In its fourteen years, the Bonnaroo Music Festival has grown from a jam band based weekend into a true celebration of every facet of the music scene and the one of the biggest parties in the world. From all corners of the globe, nearly a hundred thousand people descended on the farm outside of Manchester, Tennessee for the widest variety in music, art, comedy, cinema and more all under the warm sunny skies of early June.

The mind blowing fact that the kings of black metal Slayer share the stage with R&B superstar D’Angelo should tell you that this is a weekend where anything can happen, and that no matter what music moves you, you’ll hear it at Bonnaroo. From established legends like Robert Plant and Billy Joel, to modern superstars like Deadmau5 and My Morning Jacket to fresh acts eager to show the world what they can do like Fruition and Brownout, every act rose to the occasion, and wrote their names on the wall of Music history that Bonnaroo has become.

Taking its name from a Cajun word used by New Orleans artist Dr. John in one of his album titles, Bonnaroo means “The best on the streets.” It’s an apt description of what the festival is… simply the best collection of entertainment there is, anywhere in the world.

Over the years, things like building their own off ramp from the expressway and the honing of their parking and admittance practices have made this one of the easiest festivals to enter; amazing, given the sheer size of the crowd coming in and the festival grounds themselves.  No one, no matter what ticket they bought from the many options from general admission to VIP, had any massive wait seen in the fests infancy. There are even ticket packages that include a $30,000 “Live Like A Rock Star’ experience that includes a backstage tour bus for eight, all access passes, private catering and golf cart rides to anywhere you desire you can choose to live like royalty if that’s how you roll…

No matter how much you paid to be there, every note of music is heard equally, every piece of artwork seen with the same vision, and every face is warmed by the same sun.

Approaching the main festival grounds, known as Centeroo, you are stopped by a barrier, a wall that surrounds the stages and surrounding areas. Rather than leave this divider as a stark and foreboding edifice, Bonnaroo welcomes grafitti artists to tag and decorate the wall with the wildest art, making it an evolving cooperative project that becomes something greater than the sum of its parts, much like the fest itself. Traditional Centeroo sights like the sun powered “Solar Stage,” the headphone only “Silent Disco,” the art gallery, workshops in yoga, art and mixed media, the comedy tent, a salon for styling your do, endless vendors selling one of a kind hand made items, tasty foods from a wide assortment of food trucks and and booths and the always needed festival souvenirs like shirts and posters were on hand, to the delight of new and returning patrons alike.

Amid all of this are the platforms that host the reason everyone made the journey: the stages. From the massive What Stage to the New Music On Tap Stage, there was a number of ways to watch all these bands from every walk of life. The three giant tents, “This Tent,” “That Tent” and “The Other Tent” (I think an old timey vaudeville fan named those) offered cover from the sun and music throughout the day, while the Solar Stage and the Who Stage showcased smaller acts and second performances from some of the best in up and coming arts and established acts looking for a smaller scale opportunity to reach out to their fans.

Thursday saw the early arrivers being greeted by a wide variety of acts, some unexpected. While the band Parlor Tricks wowed the crowd with delicious harmonies and lush instrumentation, the metal trio of youngsters called Unlocking The Truth sparked a riotous mosh pit in front of their stage all while showing a stage presence that belied their youth.

More traditional jam act Dopapod had the crowd fist pumping to guitar laden rock jams, jamtronica tinged Gramatik sent swirling melodies out to an eager crowd, Americana mavens Houndmouth connected with listeners who loved their earnest and down to Earth approach, while Tove Lo showed that modern Pop is alive and well in Sweden. Courtney Barnett shared a post modern authenticity that seemed to come straight from her heart, while the dreamy Jungle spread a psychedlic haze over the crowd.

Friday had Oregon’s Fruition helped the crowd wake up and take notice of the beauty of their music, while Texas funk rockers Brownout brought their side project, Brown Sabbath, out to open up the Which Stage for the day. It’s their tribute to Black Sabbath, a super heavy funk metal show that earned the approval of Ozzy himself, who’s even sat in with the band in the past!

While SOJA brought their proto reggae to the main stage, the buzz around The Royal Blood turned out to be well deserved, as the duo from England rocked with an intensity that was hard to believe was only coming from a two pairs of hands.  Expect The Royal Blood to be back and headlining this festival if they keep giving performances like the one we were treated with. 

Dawes brought their California centric country rock to the main stage, while festival veterans Guster helped keep the old school spirit of the jam originated Roo alive. Tears For Fears provided an even more distant blast from the past for the older fans in attendance, leading sing-a-longs that united generations in song. 

Alabama Shakes have had one of the most inspiring recent climbs up the musical ladder, and their passionate performance gave their front row faithful everything they had been hoping to see and more.  Another returning veteran, Ben Harper, showed why his previous sets at the festival are still regarded as some of the best, while the bass from Kendrick Lamar’s packed main stage set rattled teeth while his words rattled hearts and minds. 

The exquisite Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood demonstrated the power of precision juxtaposed with style, causing musical epiphanies with their jazz cover of “Louie, Louie”. The mega popular producer Deadmau5 took the main stage and the audience for a ride, leading a late night revolution that saw tens of thousands of screaming fans anticipating each bass drop with bated breath, then losing their damn minds when the moment hit.

Jamtronica heroes STS9 rocked their faithful long into the night, their sounds mixing with a mesmerizing light show that lasted late into the wee hours.

[STS9 Photo by Dave Vann]

By Saturday, the festival was in full swing, as the final attendees had made it into the gates and the mood was one of crazed anticipation for the party to come. New Orleans stalwart John Cleary brought his Absolute Monster Gentlemen to That Tent, followed by the Colorado mountain breeziness of Gregory Alan Isakov for an one-two punch of homespun goodness. 

Trampled By Turtles proved that bluegrass could belong on the main stage with a packed field kicking up dust while boot scootin’ along to some mighty fine pickin’ and grinnin’. Rhiannon Giddens brought her bandmates from the Carolina Chocolate Drops along for her solo set, along with a rhythm section, as she shared a earthy, historical take on a mix of standards and more modern Americana compositions. 

The War On Drugs proved that traditional Rock and Roll is alive and well and ready to kick anyone who says differently in the ass, while Gary Clark Jr. had the same message for Blues fans. Clark started of his set showing his raw power as a performer, playing a number by himself and drawing the crowd down to a respectful silence as he mixed his dulcet voice with a sweet tone that belied the sadness of his words. 

Rapper Childish Gambino may have lost his backing band in favor of prerecorded backing tracks, but his stage presentation was spot on, with a bank of video screens showing a series of images designed to mesh with his words and movements, igniting the crowd in cheers and movement.

Old school metal gods Slayer had one of the most devoted followings at the festival, and word of their earlier than listed set time had reached the faithful in time, and they took the stage to a sea of angry, joyous faces as the mosh pit that formed is likely the largest the farm has ever seen. 

In one of the more delightful transitions of the weekend, soul superstar D’Angelo, whose decade long hiatus ended earlier this year with a huge release and sporadic tour brought a crack backing band to the tent, and closed out the night to a selection of songs from throughout his storied career.

Sunday had the earmarks of a festival-wide slow start. Between three days of sun drenched shenanigans, there was a need to start the day a little quieter than the past few, and That Tent was the place to be, with a selection of up and coming and established bluegrass acts that culminated in a picking party that was hard to believe. Shakey Graves and Hurray For The Riff Raff started things off, while the husband and wife duo of Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn brought an element of home spun authority and genius to the doings, while slide guitar legend Jerry Douglas presented his Earls of Leischer, and Chris Thile and The Punch Brothers added a final set before the SuperJam got underway.

The Bluegrass SuperJam was led under the auspicies of Ed Helms, actor and aficionado of all things stringed. Spoon brought their rock to the main stage, and their legion of fans had fought exhaustion and one last hot day in the sun to get as close as they could and bask in the last blast of rock glory.

Florence + The Machine has a mixture of energy and magic that speaks volumes to those who have their ears open and ready for the message they’re sending out, and her manic stage presence was more impassioned and forthright than the audience was accustomed to, as if the size of the stage and crowd had sparked something in her that desperately needed to be shared with the word.

Bonnaroo chose to end the weekend with a pair of artists whose music literally shaped the music world, with Robert Plant on the Which Stage, and Billy Joel closing out the What Stage.  While Joel brought his repertoire of modern staples, engaging the crowd in sing a longs of tunes that were likely written into their DNA from birth, Robert Plant decided to go a different route, foregoing the nostalgia that would have been the easier path and blasting the crowd with new music and reworked classics from his entire career, up to and including his old band, the mighty Led Zeppelin. Having such legendary figures wrap the weekend up was a inspired scheduling move, as fans who had started the day in less than vigorous states found themselves roused one last time to get up and get the Led out.

As with any event that continues long enough, traditions are formed, and some individuals find their actions causing them to become institutions.  One such man was Kevin Cunningham, coordinator of the vending area of Bonnaroo. Most festival attendees don’t put much thought into the sheer effort putting on a 80,000 person music festival takes, unless they have a problem. From the initial planning, to the building of the stages, there are an insane amount of people running every little errand and solving every little problem. Kevin was one of the ones who strove to make everything run as smoothly as he could. Sadly, Kevin passed away last year, and a small ceremony was held in his honor on Sunday, with a plaque commemorating the title he had surely earned, “Mayor of Centeroo.” It takes a special kind of person to solve any problem put before them, and to manage to do it with a cheer and grace that earned such love as to draw dozens of vendors, friends and family away from their booths and music to pay tribute to their memory. The festival clearly lost just such a man.

This review is the product of one set of experiences, the sights and sounds experienced by one person, but it’s impossible to truly do this massive experience justice, even with a hundred sets of eyes and ears.  No one’s Bonnaroo is the same as anyone else’s, just like life itself. And, like life, Bonnaroo is brief, a flash in the night, a moment in the sun made all the more special due to it’s limited existence. The lesson it teaches us is to embrace these times when we are in them, for we are only here for a short while. If you take the time to seek out the things that are beautiful in the world, then you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. And the stuff of our wildest dreams are what Bonnaroo is made of.