SATURDAY: THE MAIN EVENT

If the rest of the festival felt long, Saturday was truly a musical marathon. The day began with a number of smaller acts taking the stages followed by a cluster or stars so tight one would have had to do laps around the site just to keep up with the volume of shows. The biggest conundrum for the Bonnaroo crowd came during the hours of 4-8 p.m. During these four hours, a total of seven hours of music was being played at various tents featuring the likes of CAT POWER, BB KING, ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, IRON AND WINE and BEN FOLDS mostly playing simultaneously.

The big story however was the nights line-up featuring PEARL JAM, JACK JOHNSON and of course KANYE WEST. The rapper whose announcement to the lineup was seen as controversial, wasn't content to let the other actual headliners take the spotlight, even in absence KANYE WEST stole the show.

SATURDAY BANDS

KANYE WEST

WEST's late night set which had been previously been backed up to 2:45 a.m. and put on the main stage. By 2:45 a host of tired and weary campers began pouring into the area to catch a glimpse of the spotlight stealing star and his "Glow in the Dark Tour" which promised a once in a life time laser show.

By 3:30 KANYE WEST had not appeared on stage leaving the crowd embittered to the star, whom many had bought tickets explicitly to see. Many, falling asleep on the ground waiting began to leave before any official announcements were made on behalf of the festival. The wait, was due to mostly technical difficulties however this didn't stop the tired crowd from losing faith in the star famous for his temper tantrums. The problem seemed to be with the main TV screen for WEST's light show, which dangled in the air for forty minutes while road crews threw up their hands in disbelief below. Being in that crowd, it was not hard to picture an angry KANYE WEST all but having a nervous breakdown onstage.

However it was a testament to WEST that despite the difficulties much of the crowd stayed at the site until 4:30 when the lights went down and the rapper took the stage to a particularly energetic version of "Good Morning." Tearing through most of his new album, the rapper barely mentioned the difficulties to the crowd and reportedly his set lasted until sunrise, most likely putting a damper on the "Glow in the Dark" aspect of the event.

TWO GALLANTS

Having heard a healthy buzz about this garage rock duo, I chose to take a leap of faith and check out the show. The two musicians, whose name refers to a James Joyce short story about robbers, took the stage and gave the early afternoon a much needed boost of energy. Sounding like the punky little brother of Rob Thomas, the lead singer spat lyrics about partying and everyday teenage life into a blues-like delivery. The style despite at times sounding inspired by nineties alt-rock, was more reminiscent of an old blues style of story telling which was also captured in their tight playing. The band made enough noise for two and them some, mixing styles and generating cheers for their energetic set.

ABIGAIL WASHBURN + BELA FLECK

Famed banjo player Bela Fleck agreed to play his second show of the weekend Saturday afternoon this time with singer songwriter ABIGAIL WASHBURN. The female singer, who switches from English to Chinese during her songs, was also backed a by the SPARROW QUARTET who mostly played string instruments behind her. The group was dressed more appropriately for a formal ball than a concert, however this did not stop many from checking out the unique collaboration out of curiosity. Bela Fleck did his job well, living up to his much touted technical prowess while being respectful enough to not overshadow Abigail Washburn and her personal songs.

GOGOL BORDELLO

When you enter onto a stage backed by a three story blue and yellow high banner of your band's name featuring the emboldened words "Gypsy Punk Revolution" you better be ready to make some noise. Gogol Bordello however did not disappoint the afternoon crowd, stirring those close to the stage into a fist pumping riot. Despite the punk declaration, the band featured a wide array of instruments including strings and one accordion player. The bands peculiar sonic attack drew from roots as diverse as Eastern European wedding music and traditional American punk music blending them into a unique sound that is highly listenable despite its diverse roots.

CAT POWER

By 4:30 the floor of the stage dubbed "That Tent" had turned from a nice grassy nook into a muddy mess. Despite this however, many came early for CAT POWER who took the stage on time while sporting her trademark army navy long sleeve shirt. Power opened the set with a heavy dose of cuts from her latest "Jukebox," however the set of cover tunes provided the perfect sound for the atmosphere which would have been ill suited to the depressing manner of her earlier material. After a warm up version of "Ramblin' (Wo)Man" from her new album, Power looked disappointed a smiled timidly at the crowd. Despite the singer's good looks and amazing smoky voice it was interesting to see that contrast with her charmingly awkward demeanor onstage where she often looked like she was doing the "Elaine dance" from Seinfeld and with equal seriousness. After an interesting take on Creedence Clearwater's "Fortunate Son" many kept moving as there was much to see.

BB KING

"I'd like you to remember that I'm now eighty-two years old. When I was young I thought I was handsome like you guys, girls used to come to me and say 'Hi BB,' then I'd get ready to tell them my story and they'd say 'Bye B.'"

Such was the language of BB KING Saturday afternoon as he succeeded in turning the wide expanse of the festival's main stage into the equivalent of a front porch jam. King who never left his seat sweet talked the crowd and played many old favorites backed by an all star blues band, dubbed by BB himself "the best blues band on the road." Many of the King's jokes were self deprecating and were able to get the crowd laughing. At one point during the set a helicopter flew over prompting the elder statesman of the blues to say "We're not in Vietnam now are we?" BB went wild on the guitar, wearing an equally wild blue and gold checkered shirt. BB was always the gentlemen providing just the right thunder for a show that attracted all ages prompting even some of the younger festival goers to spout lines like "how cool would it be if he was my Grandpa."

PEARL JAM

Alone on the main stage at 10 p.m. Pearl Jam drew the largest crowd the event had seen by far. The stage, which was set up with a backdrop with a wave like design sat quietly and awaited to see what the festival headliners would have in store. Soon the band came out blasting into classic riff rock staples like "Animal" and fan favorites "Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town" aside some of their bigger hits like "Daughter" and "Better Man" which found a new life live. Pearl Jam continued to prove why they are one of America's premier bands after all these years. Eddie Vedder stumbled about howling like a wild man during songs while Mike McCreedy proved why his guitar playing is so drastically underrated with speedy solos buoyed by the tight bass and drum backing. The band only stopped the music a few times, pausing to remind people to try and change the world. Vedder's speech however jumbled, seemed honest and from the heart especially when he led a sing-a-long version of his new charity single "No War."

Elsewhere in the set the rocker's blasted through extended jams on "Even Flow" and "Rearviewmirror" and chose to close the set with the tag team of their first album closer, "Release" and crowd favorite "Alive." The band played well over their scheduled time taking two encores and whipping the crowd into sing-a-longs, none more well suited to the event than the echoes of a thousands of people yelling "I'm still alive" in Eddie's classic indistinguishable howl.

SIGUR ROS

The Icelandic indie band's ethereal music drew a sizable crowd to their late night show, which gave those fans in America a unique chance to see the band, which does not tour stateside often. Pronounced (See-gar Ross) the band's music can only be described as an epic soundtrack to an unmade movie which you are then free to visualize in your head. The band, which featured upwards of eight people onstage at anytime played a host of prime cuts for the crowd which featured a surprising number of devout followers. The crowd clapped along to "Hippopola" as the lead singer, looking like a younger blonder version of Thom Yorke sang in a crisp falsetto that hovered over the music perfectly showing that the band is quite capable of recreating the entirety of its epic studio sound live.