 p.m.

For the inaugural Electric Forest, Insomniac Presents established the first Saturday Afternoon Special and tapped REO Speedwagon for 2011. In observance of the Fourth of July holiday, lead singer Kevin Cronin took the opportunity to speak against the actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, relating the turmoil to the Vietnam War during the onset of the band’s career. As expected, the set was an afternoon of hits including classic-radio staples, “Keep on Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling”. Cronin kept light during the performance, joking with the audience that most of them would not have been born without some REO Speedwagon track playing the the room. Even after a 40 year career, the band remained tight and energetic for the entirety of the 90-minute performance, with Bryan Hitt absolutely owning a massive drum kit.

Lettuce – Sherwood Court – 6:30 p.m.

Now almost two decades into their existence as a collective, Lettuce is at the forefront of the funk-jazz hybrid. The seven-piece first took to the stage without guitarist Eric Krasno, but soon the entire outfit was creating a well-crafted sonic funk onslaught. Drummer Adam Deitch, who also appeared at the festival as Break Science, supplied an ample percussive beat alongside bassist Erick Coomes, while saxophonists Sam Kininger and Ryan Zoidis joined in with intricate jazz-infused melodies. And it would be a failure to mention the ability of keyboardist Neal Evans who was a standout during a festival full of talented keyboardists.

Paper Diamond – Tripolee – 10:30 p.m.

Paper Diamond is just one moniker for Colorado’s Alex Botwin, who also performs as Alex B., as one-third the Pnuma Trio, and helms the Elm and Oak label. The late-night performance drew many from the extended SCI performance and featured the driving bass and spacey synths that propel the tracks off his recent Pretty Light Music release Levitate.

Eskmo – Trioplee – 11:45 p.m.

Brendan Angelides’ earlier Welder prompted this writer to double dip with an exploration into the beats of Eskmo. The production was quite similar between the two, each based on organic ambience, but the Eskmo set was more dark, with ties to a more melancholy core. Welder drifted through beat changes, while the early section of Eskmo’s set shuffled through beats with slightly more angst. The two monikers seem to represent the light and day present within all individuals, and each deserve have earned follow up listens from this writer.

Bassnectar – Ranch Arena – 12:15 a.m.

Very few artists electronic or otherwise have the current appeal of bass head-leader Lorin Ashton. Ashton, who has revolutionized bass music under the Bassnectar moniker, drew the largest audience of the weekend with 30,000+, easily topping any SCI crowds. Standing within the first few rows of a Bassnectar performance was like facing down the early stages of a massive thunderstorm – the ground rumbled with bass, the air filled with bright lights of electricity, and instead of rain, fans were drenched with an onslaught of BPMs.

On some level, Bassnectar has solidified bass music as the Millennial generation’s heavy-metal, with the predominantly drunk, drug-fueled audience ready to rage at each and every bass drop. When not battling against the raw energy of Bassnectar’s beats, fans are rallying against fists and feet coming from every direction. All of this a bit odd, coming from a DJ that is so fond of his pink elephant.

Shpongle Presents The Shpongletron Experience – Sherwood Court – 1:30 a.m.

Custom made, breath-taking visuals are becoming increasingly common since Daft Punk introduced their Pyramid, but no DJ has linked together the audio and visuals experience as closely as the team behind the Shpongletron Experience. True, Simon Posford and his psybient tracks are the star of the show, but the experience would be nothing without the visuals by Zebbler. As usual, the Shpongletron Experience launched with “Divine Moments of Truth”, and for those willing to dive head first into the actual “trip”, the next 90 minutes was possibly a life-altering experience. The entire set was a sensory overload, with 3D visuals, lazers, and hoopers perfectly synched with Posford’s psybient works including the “Dorset Perception” and newest single “God Particle”. The Shpongletron Experience is similar to the 1960s: “If you can remember it, you probably weren’t there”.

Sunday, July 3rd

Zach Deputy – Sherwood Court – 2:15 p.m.

Thanks to a tip from a friend, I made sure to experience Georgia’s Zach Deputy‘s early Sunday afternoon set. Like Keller Williams, Deputy has the ability to turn a guitar, an amazing voice, beat boxing and some technology, into an awesome one-man dance experience. Deputy kick started the set with a solo rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Hey Hey What Can I Do” and continued with an hour of beach-ready rock. Deputy’s sound shares similarities with acts ranging from Jack Johnson to Blues Traveler, but his ability to produce the extended tracks differentiates Deputy from other artists. While Deputy primarily performed newer tracks, withholding fan-favorites “Tubesteak” and “Chicken Pot Pie”, the small crowd still kept dancing through the entirety of the show.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Ranch Arena – 4:30 p.m.

After seeing Edward Sharpe on multiple occasions, it’s no longer obvious whether frontman Alex Ebert is genuinely rude to fans, or if his abrasive nature is just a guise for Edward Sharpe. Ebert was extremely talkative during the set, at one time pleading for the audience to start a fundraiser for the band in hopes of purchasing a $90,000 Trident 80 series console for recording purposes. Between rants, fans were treated with a new simple, acoustic track that began with the lyrics “car crash in the night”, if any dedicated fans may know the title please feel free to share. Then only after a lengthy inquisition about what individual members in the audience do, the band finally broke into their hit “Home”. And as one would expect, Ebert did spend ample time in the audience.

Beats Antique – Sherwood Court – 5:45 p.m.

The threesome of David Satori, Zoe Jakes, and Tommy Cappel may have been the most talented band to begin prior to sundown during Electric Forest. The group of percussionists blend tribal percussion, rock drum fills, belly dance music, and down tempo hip-hop elements, for their signature Beats Antique sound. When not performing on marching bass drum, Jakes hypnotized the audience with her superb belly-dancing skills. Like Jakes herself, Beats Antique create beautiful arrangements with just a taste of indecency.

Cherub – Forest Stage – 6:30 p.m.

Comprised of Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber, Cherub are a band that you should get to know – because soon everyone will know this band. Signed to Alex B.’s Elm and Oak, the duo create dance-pop that is absolutely addictive. When not performing their own songs Sunday, they had the ability to remix tracks live, including an amazing interpretation Daft Punk’s “Aerodynamic”.

String Cheese Incident – Ranch Arena – 7:00 p.m.

For fans more familiar with dirty beats and electro artists than jambands, String Cheese Incident‘s sets often were the designated time to take a much needed breather prior to Electric Forest’s late night sets. And with six sets throughout the weekend, missing a few didn’t seem too bad. On the other hand, each set displayed a unique side of the Colorado outfit, who each have the ability to play a wide variety of genres.

Rooted in bluegrass, the six-piece created a final set Sunday night including interstellar/psychedelic rifts, irish-folk, spanish-infusion, and even some carney music. Only the SCI diehards may have enjoyed every moment of the six sets, but each performance had something for everyone in attendance to enjoy…and isn’t that what makes music festivals so special?

Conspirator – Tripolee – 10:15 p.m.

No band seemed to have more fun on stage over the weekend than the live-tronica superband, Conspirator. Led by the Disco Biscuits’ Aron Magner (keys) and Marc Brownstein (bass) and completed by guitarist Chris Machetti and drummer Darren Shearer, the group were all smiles as they jammed through an arsenal of electro, DnB, and dub. Surrounded by an extravagant set-up, Magner seemed to be the quarterback of the collective, throwing up hand signals relating to changes in rhythms, time, and key signatures.

Pretty Lights – Ranch Arena – 11:00 p.m.

The Pretty Lights concept, led by Colorado’s Derek Vincent Smith, reached a new plateau during Electric Forest. Gone is live drummer Adam Deitch, replaced by massive visuals, and a city of lights surrounding Smith. Sunday night’s set included a block of summertime remixes including (the very fitting) Sublime’s “Summertime”, a revisit to classic psychedelics with Pink Floyd’s “Time” (see video above), and Kanye West’s flashy “All of the Lights”. Towards the end, Smith put together a new Radiohead vs. Nirvana vs. NIN remix, though the set was completed by fan-favorites like “High School Art Class” and “Hot Like Sauce”. Exceptional light show aside, some more live instrumentation would be a nice re-inclusion to the augmented Pretty Lights’ experience.

EOTO – Tripolee – 12:00 a.m.

For their closing set, EOTO (Jason Hann and Michael Travis of String Cheese Incident) diverged from their traditional world/dub heavy improv only sets. Instead, the duo remixed “Rock Down to Electric Avenue [Electric Forest]” and went hip-hop heavy to close out the Electric Forest festival.

The Culture of Electric Forest

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Each year, a mix of newcomers and festival veterans come to the farm to feel the magic – and it’s that same feeling that keeps people coming back. Yes, it was hot as hell. And yes, the dust was worse than it’s ever been. But none of that mattered once you entered Centeroo – you were in a musical utopia. The music of the theme song lends itself to the musical diversity you can find on the farm – its mix of bluegrass and jazz blends right in on the farm, where at any given time you might be able to catch a country show or a metal band, perhaps some hip-hop or a little jam band action. There’s something for everyone at Bonnaroo if you look for it.

This year certainly felt like a birthday celebration; from the fireworks show on Saturday night to the parachuters lighting up the night sky on Friday. The watchtower received a makeover – we now had our own bizarro cuckoo clock that played Dr. John’s “Desitively Bonnaroo” whenever it rang. And speaking of Desitively Bonnaroo -  the album where the festival got its name finally made its way to the farm in the form of Dr. John and the original Meters performing it on Saturday night. It was a pitch-perfect way to celebrate the festival’s past and look forward to the future.

Photo by Max Blau

The birthday party was obvious by the inclusion of some of the festival’s unofficial ambassadors – My Morning Jacket were there, making their sixth appearance on the farm. Widespread Panic also played for their sixth time, while Béla Fleck and Les Claypool were both there with their original bands, after having played the festival many times in many different iterations. It felt like a reunion of old friends coming together to celebrate a birthday, and we can’t wait to be celebrating year 20 in 2021. Who knows what the festival will look like then? But for this year – yes, it was hot. It was dusty. But throughout the whole weekend, no matter where you were, you could easily reach out your hand and feel the magic.

-Carson O’Shoney
Senior Staff Writer

Thursday, June 9th

River City Extension – This Tent – 4:00 p.m.

Photo by Michael Hurcomb

It was only fitting that after an 18+ hour drive from Boston, the first song I heard approaching my first set of the festival was “Too Tired To Drink”. It must be daunting to be the first act to open the tents, but River City Extension did a more than admirable job. Frontman Joe Michelini’s energy was matched only by backup vocalist Sam Tacon – the pair stomped the stage and beckoned the crowd to join them at every opportunity, including clapping along to album standout “New Intelligence”. Dan Melius clearly loved every moment of the gig, blowing his trumpet to bits when he wasn’t thumping his chest and belting out vocal parts that weren’t even his. It took some effort at times to get the audience totally hooked, like the lackluster sing-along during “Something Salty, Something Sweet”, but the band never stopped giving it their all. To their great credit, they certainly had some new fans by the end. -Ben Kaye

Greensky Bluegrass – On Tap Lounge – 4:00 p.m.

After pulling an all-nighter waiting in line to get onto the campgrounds, Michigan’s bluegrass quintet Greensky Bluegrass‘ soaring harmonies, rapidly-picked banjo and sweet melodies were the perfect start to Bonnaroo 2011. As the set progressed through highlights such as “Into the Rafters”, typical bluegrass fare extended jam sessions, and an appearance from a Pee-wee Herman doll on a stick, the modest crowd swelled into a sweaty mess of dancing that far exceeded the small set-up for the On Tap Lounge and surely guaranteed them an audience at their sets later in the weekend. -Caitlin Meyer

Hayes Carll – The Other Tent, 4:15 p.m.

Photo by Michael Hurcomb

Opening a tent on Thursday is not an easy task. Most years the crowds are small because the people just aren’t there – Thursday is a travel and setup day for many. But since Bonnaroo opened the gates early this year – Wednesday afternoon instead of early Thursday morning – the farm was already hopping by the time the tents were open for business. Playing to a decent sized audience, Hayes Carll and his five-piece band played a strong set of the good kind of country – no gloss, no fake pop – just a down to earth set of old style country songs. The crowd was really into it – Carll had them howling and cheering over the hilarious “Another Like You”. He played mostly songs from latest effort KMAG YOYO, with a few from earlier albums, including a personal favorite – his cover of Tom Waits’ “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”. -Carson O’Shoney

Band of Skulls – That Tent – 8:30 p.m.

If there’s one thing this band proved during their early evening set, it’s that rock and roll is alive and well, and it breathes in England. Everything Band of Skulls did, every crashing crescendo, every tasty lick, every “How you doin’, Bonnaroo?!”, was met with raucous approval from the front rails to beyond the edges of the lawns outside the tent. Whether it was hits like “Light of the Morning” or “Death by Diamonds and Pearls” or new tracks they didn’t even know yet, the crowd devoured every moment, including the pick tossed by Russell Marsden into their hungry hands as the band slammed into “I Know What I Am”. The track “Impossible” was transformed into an impressive closer with a monstrously extended breakdown, making it a standout in a Thursday night highlight. -Ben Kaye

Wavves – This Tent - 5:30 p.m.

Photo by Michael Hurcomb

Wavves‘ packed set at This Tent didn’t truly start until it was almost over. Although Nathan Williams’ sloppy, loud sound matched the energy of the records, it just wasn’t suited for an outdoor, sandy festival setting. The show began with a run of newer and really old tracks, both of which were lost upon the casual listener expecting solely “Post Acid” and “King of the Beach”. A reprimanded crowd surfer resulted in Williams (in typical anti-establishment fashion) demanding that the crowd do whatever they want to have fun and completely ignore security. Following this spiel, Williams launched into a run of songs off last year’s King of the Beach – finally engaging the crowd. “Linus Spacehead” was especially well-received, with Williams’ screams of “I’m stuck in the sky/I’m never coming down” resonating particularly well in the suspended smoke above the crowd. -Caitlin Meyer

Freelance Whales – That Tent – 5:30 p.m.

The strange appeal of Freelance Whales baffled me, for the most part — here is an act with enough of a pop lean to tweak some lyrical structure for easy radio airplay, whose vocalist isn’t even a stone’s throw away, and this band has chosen an ethereal indie route that you can take or leave. Bonnaroo heated up brutally fast, and following the more country-centric vibe of Futurebirds with cheerful positivity was a sorely-needed departure in helping the crowd forget the sun temporarily. Sure, it was a tent with shade, but let’s get real…humidity knows no bounds, so we take what we can get. This includes happy indie pop like the phenomenal Freelance Whales. Now, excuse me while the hippie who spilled his beer on my shoe buys me a brew. Cheers! -David Buchanan

Karen Elson – The Other Tent – 5:45 p.m.

Photo by Michael Hurcomb

A night before her divorce party, Karen Elson put on her own kind of fiesta on the farm. Bringing along 3/4ths of the Greenhornes (or 1/2 of the Raconteurs, if you prefer) – Elson and her band tore through selections from The Ghost Who Walks along with a couple of covers – including a fantastic take on Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” and her Lou Reed cover and Record Store Day single “Vicious”. The band sounded better than ever – they’ve come a long way since she first started playing shows last year. Elson was in total control of the crowd. They were simply enthralled by her and it showed, in both their reactions and her performance. -Carson O’Shoney

Best Coast – The Other Tent – 7:15 p.m.

Photo by Mark C. Austin

Besides Sleigh Bells, Best Coast had the biggest crowd of any Thursday act. Inexplicably, they were both in the smallest main tent at the festival. Bethany & co. took the stage to huge applause, then proceeded to play mostly selections from their latest effort, Crazy for You. Unfortunately, the band didn’t impress on stage. Most of the songs just bled together and it led to a pretty boring set. The crowd still went crazy for “Boyfriend”, and many didn’t seem to care that everything sounded the same – but for those of us hoping for more from a band that has written some solid songs, this was a big disappointment. -Carson O’Shoney

J. Cole – This Tent – 8:30 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

Bonnaroo’s Thursday night lineup is notorious for nabbing acts on their way up. Acts like MGMT, Vampire Weekend and the xx have graced the farm on past Thursdays. This year, J. Cole was the obvious choice for Thursday’s about-to-blow-up act. He was the first act signed on Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, and he’s poised to release his debut album later this year. For fans who caught his show, it was a great chance to see him before he starts playing main stages – and he proved his worth with a high energy set. He got the crowd jumping, and they followed his every move, from throwing diamonds in the sky to a legit lighter salute – something rare in today’s concert scene. Look out for J. Cole – he’ll be all over the radio in due time. -Carson O’Shoney

The Drums – The Other Tent – 8:45 p.m.

Since it was mid-June in Tennessee, The Drums‘ vibe couldn’t be more suited to the temperatures, even excluding chilly coastlines elsewhere. There truly is little to be said for an act whose first big LP release has been repeatedly hailed by independent blogs, so we’ll stick to the current events.

You really had to be there to sink your teeth into a bite of something so surfer-oriented that you could imagine water coming down. It wasn’t a Centeroo fountain, but nobody complained — the sun had already been down for quite a bit. Songs like “Let’s Go Surfing” or “Best Friend” created a bubbly dance party that even frontman Jonathan Pierce took part of – without sweating too much, either.

With Thursday being the second worst afternoon to be billed on this week, we accept that The Drums could have half-assed their way through a whole short set. We’re happy they did not. -David Buchanan

Twin Shadow – This Tent - 10:00 p.m.

With the pain of having to choose between The Walkmen, Sleigh Bells, and Twin Shadow still fresh, George Lewis did his best to swoon the crowd in his favor. Although he may have lost in numbers, he won in performance – the dazzling blue and yellow lights, lush synthesizers, and low, tender voice in top-notch shape as he rolled through Forget‘s finest. Limited crowd interaction usually seems standoffish, but Lewis’ almost non-presence lent itself to an entrancing, rich set that matched the vibe and depth of the recordings perfectly. “I Can’t Wait” and “When We’re Dancing” proved to be show highlights, as the crowd swayed back and forth in pure ecstasy. - Caitlin Meyer

Sleigh Bells – The Other Tent – 10:15 p.m.

The full effect of the new Wednesday gate openings could be seen and felt by anyone who attended the Sleigh Bells set. In my four ‘Roos, I have never seen a crowd like this one on a Thursday, nor ever at the Other Tent in general. As the Brooklyn duo burst into “Crown On The Ground” and the crowd surged forward, the first thought was “this should’ve been at a bigger tent.” When Alexis Krauss called out, “This one goes out to the back” before fan-favorite “Rill Rill”, she was talking to the people pressed against the fences to the right, up towards the water slide on the left, and beyond the trees in back. It was rowdy, almost scary, but behind a battering ram of bass and a wall of light and color turned solid by dust kicked into the air by dancing hordes, it was proof that these are two people totally at home throwing a party for upwards of 20,000 people, and rocking each and every one of them breathless. -Ben Kaye

Childish Gambino – This Tent – 11:30 p.m.

Photo by Mark C. Austin

Donald Glover’s rapper side-persona is starting to become a more recognizable name than his real one. While in ways that’s always been part of the Childish Gambino experiment, this was his first real test in front of a festival-sized crowd. He entered hard with the Youngbloodz sampling “Let Me Dope You”, but recent smash “Freaks and Geeks” had a strange mix and caught Gambino out of breath, slow on just his second song. Though he mumbled through most of his crowd interactions, his confidence grew with his energy as he bounded about stage, climbing atop a speaker to begin “Yes”. The crowd was with him the whole way, chanting his name during no fewer than five interims, and rushing the stage as he mounted the rails for “I Be On That”. In short-shorts and a Garth Brooks “The Cat in the Hat” t-shirt, he certainly didn’t cut the typical rapper image, but the speed showcased on the Kanye sampling “Break (All of the Lights)”, the vocal versatility of “My Shine” (he can sing!), and the gruffness closing out “Lights Turned On” show he’s actually got the chops to be a recognizable force in hip-hop. -Ben Kaye

Beats Antique – The Other Tent - 11:45 p.m.

Classifying Beats Antique‘s unique blend of every genre imaginable is immensely difficult – and the same applies to their live show. The bass was heavy, but not enough to warrant dub step dancing; the percussion reeked afro-beat, but the grooves weren’t long enough to really get into. For a stoner-friendly world fusion jamming show, the set was plagued by prematurely ending songs and an abnormal amount of talking. That being said, though, the audience packed into the tent without complaint and spilled onto the surrounding grass, enjoying the musicianship as the band frequently switched around instruments and laughing at the attempt to organize the ‘world’s largest simultaneous clap’. -Caitlin Meyer

Friday, June 10th

Sharon Van Etten – Which Stage – 12:15 p.m.

Photo by Michael Hurcomb

Sharon Van Etten is no stranger to middle Tennessee. As she proclaimed during her Friday morning set, she lived in Murfreesboro (a much maligned college town) for a few years and, as she put it, “I’m not ashamed!”. This year marked her first performance at Bonnaroo, bringing her back to the region where she went to college. She seemed humbled by the experience – saying she was “a little overwhelmed” – as well as visibly flustered by the heat. But she pressed on and put on a pleasant early afternoon show. The sun was punishing, but the crowd didn’t let it distract them from Van Etten’s nuanced melodies. With a two piece band backing her up, she worked her way through songs from both of her albums, eliciting some strong reactions from the sparse but constantly growing crowd. A woman near me wiped tears away, while others near me attempted to dance – a difficult task for an introspective songwriter. Whatever the reaction, the crowd sure seemed appreciative. -Carson O’Shoney

Kylesa – That Tent – 1:45 p.m.

Two drummers going at it behind a keyboardist who adds ambience with a theremin? Can you say sci-fi horror with a twist of lime? Kylesa, while pounding through a heavy helping of Static Tensions and Spiral Shadow in pure rock fervor, tore down barriers of sound live, and there was not a single still body by the end of it all. If you needed evidence, all you had to do was look down towards the ground, where packs of crushed American Spirits and shattered Ray-Bans lost in a sand-locked mosh pit during “Running Red” and “Scapegoat”. Sincerely…Kylesa is not your usual metal band, and far from the quieter end of progressive, but throw in some Mastodon and you might as well call the infirmary ahead of schedule. You’ll need it. -David Buchanan

Béla Fleck & The Flecktones – Which Stage – 2:00 p.m.

Béla Fleck got the band back together last year – well really, the Flecktones never actually broke up, but for the first time since 1992 they’re back with original member Howard Levy. As the first major festival on their schedule since then, Bonnaroo was a perfect fit for their instrumental brand of bluegrass fusion, especially since Béla Fleck is one of the unofficial ambassadors of the festival – he’s been at the festival in some capacity more years than not. The four-piece wowed the substantial crowd with their incredible musicianship – the Wooten brothers seemed to be having the time of their lives, and Béla was masterful on the banjo. They mostly drew from their latest album, their first with the original lineup since 1992, Rocket Science, but they still found room for older classics like “Big Country”. Béla will be back, but this particular set will last as one of his most special at Bonnaroo. -Carson O’Shoney

Justin Townes Earle – The Other Tent – 2:30 p.m.

The first full Bonnaroovian day found Americana sounds taking over the smallest tent, and Justin Townes Earle lent his honest voice and songs to the scene. Joined on cello for the first third of his set by the man who played just beforehand, Ben Sollee, Earle put on an impressive display of guitar plucking and folk/country stylings. The set was made almost quaint by his constant reference to the crowd as “ladies and gentlemen,” though that illusion was dashed when he introed “Slippin’ and Slidin’” by saying, “Now ladies and gentlemen, as most people know I like to do a lot of drugs. So this song is about my sort of unwillingness to compete in the game of life sometimes.” Like I said, the man’s honest. A high-stepping, intense cover of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “My Starter Won’t Start” was a highlight of a simple yet glowing mid-day performance. -Ben Kaye

The Sword – That Tent – 3:30 p.m.

If the album art from Warp Riders wasn’t a big fat indicator of the direction The Sword comes from, you have a lot to learn about classic rock. From covering ZZ Top to dancing in and out of their three-disc catalog during the hottest part of the day, The Sword re-injects absolute metal into the current mainstream, on tools of the trade every band should acquire — not the least of which being sheer stage presence. Unfortunately, while all of the general pieces fell into place, Kyle Shutt appeared to be in some other place entirely for the majority of the set, particularly on opener “Unearthing The Orb”. What could have made for a fine throwback to Heavy Metal wound up a sub-par rendition of anything The Sword stands for, but the crowd didn’t seem to care at all. -David Buchanan

Abigail Washburn – The Other Tent - 4:00 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

Despite starting 15 minutes late and having early sound issues, Abigail Washburn‘s set was undoubtedly one of the weekend’s best. Starting with City of Refuge‘s title track, dabbling in old material, and playing an extended version of traditional gospel song “Keys to the Kingdom”, her vocal prowess and impressive clawhammer banjo playing were the epitome of musicianship. It wasn’t all show though, as she danced around the stage as her bandmates each took a solo and eagerly interacted with the audience throughout. Round out the set with an incredibly talented pair of violinists, horns and a guest appearance from hubby Béla Fleck and Washburn just couldn’t lose. -Caitlin Meyer

Walk the Moon – Cafe Where? – 4:30 p.m.

The cool-down factor of the shaded Cafe Where was totally negated as it became a party packed with Walk the Moon fans mostly hailing from the band’s home of Cincinnati. With a sincere yelp of “So pumped!”, the band got right to work with “The Liftaway”, jumping about and smiling joyfully. The track “Lisa Baby” was given a ridiculously fun vibe setting the whole tent bumping, and it was simply superfluous to preface “Anna Sun” by saying, “Let’s get a little crazy, we’re at Bonnaroo!”. To introduce what would be the first encore I witnessed at the festival, they said, “This song is appropriately titled ‘Me and All My Friends.’” It was indeed apt, as a group of friends is exactly what this band feels like on stage. At one point, the woman next to me leaned in: “I don’t think they’re signed, dude, which is insane. I’m gonna get them signed.” Good luck with that, lady, because after that crisp, electrifying set, they fully deserve it. -Ben Kaye

Opeth – That Tent – 5:15 p.m.

Opeth is on the cusp of dropping its 10th album release, so for tattooed and well-worn traveling fans of this Swedish prog-metal powerhouse, expectations wavered sporadically between “We want new shit” and “We want classics.” The difficulty lay in deciding what constitutes “classic”, and with zero unheard tunes making the set, we settled for a sufficient  seven or eight song doling out of the past. Ghost Reveries’ “The Grand Conjuration”, alongside Watershed‘s “Hex Omega” and “The Lotus Eater”, bookended a seven-strong setlist, all centering on a quaint Deliverance slow-burn, “In My Time Of Need” — this is not at all the ideal series, but with nods to both Blackwater Park and one half of my favorite de facto metal double-album, it was convenient. It’s a mild appetizer to sate taste buds, pending their 2011 Heritage tour. -David Buchanan

Givers – On Tap Lounge – 5:20 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

Yet again proving the On Tap Lounge stage to be the weekend’s hidden gem, Lafayette, Louisiana’s Givers‘ energetic and fun set added some life to a long Friday afternoon. Sugary sweet male-female vocal harmonies alongside whimsical melodies resulted in a thoroughly danceable and enjoyable set. Singer Tiffany Lamson made sure to graciously thank the crowd after almost every song, and the genuine excitement was really refreshing. Highlights included EP favorite “Meantime” as well as tracks from their upcoming debut LP, and an extended version of poppy, psychedelic “Up Up Up” to close the show. -Caitlin Meyer

The Decemberists – What Stage – 5:30 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

“We’re The Decemberists. We’re pleased to be here. We’re gonna play some songs for you. This first one starts like this.” So quoth Colin Meloy as the midday heat began to fade and his band started their show with “July, July!”. That little speech set the stage perfectly, as the performance was simple, straightforward, and full of witty banter. This was the band’s first festival gig without Jenny Conlee, and Meloy sent her regards. “She says hello,” he said, “and she’s doing well. Now here’s a song about the end of the world.” He then chugged straight into “Calamity Song”. Conlee’s replacement was serviceable, though she wasn’t nearly as charming or vocally strong next to Meloy. Still, the band played a pleasant set heavy on cuts from The King is Dead, though in the end the commentary was perhaps more memorable than the music. -Ben Kaye

Wanda Jackson - The Other Tent – 5:45 p.m.

Photo by Mark C. Austin

The First Lady of Rockabilly made her triumphant debut at Bonnaroo this year by transporting her audience to a different time. When she took the stage, suddenly we weren’t on a farm in Manchester. We were in Memphis in the late ’50s, sitting in on Wanda Jackson taking us on a tour of the music of the time. She covered a wide range – from country to rockabilly to gospel, with even a little yodeling in there. During her set she often spoke about her experiences with Elvis, proving to the younger generation her importance and experience. She also talked a lot about Jack White – prompting the crowd to freak out, hoping for an appearance by Mr. White himself. Alas, he did not show up, but she played some great renditions from the album that he produced, The Party Ain’t Over. Her backing band, The High Dollars, were extremely tight and made everything sound even better. She summed up her set quite nicely while introducing her biggest hit – “We’re gonna do “Let’s Have A Party” – why not? It’s Bonnaroo!” -Carson O’Shoney

Florence + The Machine – This Tent – 6:45 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

The crowd for London’s Florence + The Machine at the This Tent (or, as the result of one of numerous sign failures, the ‘S Tent’) stretched back to the famed Mushroom Fountain. That many feet kicked a lot of dust into the air that when mixed with the early setting sun’s glare made for a difficult view of the stage if you weren’t under the tent. Even if they couldn’t quite see her, they spiritedly sang with her for the “Drumming Song” refrain and the gorgeous chorus of “Cosmic Love”. The otherworldly voice she’s become famed for matched her stage nature, as she swirled about theatrically in a flowing black robe, jumping and writhing to the beats, at one point bowing low as if performing for royalty. She didn’t speak much, but that seemed fine with a crowd who wanted nothing more than to hear that wondrous voice or just bask in her presence, as sometimes still silence from the stage received the loudest ovations. -Ben Kaye

NOFX – That Tent – 7:00 p.m.

For a group who has habitually exhibited a “Don’t Give A Fuck” mentality over the years, NOFX‘s seemingly random inclusion at Bonnaroo was given to plenty of aggro-laced anarchy. Sadly, the display felt more like a cross between lackluster track pickings and a bad comedy routine. With an entire arsenal of aggression to draw from, with a means to literally destroy a crowd that was most likely high on something, “Stickin’ In My Eye” and “Linoleum” were thrown into the mix lazily, while NOFX itself spent the majority of time acting 20 years younger than they actually are. I expected immature antics, I expected crazy and stupid. I did not expect vicarious adolescence to be so god-damned boring. Thankfully, the circle pit managed to rock its own show out. -David Buchanan

My Morning Jacket – What Stage – 8:00 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

This year, their sixth at Bonnaroo, My Morning Jacket finally made their What stage debut. It wasn’t in the spot that some were hoping – confining them to a two hour set doesn’t give them justice, especially after their four hour late night marathon in 2008, but the Kentucky boys made the best of it. A trumpeter opened the set with the opening notes of “Victory Dance”, then Jim James & co. appeared and sent the audience into a frenzy. James, sporting amazing boots as usual, was turned way down for the first part of the opening song, which led to some confusion among the crowd. The problem was fixed quickly and then MMJ were off and running. Donning a new stage setup, the band powered through mostly songs from new album Circuital – all of which sounded great live, but reached into their expansive discography for some old crowd favorites like “Off the Record”, “Steam Engine”, and “Mahgeetah”. The Nashville Horn Association helped them out throughout their set, then they got an extra boost from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for a rowdy rendition of “Highly Suspicious” (that it was right after “Holdin’ On To Black Metal” made for a great one-two punch of fun)  and “Dancefloors”. After ending with their classic “One Big Holiday”, there was no doubt that My Morning Jacket are still the unquestioned Kings of Bonnaroo. -Carson O’Shoney

Primus – Which Stage – 9:15 p.m.

Photo by Michael Hurcomb

Hot off the heels of a stellar performance in Raleigh, NC, the three men of Primus fame decided to pay a visit at Bonnaroo’s esteemed Which Stage, complete with paratroopers and falling blue lights (anyone who caught a little black ribbon with an iPhone scanning square, please tell me what the fuck that was). The challenge in catching an act twice in a row is running through the redundancy of a repeat setlist, so Primus was tasked with changing things up. Les Claypool led the way, and though alterations were minor, the mood was most definitely a far cry from some dinky auditorium in North Carolina’s capitol city.

Photo by Michael Hurcomb

A sea of stoned faces jumped to “Harold On The Rocks” and my personal favorite, “American Life”; those who weren’t moving were mesmerized by the blue lights overhead, the random green lasers others packed for just such an occasion, and the disturbing realism of Claypool’s pig mask (and yet again, no “Mr. Krinkle”). Primus could have feasibly pulled all the stops at ‘Roo, but decided to stick relatively close to their touring set. Insider information aside, we do know that Primus did not give it 100%, and for reasons known only to fans of Primus, the atmosphere had not been dampened a bit — save by the humidity. -David Buchanan

Big Boi – The Other Tent – 12:45 a.m.

Photo by Max Blau

Ever since the release of Sir Lucious Left Foot, Big Boi has gone on the road and become one of the most dependable live hip-hop acts around. It doesn’t hurt when you have an extensive back catalogue from one of the greatest hip-hop acts of all time to cull music from. He did play through plenty of OutKast’s greatest hits – all of which hyped up the crowd to extreme levels. The “new shit” also went over really well – he played the best cuts from his solo album like “Shutterbug”, “Daddy Fat Sax” and “General Patton”. He also had plenty of people dancing – both on stage and in the audience. His crew of jumpsuit-wearing backup dancers were great, but they had nothing on the little kid that was just going crazy front and center for a good chunk of the set. Ultimately, many left the set early to go see Lil’ Wayne (seriously Bonnaroo, that conflict is brutal), but it was Big Boi who ended up stealing the show and put on the best hip-hop set of the night. -Carson O’Shoney

Arcade Fire – What Stage – 11:00 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

If Coachella was their coming out party as one of America’s most important modern bands, then this was their confirmation. The display was almost identical to that other festival’s, with the Grindhouse trailers and theater marquee, but there was a triumphant quality that could not have been present in California. For years, fans have clamored to get Arcade Fire to the Tennessee farm, and it was immensely gratifying to hear Win Butler step to the mic to say “We are very fuckin’ happy to finally be here. We’re so happy. Ok, here we go,” before diving into “Keep The Car Running.” It was a homecoming for a band that never lived here, and it was perfection.

Apposite opener “Ready To Start” had every band member and every audience member wilding out. The sheer power of watching six musicians simultaneously step to their mics to scream “Hey!” during “No Cars Go” has chills crawling up my arms even as I write about it. Pianos pounded, guitars wailed, accordions hummed, and everyone danced.

Butler spoke of his appreciation for the heat, saying that “being from Texas, summer should be hot and humid. It’s nice to feel proper humidity again,” before changing a lyric in “The Suburbs” to “and drive to a field in the middle of Tennessee with my friends” to cacophonous cheering. They exploded from that track into highlight “Month of May,” turning suddenly into an honest-to-goodness rock-and-roll band. This persona continued through “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” and the ferocious transition into “Rebellion (Lies),” ending in a drum being thrown across stage for the final shattering note.

As the lights came up for the encore and the crowd pushed forward to fill the gaps left by those thinking a late-night set would be better than this, Butler said, “We wrote this song to play in front of 20 people. It took some getting use to to play it for a field full of people.” With tens of thousands singing along, “Wake Up” felt built for this venue size. If it hadn’t been proven already, giving the final song to Régine Chassagne for “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” solidified that this isn’t just Win Butler’s crew, but a formidable band in it’s prime. You just have the honor of living at the same time. -Ben Kaye

Lil Wayne – Which Stage – 1:30 a.m.

Photo by Mark C. Austin

There has been a grand amount of hooplah regarding MCs at Bonnaroo, this year. Ever since Kanye West’s late arrival back in 2008, plus a severe lack of urban vibes at a festival known for its recycling benefits, this was an unexpected docket member to spot. Nonetheless, alongside Big Boi, Wiz Khalifa, Atmosphere, and Eminem…here lies Lil Wayne‘s set.

Despite some new Carter IV material, a rump-shakin’ audience of females, the bombastic introduction (which would no doubt be topped later), and persistent hype amongst fans and detractors alike, this performance was easily the least engrossing or original rap output all weekend long, and this is a real shame.

I’ve been told that Lil Wayne’s bass-heavy beatdown came overlapping Mumford & Sons, that the general audiences were split into semi-factions of rap versus folk rock. Typically,  one vies for a cleaner cut-off point, such as what was present when Buffalo Springfield faded on “Rockin’ In The Free World” to launch Eminem’s blasts shortly thereafter, instead of wishing one was in the Silent Disco. A rap show, drum-and-bass do not make. Let’s hear the damn lyrics, already! -David Buchanan

Pretty Lights – That Tent – 2:15 a.m.

Derek Vincent Smith aka Pretty Lights used his coveted latenight spot to introduce a new stage show. Though it was almost a half-hour late, it was a pretty cool set to behold. Through the dust and haze, he cut a shadowy figure amongst towering light structures that lit up like a cityscape. Various waves and swarms of colors and shapes varied from song to song, swirling out across a constantly pulsating crowd. Though samples of Pink Floyd’s “Time”, Kanye’s “All of the Lights”, and the Steve Miller Band/Seal’s “Fly Like An Eagle” made appearances, it was a slow start, as at one point he cut the music to bellow, “How many of ya’ll in here are real Pretty Lights motherfuckers?! Come on!”, apparently unsatisfied with one track’s response. The tempo picked up, though, and if it didn’t before, at least his stage show lives up to his name. -Ben Kaye

Shpongle – This Tent - 2:30 a.m.

Photo by Max Blau

Wow is the only word that comes to mind when trying to verbalize “The Shpongletron Experience”. Opening with “Divine Moments of Truth” and launching into a nonstop onslaught of lasers, blinking eyes, warped faces, hooping girls on-stage, psychedelic imagery, glow sticks, and, oh, music – the show was almost too much. But it wasn’t. Simon Posford, hidden in the top shelf of his contraption wearing a feathered hat, kept the hallucinogenic dream/nightmare, depending on your state, going strong for close to three hours, pushing ravers and curious passersby to the limit after a long day in the sun. -Caitlin Meyer

Saturday, June 11th

Alberta Cross – That Tent – 12:15 p.m.

The beauty or curse of early sets on Saturday is that most people are too wiped from the overexcitement of the previous night’s late-night sets. Thus, the crowd at the first show of the day, U.K. blues rockers Alberta Cross, was pretty sparse, though a handful of devotees were right up from. These fans got the pleasure of lead-singer Petter Ericson Stakee right in their face for “Rise from the Shadows”, getting a chance to belt into the mic along with him, and one lucky fan even got to keep Stakee’s tambourine. The set was full of newer tunes, some never before played live, though older tracks like “Old Man Chicago” and closer “ATX” were standouts. The mix was a little heavy on the lows, often masking the piano and vocals, but altogether it was a rocking way to start the day. -Ben Kaye

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - This Tent – 12:30 p.m.

Black Joe Lewis is a near-perfect early afternoon festival band. High energy bands are a valuable resource in that time slot. Luckily, they were put right where they belong and they kicked off Saturday afternoon with a bang. With the band decked out in classy black & white, they kicked it into high gear early and often with their mix of blues and funk. Plenty of other acts got their audience up and dancing, but few did it with the swagger and soul of Black Joe Lewis. -Carson O’Shoney

Hanggai – The Other Tent - 12:45 p.m.

Making their American debut and kicking off the day of gypsy punk music curated by Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz, Chinese folk band Hanggai set the bar for the rest of Saturday’s artists incredibly high. Seamlessly blending throat singing, a wide variety of traditional stringed instruments, and phenomenal harmonies, songs such as “Xiger Xiger” were breathtaking, to say the least. Unable to express his excitement and gratitude for the day in English, the lead singer just smiled and danced. The energy was contagious, and standout tracks such as “Drinking Song” eased a skeptical crowd into shamelessly indulging in the exotic beauty of Hanggai. -Caitlin Meyer

You Choose The Cover: Lelia Broussard .vs. The Sheepdogs – This Tent – 2:00 p.m.

This was a unique show featuring two acts competing for a deal with Atlantic Records and the Holy Grail of music publicity, the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. L.A.’s Lelia Broussard and Canada’s The Sheepdogs had made it through various rounds of voting to get down to Tennessee. SNL’s Jay Pharoh was on hand to MC and ask audience members to text their choice after the performances, but it was clear who the winners would be before things even got started. Canada’s presence was in full force, with flags and beach-balls bearing the maple leaf bouncing and waving around. Little Lelia Broussard came on stage dressed in a day-glow yellow top and red face paint, her band dressed all in black. She cheerily busted out poppy songs about “fucking like a teenager” and “hipsters when they’re bitches,” and a good portion of the crowd was really into it.

The vibe was totally different when The Sheepdogs ascended the stairs. The considerably increased crowd sent up woots and hollers as the foursome personifying 70’s Southern rockers plugged in their instruments. One of the greatest rock moments of the whole festival came as lead-singer Ewan Currie looked for a bottle-opener for his beer. “Someone get this man a bottle opener,” bellowed Pharoh to the stage crew. As a fan tossed a lighter to Currie, applause and cheers rang out. They reached their apex as Currie popped open his beer, tossed the lighter back, and took a swing. “Never mind!” cried Pharoh over the din. “Give it up for The Sheepdogs!” Then the first bluesy chords of “Who?” struck, and for me, the contest was over. If not then, then surely after the cheering and singalong for “I Don’t Know,” the winner was clear. Maybe they just fit better at Roo, though, as the contest website shows Broussard with far more Facebook likes and Tweets. You know where my vote went, though. The Sheepdogs rocked. -Ben Kaye

Old Crow Medicine Show – Which Stage – 2:00 p.m.

Photo by C. Taylor Crothers

So enamored was I by The Sheepdogs, that I only managed to get in two and a half songs of Old Crow Medicine Show. Thankfully, the first one and a half were “Wagon Wheel” and “Tell It To Me”, both featuring the horns section from Mumford & Sons. “Feel that cool breeze when we played that “Wagon Wheel?” asked Ketch Secor. “It was like a gust of air conditioning blown off the highway.” I didn’t feel that, but I heard a jamming hoedown and an encore of “Tear It Down”. Before they played that, Secor screamed out, “You can’t come down to Manchester, Tennessee and not sing a song about a mule!” Well, glad I got to hear it then. -Ben Kaye

Forro in the Dark – The Other Tent - 2:15 p.m.

Directly following Hanggai was no easy task, but Brazilian world dance band was definitely up to the task. Dressed in coordinating button ups and ties, the five-piece continued to dole out extended jamming doses of percussion-heavy, danceable rhythms with an undeniable South American flavor. The Other Stage curator Eugene Hutz made a guest appearance, to an explosive positive response from the audience. Between the on-stage banter, long-winded but hilarious band member introductions and phenomenally performed music, the set was yet another testament to Hutz’s ability to book bands, and on the last soulful trumpet solo, it was tough to watch them leave the stage. -Caitlin Meyer

Alison Krauss & Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas – Which Stage – 4:00 p.m.

There is always more than a fair share bluegrass and grassroots music at Bonnaroo, and while this was no Dr. John or Greensky Bluegrass, Alison Krauss and her band of country pluckers never ceased to dole out the spirited vibrations at their Which Stage performance. Inevitably, passers by stopped to take a gander, and those arriving a shy late still soaked in Ms. Krauss’ angelic voice and killer southern charms.

Alison Krauss & Union Station are a staple in the world of folk and country, while their leading fiddle-strokin’ lady has made her mark beside the likes of Robert Plant (who totally should have made an appearance here) and Brad Paisley. Nonetheless, seeing this set was a lot like visiting family in the mountains for a bonfire and a jug of homemade wine. Comfortable. -David Buchanan

Portugal. The Man – That Tent - 5:00 p.m.

About halfway through Deer Tick, rabid Portugal. The Man fans began to infiltrate That Tent, pushing to the front. That eagerness was mirrored in the band’s performance too, as John Gourney excitedly recounted the band’s last time at Bonnaroo when the band finally took the stage. Blasting through The Satanic Satanist‘s staples “Do You” and “People Say” alongside two new tracks from the upcoming, In The Mountain, In The Cloud, and a sampling of older material, the band could do no wrong as the swirling mix of Gourney’s vocals, psychedelics and impressive guitar riffs exuded energy and passion. With any luck, next time they swing through the farm, they’ll have a night time set to finally do their entrancing light show justice. -Caitlin Meyer

DeVotchKa – The Other Tent – 5:15 p.m.

Around 5:30 p.m., the gathered audience at the Other Tent began to get impatient – 15 minutes had gone by since their scheduled set time with no sight of DeVotchKa. However, a couple minutes later, Gogol Bordello walked on stage and gave a surprise three song acoustic set. This pleased the crowd at Eugene Hütz’s Gypsy Punk Revue stage, but they were even more taken when DeVotchKa finally walked on at 6 p.m. – then got really crazy when Gogol came back on stage to help them play their second song. Playing a good selection from their albums while focusing on the new one, the band sounded solid as usual as frontman Nick Urata crooned his way into the audience’s heart. The icing on the top was the aerial burlesque dancer, who ascended two strands of thick ribbon to the top of the tent and performed a stunning dance routine while the band played. It’s become standard for their shows, but it doesn’t make it any less magical when you do get to experience it. -Carson O’Shoney

Mumford & Sons – Which Stage – 6:15 p.m.

Photo by Mark C. Austin

The problem with repeating acts from year to year is that they now have to play up to the expectations set by the previous appearance. Mumford & Sons set last summer was phenomenal, and while this one was good, it just didn’t have the umph as their tent show did. Still, it was the biggest Which Stage crowd of the day, with fans hanging off walls and trees, and there were improvements: the harmonies on “Timshel” were tighter than ever, and their banter was better. David Mayfield and dobro master/produce/Union Station member Jerry Douglas joined the band for “Awake My Soul”, and future album standout “Lover of the Light” continues to be an impressive live rocker. The absolute highlight had to be when members of Old Crow Medicine Show, The Apache Relay, Douglas, and Cadillac Sky joined in for an encore of “Amazing Grace”. A total of 19 people were onstage, and that makes it two years running that Mumford has brought a band not on the schedule to the festival. -Ben Kaye

Loretta Lynn – That Tent – 6:45 p.m.

Photo by Michael Hurcomb

“Y’all ready for a real country show?” – that’s what Loretta Lynn‘s bandleader exclaimed at the beginning of her first Bonnarooo set. It was the perfect place for her old school country – she now lives in Tennessee so it was something of a hometown show for her. The band played a song without her first, then her twin daughters came on stage for one song before she finally greeted the crowd to huge applause. You never know what you’re gonna get vocal-wise when a singer is pushing 80 years old – but Lynn put any questions aside and sounded absolutely fantastic. She did put on a real country show – her own catalogue acts like a tour through country music history on it’s own – but she also covered some standards by Conway Twitty, Patsy Cline, The Oak Ridge Boys and more. When she transitioned into her gospel section towards the end, it sounded just as fantastic as everything else. This was yet another set where Jack White was mentioned and sent the crowd into a frenzy – but she claimed that he had “left her out to dry” after she asked him to join her on stage. “Just wait till I see him next…” she said jokingly. This was disappointing for some – but she more than made up with it throughout her set, which ended with what everyone was hoping for – “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. -Carson O’Shoney

The Black Keys – What Stage – 8:00 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

The Black Keys have become a well oiled machine live. Sometimes, this can be a good thing. For example, the band – weather it was just Patrick and Dan, or their expanded band they brought on for the middle portion of the set – sounded extremely tight. And they were playing the songs that the extremely and ridiculously large crowd wanted to hear. But the problem with a machine is that it leaves no room for improvisation. When a band consists of two people and touts a fantastic and substantial back catalogue, you expect them to be able to cull from a large number of songs and play a different show each night. The White Stripes used to do it all the time – they knew their material like the back of their hand and could play pretty much anything on a whim on any given night. Unfortunately, the Black Keys forgo this and more or less play the exact same hour and 10 minutes every show, regardless of time or place. Most bands realize that Bonnaroo is not just another stop on the itinerary. Some bands play multiple shows, others promise special sets with special guests, others take advantage of their time and play perhaps one of their longest shows ever (Radiohead comes to mind). Instead, the Black Keys ended their set 20 minutes short and didn’t come back on for an encore – even though they probably had the biggest crowd for a non-headliner. It’s always nice to see bands really appreciate the farm and the fans that brave all the elements to see them there. And it makes it that much more disappointing when a band doesn’t live up to the challenge. -Carson O’Shoney

Buffalo Springfield -Which Stage – 9:30 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

Buffalo Springfield was unquestionably the most unique “get” for Bonnaroo this year. Neil Young’s first band, with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, reunited last year for the first time since 1968. This was their lone festival date of the year, after a short run of headlining dates leading up to the fest. They unceremoniously walked on stage and went right into “On My Way Home”. The sound was very quiet – a recurring theme at the Which stage, prompting the crowd to chant “turn it up!” or “loud-er! loud-er!” between songs. They eventually balanced the sound out – but it was never as loud as it should have been. It was no bother though, as the band seemed to be having a good time on stage and their energy was contagious. The crowd, a good mix of young and old, showed great appreciation for being able to see this legendary band in such a setting. That setting was not lost on the band, either – towards the end of their set, Neil Young proclaimed “This is the biggest gig we’ve ever done. This is about 10 times as many people as we’ve ever seen as a group before.”

Photo by Max Blau

While Stills and Furay together have more songs in their catalogue than Young, it was Young who stole the show – he had more energy than the rest of them combined, and his rendition of “Broken Arrow” may have been the best single song performance. Well, that or their rocking set closing version of Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World”. Young was by far the crowd favorite – they cheered every time he showed up on stage or began to sing. He led the crowd in some arm waving – he made his arms into an “O” while shouting “Bonnarooooooooooo” and the crowd ate up every bit of it. A lightning storm threatened to cut the set short, but it ended up just being about 15 minutes of medium rain and actually added to the set – the strong winds made for some great natural hair-blowing-in-the-wind effects. Even those who weren’t familiar with the bands work were surely impressed – seeing Neil Young wail on guitar is simply one of the better things in all of music. But the final three knockout punches of “Broken Arrow”, “For What It’s Worth” and “Rockin’ in the Free World” were what really solidified it as one of the best sets of the weekend. -Carson O’Shoney

Matthew and the Atlas – On Tap Lounge – 10:40 p.m.

Watching a folk group who build their music upon sweet vocal harmonies while Buffalo Springfield was moderately audible certainly made for an interesting juxtaposition. Matthew and the Atlas‘ brand of orchestral folk, though, and their immaculate, passionate performance demanded the audience’s full attention. Pushing through songs from their assorted EP’s, notably “Within the Rose”, their performance was heartfelt and honest, as was the band, as they were profoundly surprised and humbled near the end by how many people had trickled into their show. Riveting narrative lyrics, chilling harmonies – the next time these guys are on the farm, they definitely won’t be playing such a small stage. - Caitlin Meyer

Eminem – What Stage – 11:00 p.m.

Have you ever been to a concert where everything went so inexplicably smooth, you’d swear the crowd reactions were scripted under duress? So impeccably spot-on, the rehearsals alone would make sweatshops look like air-conditioned cubicle office spaces?

Eminem is back in the rural south…and we were there.

Everyone — the thoroughly baked, the recklessly drugged, those mercilessly aching for a direct-to-camp teleportation device — stood before the What Stage to witness Eminem’s Recovery (and then some), wondering what the selection had in store.

Marshall Mathers & The Recovery Band whipped the once-fatigued audience into a frenzy, offering a reliable Em medley — “Won’t Back Down”, “3AM”, “Square Dance”, “W.T.P.”, “So Bad”, the works — followed closely by our first real surprise all evening, the entrance of Royce Da 5’9, forming rap duo Bad Meets Evil as though it were Voltron (thus prompting a harmonious expanse of handheld fire during “Lighters”).

The rest of Em’s performance was wrapped around expected fare, notably some naughty call-and-response, and hit songs “Love The Way You Lie” and encore track “Lose Yourself”. Was it all default settings? Undoubtedly, but the key factors at play were Eminem’s overall energy — consistently explosive, to put it lightly — and the swaying arms that wafted left and right all into the late, late hour.

Eminem did a very by-the-book show, and he came at it 110%, never once dropping the ball. He entered with swagger, he exited with class; he gave respect where it was due, he sent appropriate shout-outs to past collaborators and longtime friends, the late Nate Dogg and Proof. By Saturday night, most of us were ready to call it quits (AM DJ sets, notwithstanding), but the What Stage lawn saw very little inactivity come the arrival of Detroit’s prodigal son.

Photo by Max Blau

The sing-along set ended with a bang come fireworks, and a pilgrimage to the Tennessee farmland was wasted none, even when most of us wondered why Lil Wayne, being in the vicinity prior, had not joined in for a “No Love” reprisal. Either way, welcome back to the south, Em. -David Buchanan

Dr. John – That Tent – 12:30 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

One of the biggest attractions of the weekend was undoubtedly Dr. John‘s late night set. What better way to celebrate a birthday than by inviting the man who inspired the name of the festival? Bonnaroo did just that – and Dr. John brought a few friends along to perform his album, Desitively Bonnaroo, in its entirety (the album that, of course, gave Bonnaroo it’s name). The legendary Meters – with their original lineup – served as the backing band while also opening the show with a set of their own classics. Once their 45 minute career-spanning set was over, there was a short break before they came back on stage and were joined by Alan Toussaint and, finally, Dr. John – who received a hero’s welcome. With a who’s-who of classic New Orleans music on-stage, including the original backup singers from the album – they ripped right into album opener “Quitters Never Win”. From the opening all the way to closer “Desitively Bonnaroo”, That Tent was overtaken by the New Orleans sound – there was surely not a more funky party this year at Bonnaroo. -Carson O’Shoney

Omar Souleyman -The Other Tent – 12:30 a.m.

Omar Souleyman is a Syrian artist, specializing in his own unique brand of genre-bending traditional Middle Eastern and dance music, whose set rounded out the eclectic group of artists hand-picked by Eugene Hutz for the gypsy punk celebration. Despite the live show only including keyboards and Souleyman’s trademark stoic delivery, the outrageous beats were still delivered cleanly to the increasingly impatient Gogol Bordello crowd. While standouts such as “Hafer Gabrak Bidi” and their infectious melodies worked, the set, on the whole, lent itself to monotony, as an hour and a half was too long. -Caitlin Meyer

Scissor Sisters – This Tent – 12:45 a.m.

I had only cursory knowledge of Scissor Sisters before this show, so I wasn’t expecting much, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised. It was by far the most positive vibe I felt all festival, lewd as it was. How lewd? “To all the girls who are scantly clad today,” proclaimed Ana Matronic, “You look like whores. Good job.” But that idea of loving who you are, whatever that is, was pervasive, and it made for a damn good time. Pillars of flames shot up for “Fire With Fire”, and their cover of “Comfortably Numb” transformed the song into a totally new, spectacular beast. Tongue firmly in cheek, they showed they knew exactly who they were when they introduced “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing” as “your mom’s favorite Scissor Sisters song. And your grandma’s, too.” That sort of self-awareness and confidence is what kept having to walk away from Dr. John from being utterly depressing. -Ben Kaye

Late Night Parade with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Portugal. The Man – Centeroo – 2:15 a.m.

As soon as Dr. John’s set ended – people started seeing flashes and hearing cheers coming from side stage. What emerged from the backstage area was the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, complete with My Morning Jacket’s Patrick Hallahan, leading the crowd in Bonnaroo’s late night parade. Bonnaroo had tweeted about this earlier that day, alluding that the parade would lead to “something crazy you don’t even know about…”, so people followed. The end result didn’t matter to most – everyone was having a ball walking beside and behind the PHJB, marching in step and clapping along. A few were quick to ask “Where’s Jack White?” between songs, but most just let loose and had a good time following them from the That Tent through Centeroo, past Girl Talk at This Tent. The destination ended up being somewhere between Which Stage and the Cinema Tent, along the outside fence of Centeroo, where a band was waiting on a float like you’d see in a parade with Mr. T’s head. Smoke obscured the band as we walked up, then the PHJB gave their final notes and Portugal. The Man took the spotlight. By the time they started playing, it was 2:45 a.m., and it happened to be their lead singer’s birthday. They celebrated by popping bottles of champagne all over the crowd and handing it to them to drink. They played three songs before the power went out – they seemed disappointed but walked off stage, but no sooner did they get off the float that the power came back on, so they went back up and finished a solid 45 minute set. It’s truly moments like these that makes Bonnaroo so special. -Carson O’Shoney

Sunday, June 13th

The Head and The Heart – The Other Tent – 12:00 p.m.

Photo by Mark C. Austin

Nothing against the city, but Seattle wasn’t impressing me on Sunday. First off was The Head and The Heart, whose indie folk tunes brought out quite an impressive crowd for the time slot, but had little heart and too much head. The majority of the band focused so intensely on playing as tightly as possible, that it lacked the joy of a live show. This wasn’t always true: Tyler Williams constantly looked like a happy puppy behind the drums, while Charity Rose Thielen shined on “Lost In My Mind”, enjoying it so much she applauded along with the audience at the end. “Ghosts” showed Josiah Johnson as the stronger of the two frontmen (Jonathan Russell needs to loosen the hell up), and the Iron & Wine horns section provided such impressive backups that even the band watched in awe as they closed out the song. There’s definitely potential in this young band, they just need to stretch their legs some more. -Ben Kaye

Smith Westerns – This Tent – 12:30 p.m.

It’s exciting to see notable transformation in a band’s live show, and Smith Westerns have come so far since their small club shows last year. The Omori brothers were no longer hesitant to interact with the crowd, the performance was tighter – they earned that spot and This Tent. With the setlist featuring a healthy mix of both Dye It Blonde and Smith Westerns, songs such as “End of the Night” and “Dreams” were executed fast and clean, epitomizing the fine line between glam and garage rock that the Smith Westerns tend to walk. Although the crowd refrained from getting too into the danceable tracks, the responses to Omori calling a portion of the set ‘smoke time’ and lines such as “If you didn’t like this set, fuck you” were more than enthusiastic. -Caitlin Meyer

Mavis Staples – What Stage – 1:15 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

It was a stroke of genius to schedule Mavis Staples for an early Sunday morning set. Those who showed up early at the What stage ended up not missing church – because Mavis took everyone there for just over an hour. She’s become one of the most dependable fixtures in the festival scene – she’s just so masterful at what she does that it’s infectious. Not everyone, especially at a music festival, will be into the message of her set – but no one out there shouldn’t be able to appreciate her talent. She covered everything from her father’s “Freedom Highway” to a classic in her set, “The Weight” and even “For What It’s Worth” – an appropriate choice after Buffalo Springfield played the night before. She also played selections from her illustrious career, including crowd-pleaser “You Are Not Alone”. -Carson O’Shoney

Fences – Sonic Stage – 1:15 p.m.

Photo by Ben Kaye

Fences was another Seattle letdown. I’d heard nothing but greatness about Christopher Mansfield’s indie band, but only saw sparks of it here. The man himself seemed fairly disinterested in the small-stage set, despite apparently having jumped at the chance to play it. He barely looked at the audience, and seemed to turn his back on them at every solo. He seemed bored, so I was bored too. It’s worth noting that some of the highlights, “Sadie” and “The Same Tattoos”, had keyboardist Jonathan Warman focusing on his guitar. Not that he’s a bad keyboardist, just an observation. -Ben Kaye

John Waters – The Comedy Theatre – 3:00 p.m.

Where do I begin? Well, I guess I should start with the openers. The Gregory Brothers, better known as the Auto-tune the News guys, opened the set and they were…interesting. They basically showed their clips on screens and then performed live versions of the songs they made out of them. The audience wasn’t really sure how to react, and it didn’t help that the screens shut down after a couple songs, making everything make much less sense. They did cheer for “Bed Intruder Song” and “Double Rainbow” – but I think any Bonnaroo crowd would go crazy over someone just saying the words ‘double rainbow’. Tig Notaro was up next – perhaps best known as Tig the lesbian cop in the Sarah Silverman Program. Her short set was very subdued, and she could tell the crowd wasn’t totally into it, but she was pleasantly funny regardless.

Then the fabulous John Waters finally came on stage and immediately proved that his depravity knows no bounds. His entire set was basically a non-stop stream of consciousness rant about anything and everything – things he loves, things he hates, his (sexual) fascination with Alvin the Chipmunk, turd terrorism, bears, adult babies, blossoms, ultimate nudity and more (google those last few at your own risk). I think he summed it up nice when he said, “I’ve had murderers call me fucked up!” He kept going further down the rabbit hole, daring his audience to keep listening as he introduced them to new sexual things that we’ve never heard of. “John my ears are not garbage cans!” he said, imitating his audience as they listen to him – “Well, they are today!” In reality, he was everything we were hoping for and more. Way more. -Carson O’Shoney

Daniel Lanois’s Black Dub – This Tent – 3:30 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

This set surprised me, as it quickly crept into my top five of the festival. The crowd was sparse, as many probably don’t know Daniel Lanois, despite having produced seminal albums for U2, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. Those who weren’t in attendance missed what had to have been one of if not the best female vocalist on the farm in Trixie Whitley. That deep, soulful voice coming out of this thin, hipster-looking knockout on songs like “Nomad” and “Silverado” was simply jaw-dropping, and “Surely” still tickles me in ways I didn’t think music could. When she sat down next to the skankiest drummer at the festival, Brian Blade, and grooved along, it was pure magic. Blade plays his kit like a child discovering all the wonderful things a new toy can do, slinking and flowing over it with Sammy Davis Jr. suavity. The band had one of the sexiest sounds and the sexiest singer on the farm, hands down. -Ben Kaye

Galactic – What Stage – 3:30 p.m.

Galactic proved to be the perfect soundtrack for the final afternoon of Bonnaroo. Patrons played frisbee, hid in the limited shade and lazily lounged, enjoying some down time and calm tunes. That’s not to say that the band itself was calm, though, as Galactic’s set proved as funky as ever, in true New Orleans fashion with blasting horns and stellar bass grooves. With Ben Ellman fresh off of a fun, danceable set on the Sonic Stage with his side project Gypsyphonic Disko, the gang was in top notch performing shape, delivering solid versions of “All Behind You Now” and “How Many More Times”. -Caitlin Meyer

Iron & Wine – Which Stage – 4:30 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

Acoustic, lethargic songs sung to thousands of people in 90 degree sun is the recipe for an afternoon nap. Luckily, that’s not what Sam Beam did, taking the stage with horns, female vocals and an assortment of random instruments. Watching songs such as “Boy With A Coin” come to life, with dimensions added previously unimaginable, was moving. Beam was personable throughout, donning a snazzy suit and chatting casually with the huge audience. While the song transformations didn’t always work and purist fans may consider the set to be one of the weekend’s most divisive, the strung out versions of tracks, a clean rendition of “Tree By The River” and obligatory performance of “Flightless Bird” were immensely enjoyable. -Caitlin Meyer

Beirut – The Other Tent – 6:15 p.m.

Robyn’s encore was the worst possible thing that could happen to a Beirut fan, as it only lengthened the already intolerable amount of wait time for elusive Zach Condon and company to finally take the stage. When they did, though, it was all worth it – skipping the Strokes, missing Superjam, wading through the glitter-adorned masses of Robyn fans. With the signature opening accordion of “The Concubine”, the crowd exploded into a massive collective of swaying and swooning, Condon’s impeccable voice atop the pattering percussion and timid trumpet.

Progressing through a healthy portion of The Flying Cup Club, sporadic Gulag Orkestar and throwing in two songs from the upcoming LP, their momentum was interminable. Condon charmed the audience with his surprise at the endless applause, and continued pouring everything he had into each word he sang. As the end drew near, the sun set and the band closed with a one-two punch of “Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)” and “The Gulag Orkestar”, both done with chilling power and raw emotion. Deafening ‘one more song’ and encore chants brought a bewildered Condon back to the stage, insisting that they only had one song left they could play. A hearty chorus of “ohs” got the whole crowd dancing and singing – a perfect end to both the set and a phenomenal weekend. -Caitlin Meyer

The Strokes – Which Stage – 6:45 p.m.

Like the Black Keys, The Strokes are another seen-em-once-seen-em-1000-times band, at least in their most recent shows since Angles was released. They didn’t take advantage of their longer set time – they came out late and ended early – they didn’t change up the setlist, and they didn’t even have their simple-but-effective light show in tow. This was likely due to the fact that they had to take the stage in the sunlight – which was quite humorous, as Julian still had to look his coolest and wore a leather jacket in the unbearable heat. The Strokes have never been a very active band on stage, but at other shows they had their light show to make up for it. Without it, they just looked bored on stage and did not seem to be giving their all. At the same time, I heard raves about the show – perhaps if I hadn’t already seen them twice in the past year, I would have enjoyed it more. I’m sure for first timers it was a blast hearing those songs. But for me, it wasn’t up to par with even the other two shows I saw in the past year, including last year’s headlining show at Lollapalooza. The Strokes don’t have the most expansive catalogue, but they’ve gotta learn to change it up a little and stop being lazy if they want repeat customers. -Carson O’Shoney

Superjam ft. Dan Auerbach and Dr. John – That Tent – 7:00 p.m.

Photo by Max Blau

For many, the return of this fabled event was a festival highlight before it even happened. During the 30 minute, highly directed soundcheck, the anticipation was palpable. What was actually going to happen? What would they play? If you’d noticed that the hat atop the Bonnaroo arch was Dr. John’s from the cover of Desitively Bonnaroo, you could’ve guessed that this special jam would focus on his music and the funky jazz sounds of New Orleans. The man cut a stoic figure up on stage, his face barely moving despite his powerful vocals – a bizzaro parallel to Auerbach’s visible child-like thrill. Joined by My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan (whose main job was to bang a bongo or tambourine and take swigs from his beer) and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the set featured Dr. John standards like “Jump Sturdy”, a wonderful rendition of Betty Harris’s “There’s a Break in the Road”, and the one song everyone in attendance could name, “Iko Iko”. Standouts were the bombastic “Little Sister” and the packed “St. James Infirmary”.

Photo by Max Blau

It was spotty at times, but it was pieced together in just a week’s time, and the pure joy of it all made any slip-up forgiveable. After all, you were watching Auerbach shred his guitar and Dr. John pound his piano (as one crowd member put it, “how many fingers does he have?”) together, a once-in-a-lifetime combination. The most lasting image of all came after Dr. John was left onstage for a solo performance of “Such A Night”. A white towel draped across his neck, Auerbach returned to thank the crowd and, along with the Dr., receive his much deserved applause. As he led the man of the hour slowly from the stage in the pale blue lights, turning for one last wave, the crowd showered their appreciation on the pair. For me, that image of two great musicians leaving behind a unique, hour-long masterpiece of a performance was the perfect embodiment of the end of another successful Bonnaroo. -Ben Kaye

The Culture of Bonnaroo

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In addition, the close-knit nature of the Do LaB community allows for a widely shared spotlight (the festival closed out Sunday night in the Temple of Consciousness with LIB’s own take on Bonnaroo’s superjam: an impromptu jam session featuring some of the weekend’s finest performers sharing the stage for a four-hour jam session till sunrise), while the festival’s limit of two major stages acted as a sort of quality control (I went the whole weekend without witnessing a bad set, even as early as one in the afternoon). But the best part of Lightning in a Bottle is its aim to do much much than just showcase good music. For me, the best, most memorable moments came not facing a stage or forcing my way through a crowd, but sipping tea with some incredible people in the Lumi Lounge & Cafe, studying yoga with world-class instructors in the Temple of Consciousness, and seeing some of the most spectacular art installments I’ve ever set my eyes on.

Photo by Caesar Sebastian

Where most fests encourage you to study the days’ schedules and plan far ahead, Lightning in a Bottle is best enjoyed indeliberately as the day unfolds, allowing the light, pleasant breeze that wafts across the gorgeous Oak Canyon Ranch all day and night, the countless spectacles to be found on the festival grounds or any of your 12,000 or so fellow revelers to lead you along in the weekend’s adventures. Here’s how that went for this particular writer…

-Möhammad Choudhery
Staff Writer

Friday, May 27th

Kaminanda – Bamboo Stage – 3:45 p.m.
A late-afternoon DJ set from Kaminanda, an upbeat blend of psytrance, house, and dubstep, was the perfect start to the weekend for the many festival revelers who were only just wandering through onto the grounds. The British Columbia-based producer, who’s also set to perform at this year’s Burning Man and Shambala festivals, occasionally played live synth/guitar lines over his own tracks, to stunning effect.

the Mowglis – Lightning Stage – 4:00 p.m.
The Mowglis, a bit of an insider secret for the Do LaB community — they’ve played a handful of shows at the collective’s Culver City hub, Area 33 — won over a whole host of new fans with their stellar Friday afternoon set. Their fun, flowery tunes — a curious midpoint between blues-rock, folk and country — was extremely well-received by the laid-back crowd, many of whomwere picnicking in the shade as the eight-piece performed.

Photo by Sarah Day-Ives

the Malah – Lightning Stage – 6:00 p.m.
An intriguing marriage of jam band sensibilities and deep, downtempo electro, the Malah‘s hazy guitar lines and frequent tribal drum breaks would’ve done better in a nighttime time-slot. The performance was great nonetheless, as Greenville, SC-based outfit’s mostly instrumental pieces smoothly meshing the occasional breezy vocal sample meshing with guitarist Brandon Maynard’s phased-out guitar work.

Emancipator – Bamboo Stage – 6:45 p.m.
Emancipator‘s smooth, slow grooves and elegant string samples drew the weekend’s first big crowd at the Bamboo stage, just as the sun began its descent. His debut record, Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, a mellow blend of jazz and trip-hop, was put out on noted live stunners STS9′s 1320 Records last year, featured heavily in his set.

Photo by Caesar Sebastian

Dub Kirtan All-Stars – Lightning Stage – 7:45 p.m.
Dub Kirtan All-Stars took the main stage just as night had fallen, bringing with them one of the most exciting performances of the weekend. The collective, made up of no less than 13 members onstage at a time, fused Indian raga rhythms and Hindu devotional chants with gritty dubstep, courtesy of David Starfire and FreQ Nasty. MC Solar Lion hyped up the crowd, cajoling the eager audience into singing, chanting, and shouting along with the multiple singers while monitors projected the mantras for all the crowd to see.

NastyNasty – Bamboo Stage – 9:45 p.m.
True to his moniker, NastyNasty‘s set was jampacked with some of the dirtiest bass music of the night. The Oakland-based DJ had no trouble keeping the restless crowd moving for nearly an hour, with a stellar selection of low-slung beats, glitchy hip-hop and, of course, dubstep for one of a high-octane set that was among the best sets of the weekend. The highlight? A ferocious throwdown of freak folk queen Joanna Newsom’s “The Book of Right-On”.

Photo by Kat Parry

Lucent Dossier Experience – Lightning Stage – 11:25 p.m.
The Do LaB’s signature act, who’ve performed at every Lightning in a Bottle and multiple Coachellas since LIB’s inception, were — judging by the huge crowd gathered — one of the weekend’s most anticipated performances of the weekend. And perform they did, in their typically unbelievable fashion, thoroughly blurring the line between virtuosic live music act and thrilling, theatrical performance art with a stunning, hour-long performance.

Saturday, May 28th

Phutureprimitive – Bamboo Stage – 1:45 p.m.
Phutureprimitive‘s early afternoon set was easily the biggest breakout performance of the weekend. The Portland-based DJ’s mind-blowing set drifted between dark, intricate psybient trance and huge, crowd-pleasing bass-heavy rhythms, with the occasional ethereal, Björk-ish vocal sample (courtesy of fellow Portland native Alyssa Palmer) adding deeper dimension to his meticulously crafted sound. Expect big things from Phutureprimitive, whose latest offering Kinetik just dropped last month.

Octopus Nebula – Lightning Stage – 3:45 p.m.
Colorado natives Octopus Nebula, who’ve shared the stage with some of electronic music’s heavy-hitters OTT, Shpongle and STS9, brought their moody live show to the Lightning Stage. Fleeb Thomas’ bass groove laid the groundwork for the band’s tight jams, which occasionally peaked in big, breakneck drum-n-bassy sections.

Photo by Sarah Day-Ives

Heyoka – Bamboo Stage – 7:00 p.m.
Heyoka‘s pre-sunset set was one full of stunners. The Northern California resident, who released Mandlebass EP earlier this year, is a true master of dynamics and crowd control, not unlike fellow NorCal beatsmith Bassnectar. Heyoka bounced ably between heavy-hitting dubstep and blissed-out glitch hop with relentless energy, capping off his set by setting the crowd on fire with a killer remix of the Revels’ “Comanche”, as made famous in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.

KRADDY – Lightning Stage – 8:05 p.m.
One of the biggest names on the lineup, it was a bit of a shock not to see Kraddy subheadline one of Lightning in a Bottle’s three nights. The Los Angeles-based producer, who was a founding member of glitch-hop standouts the Glitch Mob, has long been making waves in the electronic music world with his dancefloor ready blend of hip-hop and dub rhythms, especially after his “Android Porn” got picked up by America’s Got Talent last season. Taking the main stage just after sunset, he led the adoring crowd with wild dance moves while working the decks masterfully, making it well known by the time he was done that it’s all uphill for him from here.

Beats Antique – Lightning Stage – 10:05 p.m.

Photo by Kat Parry

Even as the term continues to be tossed around indiscriminately, Beats Antique are among the few contemporary artists who’ve really mastered the idea of genre fusion, melding authentic world music from the far reaches of the world (they often deal in Indonesian Gamelan and Egyptian bellydance standards) with all manners of electronic music to create a truly one-of-a-kind musical vision. Their Saturday night set channeled said vision with stunning clarity, drifting between far-flung styles and genres with practiced ease. World-renowned tribal fusion performer Zoe Jakes danced centerstage while Tommy Cappel and David Satori handled percussion and programming, respectively.

Virtual Boy – Bamboo Stage – 11:30 p.m.
Virtual Boy‘s glitchy, but somehow very emotive brand of electro made the Californian duo a perfect pick to close out Day Two at the Bamboo Stage. Their latest EP out on L.A.’s burgeoning Alpha Pup Records, Symphony No. None, delves deep into electronic music, fuses the glitch-hop of their early work to more experimental, spacier soundscapes, all rendered in cinematic widescreen. Their live set, however, was full of much more upbeat fare, sticking to the glitch-hop they’ve quite near perfected, only occasionally dipping into their recent, more pensive material.

Pretty Lights – Lightning Stage – 12:30 p.m.

Photo by Kat Parry

Derek Smith, the man behind Pretty Lights, is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in electronic music. The Denver-based producer had perhaps the largest draw of the weekend, unifying Burners, PLUR kids, and everyone in between into a vast sea of neon and glitter with his singular sort of funky house and grimy dub, incorporating the occasional familiar soulful sample, to huge cheers. Smith alternated often between his MPC and Monome sampler, working the crowd like a pro, while touring drummer Cory Eberhard pounded away at his kit. What’s more, he continues to release all of his music free of charge and urges fans, as he did during his epic Saturday night set, to download his music from wherever they can. Looking to join in on the fun? Pretty Lights is booked to play Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Glastonbury this year. Three chances for you.

Sunday, May 29th

Dela Moontribe – The Woogie– 1:30 p.m.

Photo by Caesar Sebastian

LIB’s smallest stage was also its most dance-friendly. While the Bamboo and Lightning stages featured all of the lineup’s heavy-hitters and all acts of all sorts of genres, the Woogie was home to nonstop, feel-good dance music. dela Moontribe stuck with an unenviable spot at an outdoor stage just after noon on the final day of a three-day fest (which also happened to be its hottest) brought euphoria via heavy, heavy bass to the parched crowd who braved the early-afternoon desert heat to dance their asses off. Hat tip.

Desert Dwellers – Lightning Stage – 2:45 p.m.
The nomadic dub-lounge collective have been ambling across deserts all over the world for years now, but felt right at home on the Lightning Stage Sunday afternoon. Their spacious brand of psytrance meets Putomayo lounge made for a suitable soundtrack to the festival’s lazy, breezy final day and was very well received by the assembled crowd, who moved and grooved to their airy, sensuous tunes.

Love in the Circus – Lightning Stage – 4:35 p.m.
Love in the Circus‘ slick alt-pop was yet another of the many surprises Lightning in a Bottle had to offer. Led by their enchanting frontwoman/bassist Leanna Rachel, Love in the Circus instantly won the crowd over with their haunting melodies and danceable rhythms. As their name suggests, the Southern California-based outfit write world-weary love songs imbued with a playfulness that could’ve only been picked up after years on the circus circuit, lent by the inclusion of the High Priestess and Leah Zeger on harp and violin, respectively.

El Papachango– Bamboo Stage – 6:15 p.m.
El Papachango‘s wildly divergent sonic palette, which bears a strong tropical dub lean, was a change of pace from Love in the Circus’ full band sound and Desert Dwellers’ desert jams, but exciting all the same. The San Francisco-based, Argentine-born DJ lashed huge tribal beats to his samba and dub sensibilities for a positively upbeat experience for everyone involved.

Photo by Caesar Sebastian

LYNX – Bamboo Stage – 7:30 p.m.
LYNX‘s wistful folktronica tunes made her a natural fit for the weekend’s final sunset at the Bamboo Stage. Armed with a mandolin, banjo, sampler, and floor tom, the singer-songwriter leapt between a variety of genres and instruments without a hitch. Her practiced croon, not unlike that of Sara Quin, is layered under her many instrumental talents and beatboxing. Her plaintive arrangements and reflective lyrics cut a sharp, refreshing contrast against the droves of electronic acts she shared the stage with all weekend long.

Baths – Bamboo Stage – 9:05 p.m.
Will Wiesenfeld’s debut, Cerulean, won him huge acclaim and comparisons to everyone from Brainfeeder maestro Flying Lotus to chillwave standout Toro Y Moi. His live set does well to bring his acclaimed studio work to fruition, breathing fresh life into an album I heard over and over last year with an unbridled energy that initially came as a bit of a surprise, given the serene nature of his music. Baths‘ performance was certainly one of the most unique of the weekend, combining the ethereal, melodic strains of his voice with off-kilter beats that tie him to L.A.’s thriving beat scene.

Bonobo (DJ set) – Lightning Stage – 10:25 p.m.

Bonobo‘s brand of trip-hop is usually rendered live with a seven-piece jazz ensemble, but producer Simon Green had no trouble bringing the party to LIB with just him and his decks, spinning an expansive hour-long set that dipped its feet into a shockingly wide range of styles. As DJ sets continue to overtake festival stages the world over, said DJs scramble to include more and more visual spectacle to keep audiences engaged and many groan over the tedium of watching of a man work a mixer and two turntables, Green proved to be a master of the DJ set, working in much of his own work, while knowingly dropping the obligatory familiar tracks. The best of the bunch? A show-stopping rework of the xx’s instant classic “Crystalised” and set closer “54-46 That’s My Number” by reggae legends Toots & the Maytals.

Thievery Corporation (DJ set) – Lightning Stage – 12:30 p.m.
With their patented fusion of dub, bossa nova, Afrobeat, trance, and psychedelic rock, Thievery Corporation have spent over a decade as one of the preeminent voices in world music. It’s pretty telling that even if the duo behind the famed collective’s lush arrangements, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, don’t perform with their entire ensemble, they still have the pull of a festival headliner. Their set, though comprised of the sort of tranquil lounge music they’ve made their name on along with a mixed bag of modern, crowd-friendly electro, was perhaps the only letdown of the entire festival. As far as DJ sets go, this one was a bit of a dud: the old stuff sounded tired and when the duo attempted to prove they weren’t as old as they seemed with a dash of hip, new music, it didn’t quite fit into their set. In hindsight, the duo would’ve done better with an earlier timeslot, allowing a livelier, more exciting act to close out the weekend.

Photo by Kat Parry

As previously reported, jam icons String Cheese Incident will take over the stomping grounds of the still-in-doubt Rothbury Music Festival for their own four-day extravaganza this Fourth of July weekend.

Set to run June 30-July 3rd at the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, Michigan, the Electric Forest‘s inaugural bill already includes 51 acts, with even more still to be confirmed. Along with three sets by SCI, the festival will offer such musical heavyweights as DJ Tiësto, Pretty Lights, REO Speedwagon, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic, Stephen Marley, Kaskade, Shpongle, and Railroad Earth.

Other confirmed acts include Laidback Luke, JJ Grey & Mofro, Excision The New Deal, EOTO, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Skrillex, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Toubab Krewe, Bonobo (DJ Set), Beats Antique, Big Gigantic, Chiddy Bang, Eskmo, Lettuce, Eliot Lipp, Paper Diamond, The Infamous Stringdusters, 12th Planet, The Pimps of Joytime, and Emancipator. For a complete look at Electric Forest’s 2011 lineup, visit Festival Outlook.

In addition to the music, Electric Forest will also offer access to Rothbury’s enchanted Sherwood Forest, Gold Rush Water Park, Thoroughbred Golf Club, Big Wildcat Lake, and horseback riding.

Weekend tickets are available starting March 5th for $199.00 (plus fees), but that price will rise to $239.00 once the initial allotment sells out. A number of VIP packages are also available. You can find complete ticketing information at the festival’s website.

The Oakland-based three-piece seems to draw some attention from both the “world music” crowd and the jam band world. And deservedly so. They combine the best aspects of jam music (fun, funky, instrumental grooves and a playful willingness to experiment) with traditional polycultural music. Unfortunately, though, they occasionally combine the lesser aspects of both, namely jam’s numbing insistence and the half-hearted, vague nature that the term “world music” embodies. For instance, opener “Egyptic” twangs and whirls gracefully, the electronic scrapes on the fiddle intriguing. Simultaneously, the elements repeating a few times too many, the near six-minute track lagging a bit.

However, the combination of modern and traditional instruments is too captivating to dismiss. The wind instruments in “Runaway” combine with electronic drums fluently; the bassy synth blasts and hand-drums on “Revival” sound entirely natural together. This is an impressive feat, to say the least. To make the organic instruments and organic song structures grow together with inorganic methodology is something that many musicians fall short of. When Beats Antique falls too much in love with their grooves, the result is disappointing. Instead of pushing the music’s envelope into exciting, new territory, they occasionally fall into repetition.

“Spiderbite” may be the downright funkiest track, the stuttering, bursting bubbles of synth bass and chop-shopped rhythm samples competing for rhythmic attention. Perhaps as a result, it’s also the one that sounds the least like its old-world components. When they add another element in the form of anarchist Celtic rapper LYNX, things take a turn for the bland. “Rising Tide” finds the group fading into the background, leaving LYNX’s vocals unfocused in the fore.

The rest of the disc wanders similarly in and out of focus. When they find the perfect middle-ground between modernism and the past, the tracks are a great deal of fun. When they get to that place where jammy groups operate, that weird middle-ground where everything fades into blah, they’re much less interesting and a lot less fun. Altogether, there’s some stuff worth listening to and some to skip. Taking the journey for yourself is the only way to figure out which tracks work and which don’t. Beats Antique deserves that amount of effort, but not a whole ton more.

Anyway, the San Francisco festival was just the first of eight at which Beats Antique will perform on its current summer/fall tour, including the Stephentown, New York, Bellaterra Music Festival, Seattle’s Decibel Festival, and of course, Austin City Limits.

The rest of the North American tour will likewise be scattered around the continent. The band will spend most of September crisscrossing the country, going from Minnesota to Maine and then California. October will be much more easygoing, with the band finishing up the Midwest right before ACL on the 9th. The Southern leg will include gigs in Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia. The band will play a show in Massachusetts soon after, then head back to the West Coast again. In November, Beats Antique will touch down in western Canada for four stops. Its final scheduled show is at San Francisco’s annual New Year’s Eve event Sea of Dreams.

This is all in support of the trio’s third full-length album, Blind Threshold, which arrives October 12th on Antique Records. Check out the itinerary below, and tickets are available now on Ticketmaster.

Beats Antique 2010 Tour Dates:
09/10 – Clarks Grove, MN @ Harvestfest – Harmony Park
09/11 – Minot, ME @ 1st Annual Dankfest
09/17 – Laytonville, CA @ Earthdance
09/18 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
09/24 – Seattle, WA @ Decibel Festival
09/25 – Arcata, CA @ Aracata Theatre
09/28 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
09/29 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Loft at Barfly
09/30 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Live
10/01 – Milwaukee, WI @ Miramar Theatre
10/02 – Chicago, IL @ Abbey Pub
10/03 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
10/09 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/12 – Birmingham, AL @ Zydeco
10/13 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
10/15 – Charleston, SC @ The Pour House
10/16 – Athens, GA @ New Earth Music Hall
10/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade – Hell Room
10/22 – Allston, MA @ Harpers Ferry
10/28 – Reno, NV @ The Underground
10/29 – Stateline, NV @ Blu Nightclub
10/30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Music Box
11/11 – Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club
11/12 – Edmonton, AB @ The Pawn Shop
11/13 – Calgary, AB @ Royal Canadian Legion
11/14 – Winnipeg, MB @ Crescent Wood United Church
12/31 – San Francisco, CA @ Sea of Dreams

Monolith’s third edition will again take place at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado from September 12-13 and feature quite the indie-centric line up we’ve all come to expect and enjoy.

Saturday is highlighted by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Girl Talk, Of Montreal, M. Ward, The Walkmen, Frightened Rabbit, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, while Sunday offers The Mars Volta, MSTRKRFT, Method Man & Redman, Phoenix, Chromeo, Passion Pit, The Thermals and Wale among others.

As it stands, Monolith 2009 currently looks like this:

A Shoreline Dream, The Answering Machine, The Antlers, AutoVaughn, Avi Buffalo, Beats Antique, Boulder Acoustic Society, Caitlin Rose, Chromeo, Cotton Jones, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Dandy Warhols, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Deer Tick, DOOM, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Features, French Horn Rebellion, Frightened Rabbit, Generationals, Girl Talk, The Glitch Mob, The Grates, Gregory Alan Isakov, Jim McTurnan & The Kids That Killed The Man, Harlem Shakes, HEALTH, Ida Maria, The Knew, Lydia, M. Ward, The Mars Volta, Method Man & Redman, Hollywood Holt & Million $ Mano, Miniature Tigers, Montonix, MSTRKRFT, Neon Indian, Of Montreal, OK Go, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Passion Pit, Phoenix, The Pirate Signal, Rachel Goodrich, Red Wire Black Wire, Savoy, Speakeasy, Tiger, Spindrift, Starfucker, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, The Thermals, These United States, Thunderheist, Tigercity, The Twilight Sad, Viva Voice, Wale, The Walkmen, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Wendy Darling, Woodhands, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Ahead of the festivities, Monolith will also be hosting two kick-off parties on Friday, September 11th at the Gothic Theater and Moes BBQ in Denver, with a Chromeo DJ set, The Cool Kids, Hot Tub, and Boyhollow being the scheduled entertainment of the evening. The events will be open to VIP ticket holders, media and winners of the Southern Comfort ticket promotion.

Speaking of tickets, single day, two-day and VIP passes are all currently on sale via monolithfestival.com, but you better hurry, prices for all three options will go up on August 14th.