As previously reported, Arcade Fire and The Decemberists are among the artists who contributed new material to the upcoming film Hunger Games. Now, as ArcadeFireTube points out, the soundtrack’s tracklist has been posted on iTunes and The Decemberists’ contribution, entitled “One Engine”, is already available for purchase. You can also stream “One Engine” below (via Hypable).

Spanning 16 tracks, the soundtrack also features Kid Cudi, Neko Case, Glen Hansard, The Low Anthem, The Secret Sisters, and Carolina Chocolate Drops, among others. For their part, Arcade Fire contribute a track entitled “Abraham’s Daughter”.

According to iTunes, the soundtrack will be released on March 20th, three days prior to the film’s release on March 23rd.

Hunger Games Tracklist:
01. Taylor Swift (feat. The Civil Wars) – “Safe & Sound”
02. Taylor Swift – “Eyes Wide Open”
03. Arcade Fire – “Abraham’s Daughter”
04. Kid Cudi – “The Ruler & The Killer”
05. Miranda Lambert (feat. Pistol Annies) – “Run Daddy Run”
06. The Civil Wars – “Kingdom Come”
07. The Decemberists – “One Engine”
08. Glen Hansard – “Take the Heartland”
09. The Low Anthem – “Lover is Childlike”
10. Punch Brothers – “Dark Days”
11. Secret Sisters – “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder”
12. Birdy – “Just a Game”
13. Ella Mae Bowen – “Oh Come & Sing”
14. Jayme Dee – “Rules”
15. Carolina Chocolate Drops – “Reaping Day”
16. Neko Case – “Give Me Something I’ll Remember”

Legendary celtic outfit The Chieftains return on February 21st with their 50th anniversary album, Voice of Ages, via Hear/Concord. It features a ton of guests, like Bon Iver, The Low Anthem, and The Civil Wars. The Decemberists appear, too, contributing to a cover of Bob Dylan’s “When the Ship Comes In”, which you can currently stream at RollingStone.com.

Below, you can find streams for Bon Iver and The Civil Wars’ tracks, followed by the tracklist.

Voice of Ages Tracklist:
01. Carolina Rua (feat. Imelda May)
02. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (feat. Pistol Annies)
03. Pretty Little Girl (feat. Carolina Chocolate Drops)
04. Down in the Willow Garden (feat. Bon Iver)
05. Lily Love (feat. The Civil Wars)
06. The Lark in the Clean Air / Olam Punch (feat. Punch Brothers)
07. My Lagan Love (feat. Lisa Hannigan)
08. When the Ship Comes In (feat. The Decemeberists)
09. School Days Over (feat. The Low Anthem)
10. The Frost is All Over (feat. Punch Brothers)
11. Peggy Gordon (feat. The Secret Sisters)
12. Hard Times Come Again No More (Paolo Nutini)
13. The Chieftains
14. The Chieftains in Orbit with Nasa Astronaut (feat. Candy Coleman)
15. Lundu (feat. Carlos Nunez)

And for their fourth release in The King Is Dead album cycle, The Decemberists will drop their first-ever live album on March 13th via Capitol Records. Entitled We All Raise Our Voices To The Air (Live Songs 04.11-08.11), the 20-track collection draws from 12 live performances from last summer. Included are songs from the band’s entire discography and several feature the addition of a horn section.

The set will be available as a double-disc CD, triple LP vinyl, or digitally. Check out the tracklist below, along with video of the band performing “Rise To Me” in Los Angeles last February.

The Decemberists’ three other releases from the last year — The King Is Dead LP, the Long Live The King EP, and the iTunes Session EP, are all available now.

We All Raise Our Voices To The Air (Live Songs 04.11-08.11) Tracklist:
Disc 1
01. The Infanta (5:15)
02. Calamity Song (3:57)
03. Rise To Me (4:55)
04. The Soldiering Life (3:58)
05. We Both Go Down Together (4:30)
06. The Bagman’s Gambit (8:05)
07. Down By The Water (3:59)
08. Leslie Ann Levine(4:15)
09. The Rake’s Song (3:34)
10. The Crane Wife 1, 2, and 3 (16:20)

Disc 2
01. Oceanside (3:15)
02. Billy Liar (6:33)
03. Grace Cathedral Hill (4:35)
04. All Arise! (4:30)
05. Rox In The Box (3:15)
06. June Hymn (4:20)
07. Dracula’s Daughter > O Valencia! (5:49)
08. This Is Why We Fight (4:35)
09. The Mariner’s Revenge Song (10:20)
10. I Was Meant For The Stage (10:00)

“Rise To Me” (Live):

Both Arcade Fire and The Decemberists have signed on to create original songs for the upcoming film Hunger Games, as Reuters reports. Scheduled to hit theaters on March 23rd, the film is based on a series of young adult novels, and tells the story of an annual televised event in a post-apocalyptic world where boys and girls fight to the death, according to IMDB.

Along with Arcade Fire and The Decemberists, the film’s soundtrack will feature contributions from Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars, T-Bone Burnett, and more. Stay tuned for additional details.

A true sin in this world is ignoring art. But we do. Our world works too fast. Our eyes have too big of stomachs. We digest without reflecting. We rely on our subconscious to dig deeper. This is life in the modern world. Our main priority: time. There is no greater asset. Though, here’s a piece of irony: A real piece of art is a physical representation of time. So, what’s our excuse? Don’t worry, you don’t have to answer. Just an introduction, really.

Here’s the real meat: A couple years ago, I tapped my closest friend Cap Blackard to direct the art here on Consequence of Sound. In our four-plus year existence, the site’s never looked better, and he’s to credit for that. This doesn’t surprise me, though. In fact, you could say that was my plan all along.

Fun fact: In sixth grade, the two of us attended an incredibly pretentious private school, where art was restricted to the art room. Style didn’t exist, only uniforms. Despite these stuffy restrictions, Cap went on to win the top art award at the end of the academic year. Sitting there in the pew (yes, a church pew) watching him receive the award, I remember feeling both happy and slightly envious. I was stoked for my best friend, but, hey, it was sixth grade and I wanted a trophy, too. After all, my earlier days in tee ball didn’t necessarily stock my bookshelves with gold.

Instead, I became one of his biggest fans, and over the years, I’ve closely watched Cap grow as an artist. These days, it’s hard to keep up. He never stops creating. To quote the late Kyle Reese, “That’s ALL he does! You can’t stop him!” To help with the workload, he’s tagged some exceptional talent. His assistant (and CoS Senior Staff Writer) Drew Litowitz came in with a full house of cards, submitting a couple of this year’s best works. While his other associates have also produced some fantastic pieces, as well.

So, don’t be a sinner. Take a goddamn minute out of your day, and soak up the art – all 30 pieces (complete with liner notes).

-Michael Roffman
President/Editor-in-Chief 

The Decemberists

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

I love The Decemberists and was glad to get a chance to do something around their latest release. Not having a chance to listen to the album I went off what I knew. I’d heard that the title The King is Dead may be a reference to The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead. I adapted the Smiths album cover to instead feature Decemberists front man Colin Meloy and added in a yellow forest background as seen on the Decemberists cover, re-staging the somewhat romantic posturing as a like-wise romantic wistful forest reclining. -Cap Blackard

Bright Eyes

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Bright Eyes – The People’s Key

Nothing too complex behind this piece. The fire colors and design were inspired by the album cover and the image itself is riffing off Bright Eyes’ name and the album title. Done with inks and watercolors. -Cap Blackard

Radiohead

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: Radiohead – The King of Limbs

This was my first piece as Assistant Art Director. From the moment I first heard The King of Limbs, I knew I wanted to convey the record’s dubbed-out, fractal, frenetic, rhythmically reflective sound. I also wanted to focus on how those aesthetics relate to the tree from which the record finds its name. Since it took four years of hibernation to create the record, I show Thom Yorke crawling from the roots of the old tree like some psychotic patient, with magpies in the trees, lotus flowers on the ground – the line work scratched and inverted in a chaotic, disorienting world of echo. The unsettling thing about this piece, though, is that I drew it far before I saw any of the artwork found in the Universal Sigh or the record’s newspaper addition, and it is ridiculously similar to the line work and style of those drawings, specifically the way Stanley Donwood and Dr. Tchok handled the trees. Eerie. -Drew Litowitz

The Strokes

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: The Strokes – Angles

Consequence of Sound got a copy of Angles waaaaay before any of us expected to and we wanted to be the first to break it. In lieu of the time crunch, I did a manipulation of an older photo of mine that I felt meshed with the geometry of both the album cover and the album’s sound. This is from a series I did of the most incredible public structure I’ve ever seen: The Plantation Fashion Mall. Now closed and abandoned, I was allowed to shoot the building to preserve its magnificence. Its glass domes and palatial architecture are the glory of late ’80s and early ’90s Florida incarnate.

I used Photoshop to tailor the image to Angles adding in some bold colors to match the album cover. This was my last series to date on a traditional film camera. The grain of the film aided in creating a beautiful watercolor-like aspect to the feature image. -Cap Blackard

R.E.M.

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now

Originally, I was going to do this piece by bleaching dark paper, but I ended up buying the wrong kind of bleach and it had practically no reaction. So I opted for some very wet watercolor work with the intention of creating an abstract foundation for an edited version of my reference photo of Michael Stipe. The hardest whites are liquid paper, and the overlay worked out pretty well after some filters and sculpting.

The severe whites and blacks as well as the presence of lines and the marigold and yellow are references to the album cover for Collapse Into Now. -Cap Blackard

Foo Fighters

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

This is the first piece of photography I’ve done specifically for the CoS feature image. Since the first music videos accompanying this album were all recorded on VHS, I decided to incorporate tape into the image. The photo was taken on a garage floor with discarded cigarettes and matchsticks to add to a grungy feel.

The VHS tape sacrificed for this project was of the 1980 skit comedy film, Loose Shoes. Even with Bill Murray featured in a couple of scenes the film didn’t have enough redeeming qualities to save it from my screw driver. I placed a label reading “Wasting Light” on the cassette. -Cap Blackard

Panda Bear

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: Panda Bear – Tomboy

Leading up to the much-anticipated release of Tomboy, Panda Bear released a few 7″ singles and sold tour posters and t-shirts, all with simplistic, pencil-drawn gray and white images, similar to record’s future cover art. Among these singles was “You Can Count On Me”, which featured cover art of a simple pencil rendering of a father and child. For my Tomboy illustration, I wanted to draw a portrait of Noah Lennox in graphite, to match the simple visuals Lennox had been using of late. The drawing’s minimalism and crude pencil marks show Lennox alone, totally underexposed, accompanying a record of unbearable loneliness and solitude.  -Drew Litowitz

TV On The Radio

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

A digitally manipulated photo of a clustered flower that I took. No clue what kind it is. Normally I finish photos at a natural size and shrink them down to feature box size, but in this case what I thought were going to be some “final tweaks” on the feature image ended up being so extensive that it would’ve been a massive ordeal to redo them on the original file. There were many many many layers by the end of this piece. -Cap Blackard

Fleet Foxes

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

Helplessness Blues is one of the most desperately inquisitive records I’ve ever heard. For every statement, there’s Robin Pecknold with yet another existential inquiry. To express Pecknold’s anxious disillusionment, I scribed some of the record’s key lyrics around a simplistic portrait of the Fleet Foxes frontman, highlighting some of the record’s most difficult questions. The hardest one being, “WHY? The result looks something like a bathroom stall graffiti portrait, used as some sort of shrine. I think that about fits the bill. -Drew Litowitz

The Cars

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: The Cars – Move Like This

A rare instance where I did the feature art and wrote the article. This is a collage, mostly sampling from mid ’90s DC comics (read: disposable) with a few other pieces from newer issues that were damaged, as well as an old issue of Disney Adventures. Images of cars were cut out and assembled then painted over with acrylic. The colors red, yellow, green, and blue pertain to the album’s cover. When I scanned the piece I wrapped it in plastic wrap 1) because it was still wet and 2) because I thought it might look cool. The gloss of the plastic wrap ended up being a bit overwhelming on the whole, and I prefer the non-plastic version. However, the picture I ended up using as the feature image is a cropped version of the plastic wrap version. You can see the full size plastic version here. -Cap Blackard

Moby

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Moby – Destroyed

This drawing started on a paper tablecloth at a Moroccan restaurant in Chicago (the Moby head to the left, drawn without reference) and CoS President/Editor-in-Chief Michael Roffman insisted that it be used for the featured image. I crumpled it up and abused it in my purse for a couple weeks before sitting down to finish it adding layers of inks, charcoal, white paint and liquid paper. The larger Moby head was drawn with reference after I’d rorschached the paper. The general feel of the images was derived from Destroyed‘s theme of stark loneliness. -Cap Blackard

Summer Tours

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: The 15 Hottest Summer Tours of 2011

I wanted something that summoned the spirits of summer traveling in North America: big rigs, deep forests, tropical coasts, a funky car covered in luggage, and a mysterious sun-soaked crow spirit (a byproduct of reading dystopian America graphic novel Puma Blues and its art by Michael Zulli). This piece started with loose pencils, water colored over, then inked with a broken and spewing Pilot Razor Point pen, and finally, accented with a white paint pen and liquid paper. -Cap Blackard

Lady Gaga

Artist: Virginia McCarthy & Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Lady Gaga – Born This Way

The illustration pencils and inks are by good friend, talented illustrator, and frequent collaborator, Virginia McCarthy. I provided the colors. A strange Gaga creature leads former Gaga outfits in a choreographed dance number emulating the “Born This Way” music video. The “Born This Way” video was in many ways such a stark departure from the visual complexity of her previous videos that this seemed a pertinent comparison to make – with those previous video’s costumes following the simply and scantily dressed Gaga form. The coloring and background was done in Photoshop. -Cap Blackard

Bon Iver

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Going into this piece I took ideas from both the cover for Bon Iver – a kaleidoscopic kind of Bob Ross painting of pastoral landscapes and farm houses. As well as the exceptional music video for the then new track, “Calgary“. It’s got a recurring bed/sleep and couplehood theme. I smooshed all those ideas together for this image.

The face isn’t frontman, Justin Vernon, but he does kind of have ’70s hair, so that’s where that came from. The background was laid in with no linework underneath it. The figures were put in with blue line, painted over, and the final lines for the whole piece were done in charcoal. -Cap Blackard

Incubus

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Incubus – If Not Now, When?

When I do feature illustrations for CoS, I always look into the album and the band’s recent goings on. Sometimes I have a good familiarity with the artist(s), sometimes not so much. I always strive to keep elements of the band’s latest project imbued into the feature art. This one side steps a bit. The cover for If Not Now, When? is a black and white photograph with a decent amount of grain to it. I knew I wanted a piece that was relatively monochromatic that would either have natural grain, or that I’d add grain to. In looking into the meaning behind the album’s name and the title track, I decided to take it into an alternate direction, riffing off how I’d choose to interpret the album title. In this case- how long until animals take on human traits or humans take on animal’s? -Cap Blackard

Portugal. The Man

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Portugal. The Man – In the Mountain, In the Cloud

The man’s face was a doodle drawn in my sketch book, pretty much actual size in the full size picture. Done with a ballpoint pen. It wasn’t originally intended to be part of the feature art but while playing with it it seemed like an interesting fit. I changed the color of the drawing’s lines to reflect the line drawing color of the album art. The photo was taken by me at Apollo Beach on Florida’s Space Coast. -Cap Blackard

Jay-Z & Kanye West

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Rise to the Throne: The Collaborative Highlights of Jay-Z and Kanye West

This was actually the first feature illustration I did for CoS, back in fall 2010. I mixed up which album was coming out and did a piece for Watch The Throne and not My Dark Twisted Fantasy. So though my first piece of published feature art was for last year’s Daft Punk, this was the first drawn. Rapper Astronautalis is now the proud owner of the original watercolor of this piece. -Cap Blackard

Stephen Malkmus

Artist: Virginia McCarthy
Featured art for: Interview: Stephen Malkmus

Borrowing the building-side painting look from Mirror Traffic‘s album art, Virginia created this strangely sinister portrait of Malkmus. A pencil illustration overlaid with digital paint. I came in and overlaid it onto a beat-up cardboard texture to give it a similar street-side texture to the album art.  -Cap Blackard

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers – I’m With You

Riffing off the cover for I’m With You, with a fly perched on a pill capsule, I ended up with a fly version of Anthony Kiedis vomiting up pills into Flea’s mouth. Sure, why not?

This started with me working on a rough layout concept in Photoshop, where I completed the piece. For this image’s use in the feature box, it holds up really well. View it larger and my Photoshopping technique gets a bit transparent. It’d be nice to find the time to do an analogue version of this some day. -Cap Blackard

Lil Wayne

Artist: Bianca Triozzi
Featured art for: Album Review: Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV

Bianca took the truly lil’ Lil’ Wayne from the cover of Tha Carter IV and age-progressed him to current day Carter. Sharing a Twin Peaks fanaticism with myself and Michael Roffman, she thought she’d drop the rapper into his own personal Black Lodge, complete with an armless statue sporting Nicki Minaj hair. This piece was all analog. -Cap Blackard

St. Vincent

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured artwork for: Album Review: St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

On the outside, Annie Clark is adorable, petite, and elegantly beautiful. She’s every hipster’s dream-wife. But, her meticulously chaotic soundscapes stand in stark contrast to her outward appearance. I wanted to play with that concept. To show the perfect, cute Clark with an almost sinister look on her face, her crazed hair, and a little bit of blood on her surgical gloves (“Surgeon”), just a taste of what her latest record has to offer. Her perfection marred only slightly by the blood on her hands from cutting herself open and crafting one of the year’s best albums. -Drew Litowitz

Wilco

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured artwork for: Album Review: Wilco – The Whole Love

“The Art of Almost” and The Whole Love were the two phrases which led me to this minimal graphic. Using the “charging” symbol from an iPod or iPhone as a launching point, I created a worn, distressed heart, “almost” filled with love, but still well on its way to getting there. -Drew Litowitz

Ryan Adams

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured artwork for: Album Review: Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire

Ashes. Fire. Roses. Using symbols commonly associated with Ryan Adams, and the record’s album art for inspiration, I wanted to create an image in which everything burned together into one fiery mess. Adams sits to the left, watching roses and a tropical forest burn right before his eyes. For such a dark, beautiful record, I think it gets the job done. -Drew Litowitz

October Party

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured artwork for: Consequence of Sound’s October Party in Brooklyn

For his birthday a couple years ago, indie rapper, Jackson, aka Ms. Paintbrush of Grand Buffet put a call out on his Tumblr for a gift wish. He wanted people to send him images of Jay Leno carjacking a seahorse. I was happy to oblige and sent him linework intending to color it soon after. Fast forward to this October and I finally got around to coloring it. This was simultaneous to being assigned our CMJ-timed October party poster and the image felt like a good fit for a concert poster. I’d done some “save the date” ad graphics leading up to the announcement of the party. They were simple, sepia-toned, text based images. Working the more bold, marker-colored seahorse graphic into that color scheme took some trial and error with different layering styles before I felt that it matched the feel of the rest of the poster. For the curious, the albums floating thin the seahorse’s car are Slave to the Rhythm and Tin Machine. You can see the original illustration with Jay Leno and the seahorse here. -Cap Blackard

Tom Waits

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Check Out: Are You Bad As Tom Waits?

This art was not just intended as the feature image for Waits’ Bad Like Me, but also CoS’ “Bad Like Me” Quiz. Inspired by that feature, I thought I’d make a carnival-style quiz machine to test your badness. This is a digital photo collage amalgamating many separate and very unrelated elements. The body of the machine is an antique, derelict Coke machine. You can check out a large, non-animated version here. -Cap Blackard

Coldplay

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto

I read that the WWII White Rose Movement was one of Chris Martin’s inspirations with this album, so I went with that image for the feature. There’s a memorial for the Movement that’s a very amorphous rose made from tiles set into the ground. I liked the notion, and based off that, I went for a similar idea with a fractured, but still recognizable look. The color scheme comes from the more prominent hues of the album art. Lots of texture layering for the background. This is an all-digital collage. -Cap Blackard

Lou Reed & Metallica

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu

No comment. – Drew Litowitz

The Beach Boys

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: The Beach Boys – The Smile Sessions

With my SMiLE graphic, I took the concept of a “lost” album to its logical pop culture counter-part. Parodying the well-known promotional image for ABC’s Lost, instead of Matt Fox and Evangeline Lilly in front of the bold Typeface, the five Beach Boys walk ominously along a dark beach, surfboard in hands. The scene’s high contrast gives the image a somber tone, the board looking almost coffin-like, with the Boys Beach marching towards an answer to the mystery of one of pop’s greatest enigmas. I knew I could have gone with something more along the lines of the album’s iconic cover, but I wanted to try something different. There was darkness behind the scenes, and I wanted to get at the legend of it all. Surf’s Up, indeed. -Drew Litowitz

David Lynch

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: David Lynch’s 20 Weirdest Musical Moments

For this graphic, I wanted to juxtapose some well-loved Lynchian images. The central image is of Dennis Hopper’s deranged, blue velvet obsessed criminal, Frank Booth. Eleanor Edwards photographed me with her blue velvet bathing suit shoved in my mouth. The rest of the images are all Twin Peaks- the zig-zag floor of the Black Lodge, splattered with garmonbozia, and a forest of Douglas Firs showing through underneath. -Cap Blackard

Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow

Kate Bush is among my shortlist of all-time favorite artists. She’s a magical being in a woman’s body – people say variations of that all the time. As far as I’ve been able to tell, it’s true. I was really excited to get to do some feature art for 50 Words for Snow.

The first thing I attempted to do for this was to commission a local ice sculptor to do a rendition of Bush’s face, which I would light and photograph. Unfortunately, and as expected, ice sculpting was too expensive to pull that off. The illustration was easily something I could’ve lost myself in, with intricate details and so on. If I had allowed more time for myself I may have gone there. I mean, it’s Kate Bush! Instead I went for a more guttural, organic approach: I started with a broad, wedged pen and went at it abstractly. After creating a template for the piece that way, I went over it with a white paint pen, giving Bush’s face more depth and detail. Then grey markers, then more paint, then smaller ink pens, then more grey, then more paint.

Someday I hope to make something more grand based on Bush’s work. But it’s a start. -Cap Blackard

One second. Sometimes that’s all a photographer gets – and hardly in ideal conditions. At worst (and most likely), a photographer may be squeezed between 15 others in the pit, mere feet away from pyrotechnics, finding support from stress-rattled knees, while focusing on a spastic frontman and sheltering oneself from a downpour, which may or may not involve a hailstorm. Truth: A great photographer handles the unenviable task of capturing that one moment everyone goes home thinking about. Half-truth: There’s probably a statistic somewhere that discusses what the job does to the heart. If not, there should be a study. Double-truth: It’s just a sweaty, life-threatening task.

Hi, I’m Michael Roffman, President and Editor-in-Chief of Consequence of Sound. You may know me from such stories as “Look Out! The Gaslight Anthem is Coming!” or “Scratch that… Brian Wilson is not returning to The Beach Boys.” This year, I sent out dozens of writers and photographers to hundreds of shows and just about every major music festival this side of the Atlantic (some even overseas). Without a doubt, our eyes were everywhere.

More specifically, our photographers’ multiple weighty lenses. In the past 12 months, we’ve published countless, fully-stocked galleries, featuring some of the most awe-inspiring shots on the ‘net, all thanks to our brave and inordinately talented photographers. Actually, that’s an understatement. These artists bleed talent – to get somewhat histrionic. Look, we value words, but as Fred R. Barnard so famously wrote, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Cliche, but you spend over four years putting these live and festival reviews together. You’ll quickly see how true that statement is. To date, I still feel like I’ve attended Bonnaroo.*

For our annual report, we put together our 100 favorite photos of the year. Lots of colors, lots of locales, and plenty of popular mugs to savor. So, throw on some tunes, grab a bag of chips, and enjoy the trip. You’ll go places, kiddo.

-Michael Roffman
President/Editor-in-Chief

* Would never happen. This guy in mud? Nah.

Weezer

Event: Weezer at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom
Date: 1/7/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

The Walkmen

Event: The Walkmen at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse
Date: 1/13/2011
Photographer: Max Blau

Girl Talk

Event: Girl Talk at Atlanta’s Tabernacle
Date: 1/21/2011
Photographer: Max Blau

Sad Brad Smith

Event: Sad Brad Smith at Chicago’s Schubas Tavern
Date: 1/23/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

The Church

Event: The Church at Chicago’s Park West
Date: 2/11/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

Robyn

Event: Robyn at Chicago’s The Riviera Theatre
Date: 2/14/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

The Dismemberment Plan

Event: The Dismemberment Plan at Chicago’s Metro
Date: 2/19/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Ben Kweller

Event: Ben Kweller at Chicago’s Vic Theatre
Date: 2/23/2011
Photographer: Joshua Mellin

Bright Eyes

Event: Bright Eyes at Miami’s The Fillmore
Date: 3/2/2011
Photographer: Lauren Guagno

Raphael Saadiq

Event: Raphael Saadiq at SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

Baby Headphones

Event: SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Owen Pallett

Event: Owen Pallett at SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

The Strokes

Event: The Strokes at SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

The Kills

Event: The Kills at SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

TV on the Radio w/ Yo Gabba Gabba!

Event: TV on the Radio w/ Yo Gabba Gabba! at SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Matt & Kim

Event: Matt & Kim at SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Odd Future

Event: Odd Future at SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Odd Future

Event: Odd Future at SXSW 2011
Date: 3/16-20/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Hollerado

Event: Hollerado at Axis of Audio Showcase: SXSW 2011
Date: 3/19/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

Astronautalis

Event: Astronautalis (& Four Fists) at Axis of Audio Showcase: SXSW 2011
Date: 3/19/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

P.O.S.

Event: P.O.S. at Paid Dues Festival 2011
Date: 4/2/2011
Photographer: Winston Robbins

The Mountain Goats

Event: The Mountain Goats at Chicago’s Vic Theatre
Date: 4/5/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

Queens of the Stone Age

Event: Queens of the Stone Age at Oakland’s Fox Theatre
Date: 4/11/2011
Photographer: Karina Halle

The Strokes

Event: The Strokes at Coachella 2011
Date: 4/15-17/2011
Photographer: Debi Del Grande

Kanye West

Event: Kanye West at Coachella 2011
Date: 4/15-17/2011
Photographer: Debi Del Grande

The National

Event: The National, Arcade Fire at Chicago’s UIC Pavillion
Date: 4/24/2011
Photographer: Lauren Guagno

Arcade Fire

Event: The National, Arcade Fire at Chicago’s UIC Pavillion
Date: 4/24/2011
Photographer: Lauren Guagno

Battles

Event: Battles at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall
Date: 4/30/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

tUnE-yArDs

Event: tUnE-yArDs at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall
Date: 5/10/2011
Photographer: Wallo Villacorta

Lykke Li

Event: Lykke Li at Chicago’s Metro
Date: 5/23/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

The Gorge

Event: Sasquatch! 2011
Date: 5/27-30/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Death From Above 1979

Event: Death From Above 1979 at Sasquatch! 2011
Date: 5/27-30/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Robyn

Event: Robyn at Sasquatch 2011
Date: 5/27-30/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Fitz and the Tantrums

Event: Fitz and the Tantrums at Sasquatch! 2011
Date: 5/27-30/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

The Flaming Lips

Event: The Flaming Lips at Sasquatch! 2011
Date: 5/27-30/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

The Decemberists

Event: Sasquatch! 2011
Date: 5/27-30/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Melvins

Event: Melvins at Chicago’s Double Door
Date: 5/31/2011
Photographer: Katie Schuering

Bonnaroo Fan

Event: Bonnaroo 2011
Date: 6/9-12/2011
Photographer: Ben Kaye

Buffalo Springfield

Event: Buffalo Springfield at Bonnaroo 2011
Date: 6/9-12/2011
Photographer: Max Blau

Eminem

Event: Eminem at Bonnaroo 2011
Date: 6/9-12/2011
Photographer: Max Blau

Future Islands

Event: Future Islands at Chicago’s Subterranean
Date: 6/15/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

Florence + the Machine

Event: Florence + the Machine at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom
Date: 6/18/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

Glastonbury

Event: Glastonbury 2011
Date: 6/22-26/2011
Photographer: Laura Page

Eddie Vedder w/ Glen Hansard

Event: Eddie Vedder at The Chicago Theatre
Date: 6/28/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Phish Heads

Event: Phish Super Ball IX
Date: 7/1-3/2011
Photographer: Jake Cohen

Fucked Up

Event: Fucked Up at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall
Date: 7/2/2011
Photographer: Jeremy D. Larson

Cold Cave

Event: Cold Cave at Pitchfork 2011
Date: 7/15-17/2011
Photographer: Jeremy D. Larson

OFF!

Event: OFF! at Pitchfork 2011
Date: 7/15-17/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

Event: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti at Pitchfork 2011
Date: 7/15-17/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

tUnE-yArDs

Event: tUnE-yArDs at Pitchfork 2011
Date: 7/15-17/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

Fleet Foxes

Event: Fleet Foxes at Pitchfork 2011
Date: 7/15-17/2011
Photographer: Meghan Brosnan

Soundgarden

Event: Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon at Washington’s Gorge Amphitheater
Date: 7/30/2011
Photographer: Karina Halle

Paul McCartney

Event: Paul McCartney at Chicago’s Wrigley Field
Date: 7/31/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Lolla Chicago

Event: Lollapalooza 2011
Date: 8/5-7/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

Le Butcherettes

Event: Le Butcherettes at Lollapalooza 2011
Date: 8/5-7/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Crystal Castles

Event: Crystal Castles at Lollapalooza 2011
Date: 8/5-7/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

Coldplay

Event: Coldplay at Lollapalooza 2011
Date: 8/5-7/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

The Chain Gang of 1974

Event: The Chain Gang of 1974 at Lollapalooza 2011
Date: 8/5-7/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

Ellie Goulding

Event: Ellie Goulding at Lollapalooza 2011
Date: 8/5-7/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Foo Fighters

Event: Foo Fighters at Chicago’s Metro
Date: 8/6/2011
Photographer: Heather Kaplan

Foster the People

Event: Foster the People at Outside Lands 2011
Date: 8/12-14/2011
Photographer: Debi Del Grande

Muse

Event: Muse at Outside Lands 2011
Date: 8/12-14/2011
Photographer: Debi Del Grande

Arcade Fire

Event: Arcade Fire at Outside Lands 2011
Date: 8/12-14/2011
Photographer: Debi Del Grande

Bush

Event: Bush at Chicago’s Congress Theatre
Date: 8/18/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

Rubblebucket

Event: Rubblebucket at North Coast 2011
Date: 9/2-4/2011
Photographer: Lillian Cai

Pearl Jam

Event: Pearl Jam at PJ20 at Alpine Valley
Date: 9/3-4/2011
Photographer: Jeremy D. Larson

Erykah Badu

Event: Erykah Badu at New York’s Rock the Bells 2011
Date: 9/3/2011
Photographer: Jake Cohen

Lauryn Hill

Event: Lauryn Hill at New York’s Rock the Bells 2011
Date: 9/3/2011
Photographer: Jake Cohen

The Kills

Event: The Kills at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom
Date: 9/5/2011
Photographer: Karina Halle

James Vincent McMorrow

Event: James Vincent McMorrow at Chicago’s Hideout
Date: 9/15/2011
Photographer: Matt Hyland

Delta Spirit

Event: Delta Spirit at Austin City Limits 2011
Date: 9/16-18/2011
Photographer: Debi Del Grande

My Morning Jacket

Event: My Morning Jacket at Austin City Limits 2011
Date: 9/16-18/2011
Photographer: Nate Slevin

Kanye West

Event: Kanye West at Austin City Limits 2011
Date: 9/16-18/2011
Photographer: Nate Slevin

Randy Newman

Event: Randy Newman at Austin City Limits 2011
Date: 9/16-18/2011
Photographer: Nate Slevin

Incubus

Event: Incubus at Miami’s Bayfront Park
Date: 9/20/2011
Photographer: Lauren Guagno

Blink-182

Event: Blink-182 at West Palm Beach’s Cruzan Amphitheatre
Date: 9/23/2011
Photographer: Lauren Guagno

Deerhoof

Event: Deerhoof at Chicago’s Bottom Lounge
Date: 9/25/2011
Photographer: Katie Schuering

Radiohead

Event: Radiohead at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom
Date: 9/28/2011
Photographer: Nate Slevin

St. Vincent

Event: St. Vincent at Chicago’s Metro
Date: 10/5/2011
Photographer: Katie Schuering

Portishead

Event: Portishead at Chicago’s Aragon Theater
Date: 10/12/2011
Photographer: Jeremy D. Larson

Sims

Event: Doomtree at Minneapolis’ Fine Line Music Cafe
Date: 10/15/2011
Photographer: Harley Brown

The Stepkids

Event: The Stepkids at CMJ 2011
Date: 10/18-22/2011
Photographer: Jeremy D. Larson

Duran Duran

Event: Duran Duran at The Chicago Theatre
Date: 10/21/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

Deadmau5

Event: deadmau5 at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom
Date: 10/22/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

Moby

Event: Moby at Moogfest 2011
Date: 10/28-30/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

Moby

Event: Moby at Moogfest 2011
Date: 10/28-30/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

Childish Gambino

Event: Childish Gambino at Moogfest 2011
Date: 10/28-30/2011
Photographer: Catherine Watkins

Suicide

Event: Suicide at Moogfest 2011
Date: 10/28-30/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

The Flaming Lips

Event: The Flaming Lips at Moogfest 2011
Date: 10/28-30/2011
Photographer: Catherine Watkins

Mayer Hawthorne & County

Event: Mayer Hawthorne & County at Moogfest 2011
Date: 10/28-30/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

M83

Event: M83 at Moogfest 2011
Date: 10/28-30/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

Zola Jesus

Event: Zola Jesus at San Francisco’s The Independent
Date: 11/1/2011
Photographer: Summer Dunsmore

Feist

Event: Feist at Chicago’s The Riviera Theatre
Date: 11/4/2011
Photographer: Brad Bretz

The Raconteurs

Event: The Raconteurs at Orlando Calling 2011
Date: 11/12-13/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

Pixies

Event: Pixies at Orlando Calling 2011
Date: 11/12-13/2011
Photographer: Cap Blackard

YACHT

Event: YACHT at San Francisco’s The Independent
Date: 11/17/2011
Photographer: Summer Dunsmore

M83

Event: M83 at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall
Date: 11/17/2011
Photographer: Jeremy D. Larson

The Cure

Event: The Cure at Los Angeles’ Pantages Theatre
Date: 11/23/2011
Photographer: Debi Del Grande

Tinariwen

Event: Tinariwen at Minneapolis’ Cedar Cultural Center
Date: 11/26/2011
Photographer: Harley Brown

Iggy Pop and the Stooges

Event: Iggy Pop and the Stooges at Hollywood’s Palladium
Date: 12/1/2011
Photographer: Debi Del Grande

The nominees for the 2012 Grammy Awards were officially revealed during a live television broadcast on Wednesday night, and Bon Iver was among the most called! Justin Vernon and Co. received a nomination for Best New Artist, while their song “Holocene” is up for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Bon Iver, the album, also was nominated for Alternative Album of the Year.

Now, before we go any further, let’s first remember this is Grammys and the rules make little sense: 1.) The cut off date for an eligible song/record/album was September 30th, 2011, so Drake’s Take Care won’t receive consideration until next year. However, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was released in November 2010, was eligible. 2.) To be eligible for Best New Artist, an artist must have released, as a featured performing artist, at least one album but not more than three (which explains why Bon Iver is nominated on album number two.) 3.) The difference between Record and Song of the Year: Record of the Year is given to the artist who performs the song and the people who produce the track, while Song of the Year is awarded to the songwriter who wrote said song. Also, let’s not forget about the 31 categories no longer in existence.

Along with Bon Iver, Adele picked up a slew of nominations, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. Kanye West’s opus My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy did not receive a nomination for Album of the Year, however, the rapper’s “All of the Lights” is in the running for Song of the Year. In addition, both My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and West’s joint LP with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne, were nominated for Best Rap Album. Foo Fighters also received love, with Wasting Light nominated for both Album of the Year and Best Rock Album.

Other notable nominees include Radiohead (Best Alternative Album, Best Rock Song), Wilco (Best Rock Album), My Morning Jacket (Best Alternative Album), Robyn (Best Dance/Electronica Album), and The Decemberists (Best Rock Song). You can find the nominees for the major categories below. The entire list is available at Grammy.com.

Winners will be revealed February 12th at 8pm ET on CBS.

Album of the Year:
Adele – 21
Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
Lady Gaga – Born This Way
Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Rihanna – Loud

Record of the Year:
Bon Iver – “Holocene”
Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
Bruno Mars – “Grenade”
Katy Perry – “Firework”

Song of the Year:
Kanye West – “All of the Lights”
Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
Bruno Mars – “Grenade”
Bon Iver – “Holocene”
Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”

Best New Artist:
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
The Band Perry

Best Rock Song:
Mumford & Sons – “The Cave”
The Decemberists – “Down By The Water”
Coldplay – “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall”
Radiohead – “Lotus Flower”
Foo Fighters – “Walk”

Best Rock Album:
Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
Jeff Beck – Rock ‘N’ Roll Party Honoring Les Paul
Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown
Red Hot Chili Peppers – I’m With You
Wilco – The Whole Love 

Best Alternative Album:
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Death Cab For Cutie – Codes and Keys
Foster the People – Torches
My Morning Jacket – Circuital
Radiohead – The King of Limbs 

Best Rap Song:
Kanye West – “All of the Lights”
Wiz Khalifa – “Black and Yellow”
Dr. Dre feat. Eminem – “I Need A Doctor”
Chris Brown feat. Busta Rhymes & Lil Wayne – “Look At Me Now”
Jay-Z & Kanye West – “Otis”
Lupe Fiasco – “The Show Goes On”

Best Rap Album:
Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV
Lupe Fiasco – Lasers
Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 

Best Dance/Electronica Album:
Cut Copy – Zonoscope
Deadmau5 – 4×4=12
David Guetta – Nothing But The Beat
Robyn – Body Talk, Pt. 3
Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites 

Celtic music mainstays The Chieftains — who you may be most familiar with via their Sinead O’Connor collaboration “The Foggy Dew” — turn 50-years old in 2012. As an issued press release reports, the band is celebrating with a new studio album featuring collaborations with “like-minded musical visionaries and kindred spirits.”

Titled Voice of Ages, the record features contributions from Bon Iver, The Decemberists, Paolo Nutini, Imelda May, The Low Anthem, The Secret Sisters, and Lisa Hannigan, among others. In addition, T-Bone Burnett served as producer alongside The Chieftains’ Paddy Moloney.

Voice of Ages will be available beginning February 21st, 2012 via Hear/Concord. In support of the release, the band plans to tour the U.S. extensively beginning February 17th in Santa Barbara, CA and ending on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) in New York City. Check out their entire tour schedule below.

The Chieftains 2012 Tour Dates:
02/17 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Campbell Hall
02/18 – Aliso Viejo, CA @ Soka Performing Arts Center
02/19 – Tucson, AZ @ Centennial Hall
02/21 – San Francisco, CA @ Davis Symphony Hall
02/22 – Davis, CA @ Jackson Hall/Mondavi Center
02/24 – Athens, GA @ Classic Center
02/25 – Birmingham, AL @ Alys Stevens POPAC
02/27 – Edmond, OK @ Armstrong Auditorium PAC
02/28 – Forth Worth, TX @ Bass Hall
02/29 – San Antonio, TX @ Lila Cockrell Theatre
03/02 – Chicago, IL @ Orchestra Hall
03/03 – Cedar Falls, IA @ Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center
03/04 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orchestra Hall
03/06 – Carmel, IN @ The Palladium
03/07 – Kansas City, MO @ Helzberg Hall
03/09 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kimmel Center
03/10 – Newark, NJ @ New Jersey Performing Arts Center
03/12 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Sandler PAC
03/14 – Boston, MA @ Symphony Hall
03/16  - Washington, DC @ Kennedy Center
03/17 – New York, NY @ Carnegie Hall
05/29 – Dublin, IE @ Grand Canal Theatre
06/01 – Brighton, UK @ Dome
06/02 – Bristol, UK @ Colston Hall
06/03 – Cardiff, UK @ St. David’s Hall
06/05 – Birmingham, UK @ Symphony Hall
06/06 – Sheffield, UK @ City Hall
06/08 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall
06/10 – Liverpool, UK @ Philharmonic Hall
06/12 – York, UK @ Barbican
06/13 – Manchester, UK @ The Bridgewater Hall
06/15 – Newcastle, UK @ City Hall
06/16 – Glasgow, UK @ Clyde Auditorium

If this EP’s title is any indication then, the aforementioned stylistic changes the band has undergone of late are a move toward something more enduring– long-lived, if you will– than what they’ve gone for in the past. As on The King is Dead, what’s most surprising here is the conspicuous absence of Meloy’s noted lyrical quirks. Considering that this comes from the same someone who used to regularly churn out songs in excess of eight minutes which dramatically detail an escape from the belly of a whale or tales of shape-shifting forest queens, the shiftless cadences of “Sonnet” and “Foregone” sounds almost lazy.

Musically too, nearly every track here plays rather like a lesser version of one off of The King is Dead: The stomp of “Burying Davey”, for instance, plays like a less memorable take on at least two of Dead‘s tracks. Even the Dead cover comes off as uninspired; the band sounds like they’re having a great time, but the end result is markedly boring. Perhaps it’s best after all then that the band embarks on a “multi-year hiatus”, as announced this past summer, with each band member to focus on their respective careers and side-projects. Then maybe we can hope for another rock opera?

Essential Track: “E. Watson”

Another day, another offering from The Decemberists’ new EP Long Live the King. Following previews of the first four tracks, “ E. Watson”, “Foregone”, “Burying Davy”, and “I 4 U & U 4 Me”, The Huffington Post is streaming the EP’s closer, “Sonnet”. Click here to check it out.

The EP’s remaining track, a cover of Grateful Dead’s “Row Jimmy”, was previously released as a B-side to the single release of “January Hymn” earlier this year. Check it out below.

The EP will officially be released on November 1st via Capitol.

Long Live the King EP Tracklist:
01. E. Watson
02. Foregone
03. Burying Davy
04. I 4 U & U 4 Me
05. Row Jimmy (Grateful Dead cover)
06. Sonnet

Though The Decemberists won’t release the Long Live the King EP until next Tuesday (11/01), the last three days have seen the emergence of the first three tracks from said effort (here, here, and here). Continuing that rapid-fire pace, the album’s fourth track, “I 4 U & U 4 Me”, was revealed this morning. Like its predecessors, it’s a shot of rootsy rock fun from the same sessions that yielded The King is Dead. Check it out now over at  Stereogum.

Long Live the King EP Tracklist:
01. E. Watson
02. Foregone
03. Burying Davy
04. I 4 U & U 4 Me
05. Row Jimmy (Grateful Dead cover)
06. Sonnet

Over the past two days, we’ve heard the first two tracks (here, here) off The Decemberists’ forthcoming six-track, mostly acoustic, EP titled Long Live the King, which hits stores on November 1st via Capitol Records. Today, thanks to Rolling Stone, we have track number three, “Burying Davy”. If you’ve ever wanted a soundtrack for your collection of John Steinbeck novels, then here’s a good start. Click here for to listen.

Long Live the King EP Tracklist:
01. E. Watson
02. Foregone
03. Burying Davy
04. I 4 U & U 4 Me
05. Row Jimmy (Grateful Dead cover)
06. Sonnet

The Decemberists’ third release of 2011, a six-track, mostly acoustic EP titled Long Live the King, hits stores on November 1st via Capitol Records. Yesterday brought a preview of the EP’s opener “E. Watson”, and now Vulture has unveiled track number two, “Forgone”. Click here to give it a spin.

As previously reported, The Decemberists will unveil their third release of 2011, a new EP called Long Live the King, on November 1st via Capitol Records. The six-track collection comprises mostly acoustic cuts recorded around the same time as the band’s recent LP The King Is Dead, along with a cover of Grateful Dead’s “Row Jimmy”. Right now, you can stream the EP’s opening track, “E. Watson”, at Paste.

In other news, frontman Colin Meloy reveled last week that keyboardist Jenny Conlee’s cancer is in remission. Conlee was diagnosed with breast cancer last May.

Long Live the King EP Tracklist:
01. E. Watson
02. Foregone
03. Burying Davy
04. I 4 U & U 4 Me
05. Row Jimmy (Grateful Dead cover)
06. Sonnet

The Decemberists will follow up their latest LP The King Is Dead with a new six-track EP called Long Live the King. Due for release on November 1st via Capitol Records, the collection includes mostly acoustic cuts recorded around the same time as The King Is Dead, along with a cover of Grateful Dead’s “Row Jimmy”, which you can hear below.

Long Live the King EP Tracklist:
01. E. Watson
02. Foregone
03. Burying Davy
04. I 4 U & U 4 Me
05. Row Jimmy (Grateful Dead cover)
06. Sonnet

There’s now a corresponding video for Michele Bachmann’s campaign theme song. As The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy explains to NPR…

I wrote “Calamity Song” shortly after I’d finished reading David Foster Wallace’s epic Infinite Jest. The book didn’t so much inspire the song itself, but Wallace’s irreverent and brilliant humor definitely wound its way into the thing. And I had this funny idea that a good video for the song would be a re-creation of the Enfield Tennis Academy’s round of Eschaton — basically, a global thermonuclear crisis re-created on a tennis court — that’s played about a third of the way into the book. Thankfully, after having a good many people balk at the idea, I found a kindred spirit in Michael Schur, a man with an even greater enthusiasm for Wallace’s work than my own. With much adoration and respect to this seminal, genius book, this is what we’ve come up with. I can only hope DFW would be proud.

Michael Schur, co-creator of Parks and Recreation, former writer for SNL and The Office, has this to say:

The band’s manager, Jason, contacted me through his brother Michael (with whom I went to college) and asked me to direct a video they were planning that referenced a section of the book Infinite Jest. The Decemberists are my favorite band, and Infinite Jest is my favorite book. This was tantamount to telling me I had just won two simultaneous Powerball lottery jackpots, on my birthday, which was also Christmas. Thus, my response to him was that, although I was pretty sure this was an elaborate dream I was having, if it were in fact real, then yes, I would be interested. The production team on Parks and Recreation, many of whom are also big fans, volunteered their time and energy, and we shot the whole thing in one day in Portland. Infinite Jest geeks will hopefully enjoy all of the specific references and small details, but we tried to design it so that those with no knowledge of the book at all would be able to understand and enjoy it, as well.

The King Is Dead stays winning.

Outside Lands marked its fourth year by showing that after all this time, San Francisco still remains one of the coolest cities on the planet. Hosted by Another Planet, a company known for having their fingers on the pulse of the Bay Area’s musical community, Outside Lands took all the elements of the Bay’s music culture and tossed them into the city’s most beautiful natural environment: Golden Gate Park. There was pretty much something for every Nor-Cal dweller to enjoy; from the jams of Phish to the electronic-dance of deadmau5 and the electro-dance-jams of bands like STS9 and Lotus. Not to mention indie rock icons like Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, and The Shins.

But Outside Lands also kept it local in terms of everything else, which is inspiring to see in a time when everything is done via internet, with people who might live thousands of miles away. Between the food trucks, local wine tasting, local musical acts (Stone Foxes anybody?), and aspiring artists who filled the park with their good vibes, Outside Lands was a festival that compacted all the artistic elements of the city into the polo fields at Golden Gate Park. It literally was a taste of the Bay Area.

Photo by Ted Maider

And while they did encompass all the good things about the city, they also managed to showcase some of the downsides of it. For example, there was too much going on at once. Like any night you spend partying in the Bay, Friday involved a million conflicts, the worst being Vermont’s Phinest up against indie-rock legends The Shins. And Sunday contained another hard decision: deadmau5 or Arcade Fire? And there even managed to be rush hour traffic similar to that found on the Bay Bridge whenever you tried to get from the Lands End to the Twin Peaks stages. It was just utter chaos in that small, grassy section outside the trees.

But it didn’t matter, though, because in the end, everybody’s spirits were lifted. Everybody inside just cared about the good vibes, hearing some groovy jams, and enjoying the rare sunshine. In San Francisco, that’s just about all you can ask for.

-Ted Maider
Media Specialist

Friday, August 12th

The Joy Formidable – Sutro Stage – 1:10 p.m.

Blaring their noisy, little pop gems that are fast proving too big for tiny clubs around the world, Welsh trio The Joy Formidable continued their world domination with a stellar early afternoon set at the Sutro Stage. The band found themselves sudden stars, their foot-stomping rhythms and shout-along chorus of “Austere” proving especially effective as they drew the weekend’s first big crowd. -Möhammad Choudhery

Phantogram – Sutro Stage – 2:25 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

The surprisingly large crowd that showed up for Phantogram received a treat: two brand-new songs from a forthcoming EP and…the duo of vocalist/keyboardist Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter on guitar/electronics just sounded good. Really good. Yet Sutro Stage and moments on other large stages weren’t exactly “sound,” but more on that later. Phantogram pulled heavily and at an efficient pace from its debut, Eyelid Movies. (“When I’m Small” and “Mouthful of Diamonds” got great reactions; “As Far as I Can See” live sounded like Portishead doing club bangers.) Barthel and Carter, joined by a live drummer here, debuted “Don’t Move”, which has a distinct shimmer similar to U2’s The Edge. New song “Sixteen Years” didn’t mess around with a pretty gloss, however. Carter plugged a straight Kevin Shields-type shoegaze solo in, showing that while most of the crowd gawked at the beautiful Barthel, she wasn’t, as Karen O put it, “bigger than the sound.” -Paul de Revere

Foster the People – Sutro Stage – 3:40 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Apparently, lots of people seem to enjoy Foster the People. This was evident by two things: 1) Their crowd was huge in the sense that you could not get close to the stage if you arrived “just in time” for the show and 2) People did not stop talking about their show all weekend. Foster the People have literally skyrocketed in fame this past summer and rightfully so. They don’t just write catchy songs like some of their electro-pop counterparts; they know how to play. Members switched up instruments constantly in a playful, yet talented fashion, while the crowd sang along to tracks like “Houdini”, the charming “Waste”, and mega-sensation “Pumped Up Kicks” (even though everybody left after that song). Foster the People’s Torches album certainly has put them in the spotlight. Let’s just hope they stay lit. -Ted Maider

Toro Y Moi – Twin Peaks Stage – 3:50 p.m.

For an artist with such lively, fresh beats, Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bundick is, as Bay Area bros would put it, “hella” subdued. But there’s still something imposing about Bundick’s sounds. The Stevie Wonder-like monosynth tone of opener “New Beat”, possibly Bundick’s best song to date, filled the large Twin Peaks Stage like it was gaseous. And the vamp only one minute into the song? Forget it. It was full. Toro’s sound filled up the space exactly as much as it needed to. Screw “chillwave,” this is ambient funk. To paraphrase old-school rapper 4-Ever Fresh, “Creating funk music ‘cause I never dug chillwave.” Indeed. -Paul de Revere

MGMT – Lands End Stage – 4:35 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

As the initial racket over how very antagonistic and unfriendly Congratulations was dissipates, people finally seem to be coming around to the record. Not that MGMT mind how long it took. In what more than a few in the crowd interpreted as arrogance (but was probably a bit closer to a “told you so”), MGMT blasted through a stellar sub-headlining set with their usual sort of understated awesomeness. Even as many in the crowd sounded legitimately disappointed at the lack of props, onstage antics, and the conspicuous absence of the band’s megahit “Kids” from the setlist, MGMT simply did what they do best. Andrew VanWyngarden cut surprisingly close to a young Mick Jagger as he howled his way through the band’s neo-psychedelic gem “Weekend Wars”, while James Richardson played guitar hero for a couple minutes, finger-tapping his way through a stellar solo at the end of “The Handshake”. Extra points for the dreamy little jam at the start of “I Found a Whistle”. -Möhammad Choudhery

Ellie Goulding – Sutro Stage – 5:00 p.m.

One of at least three victims (all female) to vocal issues due to the San Francisco’s seasonably cold August, Ellie Goulding hung in there for her set like a champ. She hit some of her vocals tremendously well, holding back a bit of her soaring vocals, of which there’s much in her light, airy, feminine dance-pop. Some of her vocals weren’t ideal. And it was her last U.S. date on her first earnest U.S. tour. But no matter, because it was ladies night (er, late afternoon) at Sutro Stage. The crowd’s female-to-male gender makeup was approximately 5-to-1, and Goulding dressed for it, looking amazing in her bright red coat (she is British, but somehow I don’t think she’s politically in the tank for King George) and heels. -Paul de Revere

Phish – Lands End Stage – 6:30 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

A giant billboard appeared on the monitors shortly after MGMT left stating, “Phish 6:30-10:30.” To some, this was a sign to turn around and head as far away as possible, but to others, it was a glorious declaration. After Furthur headlined Outside Lands last year, it made total sense for the Vermont quartet to take the reigns this year.  And Phish festival sets…well, they’re a different breed.

See, Phish plays nothing but solo shows throughout the country. It’s never Phish on tour with MGMT or Foster the People or The Shins for that matter. It’s just Phish. The band has played two big rock festivals since their reunion (Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits), and both times they played shows that were not necessarily geared towards their core fan base but rather baiting newcomers. At Outside Lands, plenty of people in the crowd had never seen Phish nor necessarily listened to them, so what happened for the next three hours with tens of thousands of people was a sensation you can only experience in this setting.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Phish arrived with “Kill Devil Falls” and continued to amp the pace for the entire first 90-minute set. The band cut deep with pieces meant to get people moving such as “Wilson”, “Funky Bitch”, “Possum”, the exhilarating “Axilla I”, and a rendition of “Sample in a Jar” that was one of the best versions of the past year or so. After delivering a sonic punch of a first set, Phish left the crowd for 40 minutes as everyone tried to cram in even further. The next set involved more spacey jams like “Piper” and “Fluffhead”, including a showy new track titled “Steam”. But that didn’t stop them from continuing to crank out gold: a cover of “Life on Mars?”,  the now-rare “Birds of a Feather”, and a “Tweezer Reprise” that made Bassnectar’s bass sound like complete shit. It was the perfect way for Phish to play Golden Gate Park.

Basically, what I’m trying to say here is, you haven’t lived until you’re in a 30,000+ Phish crowd, sweating, dancing, singing, and jammed up against the barricade. -Ted Maider

Big Boi – Sutro Stage – 7:00 p.m.

Ah, the set that never was. Big Boi did not, in fact, end up performing on Sutro Stage after having his set pushed back 40 minutes (a fairly last-minute announcement by the festival), leaving the audience, much of which slowly peeled away, hanging for another 30 minutes. Instead, Dave Chappelle, who had a stand-up gig in South Bay that weekend and is a known lover of San Francisco, came out and riffed for about five minutes. ”A lot of black youth never get to go to a concert where there’s beach balls,” Chappelle said.

With great resistance from the wind, the crowd passed one Chappelle’s way. And with seemingly great glee, Chappelle kicked the ball back into the crowd. It almost made up for the fact that Big Boi would end up not performing at all.

According to Big Boi’s Twitter, his DJ went to the wrong stage (apparently taking a fair amount of time getting to the right one). Big Boi continued on Twitter, saying festival staff would only give him 20 minutes to perform because of the delays, which he judged as not worth it. “I will NOT do a half-ass show,” he tweeted. “Tried to go on after Badu. Not possible. Sorry.”

Big Boi cited “artistic integrity” in the matter. -Paul de Revere

Best Coast – Panhandle Stage – 7:50 p.m.

No joke: Best Coast‘s Bethany Cosentino rivals Neko Case, a singer-songwriter nearly twice her age, in withering stage banter. In response to a random audience question between songs: “On a scale of 1-10, how much do you love rock ‘n’ roll?’” Cosentino answered back, “Negative zero.” Ouch.

To be fair, Cosentino talked as well as rocked. She had to save her voice, too, which held up well. And guitar-wise, it sounded better than ever in terms of her live sound, which stayed true to Crazy for You’s analog studio drone, no doubt using the remainder of the Panhandle Stage’s solar power for her and guitarist Bobb Bruno’s amps. There was the one-two step of slow dance numbers “I Want You” and “Our Deal”. “Bratty B” and “Honey” drew sweet coos from Cosentino, where charm actually snaked its way into her repertoire.

“This is our last song,” she said before launching into “Each and Every Day”. “After this, we’re gonna watch Phish.” Deadpan. “Just kidding. I don’t even know what Phish sounds like.” -Paul de Revere

The Shins – Twin Peaks Stage – 8:40 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Though they haven’t played a proper show in four years, haven’t put out any new material since 2007, and James Mercer is their only remaining original member, The Shins still warranted a headlining slot way across the park from Phish’s three-hour jam extravaganza. Mercer’s placid voice and The Shins’ calm, serene back-catalog were a perfect fit for the breezy, starlit evening, taking the reported crowd of 40,000 on a nostalgic trip back to cardigans, high school, and otherwise related sweet, sensitive times. Rather than devolving into a greatest hits affair, Mercer sounded as fresh as ever, indeed infusing his tracks (which, at their oldest, are now a decade past) with the energy of his work with Danger Mouse in Broken Bells. Classics such as “Caring Is Creepy”, “Australia”, and “New Slang” were delivered in pitch-perfect fashion, as was the new track — reportedly titled “For a Fool” — that the band debuted. So, uh…how about that new album? -Möhammad Choudhery

Saturday, August 13th

The Stone Foxes – Sutro Stage – 1:25 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

As stated, Outside Lands always showcases local talent, so they booked some of San Francisco’s hottest, homegrown acts. The Stone Foxes were one of the coolest bands of the entire weekend, not just because they lived up the street, but because they brought the rock. The blues-based quartet rocked super hard, thrashing about on stage like raccoons with broken necks to tunes with names like “Psycho” and “Stomp”. It was a call to go wild. Hook, line, and sink… they made me a fan. -Ted Maider

The Vaccines - Twin Peaks Stage – 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

The UK’s very latest guitar-buzz band is actually pretty good. Who would’ve guessed? Armed with a handful of late-night TV performances, a solid debut record, and the huge sort of performance they put on Saturday afternoon at the Twin Peaks stage, the quartet don’t look like they’ll flounder anytime soon. Blasting through highlights off of their debut, this year’s What Did You Expect From the Vaccines?, The Vaccines peaked with an uproarious cover of Minor Threat’s hardcore classic “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White”. -Möhammad Choudhery

Paul F. Tompkins, Moshe Kasher – The Barbary Tent – 3:00 p.m.

Why perform comedy under a tent? Mr. Show alum Paul F. Tompkins isn’t sure why (“We have structures!” Tompkins protested), but, boy, the dapper gentleman sure dressed for the Barbary Tent’s grand occasion. It worked for Tompkins, but Tompkins’ hilariously offensive opener, L.A. comedian Moshe Kasher, just had to keep swearing he wasn’t gay.

Kasher’s story about witnessing a woman in an airport using Fritos to scoop the filling out of a king-sized Snickers ice cream bar is borderline surreal in its gross-out factor. Tompkins kept to his standard 10 minutes of riffing and then a structured story, mostly talking about his pre-comedy career odd jobs and his days at the Largo nightclub in L.A., striking up a creative relationship with director Paul Thomas Anderson and, subsequently, reading through Magnolia seated next to Tom Cruise, a punchline in his own right. It was a regular circus. -Paul de Revere

STRFKR- Twin Peaks Stage – 3:40 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Portland synth-poppers STRFKR couldn’t contain their excitement at the start of the biggest show of their young career, busting out their camera phones to capture the reported crowd of 15,000. With two records worth of tunes that are at turns emotive and very, very danceable, STRFKR turned in what was easily the breakout performance of the weekend. Touring guitarist Patrick Morris’s overdriven lead guitar lines stole the show on tracks like the hook-filled “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” and “German Love”, while Josh Hodges’ hushed vocals lent the songs a nice, breezy touch. A bouncy, tripped-out cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was capped off by the raucous “Go Crazy”. At which point, of course, everyone did. -Möhammad Choudhery

Vetiver – Sutro Stage – 4:15 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Maybe it was because Vetiver was going up against Arctic Monkeys or even because of the band’s local residency, but Vetiver’s set was not well-attended. It was all well and good, as it gave the Sutro Stage’s isolated blanket liers, dancers, and the like more room to relax, which was at a premium on the festival grounds. Vetiver’s textured, mellow folk-rock mostly put a relaxed, spa feel to everything… if the spa had pot-scented everything. A cover from The Grateful Dead (“Don’t Ease Me In”) picked up the energy a bit and Michael Hurley’s “Be Kind to Me” was a nice, simple song to change up the sonic drawl of songs like “Can’t You Tell” off Vetiver’s latest, The Errant Charm. -Paul de Revere

Arctic Monkeys – Lands End Stage – 4:45 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Arctic Monkeys really have harnessed the modern indie sound. You can always tell when it’s them and their high-octane brand of rock. The British crew arrived on the scene playing cuts like “Brainstorm”, a track that is enough to turn the crowd into a boiling pot of water. People sluggishly sang along while glancing at their iPhones to tracks like “Brick by Brick”, but it was during moments like “I Bet That You’d Look Good on the Dancefloor”, “Fluorescent Adolescent”, and “The View From the Afternoon” that people began to bring out the party. Overall, it made for a good afternoon set, but it seems like a waste that they didn’t play “Fake Tales of San Francisco”. Oh well. -Ted Maider

Ximena Sariñana – Barcade Tent – 5:30 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

It’s worth emphasizing this much smaller, more intimate set of Ximena Sariñana’s in the festival’s Barcade Tent, a welcome break from the vast atmospheres of even the festival’s smaller stages. Sariñana performed mostly for die hards and Spanish-language fans, with at least half of her set sung in Spanish. “Wrong Miracle” and “Bring Me Down” were an English language stand outs, conjuring the semi-formal, sweet and quirky songwriting of Regina Spektor. The jazzy torch song “Mediocre”, which Sariñana said would probably “shred” her remaining voice (again), was an incredible peak to end the set. She left it all out on the field and her fans were left wanting more, chanting “Otra! Otra!” -Paul de Revere

Eskmo – Panhandle Stage – 6:05 p.m.

In what was likely one of the best-sounding sets at Outside Lands, San Francisco-based electronica producer Brendan Angelides, aka Ninja Tune Records artist Eskmo, absolutely tore apart the Panhandle Stage with few there to notice. It hardly mattered. Eskmo was too busy recreating his own production: ripping pieces of paper against a microphone and using various wood blocks and a frying pan among other items. Angelides also created his own vocals and vocal loops live on stage. You can’t say that for, you know, 99% of electronica producers. If Four Tet and Squarepusher had a club-banger collaboration project that defied you to dance, it might sound like Eskmo. Truly one of the best sets of the weekend. -Paul de Revere

The Black Keys – Lands End Stage – 6:15 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

In the four years since the White Stripes forfeited their seat as the blues’ ambassador to indie rock, The Black Keys have seen a huge ascent that culminated in Brothers’ smashing success last year. Here, sub-headlining at Outside Lands’ main stage, the duo proved to be every bit the monolithic force they’re reputed to be, as they tore through renditions of their golden oldies “Thickfreakness” and “Busted” before inviting a couple other band members to play through highlights off of their latest record, including “Tighten Up”, “Howlin’ for You”, and “Next Girl”. The duo closed things out with the one-two punch of Attack & Release’s “Strange Times” and their very own blues epic, “I Got Mine”. -Möhammad Choudhery

The Roots – Twin Peaks Stage – 6:50 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Everybody likes a show from The Roots. I mean, Jimmy Fallon picked them to be his house band for a reason. The Roots kicked back with their brand of funk-rap, and so did the San Francisco crowd. As the sun set behind everybody, people danced, climbed trees to get a better view, and enjoyed tracks like a sped up version of “The Seed 2.0” and the oft-covered “Jungle Boogie”. Seeing everyone in such high spirits certainly indicated that the Roots were there for the right reason: to spread the good vibes. -Ted Maider

Muse – Land’s End Stage – 8:10 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

How’s this for an opening trifecta? “Uprising”, “Supermassive Black Hole” into a Jimi Henrix-style “Star-Spangled Banner” in full view of a United States full-sized stars and stripes flapping in the cool breeze, and then “Hysteria”. Perhaps the interlude paired with “Hysteria” makes an implicit comment about the state of U.S. politics. Perhaps. But wait, what about Muse’s home country? Things are literally on fire there.

Well, Muse didn’t say a word, curiously. Though, the band’s cover of “Negative Creep” (yes, the Nirvana song) could’ve been a nod to a violent rioter’s state of mind. Nonetheless, “Negative Creep” isn’t very epic, and that’s what this show was for the most part.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

But, really, Muse is epic in a totally different way. Muse is theatrical not like U2 but like actual theater. “United States of Eurasia” is basically the disembodied finale reprise of a musical. A really, really big rock musical, one akin to 80′s progressive rock band Queensryche… or Rush. A riff or two of “House of the Rising Sun” into “Time Is Running Out”? Come on, how is this even Britpop anymore, except that it’s from Britain?

Yes, Muse fans, you like what is essentially a progressive rock band. This band’s ambitions don’t just reach into politics (which singer/instrumental genius Matt Bellamy spoke not one word about), they reach for the stars, they reach for fantastical heights. This band wants to grab starlight in its collective hand and throw it onto a stage for its fans’ viewing pleasure. And the band’s lasers are cooler than Coldplay’s, anyway. Just sayin’. -Paul de Revere

Girl Talk – Twin Peaks Stage – 8:40 p.m.

You can try to prep yourself for a Girl Talk performance with what seems to be everyone’s simple description: a guy puts a 90-minute dance/electro set together on the fly by meshing together a ridiculous assortment of samples from nearly every genre imaginable. What you can’t quite prepare yourself for is how well said meshing is done. Or how perfectly it all comes together, for that matter. Kicking things off with the ominous opening riff to the Sabbath classic “War Pigs”, Girl Talk mashed together everything from 80′s radio hits to rap acapellas to Neptunes beats to create a sort of otherworldly dance music. The best part: a confetti-burst finale set to the solo from “November Rain”. -Möhammad Choudhery

Sunday, August 14th

tUnE-yArDs – Sutro Stage – 1:15 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

tUnE-yArDs, that’s one-woman band Merrill Garbus in particular, is so talented, it’s not even funny. So, why was she forced to play so early in the day? Perhaps because Garbus, an Oakland native, just had to cross the Bay Bridge to get to work. Who knows? Regardless, Garbus punched in early, and delivered one of the best sets of the weekend. Her performance on songs like “Powa” (for which the crowd stayed quiet during its long buildup), “Bizness” (the crowd followed Garbus’ instructions to limber up before dancing), and “Gangsta” (the crowd obliged with the song’s ritual fist-raising) speak for themselves. “I think this is the biggest crowd we’ve ever had at a festival,” Garbus stated. Yeah, that’s because you’re easily one of the best acts of the festival. -Paul de Revere

Junip – Twin Peaks Stage – 1:30 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Led by folksinger José González (already with a successful solo career to his name), Swedish quartet Junip broke it down at the Twin Peaks stage while most of Outside Lands seemed to be racing down to Golden Gate Park’s other end for tUnE-yArDs. Though a bit more steeped in electronica than González’s solo work, Junip’s set mostly played like a fuller take on his own, spacious sound, as on the expansive “Without You”. -Möhammad Choudhery

Mavis Staples – Land’s End Stage – 1:45 p.m.

To be blessed by Miss Mavis Staples is a beautiful thing. It’s a passing of the torch, if you will. Colin Meloy of The Decemberists got the endorsement at Newport Folk Festival and so did Win Butler during Staples’ set at the Land’s End Stage, the festival’s largest. In a beautiful rendition of The Band’s “The Weight”, Butler took the fourth “Crazy Chester” verse of the famed song to huge screams. Otherwise, Butler demurred toward rhythm guitar. After he left, other Staples classics rolled out, including the Staples Singers’ “I’ll Take You There” (“The Staples Singers have been takin’ y’all there for 61 years… Now we want you to take US there,” Miss Mavis said) and gospel standards like “Wade in the Water”. Staples, at over 70 years old, still has it and had the best voice, gutbucket soul and all, of the festival. -Paul de Revere

Grouplove – Panhandle Solar – 2:20 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

With an opening tour with Florence + the Machine and a highly regarded EP under their belt, Grouplove seem poised for a big break. Christian Zucconi led the LA-based five-piece through a set of rootsy folk-pop that leaned heavily on their acclaimed self-titled EP, while offering a peek at their forthcoming full-length, Never Trust a Happy Song, in the lilting harmonies of “Lovely Cup”. -Möhammad Choudhery

Latyrx ft. Lyrics Born and Lateef – Sutro Stage – 2:30 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Latyrx had a big band to organize on stage, but the band was assembled on time by 2:30 p.m.. Ten minutes later, Lyrics Born and Lateef took the stage and began to rap. Their flows were totally on point, and their antics were appreciated by the crowd, as they gave shout-outs to towns in the Bay like Vallejo, San Jose, Emeryville, and of course, San Francisco and Oakland. Meanwhile, a majority of the backing band just stood there, while the two rappers stole the show. They should have just hired a DJ, and nobody would have batted an eye. -Ted Maider

!!! – Twin Peaks Stage – 3:05 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

So, if LCD Soundsystem is retired and James Murphy stops performing, does that mean !!! inherits the live-disco DFA sound? Because it sure sounds like it. Like LCD, !!! use no computers of any kind (none that I saw, anyway) to create its disco jams. !!! lead singer Nic Offer is younger and less sedate than Murphy, jumping his silly ass around everywhere as a frontman. But similar to Murphy, he leans toward a bandleader role, indulging in an extended series of James Brown-style “hit me”’s. “Two times!! Three times!!!” And the band’s sonic textures make for interesting listening and great dancing: a rare combination. -Paul de Revere

Major Lazer – Twin Peaks Stage – 4:40 p.m.

Asses shaking everywhere on stage after cute girls get brought up, serious towel-swinging hype men, silly string sprayed everywhere, and a field of people helicoptering their shirts: This is a Major Lazer show. You might expect it on the beach or somewhere with warm weather or indoors in a club. Would you expect anything else? But the setting of Pacific Northwestern redwoods, pines, and oaks swaying in a chilly breeze with Major Lazer’s music? Well, that’s just incongruous as hell. And fun as hell.

The list of drops is too many to count, much less list. Major Lazer debuted a new, untitled song (with a martial snare riddim and clipped robot-rock vocals), two big dubstep drops that actually got the white folks really into it, a mash up of “6 Foot 7 Foot” by Lil’ Wayne with the Jamaican traditional “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)”, sung by Harry Belafonte, and a drop of “Jump Up” that shook the earth of Golden Gate Park when Diplo instructed everyone to pogo. Louder sound and better subs on the Twin Peaks Stage would’ve really put this over the top but it was insane fun regardless. -Paul de Revere

Wye Oak – Panhandle Stage – 5:30 p.m.

One of the most confident young bands in indie rock today, Wye Oak took to the Panhandle Stage with poise, having already performed earlier on Sunday. To a warm, setting sun, Jenn Wasner’s guitar growled and howled like a well-trained bear the way a trainer wields it. Wasner may be one of the best guitarists in indie today, as she may have already gained a Thurston Moore/Neil Young-like confidence in her guitar sound after only three Wye Oak records in five years. Andy Stack’s double-duty as drummer and keyboardist provides the ground on which Wasner’s trained animal can roam, providing so much bottom end. For a duo, Wye Oak make a lot of noise like Young or Sonic Youth but can be tender like Yo La Tengo. Their set’s second song “Holy, Holy”, off its Merge Records-released Civilian, was a perfect example. Wasner braved the chilly wind hurting her hands to bust out wash after wash of guitar. If Sunday was good for any kind of performer, it was good for scrappy, determined bands like Wye Oak. -Paul de Revere

STS9 – Twin Peaks Stage – 6:15 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) was exactly what a festival in the Bay Area needed, a band that combines elements of jamming with electronic music, although their blend was more hip-hop-based. Girls climbed on boyfriends’ shoulders and were still rocking harder than most people on the ground. People waved everything in the air, ranging from giraffe heads to inflatable chimps, all to emphasize their joy, excitement, and the fact they could feel the groove. Dancing refused to subside as STS9 ripped their many synthesizers, bongos, and bass heavy grooves. It was easily one of the most surprising sets of the weekend. -Ted Maider

The Decemberists – Lands End Stage – 6:15 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

Following up a great performance by legend John Fogerty, The Decemberists were in high spirits late Sunday afternoon, playing a set heavy on songs from the old-timey The King Is Dead. Frontman and indie-folk’s poet laureate Colin Meloy cut a charming figure, as he worked his way through his own wordy lyrics and clever between-song banter, even offering up the band’s “The Soldiering Life” as camel-fighting music. (It worked. No less than three camelfights broke out in the crowd.) And who knew “The Mariner’s Revenge Song”, that weird nine-minute sea-shanty off of Picaresque, could be such a huge, crowd-pleasing festival set closer? -Möhammad Choudhery

Deadmau5 – Twin Peaks Stage – 8:00 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

“I’m with deadmau5! And where you at, hater?” –Haley Morenstein

It’s clear that Joel Zimmerman, aka deadmau5, is appreciative of his fans. Just “Like” him on Facebook to find out. But everybody at Outside Lands was able to see it in person. deadmau5 and his cube of glory graced us with their presence 15 minutes ahead of schedule, and with the sun setting just in front of him, no less. That didn’t stop the one-man wonder from turning the crowd upside down. To kick things off, the celebrated DJ delivered newer cuts like “Bad Selection” and a rendition of “Some Chords” that caused the temperature in the crowd to raise to at least 10 degrees. But he also brought it back, playing the most hypnotic (and perfectly timed) version of “Arguru” and teasing with “Sometimes Things Get, Whatever”. People did not stop moving, though, and they continued to shove through the crowd to try and get closer. Their attempts were made more difficult when “SOFI Needs a Ladder” (complete with SOFI) and a new mix of “Ghosts N’ Stuff” came out of the speakers. People may knock on him as an artist in the blog world, but he can put on one hell of a show. Where you at, hater? -Ted Maider

Arcade Fire – Lands End Stage – 8:10 p.m.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

If nothing else, Arcade Fire winning last year’s Grammy for Album of the Year cemented their place as indie rock’s first graduate to stadium rock supremacy. Between headlining every festival in the book over the past year and earning the egotistical rep that comes with their new stature, Arcade Fire have grown rather nicely into themselves. Closing Outside Lands out across the fields from deadmau5’s electro-party, they put on a dance party of their own. Even though they work the same stage setup and Spike Jonze-directed film clips and rock the same setlist as they have this whole tour, nothing felt remotely canned as the musicians switched parts, beat at their instruments, and howled into their mics with a fervor more akin to a circus troupe than a band of Canadian arena-rockers.

Photo by Debi Del Grande

At points on The Suburbs, such as the molten “Month of May”, it’s a bit hard to sell. Live, though, the band chug right through it, very at home in the heavy riffage before breaking into a spirited rendition of “Rebellion (Lies)”. The crowd was on their toes, dancing along and singing every line throughout the night. The band soon took their bows and left the stage, returning with their unforgettable symphonic anthem, “Wake Up”. For all I’d built it up to be, I couldn’t have possibly braced myself for that transcendental moment when all 30,000+ in attendance burst into the same wordless yell at the top of our collective lungs. Chills, man. Chills. -Möhammad Choudhery

The Culture of Outside Lands

Gallery by Ted Maider and Debi Del Grande

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On the iTunes Sessions, the Decemberists tackle a variety of tracks from various points in their career, along with a couple of fine covers. Among them is “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” off of Leonard Cohen’s seminal, kinda-self-titled 1967 debut, which proves a surprisingly natural fit for Meloy’s nasal vocals, especially given the woodsy fiddle they add to the original’s spare, acoustic backing. Elsewhere, the band reprises several of King‘s higher points–the rousing “This Is Why We Fight” and “June Hymn” among them–to stirring effect. Still, the arrangements and performances remain too close to the recorded takes to warrant more than a couple of listens. The only other high point is the EP’s final track and only other cover, a rework of the Fruit Bats’ “When U Love Somebody”, which plays like a country rave-up, offering a peek at The Decemberists’ wild side.

This year had particular significance. Narrowly avoiding cancellation when sponsors walked away from the 2009 50th anniversary celebration (the number is a bit disingenuous; the festival took a hiatus between 1971 and 1985), the festival returned to non-profit status this year under the Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. banner. In addition, now in its “52nd” year, the festival experienced its first-ever complete sellout. 10,000 hungry folk fans took the water taxi across the harbor or wound around Harrison Avenue to attend each day.

Under nearly cloudless blue skies and despite the cruel heat doing its best to boil the good out of you, the venue really seemed to bring the best out of everyone. Whether contemporary risers or established legends, musicians brought their finest to the Fort. They couldn’t escape the magic of the place, love and passion flowing through every note sung or strummed. Covers and cameos were standard, tributes to music’s past, present and future.

The crowd’s appreciation and respect weren’t reserved for the performers, though it surely washed over them in waves. I’ve never seen a venue left cleaner at the end of the day, nor so many smiles and hugs shared by complete strangers – I myself partook in more than a few. Despite the odd segregation of the split main (Fort) stage crowd, with its square standing section on the right roped-off from the sea of beach chairs and blankets on the left, the sold-out crowd commingled as much as the bands. Indie-leaning youth danced with old-fashioned maturity to Emmylou Harris and Delta Spirit alike.

Photo by Nate Slevin

And there was still so much I missed. I’ve heard tales of Trampled by Turtles doing incredible things on the Quad Stage (I caught their encore cover of “Where Is My Mind?”), and The Devil Makes Three was a highlight for many. The story of John McCauley leading a score of artists through an amalgamation of “Goodnight Irene”, “La Bamba”, “Twist & Shout”, and “I Wanna Be Sedated” at the Backstage Benefit BBQ on Saturday night is already mythical. I never even made it to the newly added Lego DUPLO Kid’s Stage.

Yet it doesn’t bother me. The festival provided more than a fair share of fulfilling experiences. As Taylor Goldsmith said amidst Middle Brother’s set, “It’s not about what’s new or what’s different – it’s about what’s good, and folk music.” There was plenty of both to go around, and anyone in attendance should feel lucky to have witnessed what they did. I know I do.

-Benjamin Kaye
News Writer

Saturday, July 30th

PS22 Chorus – Alex and Ani Harbor Stage – 11:30 a.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

When people say the festival is getting younger, they’re usually referring to the audience, not the musicians. The inverse was true as the first notes of 2011 came from the voices of some of the youngest performers ever to take a Newport stage: a group of 11-to-12-year-olds from Staten Island. The PS 22 Chorus, an ever-graduating group of youth led by one Mr. B on keyboard, performed strong renditions of songs the typical middle-schooler wouldn’t even recognize. The audience was enthralled by the kiddy karaoke. Opener “Energy” by Austra roused true emotion, Mr. B pointing to one crowd member and ribbing, “No crying. I see you.” Soloists shined, like Roseli confidently tackling Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer”, generating applause at every big note. Of course, they’re still just kids, often looking like another bored choir practice, some lazily half-doing hand choreography or omitting it entirely. But by the time they closed with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, the crowd was on its feet, showing the blooming performers a lot of love. Hopefully, some of these kids keep it up after graduation, because there’s certainly something special in the mix here.

Wailin’ Jennys – Fort Stage – 11:40 a.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

I initially had no intention of catching Wailin’ Jennys‘ set, but after hearing them do a stirring soundcheck of Gershwin’s “Summertime”, I wanted more of those lush harmonies. The trio of ladies didn’t disappoint, providing warm, perfectly keyed notes to the first main stage crowd of the festival. They also proved to be not just great vocalists but great performers, passing instruments back and forth between songs and telling tales to the obliging audience. Before gutsily covering headliner Emmylou Harris’s “Deeper Well”, Nicky Mehta told of how she mixed parenting and practice by playing for her twin boys in their Johnny Jump Ups, the bouncing babies acting as a barometer for a song’s success. “This next song is a winner for them, inspired much height in the bouncing,” she said. “Occasional impact.” Helped out by the fierce viola of a “male Jenny”, band member Ruth Moody’s brother Richard, the group played a sweet set of resplendent folk tunes, dropping a fair amount of reverential covers amongst their own catalog.

Typhoon – Alex and Ani Harbor Stage – 12:35 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

By noon, it was so hot that you would sweat sitting still, so I was relieved to find seating up front under the tent for the indie musical storm of Typhoon. After forming a hands-in pep-circle onstage as they were introduced, 13 band members took up 13 instruments and went into a cacophonous rendition of “White Lies”. At first the sound was overwhelming, but once it leveled out, the performance was commanding. Kyle Morton led the collective with a powerful voice and confidence that added miles to his stature. Songs like “The Honest Truth” and new number “The Common Sentiment” took full advantage of the mighty orchestration such a large band can bring to a performance when properly utilized. As the final notes of the last song faded, they realized they had more time, and without a word, they all jumped into “Down, Cowboy” with a boisterous breakdown befitting their name. Adding to the enumerable reasons this band separates from the congested Northwest indie-folk scene, I’m pretty sure they’re the only group around that could give emotional resonance to a refrain of the words “kitchen tile.”

Freelance Whales – Quad Stage – 1:40 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Yes, Freelance Whales have many “folk” instruments in their arsenal, and many of their songs distinctly tilt in that direction. Still, while their synth-pop sounds were more evidence of Newport’s modern proclivities, something didn’t settle in properly at their set. “Elevator, First Floor” (which they later encored at the LEGO Duplo Kid’s Stage with the PS22 Chorus) rang true enough, but others, like “Kilojoules”, felt out of place and, worse, just strange. Part of this is the band’s seeming inability to reproduce live some of the more complicated vocal layers of their debut, Weathervanes. One of that album’s standouts, “Starring”, came off as haphazard, off-timed, and all around weak. This young, buzzing band has some work to do before they come together as a live unit.

Gogol Bordello - Fort Stage - 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

“I warn you, this band is not for the faint of heart” was the introduction given to one of the most anomalous bands on the lineup, Gogol Bordello. The stage was sparse for a Gogol set: Only five members of the normally nine-piece band sat on chairs. No chair can hold what this band brings, though, even in acoustic form. Frontman Eugene Hütz was up on his feet by the second number, “Wanderlust King”, and shirtless by “Tribal Connection”. They didn’t bound about stage like they would at a plugged-in show or even at other unplugged shows they’ve played. Instead, the set showed respectful understanding of the setting. Their energy remained high, playing their hearts out for what at times felt like a private concert for the packed dance section. “I’m sorry, people over here,” Hütz addressed the lawn chair and blanket crowd on the left. “This music is not really for laying down type of purposes.” After a set consisting of hits from their wealthy repertoire plus new track “General Amnesty”, even the older crowd was out of their chairs and swaying about. “They’re getting the message,” Hütz said. We all did by the end: No matter the venue, these guys put on an incredible show.

Delta Spirit - Quad Stage - 2:55 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

A packed Quad proved I wasn’t the only one anticipating a killer set from Matthew Vasquez and his Long Beach crew, aka Delta Spirit, and it’s safe to say no one left disappointed. “Come on, you can get up!” Vasquez beckoned as they took the stage, and within half a second every chair was vacated. The band ripped through “Bushwick Blues”, “White Table”, and even furiously tore down the end of “Ransom Man”. Their fans loved them through and through, dancing about and singing to every song from “St. Francis” to older numbers like “People C’mon”, though there were understandably no crowd vocals for new track “Empty House”. The love was returned with an earnest, impassioned performance song after song. While Vasquez has mesmerizing energy as a frontman, guitarist William McLaren plays his axe to bits, and Jon Jameson is one of the most fun-to-watch bassists I’ve seen in a while, multi-instrumentalist Kelly Winrich may be the unsung hero of the group, bouncing between keys and percussion even in the middle of songs. Together, the band provided one of the brightest highlights of the weekend.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Tegan and Sara - Quad Stage - 4:25 p.m.

Given an acoustic set, Tegan and Sara had a chance to let their folk-side shine, but it was a show that might not have panned out as they’d hoped. Though they played hits like “Back Into Your Head” and “Nineteen”, a lot of it sounded similar in the stripped-down setting. Slipups and restarts were near constants; Sara stopped “Alligator” abruptly saying, “I fucked up, that’s me, that’s on me.” But what kept the show from awkward nonsuccess was the constant banter. “No? Not again?” Sara asked her sister. “Yeah, no, do it again,” Tegan quipped back. “Do it by yourself, in fact.” Despite the flaws, the packed Quad loved it, prompting Sara to satirically remark, “It’s so hard to start a song when everyone keeps yelling that they love you.” It wasn’t a standout set, but the intimacy they created with their adoring audience was commendable. As was Tegan’s time spent signing every article fans threw over the backstage fence. Their fans honestly love them, and it’s nice to see that love returned with equal sincerity.

Mavis Staples - Quad Stage - 5:35 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Full disclosure: I wasn’t actually at most of this set. I walked by, planning on just catching a song before moving on. Then Ms. Staples announced a special guest, and out came The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, and this happened. It was one of those great moments that only happens at Newport, and watching the 72-year-old Staples literally punch out the end of “The Weight” till she was breathless was inspiring. After the song, Meloy wished Staples a happy birthday (it was July 10th) and gave her a warm hug before heading off to his own headlining set.

The Decemberists - Fort Stage - 6:05 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

With a new number-one record nestled firmly in folk stylings, The Decemberists were poised for a triumphant return to Newport, this time as headliners. Colin Meloy led his troupe onstage with a glass of wine held high to the applauding crowd. “Some of you look like you may be over-folked,” he remarked on the sunbaked lot. “But for those of you who are under-folked, we will try to folk you right now.” The joke garnered as many groans as laughs and set the stage for what I’ve come to expect is a typical Decemberists outing.

As always, the music sounded fine–great, even. These guys can play exquisitely, there’s no doubt. The setlist was nothing unexpected, relying heavily on The King Is Dead tracks like “Rise to Me” and “Rox in the Box”. They did sneak Meloy’s purposefully dreadful “Dracula’s Daughter” into the middle of “O Valencia!” but quickly abandoned it. “That was a bad detour,” Meloy laughed slightly. “Forget it.” The biggest problem here is that while everything sounds wonderful, it doesn’t sound like a great live show. Little is unpredictable, and nothing really pops with stage presence. “The Rake’s Song” came close with its powerful drumming and refrain and Meloy managing to get just the seated section to clap along was amusing. “Won’t Want for Love” also showed signs of life, but while Sara Watkins has settled into her role standing in for the ailing (and much missed) Jenny Conlee, her voice lacked the haunting quality that makes the track so affecting, and Meloy’s voice doesn’t play off hers as well.

Photo by Nate Slevin

For the second time this summer, I walked away from a Decemberists show with more memories of their repartee than their songs. Meloy dedicating “This Is Why We Fight” to festival founders Pete Seeger and George Wein for “teaching us that the ‘S’ word, socialism, isn’t a bad word and that we’re all in this together.” Calling “The Soldiering Life” a song about “homoerotic love between sailors” and dedicating it to “that flotilla of yachts over there. Hope you’re having fun and keeping the rosé chilled, because Lord knows mine isn’t.” The stage-farce that was closer “The Mariner’s Revenge”, complete with Chris Funk climbing down the stage rigging to get that one woman who wasn’t doing the moaning and groaning of being devoured by a whale to stand up and go “argh.” While Gillian Welch and David Rawlings coming out for an encore of “All Arise!” and “June Hymn” was a delight, even that was predictable and overshadowed by the tongue-in-cheek performance. In truth, this talented band shines in their humor, and it was an altogether fun show. However, I expect something more than sit-com entertainment from a live show, especially a headlining one in front of a sold-out festival crowd. Entertain me, sure, but put some energy into more than just cheekiness.

Sunday, July 31st

David Wax Museum - Fort Stage - 11:40 a.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

A year after winning a spot on the festival’s smallest stage, David Wax Museum was opening the main stage on Sunday. The band owned the promotion with a truly rousing set of their particular blend of Mexo-Americana. David Wax was a The Warriors look-alike with his red bandana and vest, hunched over his guitar like he was protecting the sound during “Look What You’ve Done to Me” with guest vocalist Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops. Suze Slezak was charming and elegant in her specially designed Lily Brush dress, even as she stomped about, creating unique vibrating and ratcheting sounds by playing, of all things, a donkey jawbone on “Yes, Maria, Yes” and “Chuchumbe” (roughly translated as “belly button”). As Wax explained, it’s a song rediscovered in archives 20 years ago after being banned by the Church in Mexico for inciting belly-to-belly dancing. The duo showed endless appreciation for their strong horn section and dancing percussionist Julia del Palacio, eliciting applause at every solo. Both smiled ceaselessly, and their sheer joy was contagious. “Can you feel what an honor it is for us to be here?” Slezak asked. Yes, the crowd answered, and it’s an honor to have you.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Mountain Man - Alex and Ani Harbor Stage - 12:30 p.m.

Where the Wailin’ Jennys impress with musicianship as well as vocals, Mountain Man are all about harmony. True, those harmonies are damn near perfect, but with nothing else but a subtle guitar, the show is far less interesting. The trio of ladies still haunted with their vocals on the likes of “Mouthwings” and the Kate Bush cover “Rivers of Babylon”. What was most surprising about the serious-sounding group is that they’re kind of dorks, though maybe the ironic band name should’ve given that away. Amelia Meath told a story of dreaming she was in love with and spooning Marilyn Manson. After one song, they remarked how sometimes howling like wolves was a suitable replacement for applause. The next song, which Amelia explained was a cover of someone she’d met online (“I’ve never met anyone on the Internet,” said Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. “You’ve never played World of Warcraft,” Meath replied), received a chorus of howls from the crowd. “This is great,” Meath said through laughter and baying. “We sound totally insane!” They sort of did, but when they were singing, they also sounded downright bewitching.

Cave Singers - Alex and Ani Harbor Stage - 1:40 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Pete Quirk doesn’t look like a lead singer. With his trucker hat, tank top, and full beard, he looked more like the roadie behind the wheel of the equipment truck. Then he gave a holler before the first notes of “At the Cut” came out in his distinctively pinched voice, and you couldn’t picture him behind anything but a mic, even if it was sometimes hard to pick out lyrics. His neck vanes popped like Macho Man Randy Savage during “Beach House”, stark proof of how much he was putting into the performance. He couldn’t have a more appropriate name than “Quirk”, with his constant blinking, head scratching, and jerky hand gestures. Seated, guitarist Derek Fudesco rocked back and forth like he was having a musical fit, and the sound he created with drummer Marty Lund was rowdier than many larger bands could muster. Straightforward and hard, when they were told they had 10 more minutes left, Quirk panted, “We’re done.” They ended early, but they left a lot of sweat and a great set behind them.

Amos Lee - Fort Stage - 3:25 p.m.

There was no introduction to Amos Lee as he took the stage–just the first notes of the title track to Mission Bell, gentle and subtle like the man himself. Chatter was minimal, though he echoed a sentiment many other acts shared about the strange crowd setup: “The beach chair people, while I know you’re enjoying it, it’s just a very strange thing to look at.” Seated or not, his voice demanded the fullest attention of the Fort Stage crowd, heartfelt and pure as it poured out through the thick air. A well-constructed set found him grouping rockier and bluesier songs like a slightly faster take on “Truth” and “Low Down Life” between soulful numbers like “Loose Tight” and “The Wind”. What it boils down to with Lee, as always, is that he can sing the hell out of a song. His voice is just undeniable, and when he was helped out by Secret Sisters on “Clear Blue Eyes”, it was even better.

Middle Brother/Dawes - Quad Stage - 4:20 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Another Matthew Vasquez set, another massive highlight. There’s not enough space to detail how truly awesome this set was. A notification sent through the festival’s app said it best: “If you’re not @Middle_Brother, you should be.” No band had more fun on stage the whole weekend than they did: Vasquez, his garb far less formal than the previous day, bounding about, sharing his mic with his bandmates during “Someday”; Taylor Goldsmith getting the crowd to sing on “Thanks for Nothing” and the bloodiest, gutsiest rendition of “Blood and Guts”; John McCauley sharing the stage with Mountain Man for “Daydreaming”, the girls visibly touched by the large, sublime harmonies provided by the crowd. “We haven’t even practiced!” Vasquez whooped at one point. “We haven’t even seen each other since North Carolina!” They had every right to be impressed with themselves. No band played as hard as they did that weekend, and no crowd was more responsive, hands constantly up, voices ringing out, bodies moving.

Photo by Nate Slevin

While I missed a Jonny Corndawg appearance (the honorary fourth middle brother), a text from my trusty photographer Nate had me rushing from Elvis Costello to catch an impromptu set by Goldsmith’s other band, Dawes. The mini-set opened with “Fire Away” and closed with “When My Time Comes”. For the latter number, the other brothers returned to take a few verses, appearing equally as enamored with their bandmate’s music as their own. One of the most lasting moments of the festival came when McCauley held his mic stand out over the crowd, the music cut away, and the Quad was reduced to rubble by the hundreds of voices belting the final chorus. Magic, plain and simple.

Elvis Costello - Fort Stage - 4:45 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

While it was hard to split time between a legend and a supergroup whose time together may well be limited, I somehow found a way to catch the majority of both sets. Billed as a solo, acoustic set, it was a welcome surprise to turn the corner and find Elvis Costello backed by The Impostors, though their presence could have been the result of his voice being too weak to hold the Fort down alone. He had a lot more help, though, as Secret Sisters came out for “A Slow Drag With Josephine” and a cover of Hank Williams’ “Why Don’t You Love Me Like You Used to Do?”. Chris Thile appeared on mandolin for “Brilliant Mistake” and stuck around for the next number, too, as Costello giddily proclaimed, “Please welcome to the stage–I always like saying this–Ms. Emmylou Harris.” Applause resounded as the headliner entered for “Scarlet Tide”, and on the eve of a debt crisis, the line “No more money left to spend” was especially poignant.

Closing with “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” was equally fitting and a spirited way to finish his set. Steve Nieve worked the theremin, possibly a first for the festival, like a magician, awing many. Saying how pleased they were to end their tour at Newport, Costello remarked, “You know you’ve come to the right place when you’re standing side-stage behind Pete Seeger watching Wanda Jackson.” Newport was even happier to have them, and for the first time the chair and blanket crowd was mostly on their feet. In fact, many of them stayed that way and walked towards the exits when Costello left the stage. While his voice was clearly fatigued, he never let up once, a showman to the end, and a headliner in many hearts.

M. Ward - Quad Stage 5:40 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Simple and cool, M. Ward started his set solo. Most of his time was spent making gorgeous tones come from his acoustic guitar, like slowing down “Chinese Translation” and making it pretty as hell. On two occasions he sat at a piano, his posture like he was playing a dive bar, to perform some covers. First was David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, almost unrecognizable as a near ballad. The second was of Daniel Johnston’s “Story of an Artist”, the lyrics of which Ward delivered with such a faux-deadpan expression and mocking tone that chuckles speckled the audience. Immediately after that, the mood shifted entirely as Dawes provided rocking back up for the remainder of the set, including a ridiculously fun delivery of “Roll Over Beethoven”. After an encore of “Ferry Boat”, Secret Sisters came out for “Something Stupid”, putting two of the most cameoed bands on one stage with the great Mr. Ward–a perfect way to close the Quad on the final day.

Emmylou Harris - Fort Stage - 6:05 p.m.

Though many left the Fort after Costello had finished, the remaining folks packed the main stage area full for the monument of grace that is Emmylou Harris. With her silvery white hair kept from her eyes with a black headband, a black leather bracelet, and a flowing black dress with white pill-stripes, she was a half step away from punk. At 64 years old, she stood tall and confident in the setting summer sun, glorious and classic all at once. When she introduced “The Road”, the ever-present sadness at the loss of her late mentor and partner Graham Parsons could be felt in the quivers of her voice. After “Get Up John” and some spot on a cappella harmonizing with her band for “Calling My Children Home”, she returned to some melancholy. “Okay,” she said, “I gotta get back to the sad stuff before people think I’ve been taken over by some jovial person.” It wasn’t her own sorrow that came next, but Steve Earle’s in the form of “Goodbye”.

Photo by Nate Slevin

A gentle country set isn’t exactly my cup of tea as a headliner, but Ms. Harris still did an applaudable job in the spot. It was the very essence of the modern Newport Folk Festival to see so many people, varied greatly in age, race, and background, shuffling their feet and swinging their arms to tunes like “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”. Present and past sensibilities met onstage, as well, when the duo of The Civil Wars came out for Harris’s encore (well, she called it an encore, but she never actually left the stage). Dancing happily and singing for “Evangeline”, Joy Williams looked pleased as could be to be sharing the legendary Newport Fort stage with the equally legendary Harris.

Photo by Nate Slevin

That was it for Harris’s set, but the true closer of the festivities was something even grander. Out walked Pete Seeger, the eternal Newport icon, even at 92, guitar in hand. Then Middle Brother and Dawes walked out with Jonny Corndawg and Mountain Man. The Secret Sisters returned, David Wax Museum led out Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and Brown Bird and M. Ward joined Emmylou Harris and The Civil Wars–a truly impressive array of artists. Even festival founder George Wein stepped onto the stage. As the crowd gathered closer to lend their voices, Seeger led the bevy of talent in “Turn! Turn! Turn!”. When he slung on his banjo, even the musicians on stage applauded and smiled. Calling out the lyrics for the unaware, Seeger paced us all through “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?”. It was felicitous, moving, and immutably beautiful. It was the Newport Folk Festival summed up in a single, neatly wrapped performance.

Photography by Nate Slevin.

The Culture of Newport Folk Festival

Gallery by Nate Slevin

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Known for a mean R.E.M. cover, indie folk rockers The Decemberists have peppered their iTunes Session EP, which is out today, with two new covers in the form of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” and the Fruits Bats’ “When U Love Somebody”. Both cuts are available for streaming below (courtesy of our friends at Cover Me). Each are perfect odes to the original and add just enough of the Decemberists’ trademark folk rock sound to make them truly their own. After listening, head here to purchase the full EP.

“Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye”

“When U Love Somebody”

iTunes Session: The Decemberists Tracklist:
01. Calamity Song (iTunes Session)
02. Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye (iTunes Session)
03. Shankill Butchers (iTunes Session)
04. June Hymn (iTunes Session)
05. This Is Why We Fight (iTunes Session)
06. Shiny (iTunes Session)
07. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned) [iTunes Session]
08. When U Love Somebody (iTunes Session)

At the beginning of this month, we asked you — the ever-enchanting reader — to tell us your favorite album and song of 2011. Well, we listened. We also collated all the results into a tight, easy-to-read list for your leisure. Why are we so good to you? Who knows!

Despite such an eclectic readership — c’mon, we have fans of 311, Skrillex, and Eleanor Friedberger co-existing together — you collectively assembled quite a knock out of a list. If there’s one thing we learned, however, it’s that Bon Iver wins in any party. Justin Vernon’s latest LP took off with this list, quickly claiming the throne with many votes to spare. And despite all the complaints over Radiohead’s latest effort, it still managed to squeeze in the top three, and also reign over the top songs with, of all tracks, the very Thom Yorke-heavy “Lotus Flower”.

Not too many surprises, either. In fact, most of the entries in the top 10 albums were all CoS Top Star winners, with the exception of Radiohead, TV on the Radio, and Arctic Monkeys. What does that tell us? Nothing really, but something intriguing to note. We were a little surprised to see Panda Bear so low and The Strokes so high — how did that happen? Perhaps those comments on the reviews aren’t always telling. Hmm.

Anyways, it’s a pretty nifty list. Hard to argue too considering, well, you put it together. Ah, it feels good to take the proverbial “weight” off our back. Enjoy.

Best Albums:

01. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
02. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
03. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
04. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
05. James Blake – James Blake
06. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See
07. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
08. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
09. The Antlers – Burst Apart
10. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
11. Yuck – Yuck
12. Cults – Cults
13. The Strokes – Angles
14. The Decemberists – The King is Dead
15. Panda Bear – Tomboy
16. Tyler the Creator – Goblin
17. Destroyer – Kaputt
18. Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2
19. Wild Beasts – Smother
20. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

Best Songs:

01. Radiohead – “Lotus Flower”
02. Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”
03. Tyler the Creator – “Yonkers”
04. Bon Iver – “Holocene”
05. Foo Fighters – “Walk”
06. Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”
07. Battles – “Ice Cream”
08. Panda Bear – “Last Night at the Jetty”
09. Radiohead – “Separator”
10. The Strokes – “Under Cover of Darkness”
11. Adele – “Rolling in the Deep”
12. Fleet Foxes – “The Shrine/An Argument”
13. My Morning Jacket – “Circuital”
14. Bon Iver – “Towers”
15. My Morning Jacket – “Holdin’ on to Black Metal”
16. Toro Y Moi – “Still Sound”
17. TV on the Radio – “Will Do”
18. Beirut – “East Harlem”
19. Cults – “Abducted”
20. Bon Iver – “Perth”

As frontman of The Decemberists, Colin Meloy has already had a whirlwind of year. But he’s not done quiet yet. On August 30th, Meloy and his wife Carson Ellis will release a children’s adventure novel titled Wildwood via Balzer & Bray, Harper Collins’s imprint for children and young adults.

According to Exclaim, the project has been in the works for 12 years, with Meloy serving as the author and Ellis providing the illustrations. In an interview with Spinner last year, Meloy described the novel as “a classic tale of adventure, magic and danger, set in an alternate version of modern-day Portland, Oregon.”

Update: Via an issued press release, here’s more about the plot:

Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest on the edge of Portland. No one’s ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.

So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater, as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

Below, you trade your email address for a free download of the novel’s first four chapters. We also have a video interview of Meloy and Ellis discussing their efforts and offering an early look at many of the illustrations.

To coincide with the release of Wildwood, the duo are planning a series of public readings, beginning at the AJC Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, Georgia on September 2nd.

Exclaim also points out that this Wildwood will be the first novel published of a three-book deal Meloy has with Balzer & Bray, so clear out some extra space on your bookshelf. Or, your Kindle.

As far as charity records go, there may be none more sonically giving than Live From Nowhere Near You: Vol. 2. Organized to benefit Outside In, a Portland, OR-based non-profit that offers aid and counseling to homeless youth, the compilation features rare and unreleased tracks from Elliott Smith, Eddie Vedder, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, The Strokes, Ryan Adams, Bright Eyes, and a slew of other artists (check out the gargantuan tracklist below). Now, before everyone lays down their $15 for the three-disc collection, which you can do so here, the entire effort is available for streaming at Under The Radar. Giving back never sounded so amazing.

Live From Nowhere Near You: Vol. 2 Tracklist:
Disc 1
01. Kevin Moyer – An Easy Slide (Rendezvous You Too)
02. Bright Eyes and Britt Daniel of Spoon – Southern State
03. The Helio Sequence – Heart Disease
04. Nathan Jr – The Best Noise
05. The Upsidedown – Silver Wind
06. Shawn Smith of Satchel and Brad – You Are Majestic
07. Kevin Moyer – Ill Street Blues
08. Carlos Guitarlos & Mike Watt – Ain’t That Lovin’ You
09. Paul Immanuel Owens – Hey You Dreamer
10. Dan Reed – Ritual (solo acoustic)
11. Tango Alpha Tango – This City
12. Skeeter – Winging It
13. James Mercer of the Shins – Caring Is Creepy (solo acoustic)
14. Brent DeBoer of The Dandy Warhols – Is That All
15. Tim Jenson of Pink Martini – A Saxophone In New York
16. Carlos Vamos and Lindsay Buckland – O-No-You-Den / Bar Tremolinos
17. Pete Miser – Where Do We Go From Here
18. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, The Strokes, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures – Mercy Mercy Me*
19. Joe Purdy – Troubadour
20. Joe Whaley – Save Me From Destruction (acoustic demo)
21. Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney, Kevin and Anita Robinson of Viva Voce, Chris Funk of The Decemberists as Blue Giant – Gone For Good

Disc 2
01. David Brown and Adrian McEldery – Loose Change
02. The Ettes – Spend My Money
03. The Upsidedown – Light (Pete International Airport remix)
04. Daniel Johnston – Grievances
05. Dand Lee Strickland and Kevin Moyer – Holding Me Down
06. Tyler Coyle – Scaffolding
07. Nicholas Crosa and DJ Sirround – One Violin, One DJ
08. Suckapunch – Moves
09. Mic Crenshaw of Hungry Mob with Stic.man of Dead Prez – Running Out Of Time
10. Lindsay Buckland and Carlos Vamos – Whirling Devas (kevin come together edit)
11. Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini – The Overgrown Meadow
12. Danny Seim of Menomena as Lackthereof – The Columbia
13. Carlos Vamos and Lindsay Buckland – Vigilante (street edit)
14. Kevin Moyer – Let’s Make A Deal
15. Dandy Warhols and Portland Elvis – Gonna Be Your Santa
16. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – River Styx (demo)
17. Station Zero with Kevin Moyer – Prone
18. Logan Lynn – Movies
19. Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini – Nana (Manuel de Falla)
20. Third Eye Blind with Arion Salazaar – There’s No Hurry To Eternity
21. Stone Gossard and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Pete Droge, Chris Friel, Cole Peterson – Shame On You
22. The Presidents of the United States of America – Love Everybody

Disc 3
01. Carlos Guitarlos & John Doe of X – Two Tavern Town
02. Tobin Herrera – Tonic Interlude (Pre-Funk)
03. The Robots – Tonic
04. Jordan White – Frank and Judy
05. Neil Gust, Elliott Smith, Jim Talstra, and John Moen of The Decemberists as No. 2 – Who’s Behind The Door?
06. Elliott Smith – The Real Estate
07. Modest Mouse – Dead End Job At The Dead Letter Office
08. Kevin Moyer and Wally Hendrickson – Happiness, That’s Why I’m Bleeding
09. Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini – Up and Up
10. Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini – A Piano In New York
11. Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree – Abandoner (alternate mix)
12. Greg Snell – End Wash
13. Kevin Moyer – Gutter Swirls (Drained)
14. Pete Miser of the Five Fingers of Funk – Call On Me
15. Dave Allen of Gang of Four, Danny Seim of Menomena, John Askew, and Adam Gnade as Faux Hoax – Your Friends Will Carry You Home (Pocket Remix)
16. David Maverick – Reverse
17. Ryan Adams  – Shine Through The Dark
18. Joe Whaley – Save Me From Destruction (alternate studio version)
19. Matt Brown and Kevin Moyer – One Fine Day (Fall) (acoustic version)
20. The Black Ryder with Peter Hayes of BRMC – Burn and Fade
21. Wilco – Someday Some Morning Sometime
22. Joe Whaley – I’ll Always Be There For You (acoustic demo)

Photo by Max Blau

Okkervil River have mapped out another round of tour dates behind their recently released LP I Am Very Far.  Following a short trek through Europe, Will Sheff and co. will hitch up with The Decemberists for a few Pacific Northwest shows. After that, the band will embark on their very own headlining tour, which also includes appearances at Truck America and Fun Fun Fun Fest. Their complete touring itinerary is posted below.

Okkervil River 2011 Tour Dates:
08/10 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
08/11 – Gothenburg, SE @ Storan
08/12 – Haldern, DE @ Haldern Pop
08/14 – Saint-Malo, FR @ La Route du Rock
08/20 – Somerset, WI @ SoundTown Festival
08/22 – Redmond, WA @ Maymoor Ampitheater *
08/23 – Vancouver, BC @ Malkin Bowl *
08/25 – Portland, OR @ Edgefield *
08/26 – Portland, OR @ Edgefield *
09/01 – Madrid, ES @ Teatro Circo
09/03 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival
09/09 – Big Indian, NY @ Truck America
09/11 – Richmond, VA @ The National
09/13 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
09/14 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt
09/16 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s
09/17 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
09/19 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
09/21 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre
09/22 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
09/23 – Cincinnati, OH @ MidPoint Music Festival
09/24 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street
09/25 – Burlington, VT @ Nor’Easter Festival
11/06 – Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest

* = w/ The Decemberists

According to the label’s website, Moyer “went into his attic studio alone with an idea and emerged with an emotionally vibrant compilation full of life and found sounds. By collaborating street musicians with friends and music professionals, he tells a story of life on the streets and the roads leading to and from there.”

And what a story it should be, especially with Eddie Vedder, Josh Homme, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Modest Mouse, The Strokes, The Shins’ James Mercer, Bright Eyes, The Decemberists’ Chris Funk and John Moen, and Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker being among the musical heavy weights who lent their talents to the compilation. In all, Live From Nowhere Near You Vol II features over 200 minutes of mostly exclusive music spanning three discs.

Right now, you can head to Antiquet to hear a taste of the record in the form of a take on the Marvin Gaye classic “Mercy Mercy Me”, featuring Vedder, Homme, and The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas and Fabrizio Moretti. After that, head to Greyday Record’s website to peep the full list of contributing artists. You can also pre-order the compilation for just $15.

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 sh