While Bonnaroo has certainly built its reputation on the the diverse and high quality amount of music that they book each year, they are certainly no slouches when it comes to doing the same with top flight comedy acts. Over the course of the fest’s 11-year history they’ve nabbed everyone from mega-superstars like Chris Rock, Lewis CK and Conan O’Brien to established vets like David Cross, Patton Oswalt and Lewis Black to up and comers like John Mulaney and Donald Glover. Last week fest organizer’s revealed this year’s slate of comedians that will be taking the stage at the fully air-conditioned Comedy Theatre. As expected the lineup includes a fantastic mix of names including the likes of Aziz Ansari, Steven Wright, Marc Maron, Garfunkel & Oates, Amy Shumer and Colin Hay (yes, that Colin Hay, from Men At Work fame).
If you can’t make it to Manchester this June, then maybe you’ll be able to hit one of these recently announced tours…
At last, Bonnaroo organizers AC Entertainment and Superfly Presents have revealed the lineup for this year’s event. HT faves Phish and Radiohead are atop the bill and will each make their second headlining appearance at Bonnaroo. Other HT faves set to perform at Bonnaroo 2012 include Bon Iver, Umphrey’s McGee, The Avett Brothers and The Beach Boys.
Here’s a look at the full initial Bonnaroo 2012 Lineup…
Tickets go on sale this Saturday through Bonnaroo.com.
We’re less than five months from the start of Bonnaroo 2012, which is set to take place in Manchester, Tenn. between June 7 and 10. Last year’s lineup was announced on February 14, the 2010 lineup was announced on February 9 of that year, while the lineup for the 2009 edition of the country’s biggest and most prestigious music festival was revealed on February 2, 2009. In about a month we should officially know who will perform at the 11th Bonnaroo. ’Roo Lineup Rumor Season is in full swing and for those who haven’t been paying attention, or didn’t want to sort through 100s of pages of posts, we’ve combed through the posts by the Bonnaroo diehards that swap info on the Inforoo.com message board to compile what they’ve figured out.
The Inforooster (@TheInforooster), who runs Inforoo.com and has a strong past track record, feels this year’s headliners will be Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Fleet Foxes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Eagles, Phish, Radiohead and Prince. Fleet Foxes is a long shot considering the band responded with a blunt “no” to a fan who asked whether they would play any summer festivals in ’12. McCartney doesn’t have any dates currently planned but will be putting out an album next month that you’d think he’ll support. Gaga is said to have a major tour in the works and would fit the mainstream superstar slot filled by Eminem and Jay-Z the last two years. The Red Hot Chili Peppers kick off a European Tour on June 23, so a Bonnaroo headlining slot might be a nice warm-up. Meanwhile, both Radiohead and Phish seem to be in the discussion every year lately, though each act will be on the road this summer.
Another potential headliner would be The Black Keys, who Billboard reports are already confirmed for “headlining slots at major U.S. and European festivals this summer.” We’ll also point out that Van Halen has a gap in their tour between June 5 and June 12, just sayin’.
Much like how Desmond Hume was Daniel Faraday’s constant, the same could be said about Bonnaroo and Widespread Panic. The Southern jam- titans have a long history with the fest, serving as its inaugural headliner back in 2002, and repeating as the anchor in ’03, ’05, ’07 and ’08. So when it came to celebrating Bonnaroo’s tenth anniversary, no one was surprised to see Panic’s name once again appear at the top of the lineup.
Let’s check out this twelve-plus minute take on Red Hot Mama from their marathon fest closing set on Sunday night, that featured both Bruce Hornsby on keyboard and the Megablasters horns…
A number of great clips from last weekend’s festival have been uploaded to the official Bonnaroo YouTube channel over the past few days including this video of Dr. John performing the song that inspired the name of the event along with The Original Meters and Allen Toussaint…
As the dust settles – and by all accounts there was a lot of it – and the last of the cars pull out of the parking lots from the tenth installment of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, we thought we’d take a look at a couple of the big stories that dominated the coverage of what went down in Manchester over the last four days. While hip-hop acts have always been a part of the fest dating back to year one with Jurassic 5, this was the year that had many declaring that the genre finally broke out at the ‘roo with Lil Wayne, Big Boi, Whiz Khalifa and Saturday night’s headliner Eminem all delivering much buzzed about sets.
The other big story of the weekend was the amount of people who turned out to take in Mumford & Son’s early evening set on Saturday night at the Which Stage. The U.K. folk-rockers, whose popularity has exploded since they played the much smaller That Tent at last year’s fest, drew hoards of fans with an overflowing crowd that saw people watching from atop ATMs and seemingly cemented them a main stage slot for their next Bonnaroo appearance. The band’s hour and a half set leaned heavily on tunes from their full length debut, but also included a handful of new songs, and a rousing set ten-minute closing take on Amazing Grace, which saw Mumford & Sons joined by members of Old Crow, David Mayfield Parade and Union Station.
The majority of the clips that have surfaced so far on YouTube are pretty rough at best, so in lieu of one song here’s the band’s entire performance…
Originally only scheduled to play a mid-afternoon set on Saturday at That Tent, Deer Tick made the most of their first ever trip to Bonnaroo. Getting behind the freewheeling ethos of the festival, the band announced late on Friday afternoon that they would play a surprise late-night set of Nirvana covers at the Sonic Stage under the moniker of Deervana. The rowdy and rocking set included takes on Scentless Apprentice, Molly’s Lips, My Girl and Aneurysm as well as the Nevermind track In Bloom…
After the set was over, Deer Tick front man John McCauley tweeted this – “we did deervana and sonically battled lil wayne (and lost), so we fucked the stage up and got yelled at (come on, man! we were being nirvana!)… and now i can’t walk straight.” Deervana’s only other scheduled show comes this Sunday when they take the stage at Brooklyn Bowl.
This week’s videos feature bands you should check out at Bonnaroo…
While it may be a bit too late to make a recommendation to those headed to Bonnaroo or to those already find themselves entrenched on the festival grounds, we wouldn’t be doing our duty if we didn’t implore you to see some music royalty over the course of the weekend. While there is a handful of fantastic legacy artists to choose from, we’d like to point you in the direction of The First Lady Of Country Music – Loretta Lynn – who in close to 50 years in music has 54 studio albums to her name and has sold over 5 million albums.
Lynn gained a whole new generation of fans with her 2004 release Van Lear Rose thanks in part to Jack White, who both produced and performed on the album. Let’s check out video for the pair’s duet – Portland, Oregon…
Loretta Lynn will hit the stage at That Tent on Saturday at 6:45 PM. Don’t be surprised if White makes a surprise appearance with his Third Man Records just up the road from the fest in Nashville, and not to mention the fact that both is his wife, and Wanda Jackson (whose record he also produced) will be performing at Bonnaroo X.
Those of us not heading to Manchester this weekend for Bonnaroo X can keep tabs on the action from Manchester thanks to broadcasts from Vevo. The schedule for Vevo’s webcast has been released and thankfully will feature performances by such HT faves as My Morning Jacket, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Warren Haynes Band, Arcade Fire and Widespread Panic. Even The Strokes were wooed by Vevo to participate in this year’s webcast.
Here’s a look at the complete Vevo Bonnaroo webcast schedule:
Friday, June 10th:
12:00pm – The Drums
01:00pm – School of Seven Bells
02:00pm – Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
03:15pm – Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
04:30pm – The Walkmen
05:00pm – Best Coast
05:45pm – J. Cole
06:45pm – Florence & The Machine
08:15pm – My Morning Jacket
Saturday, June 11th:
11:30am – Del Mcoury & Preservation Hall Jazz Band
01:00pm – Primus
02:30pm – Ray LaMontagne
04:00pm – Alison Krauss & Union Station
05:30pm – Kylesa
05:50pm – Wiz Khalifa
07:00pm – Big Boi
08:00pm – Mumford & Sons
09:30pm – Arcade Fire
Sunday, June 12th:
12:30pm – Smith Westerns
01:30pm – Mavis Staples
02:30pm – Neon Trees
03:00pm – Bootsy Collins
03:30pm – Chiddy Bang
04:15pm – Galactic
05:00pm – Cold War Kids
06:15pm – Warren Haynes Band
06:45pm – The Strokes
08:15pm – Explosions in the Sky
08:45pm – Widespread Panic
Later this week some 80,000 music fans will descend into Manchester, TN to see scores of bands, comedians, DJs and more at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, which will be celebrating its tenth anniversary. The fest humbly began back in 2002 by hosting around 50 mostly jam-oriented bands across four stages. Over the past decade Bonnaroo has grown exponentially and will see nearly as many acts perform on its first day alone this year as at the whole event in 2002. For Bonnaroo X the promoters have put together a lineup that is once again stacked from top to bottom with a little bit of something for nearly every type of music lover. As has become the norm around these parts, we will once again be dedicating a number of posts this week exclusively to all things ‘Roo.
As the story goes, back in 2001 when trying to come up for a name for their new fest, Superfly Presents co-founder Jonathan Mayers was looking up old records online when he stumbled upon Dr. John’s 1974 album Destively Bonnaroo. After thinking the word looked cool, and finding out it was the Creole term for “good stuff,” a brand was born.
To help celebrate their tenth edition and to honor the album that gave them their name, fest organizers have invited ‘roo veteran Dr. John to perform the record in its entirety during a special late-night set on Saturday night at That Tent beginning at 12:30 AM. To make this performance even more unique, Mac will be joined by not only by The Original Meters, who appear on a majority of the record, but also Allen Toussaint, who both appears on the LP and produced it.
Let’s check out this vintage live performance of the album’s lead track, Quitters Never Win…
Following his late-night appearance Dr. John will stick around and return to That Tent the following afternoon, where he will co-host the Superjam with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.
This week’s videos feature bands you should check out at Bonnaroo…
Arguably one of the breakout acts of last year’s Bonnaroo was the U.K. act Mumford & Sons. For those of you who fell in love with their foot-stomping fusion of bluegrass and English folk-rock, let me point you in the direction of fellow Brits Matthew And The Atlas. Hailing from the same West London folk scene that spawned both M&S and Laura Marling, Matthew And The Atlas’ interpretation of Americana excels on the strength of lead singer Matthew Hegarty’s melodically gruff vocals, and the band’s patient, and often times hauntingly delicate, music and gorgeous backing vocals that conjure of images of a grey and rainy London.
Let’s check out Matthew And The Atlas’ video for Within The Rose…
Last month it was announced that The Decemberists multi-instrumentalist Jenny Conlee had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which while caught early will force Conlee miss the band’s June dates during her recovery. As a way of supporting their bandmate, The Decemberists are currently selling a t-shirt for charity, which features accordion with the slogan Team Jenny on it illustrated by Carson Ellis via their online store with 100% of the proceeds to be donated to Susan G. Komen For The Cure.
List Time: 10 Songs Phish Should Cover This Summer
Finally, while pop-up restaurants have become the hot trend around New York City over the last couple of years, Gilt City is looking to step back to the 1970′s when it was pop-up dance parties that were all the rage with their latest unique experience. On Friday, June 17 the couture lifestyle site is teaming up with DFA Records and event designer Adam Aleksander to present the Dirty Disco Laundrette – which will take place at a laundromat in Williamsburg. The all-night, open-bar party will feature DJ sets from The Juan McClean and Justin Miller, tickets are currently on-sale now.
As we’ve repeatedly touted, Bonnaroo isn’t just about all the great bands that are playing amongst the tents and stages. There are a plethora of activities to keep you busy while you wait to see your favorite act. For all those cinephiles out there the Cinema Tent will once again be offering up 24 hours a day of programming running from Thursday afternoon through Sunday night. This year’s highlights include special screenings of 30 Minutes Or Less and Garden State, which will feature a Q&A session with Aziz Ansari and Zach Braff afterwords, respectively.
Also of note will be a special performance by members of My Morning Jacket and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band following the screening of the documentary Live From Preservation Hall: A Louisiana Fairytale. Plus, the late Sidney Lumet will be honored with the Long Live Lumet series as folks will be able to enjoy three of the Oscar-winning director’s classic movies: Network, Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico. Check out the full schedule of events here.
Finally, after eight years the wait is over, as Gillian Welch will finally release her long-awaited fifth studio album, The Head & The Harrow, on June 28. Produced by her longtime musical partner David Rawlings, the ten-track album is being heralded as Welch’s “back to roots-country” record, and has gotten some advance praise courtesy of The Decemberists’ front man Colin Meloy, who calls it “a new Southern sound with the sort of songs you wouldn’t be surprised to here issuing from some verdant, widowed hollow in Appalachia.”
With a philosophy of “if you build it, they will come,” AC Entertainment and Superfly Presents launched the inaugural Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in June of 2002 with a jam-friendly lineup, inviting live music fans to join them for three days on a farm roughly an hour Southeast of Memphis, TN. Bonnaroo quickly cemented itself as arguably the premier destination music festival in the country by impressively serving up a diverse lineup of the biggest names in music, as well as offering everything from a full slate of comedians to a movie theater to a silent disco, even to a sports bar.
This year Bonnaroo reaches a major milestone moment as the fest turns the ripe old age of ten, and has once again booked a formidable roster of talent from the worlds of rock, folk, jam, hip-hop, country and more. Nodding to its jamband roots the tenth installment of Bonnaroo will be headlined by Widespread Panic, who will be joined at the top of the bill by Eminem, Arcade Fire and the recently reunited Buffalo Springfield.
So why are we telling you all this? Well for our second killer edition of the Everybody Wins When We Plug Something And In Return They Offer Us Free Shit To Give Away program this week we’ve got a pair of tickets to Bonnaroo X for one lucky HT reader. To enter, simply leave a comment below telling us what act are most excited to see at Bonnaroo this year. You can enter a second time by leaving the your answer to that question on our Facebook wall. You must leave your comment on this page or our Facebook page by Monday, May 23 at 11:59AM EDT. We’ll pick the winner at random shortly after the contest ends.
Here’s a rundown of the details for this contest…
Grand Prize: One pair of tickets to Bonnaroo X
To enter the contest leave a comment below telling us who you’re most excited to see at Bonnaroo this year
There’s no clearer sign that we’re closing in on the start of Bonnaroo X in Manchester, TN than the release of the festival’s schedule and today is the day we get to see which set(s) each ‘roo artist has been granted by the event’s organizers. With so many amazing bands on the schedule it’s hard to avoid conflicts and we see plenty of ‘em. If you don’t have your tickets yet be sure to enter our giveaway for a chance to win a pair.
READ ON for a look at this year’s schedule or head over to the official site for a chance to let Zoltaroo help you make the most of your experience…
, but also included a handful of new songs, and a rousing set ten-minute closing take on Amazing Grace, which saw Mumford & Sons joined by members of Old Crow, David Mayfield Parade and Union Station.
track In Bloom…
thanks in part to Jack White, who both produced and performed on the album. Let’s check out video for the pair’s duet – Portland, Oregon…
