A bunch of my buddies have been going to Bonnaroo for years. I finally joined them in 2009. Pretty much five minutes into my first band, Gomez, I turned to another newbie buddy and asked, "what was our excuse again for not coming the previous years?"
What started as a jam band festival has morphed into a rock n' roll festival. Still lots of jam bands but also indie rockers, a few rappers, and good old American rock n' roll bands. Last year I bopped from John Prine to Jeff Beck to Jimmy Cliff and saw the John Butler Trio for the first time (and definitely not the last!).
This year is the 10th Anniversary and everyone had been waiting on what was expected to be a big lineup. The lineup was announced on Tuesday and I don't think it disappointed. Rumors had The Rolling Stones or U2 but Arcade Fire and Eminem off their big Grammy nights are pretty damn good (and a little more relevant for the mostly younger crowd).
Jam band fans like me have lots to look forward to with Widespread Panic, My Morning Jacket, String Cheese Incident, STS9, Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, Railroad Earth (one of my absolute faves), and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (those dudes are indescribably amazing), Bruce Hornsby, and many more. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are gonna rock the place again as well.
I'm heading back for sure for three days of amazing music, heat and humidity, port a potties, amazing music, new friends, really yummy hot breakfasts cooked in our campsite, amazing music, and more amazing music.
Who else is going? What do you think of the lineup? What bands/performers are you psyched to see? Got any recommendations among the more obscure bands? I'm 50. Every year my daughter, now 20, offer her suggestions. I discovered Okervil River from her. Maybe some of you young Kossacks can recommend bands for us old timers who are into classic rock. The full lineup is immediately below.
* Eminem
* Arcade Fire
* Widespread Panic
* The Black Keys
* Buffalo Springfield feat Richie Furay, Stephen Stills, Neil Young
* My Morning Jacket
* Lil Wayne
* String Cheese Incident
* Robert Plant & Band of Joy
* Mumford & Sons
* The Strokes
* The Decemberists
* Ray Lamontagne
* Bassnectar
* Iron & Wine
* Girl Talk
* Primus
* Dr. John and The Original Meters performing Desitively Bonnaroo
* Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas
* Pretty Lights
* Florence + the Machine
* Superjam ft. Dan Auerbach and Dr. John
* Explosions in the Sky
* STS9
* Gogol Bordello
* Beirut
* Big Boi
* Scissor Sisters
* Gregg Allman
* Ratatat
* Global Gypsy Punk Revue curated by Eugene Hütz
* Robyn
* Warren Haynes Band
* Deerhunter
* Opeth
* Atmosphere
* Old Crow Medicine Show
* Bootsy Collins & the Funk University
* Wiz Khalifa
* Matt & Kim
* Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
* The Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
* Mavis Staples
* Béla Fleck & the Flecktones
* Chiddy Bang
* Jovanotti
* Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers
* Loretta Lynn
* Cold War Kids
* The Walkmen
* Devotchka
* Wanda Jackson
* Neon Trees
* Portugal. The Man
* Sleigh Bells
* Amos Lee
* Best Coast
* Dãm-Funk & Master Blazter
* The Sword
* The Drums
* The Black Angels
* School of Seven Bells
* J. Cole
* Nicole Atkins & the Black Sea
* Wavves
* !!!
* Junip
* Freelance Whales
* Justin Townes Earle
* Ryan Bingham
* Deer Tick
* Band of Skulls
* Sharon Van Etten
* Abigail Washburn
* Omar Souleyman
* Twin Shadow
* Kylesa
* Man Man
* The Low Anthem
* Alberta Cross
* Railroad Earth
* Jessica Lea Mayfield
* Smith Westerns
* The Head and the Heart
* Karen Elson
* Beats Antique
* 22-20s
* Phosphorescent
* Clare MaGuire
* Hayes Carll