indie rock cafe

Jack Johnson performing at the second annual Bonnaroo (2003). Photo courtesy of evilvince.com

Thousands of music and arts enthusiasts are gathering in the beautiful foothills of Tennessee to enjoy four days of music, arts and plenty more. Bonnaroo is one of the largest festivals in the United States and the first major festival of the 2008 summer season.

In recent years, Bonnaroo has become as well known as other big music and arts festivals like Lollapalooza, Coachella and Austin City Limits.

But Bonnaroo does not start of with a bang. The line up for the first day of the festival pales in comparison to the artists and bands set to perform this weekend.

For the Thursday kick-off, bands like Vampire Weekend, Superdrag, Battles, and MGMT are scheduled to play - all of these in the so-called "This Tent". The other 'stages', or tents, feature lesser known artists, or bands and musicians that have a comparably small or local following, such as Lez Zeppelin, Dark Star Orchestra, Grand Ole Party and The Felice Brothers.

MP3: MGMT - "Destrokk"

For music fans that have never heard The Battles, check out this driving electronic rock video titled "Atlas". It has been viewed over one million times.




It's not much of a surprise that the first day of the festival, being that it is a Thursday, is not loaded up with must-see bands. Furthermore, the music doesn't even get started until early evening.

Nevertheless, on Friday, June 13, Bonnaroo becomes the epicenter of a wide array of impressive bands and artists, including The Raconteurs, Metallica, My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers, Steve Marley, Jose Gonzales, Rilo Kiley, Willie Nelson, Tegan and Sara, MIA, The Swell Season, !!!, MSTRKRFT, Tiesto, Les Claypool, Minus The Bear and almost a dozen others.

Tegan and Sara performing "Back In Your Head" (YouTube video)



The only problem, and this is the problem with most festivals that have multiple stages, is that you are almost guaranteed to miss some of your favorite artists or bands because they perform simultaneously in different locations. That's why pouring over the schedule in advance and mapping where you want to be and when is so important to maximizing your musical experience.

With that said, and to the credit of the organizers, Bonnaroo is one of the top music festivals at which who plays where and when has been scheduled in such a way that most festival goers will have the opportunity to see most of the 'big name' performers in their genre (i.e. indie rock) without too much overlap.

Another cool thing about Bonnaroo is that headliners play very long sets (Metallica is playing for 2 1/2 hours and My Morning Jacket is playing for three hours) and the music goes well into the wee hour mornings, when the summer sky is full of stars and the cooler night time air makes for a wonderful experience.

Check back for more Bonnaroo coverage or subscribe to the IRC RSS Feed (Feed Me Indie!)

Labels: ,



eMusic's FREE Daily Download!

   June 11, 2008   

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home

Older Posts
twitter indierockcafe
indirockfacebook
indie rock myspace
youtube indie rock
indie rock lastfm
indie rock itunes podcast

Download 25 FREE songs at eMusic.com!

Indie Rock Cafe on Facebook



blog advertising is good for you

Current and upcoming releases (US dates)

12/7/09 Ólafur Arnalds - Dyad 1909
1/12/10 Vampire Weekend - Contra
1/19/10 Cold War Kids - Behave Yourself EP
1/19/10 Spoon - Transference
1/26/10 Beach House - Teen Dream
1/26/10 Basia Bulat - Heart Of My Own
2/1/10 Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
2/2/10 Midlake - The Courage of Others
2/9/10 Yeasayer - Odd Blood
2/23/10 Shout Out Louds - Work
2/23/20 Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago
3/2/10 Rogue Wave - Permalight
3/2/10 The Whigs - In The Dark
3/9/10 Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
3/9/10 Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
3/16/10 Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do
3/16/10 The Whigs - In The Dark
3/22/10 Jónsi - Go
3/23/10 She & Him - Volume 2
5/4/10 The New Pornographers - Together

Get NCAA Tournament Tickets at StubHub!
IRC Popular Playlists & Mixes
Hundreds of songs, artists and bands.

 - 2009 Indie Rock Songs
 - 2008 Indie Rock Songs
 - 2007 Indie Rock Songs
 - Ears To The Music
 - State of Music
 - Best Rarely Heard Indie Songs
 - Summer Indie Rock Mixes
 - Songs of Winter
 - Songs of Spring
 - Songs About The Moon
 - Halloween Indie Rock Songs
 - Indie Christmas Songs Compilation
 - Valentine and Love Mixes
 - Songs About New York City
 - Dream Playlist
 - Songs for Mom
 - The Great Unknowns
 -  Quickies

Regular Features
 - Best New Releases
 - Band of the Week
 - Singer-Songwriter Spotlight Series
 - Bands to Watch
 - In Dee Mail
 - One Man Bands

Dig The Music Archives




Indie Record Labels


See Sold-Out Shows! Tickets Available on StubHub.com