Music festival season is officially upon us. So far, each lineup has had some decent acts announced. However, the annual four-day music festival on a farm in Tennessee, Bonnaroo, released its lineup recently and took the festival season to a whole different level of greatness. The festival lineup was released on Feb. 19 during a live webcast featuring The Flaming Lips and Ben Folds.
This year and past year’s acts have stretched across many different genres, making Bonnaroo very diverse. From Indie Rock to R&B, this festival definitely has it all. This year’s headliners include Elton John, Kanye West, Vampire Weekend, The Avett Brothers, Phoenix, Skrillex, The Arctic Monkeys and many more. This will be Elton John’s first U.S. music festival appearance and hopefully Kanye West will be able to redeem himself after not showing up for many hours and delivering a less-than-pleasing set at the festival in 2008.
Fresh off their new album, The Arctic Monkeys will deliver a definite crowd-pleasing set with hits like “R U Mine” and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”. After headlining Lollapalooza last year, Phoenix is back for more this summer, and will exceed everyone’s expectations with their wide repertoire, from the current Bankrupt back to their first album United. Keeping with the European theme, Vampire Weekend will bring the peppy fun to the festival with songs like “Unbelievers” and “Diane Young.” Regardless of whether you like dubstep or not, Skrillex will be a guaranteed dance party. Lastly, long-standing veterans of the music festival scene, The Avett Brothers will bring folk to the farm.
Unique to the farm, Bonnaroo features a series of ‘superjams’ where two artists or bands collaborate. This year, the festival showcases a superjam with Skrillex and a mystery special guest. It also features The Bluegrass Situation superjam hosted by The Hangover‘s Ed Helms, and the mystery superjam. The only way to find out the superjam duo is to attend. They usually do not disappoint, as they are virtually unpredictable performances that surprise everyone, even the artists themselves!
The beauty of music festivals is the freedom to roam with spontaneity. If there is free time between sets, visiting the smaller tents is a must for all Bonnaroovians and other festival-goers. Free shade is always a plus and discovering new music while doing so is an added bonus. Some up-and-coming bands and artists that stand out on this year’s lineup are Broken Bells, James Blake, Chvrches, Jake Bugg, Dr. Dog, Washed Out, Shovels & Rope, MS MR, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Vance Joy, Disclosure, Cut Copy and Ben Howard.
There are many more festival lineups to be announced, as the festival season is just getting underway, but it will be hard to surpass the sheer impressiveness of Bonnaroo!