Bonnaroo returns after three-year wait

By Bill Foster and Rusty Odom • Photos by Bill Foster

A bit of logistical confusion and misdirection led to a much-later-than-normal genesis stroll into Centeroo, the hub that houses all of the main stages at Bonnaroo.

It had been about 26,298 hours since we last scanned in on the farm in Coffee County, and it took a while to get that Bonnaroo feeling back and adapt to all of the changes that have been implemented since our last festival experience here.

Some updates are nice. Many of the roads are now paved, which should help mitigate the famed “Bonnaflu” that came with the dust kicked and danced up by tens of thousands of people. There are four enormous fans in the This and That tents. Those are cool. Alcohol prices are not outrageous, either, which was a pleasant surprise. The fact that the bars are cashless was not a welcome surprise, however.

There are other drawbacks, too, some bigger than others. But after a few shows, it was off to the races, with the evening ending with a flurry of highlights, none more affecting than Andy Frasco & The U.N.

As the band poured offstage, photographer Bill Foster and I looked at each other and said, “Well, we can go home now. We’re not going to see anything better than that.”

It tied the bow on a promising opening day, but that’s not all we saw. Check out our highlights below.

The first wave

School of Rock alum Blu DeTiger was the first thing we caught in our return, and it was somewhat emblematic of the shift that many festivals have taken in recent years.

The audience has skewed younger over those years, but not without exception. Last year’s Septemberoo that never quite happened was completely sold out with a lineup that appealed to a wide-ranging audience and a gumbo of an undercard. The same can be said for the 2019 lineup, which featured Childish Gambino, Phish and Post Malone atop the bill with a full poster that made sense after the top line.

Do younger fans come to these festivals because promoters book bands that appeal to them? Would more people in their 30s and older come if bands were booked that appealed to them? What came first? The chicken or the egg? Attendance is down this year, though it’s hard to gauge from the Thursday crowd. We’ll report back throughout the weekend, of course. Enough about that.

Blu DeTiger really has something, and she easily could rise up posters in the future. She and her very talented band offered a slinky, fun aesthetic.

Later on the same stage, Role Model frontman Tucker Pillsbury asked the crowd how many gentlemen were pulled to his show by their girlfriends. Based on his reaction, it wasn’t as many as he’d expected. Many of the same attendees that were on the rail for DeTiger could be found in the same spot for Role Model, five hours later.

What happened between those sets was what makes festivals great. On the same stage, Indigo De Souza and Sons of Kemet played through amazing sets of varying styles, and every member of each of these bands should be proud of themselves, frankly.

But that’s not all.

The 502s and Garcia Peoples impressed at the relocated Who Stage on opening night, as well.

The 502s were a maniacal seven-piece Americana outfit who mentioned that this just might be the best show they’d ever played. It’s always great to hear that, and it usually happens on the smaller stages. Don’t sleep on the small stages.

Don’t sleep on the big ones, either, though.

The Other, once my favorite tent and similar in stature to both the That and This tents, is now an open-air electronic monstrosity. The production has improved each year, and this year is no different. There are now four additional towers that add visual value to accompany the already impressive stage setup. Weval and Clozee found us at the Other more than we’ve been since the stage was converted to its electronic focus a few years ago. – Rusty Odom

The feature

The best thing about festivals is going to see an unknown band and just being totally gobsmacked by someone you hadn’t yet heard. Rusty and I were on the fence about going to see a 1:15 a.m. show on opening night, but staying up was one of the better decisions we have ever made. And that’s not an exaggeration. Andy Frasco & The U.N. were exciting, loud, fast, crazy, talented and every other positive adjective you could possibly imagine. Again, not an exaggeration.

Frasco crowdsurfed during the first song, smashed cans of beer in his face, threw bourbon on his bass player before carrying him on his shoulders, jumped off everything in sight and was legitimately one of the most engaging and exciting bandleaders I have ever seen. Just three songs in, Frasco brought out Goose (technically a larger band) for a loose jam in which both bands were obviously having the time of their lives. There’s no debating who won opening night of Bonnaroo in our eyes. It was Andy Frasco & The U.N. – Bill Foster