Friday, May 15, 2009

A Look at Bonnaroo Saturday, June 13

The What Stage
The Wailing Souls (1:15-2:30 pm)
(Reggae)

Dating back to the late '60s, the Wailing Souls were the first group to record for Bob Marley's Tuff Gong label. They've performed under several names aside from the Wailing Souls, including the Renegades, the Classics and Pipe and the Pipes. They've seen various lineup changes throughout the years, members coming and going. They've released over twenty albums and have recorded cover songs like the Who's "My Generation", the Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone."

Rodrigo y Gabriela (3:30-5:00 pm)
(Acoustic/Flamenco/Instrumental)

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero met in Mexico City while playing in a thrash metal band called "Tierra Acida." They left for Dublin, Ireland, after growing frustrated with the limitations in the Mexican music scene. They caught their break when Damien Rice approached them and asked them to be a part of the Oxegen Festival. They've put out a couple studio albums, as well as a couple live albums, including popular Metallica and Led Zeppelin covers. They also performed Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" at Bonnaroo 2007, with the audience handling all of the vocal duties. It really was a beautiful thing.

Wilco (6:00-8:00 pm)
(AltCountry/Rock)

Rising up from the ashes of what was Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy and several others including bassist John Stirratt went on to form Wilco, while Jay Farrar went on to form Son Volt. The Wilco lineup has changed over the years, but the current lineup is perhaps the closest knit unit in the group's history. The last time they played Bonnaroo, in 2007, they were touring in support of the critically acclaimed Sky Blue Sky, a collection of healing songs for Tweedy, to say the least. The follow-up, Wilco the Album, will be released at the end of June this summer.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (9:00-12:30 am)
(Classic Rock)

There's nothing I can really say, that you don't already know about Springsteen. Everyone knows him, or at least "of" him, and if you don't, then, well, how can you not knowing anything about him? Once said to be "the next Dylan", he's been at it for well over thirty years, and has sold over 120 million albums worldwide. With a catalogue as immense as his, there's no telling what he'll bring out for his debut performance on the Bonnaroo farm. Expect a handful of hits including "Born to Run", "Born in the USA", "Glory Days" and probably "Atlantic City", among countless others.

There's been some press recently, regarding the Boss and the E Street Band's thoughts on their current live show setup.

Here are the words of guitarist, Little Steven Van Zandt...

"We can't really change things all that much in terms of what we do by now," Van Zandt said. "But one thing that is different night to night concerns the ratio of covers to originals, and the types of things that we cover. There have been some nights here recently where we've done Clash covers, Ramones, Tommy James, even the Troggs' ‘Wild Things’ and that's fun. We do a lot of songs from the new disc, then it's kind of a toss up as to where we go in the shows.""One thing that we've discovered over the years is that the audience really tends to love and request a lot of our more obscure songs, and it's always kind of fun to see where playing those will take the show," Van Zandt concluded. "The people really seem to love both our doing some different songs and those unusual covers, and they really add something to the shows."

The Which Stage
Heartless Bastards (1:30-2:30 pm)
(Blues/Folk/Rock)

Booker T & the Drive-By Truckers (3:00-4:15 pm)
(Instrumental/Southern Rock)

Gov't Mule (5:00-6:30 pm)
(Blues/Jam/Rock)

Warren Haynes, Allen Woody and Matt Abts formed the Mule, as a way to keep jamming, during downtimes during the Allman Brothers shows on the road. Woody would go on with the band for the first three albums, but tragically his life was cut short in 2000. Not knowing where to go from here, the band added Andy Hess on bass and Danny Louis on keys a few years after the fact. Over the next several years, this new group of friends would tour almost non stop, hitting up town's, countries and festivals all over the globe. Hess would leave in 2008, soon after being replaced by Jorgen Carlsson, who brings a touch of Woody back into the sound.

The Mars Volta (7:15-8:45 pm)
(Experimental/Progressive Rock)

Nine Inch Nails (1:00-3:00 am)
(Industrial Rock)

This Tent
Elvis Perkins in Dearland (12:30-1:30 pm)
(Folk/Rock)

Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 (2:00-3:00 pm)
(Alt/Psychedelic/Rock)

Bon Iver (3:30-4:45 pm)
(Folk/Indie)

After battling a series of personal struggles and demons, singer/songwriter Justin Vernon moved to his father's remote cabin in the woods in Wisconsin, where he spent three months completely alone. When he left, he walked away with a group of songs that weren't even planned to be written. Those nine songs, make up his debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, which received massive critical acclaim around the country, some critics and blogs even saying it was the best release of the year. When it came time to put together a tour, he asked a few friends to set aside their personal lives, learn his songs, and go out on the road with him, not knowing what would happen, whether he would fail or succeed. The trio each adds vocals at different times, Justin being the lead vocalist and guitar player, while Sean plays drums and piano and Mike Noyce on the baritone guitar.

of Montreal (5:15-6:30 pm)
(Indie/Pop/Rock)

The Decemberists (7:00-8:30 pm)
(Folk/Indie/Pop)

moe. (1:00-4:00 am)
(Jam/Psychedelic)

That Tent
Alejandro Escovedo (12:15-1:15 pm)
(AltCountry/Rock)

Allen Toussaint (1:45-2:45 pm)
(Funk/R&B/Soul)

Raphael Saadiq (3:15-4:30 pm)
(Funk/R&B/Soul)

Jenny Lewis (5:00-6:15 pm)
(Folk/Indie/Pop)

Elvis Costello (6:45-8:15 pm)
(Rock)

Yeasayer (1:00-1:45 am)
(Experimental/Indie/Psychedelic)

MGMT (2:15-3:45 am)
(Electronic/Indie/Psychedelic)

While at Wesleyan University, Goldwasser and VanWyngarden began experimenting with noise rock and electronica, before discovering their signature psychedelic-pop sound, often compared to the Flaming Lips. In 2006, they signed with Columbia, and a year later they were making an album, produced by the Lips producer. That album, Oracular Spectacular, would draw huge praise from critics everywhere, earning them gigs at festivals around the world. The followup is planned to be released this year, entitled Congratulations.

The Other Tent
The SteelDrivers (12:00-1:00 pm)
(Americana/Bluegrass)

Cherryholmes (1:30-2:30 pm)
(Bluegrass/Folk)

Tony Rice Unit (3:00-4:15 pm)
(Acoustic/Bluegrass/Instrumental)

The Del McCoury Band (4:45-6:00 pm)
(Bluegrass/Country/Folk)

David Grisman Quintet (6:30-8:00 pm)
(Acoustic/Folk)

Ben Harper & Relentless7 (1:00-3:30 am)
(Alt/Rock)

Learning guitar in his grandparents music shop as a child, Harper was lead to the Weissenborn guitar, where his signature blues-slide sound was born. Through his various musical endeavors over his career, Harper has found friends touring with the likes of Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam and Jack Johnson. His newest project, Relentless7, was born out of the sound (not the band) that he would create in the Bonnaroo 2007 SuperJam with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and ?uestlove of the Roots. Harper had been searching to create an edgier, harder rock sound. That sound took him back about ten years, where he was given a demo by a band that was driving him to and from gigs in Texas. Harper took these guys under his wing, and headed out for a tour, playing both original and cover tunes, including some Zeppelin and what would become a big hit in their live show, David Bowie's "Under Pressure." As respected as the well-grounded Ben Harper may be, he has made a countless number of fans and friends, both inside the music industry and outside of it, there's just no telling who may show up during his latenight gig this year at Bonnaroo or what songs they may cover. The Relentless7's debut album recently came out entitled, White Lies for Dark Times.

Cafe Where (hosted by AT&T)
William Elliott Whitmore (2:30-3:30 pm)
(AltCountry/Blues/Folk)

Zee Avi (5:00-6:00 pm)
(Alt/Indie)

Cotton Jones (8:00-9:00 pm)
(Folk/Indie/Soul)

The Troo Music Lounge (hosted by Budweiser)
Turbine (12:00-12:50 pm)
(Rock)

Fiction Family (1:20-2:10 pm)
(Alt/Folk)

Joe Pug (2:40-3:30 pm)
(Acoustic/Folk)

Dan Dyer (4:00-4:50 pm)
(Rock/Soul)

BrakesBrakesBrakes (5:20-6:10 pm)
(Rock/Pop)

Jerry Hannan (6:40-7:30 pm)
(Americana/Folk/Rock)

Russian Circles (8:30-9:20 pm)
(Experimental/Instrumental/Post-Rock)

The Giraffes (12:00-12:50 am)
(Alt/Hard Rock)

Kuroma (1:30-2:20 am)
(Psychedelic Rock)

The Comedy Sweet (humored by Butterfinger)
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog presents Bonnapoo 2009 (1:00-2:15 pm)

Daily Show Stars (2:45-4:00 pm, 12:30-1:45 am)

Jimmy Fallon with Wayne Federman (4:30-5:45 pm, 6:15-7:30 pm)

The Sonic Stage
Chairlift (12:00-12:30 pm)

Katzenjammer (12:45-1:15 pm)

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals (1:30-2:00 pm)

Brett Dennen (2:30-3:00 pm)

Heartless Bastards (3:15-3:45 pm)

Allen Toussaint (4:00-4:30 pm)

Cherryholmes (4:45-5:15 pm)

Raphael Saadiq (5:30-6:00 pm)

Tony Rice Unit (6:15-6:45 pm)

The Del McCoury Band (7:00-7:30 pm)

The Solar Stage
Gypsy Hands Tribal Dance (12:15-1:00 pm, 12:00-1:00 am)

Panel: Social Change Through Music (1:00-2:30 pm)

Del McCoury & Friends Interview (3:00-3:45 pm)

Ben Sollee Interview (4:00-4:45 pm)

Poetix (4:45-5:15 pm, 7:30-8:00 pm)

African Drum and Dance by Mawre Company (5:15-6:15 pm)

Julia Nunes (6:30-7:30 pm)

Black Lillies (8:00-9:00 pm)

Hunab Kru Breakdancing (9:00-10:00 pm)

Guided Meditation (10:00-10:45 pm)

Bonnaroo Buskers (1:00-2:00 am)

Five You Can't Miss
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Nine Inch Nails, Elvis Costello, Booker T & the Drive-By Truckers, Ben Harper & Relentless7

Ten Other Favorites
Rodrigo y Gabriela, Wilco, Heartless Bastards, Gov't Mule, The Mars Volta, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Bon Iver, The Decemberists, Jenny Lewis, MGMT

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