I’m putting this right out there: Bonnaroo is something that every single music fan should at least experience once. If you can afford to make a long drive/journey to the hot fields of Manchester, Tennesee, then you will have the time of your life. I went partly as a writer/blogger but more so as a music fan. I went with a good group of friends, which made all of the difference in my enjoyment of the incredible four days that I spent there.
We got there early Thursday morning and got our camp all set up. I caught the end of Best Coast, who sounding a lot stronger than I remember them being last year. The crowd was pretty large for them, a telling sign of their rising popularity.
Up next was The Drums who have shifted their lineup somewhat. Guitarist Jacob Graham was moved to the back handling the keyboards/electronics, which was disappointing to me, because his dramatic body language was one of the highlights of their live show for me. Aside from singer Jonathan Pierce, who is always fun to watch, the band didn’t have the same stage presence that I remembered. The songs were still delivered with crisp sharpness, nothing was lost musically. The band played some new songs, one of which is called “Money”. The songs were beefed up featuring some heavy duty basslines. The band are supposed to have new material coming out soon, and now I’m even more excited to hear how it turns out.
One of the big conflicts of the night was The Walkmen and Sleigh Bells. I have yet to see Sleigh Bells but I can never pass up a chance to see The Walkmen, so I followed my gut and came out even happier than I expected. The Walkmen came out and delivered one of the tightest sets I’ve seen all year. The band was in top form, knocking out all of their old classics, along with their finest new material. The band sounded super sharp, leaving me in awe on more than one occasion. Hamilton’s voice was beyond breathtaking, especially during the final two song stretch of “The Rat” & “All Hands & The Cook” – which may have been the most memorable stretch of songs for me at Bonnaroo. I finally can say that I saw the “The Rat”, and it’s just as powerful as you’d expect it to be. What I didn’t expect was to be completely knocked off my ass from “All Hands & The Cook” which kept me in a state of awe for the entire night. Hamilton’s voice was pristine giving me goosebumps on more than one occasion, delivering vocal goods that even I didn’t know he had in him. The band released a plethora of energy that couldn’t be contained, and I’m not sure if many bands matched it the rest of the weekend.
Deerhunter cleaned house for day one of Bonnaroo and boy did they bring it all. Reverb, effects, delays, and mind tricks were in full effect here, causing everyone in the crowd – sober or not – feeling like they were on something. Bradford Cox has grown into a very engaging frontman, seeming to be more confident on stage. The band ran through all of their catalogue, leaving me impressed with how far they’ve come over their years. If you don’t like Deerhunter that much, I would still recommend seeing them live. You really can’t go wrong.
The Walkmen played a new song that they’ve been working on, which you can watch below:
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