[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
The Heat: Chris Stapleton
Country music is a tough niche to satisfy at Bonnaroo. In most years, it comes in the form of legendary, country musicians such as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, and John Prine just to name a few. Recently, we’ve seen appearances from more contemporary artists such as Sam Hunt and Miranda Lambert. All of this to say that Chris Stapleton, once again, serves as the ideal combination of the two, bringing authentic country music to the masses on the main stage. As the sun began to subdue, Stapleton and his band, including wife Morgane Stapleton, ran through the best songs on the award-winning Traveller. “Tennessee Whiskey” had the entire crowd singing and the emotion-gripping “Fire Away” was amazing, displaying the great harmonies of the Stapletons. Near the end of the set, I couldn’t help but to feel refreshed at just how good country music can continue to be. -MM
Midday Highlight: Clutch
In probably the most underrated performance of the weekend, Clutch brought everything they had to the modest crowd at the Other Tent. Neil Fallon is a terrific frontman, full of energy and interacting with the crowd every opportunity he gets. Their style of bluesy, hot-rod metal is just as unique to the genre as they are at Bonnaroo. Classic songs such as “Electric Worry” and “Cypress Grove” rocked the tent, but it’s truly Fallon’s vocal, lyrical, and musical abilities that steal the show. For “D.C. Sound Attack!”, he showed off his solid harmonica skills in between lyrics of lack of competency in the government, and “Sea of Virginia” showed Fallon picking up the acoustic guitar for “Son of Virginia”, the blues-influenced track that sounds like a more rebellious Bob Seger. There are certain genres that don’t work well at Bonnaroo (metal is just one example), which is why when Bonnaroo does venture out, we often get the most entertaining and unique bands from those genres. Clutch has gained and maintained their popularity by being the odd man out in the metal world. -MM
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Nate Rate & the Night Sweats have been on a tear since releasing their self titled debut last June. But the man behind the microphone isn’t new to making music. Rateliff dropped his first album in 2007 and he’s played the game since. But it wasn’t until that album a year ago that he and his band really took off. The Bonnaroo set spilled out of This Tent into the burning sun, but that didn’t seem to deter a myriad of folks from getting down. NR&tNS are hitting their collective stride, in the way that only a band that has been on the road constantly can do. Don’t be surprised if this band continues to level up on festival posters next year. -RO
The Claypool Lennon Delirium
Les Claypool is no stranger to Bonnaroo, and his sets are often a staple of the weekend. Claypool joked himself that, “…this is like my 75th Bonnaroo”. His resume includes sets with Primus, Oysterhead, Les Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade, Les Claypool’s Fancy Band, Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains, Gabby La La, a solo set, and a SuperJam, giving him the credibility to back up his legendary Bonnaroo status. This set with friend Sean Lennon was no exception.
The duo played a majority of their new album, Monolith of Phobos, with the same psychedelic, bouncy sound that has made them successful thus far. Songs such as “Boomerang Baby” and “Breath of a Salesman” display Sean Lennon’s underrated guitar playing that seems to perfectly match Claypool’s bass rhythms. However, highlights of the set came with the covers, including Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine” and The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”, where Lennon echoed the beloved voice of his father. This was a special set that will live near the top of the list of Claypool’s Bonnaroo performances. -MM
Pearl Jam
Although Kanye blamed Pearl Jam in 2009 for his late (to say the least) performance, Pearl Jam had a legit excuse for playing late in 2016. After a very organized and successful evacuation of Centeroo due to pending dangerous weather, Pearl Jam took the main stage at 11:30pm (a little over an hour after schedule), holding nothing back in their epic 25-song return to the farm. The beginning of the set contained tracks lesser-known to the casual fans, such as “Go”, “Nothingman”, and “Mind Your Manners”, but were greatly received by the die-hard fans that spread through the audience. I try not to watch the screens at shows, but the camera work in this show was amazing, with small fisheye cameras setup at the pedal boards and microphone stand. After a stellar cover of “Arms Aloft” by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros (one of my favorite bands), Pearl Jam woke up this tired crowd with a stretch of “Daughter”, “Jeremy” and “Why Go”. There will never be any doubt that Mike McCready is one of the best rock guitarist of all time. His playing style and technique fits the band perfectly, often being the driving force behind the song. Stone Gossard continues to become a better guitarist, and the two combined to create some truly masterful work. The regular-set ending of “Porch” strongly displays Eddie Vedder’s ability as a vocalist and frontman. He may be the only man in rock and roll that can get a crowd to say “Hey!” with him for multiple minutes.
The encore only solidified this show as one of the classic Bonnaroo performances we remember. After a unique rendition of “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town”, the band covered Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” (a highlight of the festival), and ended the set around 1:30am with Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World”. Pearl Jam is made for festivals and arenas, and they continue to become more precise and cohesive as they get older. The new songs stand up just as tall as the classics in a live setting, and Eddie Vedder only gets more entertaining to watch.
I have no idea if this set was better than the one in 2009. All I know is they were both incredible, and I feel lucky to have seen them both. -MM
Sunday – More Images – Home
A Bonnaroo Interview with Eric Krasno (Lettuce/Soulive)
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
