Day two of Bonnaroo 2011 is in the books and it was a big day both for bands looking to make a first impression on Bonnaroo fans and long-time artists looking to further cement their legacies as Bonnaroo legends.
The day began with a Bonnaroo organized press conference of artists, including some of Bonnaroo's most frequent visitors. On hand to talk to the press were comedian Lewis Black, banjo players Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, singer-songwriters Grace Potter and Justin Townes Earle, guitar legend Warren Haynes, and Matthew Houck from Phosphorescent.
The group discussed their memories of past Bonnaroo performances including some humorous banter between Black and Haynes surrounding the now infamous water bottle thrown at Black's head during a Gov't Mule set in 2007. Washburn spoke at length about how the communal artist compound at Bonnaroo makes for interesting collaborations and talked about getting to jam with legendary Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and Psychedelic guitarist Robyn Hitchcock.
All praised Bonnaroo for its devotion to musical diversity, with Haynes discussing festivals like Bonnaroo's role in helping the Jam Band community embrace more musical diversity with Electronic and even Hip Hop elements.
From there, our first show of the day was Bela Fleck and the Original Flecktones, who put on a clinic for the crowded Which Stage with their mind-blowing instrumental prowess and their seamless blending of everything from Jazz to Bluegrass to Celtic. This is Bela Fleck and the Flecktones first tour with returning member Howard Levy, who left the band in 1992, making the full original lineup of the band in almost twenty years.
After Fleck's set, it was over to Bonnaroo's main stage, What, to catch Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. A true Bonnaroo success story, Potter has worked her way up from tent performer to a main stage slot and a recent headlining run on the Bonnaroo Buzz tour leading up to Bonnaroo. It was clear that Potter's time atop Bonnaroo Buzz had served her well as she was commanding and in strong voice on stage, blasting through a strong set of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals originals and closing with a cover of "White Rabbit" that brought down the house. Much is made every year at Bonnaroo about who might be tomorrow's "homegrown headliner" and Grace Potter & the Nocturnals strong What stage set has certainly put her name in the running for artists on the rise who may someday head up a day at Bonnaroo.
From there it was over to That Tent where Swedish metal artists Opeth put on a tight one hour set of music that showed off their influences and careened from Death to Prog to Gothic and back before its end. While not as heavily attended as many of the other shows we've seen at Bonnaroo 2011, the people who did brave the heat of That Tent to see Opeth were hardcore fans who sang along with every song, especially their hit "In My Time of Need" from Damnation. Opeth is a rarity at American festivals, spending a lot of their summers touring the European Metal festival scene, but they seemed to go over extremely well with the Bonnaroo audience.
Closing out Friday night were headliners Arcade Fire, a ten piece outfit with a wall of sound so thick it's almost physical. The Canadian group's hour and a half set pulled heavily from their current Grammy winning release The Suburbs and featured clips and soundbites from B-movies and from Spike Jonze's recent documentary about the album. Highlights of the show include a blistering performance of "No Cars Go" and Regine Chassange's poppy vocals on show closer "Sprawl." While Arcade Fire almost seemed to come out of nowhere to go from relative obscurity to festival headliners overnight, they proved on Friday that they were up for entertaining a crowd of 80,000 people and leaving them wanting more.
Elsewhere in Bonnaroo 2011's Friday slate of performers were Primus, Warren Haynes, Wanda Jackson, and Lil Wayne among others, as well as a strong contingent of Late Night electronic sets from Ratatat, Shpongle, Bassnectar, and Pretty Light.
The day began with a Bonnaroo organized press conference of artists, including some of Bonnaroo's most frequent visitors. On hand to talk to the press were comedian Lewis Black, banjo players Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, singer-songwriters Grace Potter and Justin Townes Earle, guitar legend Warren Haynes, and Matthew Houck from Phosphorescent.
The group discussed their memories of past Bonnaroo performances including some humorous banter between Black and Haynes surrounding the now infamous water bottle thrown at Black's head during a Gov't Mule set in 2007. Washburn spoke at length about how the communal artist compound at Bonnaroo makes for interesting collaborations and talked about getting to jam with legendary Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and Psychedelic guitarist Robyn Hitchcock.
All praised Bonnaroo for its devotion to musical diversity, with Haynes discussing festivals like Bonnaroo's role in helping the Jam Band community embrace more musical diversity with Electronic and even Hip Hop elements.
After Fleck's set, it was over to Bonnaroo's main stage, What, to catch Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. A true Bonnaroo success story, Potter has worked her way up from tent performer to a main stage slot and a recent headlining run on the Bonnaroo Buzz tour leading up to Bonnaroo. It was clear that Potter's time atop Bonnaroo Buzz had served her well as she was commanding and in strong voice on stage, blasting through a strong set of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals originals and closing with a cover of "White Rabbit" that brought down the house. Much is made every year at Bonnaroo about who might be tomorrow's "homegrown headliner" and Grace Potter & the Nocturnals strong What stage set has certainly put her name in the running for artists on the rise who may someday head up a day at Bonnaroo.
From there it was over to That Tent where Swedish metal artists Opeth put on a tight one hour set of music that showed off their influences and careened from Death to Prog to Gothic and back before its end. While not as heavily attended as many of the other shows we've seen at Bonnaroo 2011, the people who did brave the heat of That Tent to see Opeth were hardcore fans who sang along with every song, especially their hit "In My Time of Need" from Damnation. Opeth is a rarity at American festivals, spending a lot of their summers touring the European Metal festival scene, but they seemed to go over extremely well with the Bonnaroo audience.
Closing out Friday night were headliners Arcade Fire, a ten piece outfit with a wall of sound so thick it's almost physical. The Canadian group's hour and a half set pulled heavily from their current Grammy winning release The Suburbs and featured clips and soundbites from B-movies and from Spike Jonze's recent documentary about the album. Highlights of the show include a blistering performance of "No Cars Go" and Regine Chassange's poppy vocals on show closer "Sprawl." While Arcade Fire almost seemed to come out of nowhere to go from relative obscurity to festival headliners overnight, they proved on Friday that they were up for entertaining a crowd of 80,000 people and leaving them wanting more.
Elsewhere in Bonnaroo 2011's Friday slate of performers were Primus, Warren Haynes, Wanda Jackson, and Lil Wayne among others, as well as a strong contingent of Late Night electronic sets from Ratatat, Shpongle, Bassnectar, and Pretty Light.
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