The first day of Bonnaroo 2012 afforded acclimation, revealed many improvements to the festival grounds, and went down as the single best day of weather I’ve ever experienced on the farm. Friday, however, was all systems go for sensory overload and a small dash of summer weather.
As the grounds finally began to feel a bit more like what we’re used to under the noonday sun, Steven Bernstein and MTO stretched the revolutionary pop funk of Sly and the Family Stone into Sun Ra territory with a set centered around MENSA-worthy ensemble work and reverent interpretation of the source material. A small crowd witnessed Bernstein’s band of downtown all-stars take on a sprawling keyboard and brass improvisation that led into a heartfelt version of “Everyday People” featuring Eric Mingus (son of Charles) on vocals. The stirring, lengthy take on “Que Sera, Sera,” highlighting Sandra St. Victor on vocals, would have been a fitting finale. But Bernstein felt the funky pulse of Bonnaroo and instead led the 11-piece group through a rousing “The Skin I’m In” and an instrumentally intense “Time” closer.
After The Soul Rebels closed their relentlessly upbeat main stage set with a brilliantly arranged street-funk version of The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams,” the millennium’s maven of soul took the stage for an excruciatingly short hour. Sharon Jones stormed the stage in a sequined purple dress replete with frills as her band provided a wave of fanfare and launched into one of their many retro-soul burners. With every passing song – “New Shoes,” ‘Without a Heart,” “Keep on Looking,” “I Learned the Hard Way” – the heat increased on stage and in the audience, and before long everyone was sweating like James Brown on his busiest day and loving it. They crammed a day worth of work and exercise into 60 minutes.
The Avett Brothers were up next and offered their usual emotive show, tearing through favorites like “Will You Return” and “Paranoia In B-Flat Major” in effortless fashion. At The Other Tent, another acoustic act, Trampled By Turtles, faced the task of playing at the same time as the Avetts. They benefitted from their recent growth spurt, however, drawing a sizeable, attentive crowd. Their tough-to-define sound has its base in bluegrass, but the background of the band makes for other interesting flavors. Showing their diversity in appearance and in song, the band alternately sizzled on the frenetic "Wait So Long" and swayed on the forlorn "New Orleans," displaying an infectious joy throughout. But at Bonnaroo, time flies, and no sooner than Trampled By Turtles got cranking, it was time for another shift.
As Ludacris doled out his hits and the standard hip-hop call-and-response tricks at This Tent and Feist held court next door at Which Stage, Rodrigo y Gabriela engaged the growing What Stage crowd in an exhausting bout of impossibly syncopated guitar playing and pumping equatorial rhythms. A major energy spike ocurred when the pair’s band, CUBA, innocently took the stage and began jamming along to the Tool song "The Pot," which was playing over the PA. It was an impressive and powerful moment that again demonstrated their ability to merge the worlds of traditional music and rock – mostly metal, the years have shown. Obliging with instantly recognizable tunes like the invigorating "Tamacun" while enthusiastically and flawlessly exploring their new ensemble direction, the duo patrolled the stage with arena-rock authority.
The poster guy for nouveau-riche, how-long-will-they-last bands is currently Mark Foster of Foster the People. Their collection of maddeningly catchy tunes has been repeated verbatim for a while, and there’s a sense that many music fans are simply waiting for the band’s fall. They may disappear as quickly as they rose, but right now, Foster and his mates are busy putting on a heck of a show with what they’ve got. Foster’s vigor, manufactured or not, is contagious. Making every inch of the stage his home, he sashayed, slid, slipped, and strutted with abandon, often switching instruments multiple times per song. The setlist was etched in stone back in February when the band was announced – no surprises there. But the band has evolved, and every one of their earworms – "Helena Beat," "I Would Do Anything For You," "Don’t Stop," and the inevitable "Pumped Up Kicks" – has an intriguing twist in the live setting. The stage show is as grand as Foster’s persona, and the two make for a great time, even if you won’t want to admit it.
Radiohead are the booking that put Bonnaroo over the top back in 2006. Festival higher-ups have regularly pointed to that year as the year Bonnaroo broke, and the prospect of an equally epic show from Thom Yorke and company had tens of thousands salivating as Friday night kicked into full gear. Much like 2006, though, the audience found itself divided. After the band interjected a panicky "15 Steps" among a group of mellower material (Opener "Bloom," In Rainbows favorite "Wierd Fishes/Arpeggi"), many who jammed the field at 10 PM didn’t stick around for the one-two punch of "I Might Be Wrong" and "The Gloaming" that occurred about half an hour in. New song "Identikit" inspired widespread sitting, and by the time they got around to "There There," they had lost me. As a huge Radiohead fan for 15 years, I found the Bonnaroo show disappointing on a number of levels. It was visually stunning but musically unfulfilling, despite a late run of classics ("Karma Police," "Idioteque," "Everything in Its Right Place"). The song selection didn’t translate to the setting, and the highlight of a "Paranoid Android" closer couldn’t cast enough light on the otherwise dim set.
Conversely, Robert Randolph, John Medeski, and The North Mississippi Allstars oozed jubilance as The Word. After the downtempo drone of Radiohead, the joyful sounds emanating from The Other Tent seemed nearly as otherworldly. The emotional uptick was needed, because Umphrey’s McGee was set to take the farm by storm at 2 AM. For some reason, that became 2:25 AM, but the band came out absolutely raging and looking to give the crowd a true dose of rock. Taking the stage to a sinister musical backdrop, the band offered some mighty riffing before sliding into the backyard anthem “40’s Theme.” Guitarists Jake Cinninger and Brendan Bayliss and bassist Ryan Stasik made sure the crowd had plenty to watch along with Jefferson Waful’s spellbinding light show, hamming it up among themselves during shredding moments. The first three songs – “40’s”, an unfinished “Plunger,” and “The Floor” – were played fairly close to the vest, but the band wasted no time in setting up some setlist hijinks. The multi-part “Pay The Snucka”featured a jam on Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” and held a long, gooey “Triple Wide” in the middle, and that was child’s play compared to the rest of the set. “Plunger eventually resolved itself in the wake of a riotous “Jajunk”, which also incorporated a dub version of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe.” Then, in the wee hours, things went from interesting to epic.
During “Ringo”, the band underwent a gradual transition – to a completely different band. Knowing better than to leave a juiced-up and finicky late-night crowd hanging with a set break, the band pulled a mid-song switch with instrumental dance-mongers Big Gigantic. After the “break,” Umphrey’s returned with no less intensity in their eyes, slamming into an unforgettable dub version of their signature tune “All in Time.” This event sent the remaining attendees into a pre-dawn frenzy that wouldn’t let up until there was full, strong sunlight. “Bright Lights Big City” erupted into an astounding segment of fine full-band gesticulations, the thrashing “1348” transitioned gorgeously into the tear-jerking ballad “Hajimemashite,” and the twisty, proggy RAWK the band is so adept at providing manifested in a searing combo of “Miss Tinkles Overture” and AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” Embracing the ridiculousness of playing metal at dawn, Umphrey’s closed the incredible set with their raging paean to thrash, “Wizard Burial Ground.” By comparison, the “In the Kitchen” encore was downright wistful – until it wound up in the closing throes of ultimate show-closer “Jajunk,” which completed the version from hours earlier. The over-the-top late-night was a fitting closer to one of the busiest days ever at Bonnaroo, and the next day has already begun.
