DAY 1: The Shows

The first day at the festival offered up an array of newer bands vying for exposure. The night's set included the much hyped sets from MGMT hot off their stellar debut Oracular spectacular and from indie faves VAMPIRE WEEKEND.

However it wasn't just a night for big names as many of the smaller relatively unknown bands generated respectable audiences at the their respective stages. The other bands that were playing that night included two cover bands. One DARK STAR ORCHESTRA, a Grateful Dead cover band formed in 1997 out of Chicago, the other LEZ ZEPPELIN a gospel tinged Led Zeppelin cover band which drew many out of pure curiosity.

WHAT MADE MILWAUKEE FAMOUS

The first band to take any stage at the festival this year, the band came out to the crowd which was eager to start seeing live music and announced that they were "What Made Milwaukee Famous, from Austin, Texas." This odd juxtaposition of locations served to define the groups sound which while tight and well produced seemed unimaginative. The singer tried admirably to stir the crowd into some cheers however his statements such as "I didn't know it was this hot in Tennessee" like the bands sound were enjoyable if a little too familiar. The power pop group, whose pop sheen was reminiscent of the Killers with a Britpop influenced singer received mixed reactions from the Bonnaroo crowd.

MGMT

Formerly known as Management, the Brooklyn, New York electropop duo were the first band to draw any pre-set anticipation drawing applause for their road crew several times when they simply came out to test a connection. The sporadic pre-set clapping gave way to screams however when MGMT took the stage this time as a five piece band. Though there were some questions as to whether the band could recreate their sound live, the band answered the question, if not decisively.

Kicking off with "Weekend Wars" the band, like their pre-set applause was off and on hitting high highs and shaky spots where the group seemed a little shaken by the large enthusiastic crowd. Despite the shaky start the group began to settle down into tight jams with psychedelic guitar spasms before launching into the crowd favorites "Electric Feel" and "Time to Pretend," the latter which had a more natural feel live and prompted a sing a long from the crowd.

THE SWORD

Another Austin, Texas band, The Sword were much different then their other local counterparts WMMF. The metal band whose song "Freya" was featured on the hugely successful "Guitar Hero II" drew a decent sized crowd mostly of the metal faithful variety. The bands double guitar attack hit the audience like a buzzsaw, while the drummer pounded away sparking mosh pits in front of the stage as well as crowd surfing. The metal band was not just content to blast out super fast riffs, on slower tracks the band showed a melodic sensibility that showed they have the chops to take their metal attack down a few notches and still draw cheers.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND

The main event of the night, Vampire Weekend drew one of the bigger crowds of the night. A mix of devout fans, mostly young kids, and others there to check out the hype were left waiting for about five minutes as the band meandered their way to the stage. However, once the group arrived they quickly took off playing their entire self-titled album including cuts like "Blake's Got a New Face," "Campus," and their MTV single "A-Punk."

The band showed that they have the chops to play their unique blend of indie rock and African tribal music into a seamless live set. The crowd quickly got into the band's island grooves if not their cheeky ivy-league sensibilities. Lead singer Ezra Koenig dedicated a handful of songs to "Boston" and also one peculiarly to "those tropical Irish girls." The band had the daunting challenge to stretch their 30 minute album into a 90 minute set however the band did respond by showcasing some new material.

One standout track may be one of the best the band's produced to date, a raucous chorus of "heys" cascades over the upbeat track, elsewhere in the song the band's singer finds a way to incorporate making monkey noises not only into an interesting song but also a kind of vocal riff that changes throughout the song. Finally ending with "Walcott" the band left the stage to a chorus of cheers as they had won the crowd over, even with most of the older folks in the audience bopping along to its irresistible beat.