As much fun as Day 1 was, Friday brought the promise of a full lineup with the main stage at Bonnaroo finally opening to the fans. The Main Stage is set off in a field by itself, empty except for the massive stage at the end with Bonnaroo in florescent green letters. The stage was set to be graced by Jack White and his Raconteurs as well as comedy man Chris Rock and heavy metal gods Metallica.
The night also brought a fresh batch of rumors including the supposed identities of the fabled Superjam. The Superjam is an annual event which features an all-star lineup of musicians in a once in lifetime only event. Speculation ranged from whether Robert Plant and Jack White might take the stage together while guitar connoisseurs salivated at the possibility of guitar legend BB King and Metallica's main shredder Kirk Hammet.
DAY 2 THE BANDS
DRIVE BY TRUCKERS
The southern rockers out of Athens, Georgia had little trouble drawing fans to their set. The first to go on that day, the band found themselves playing to a surprising number of fans, lying in the grass on the sunny day. Sounding like a vintage version of the Stone's infused with a down home love for country. Many of their songs seemed influenced by that band's guitar twang and rollicking licks reminiscent of such classics as "Factory Girl" and "Dead Flowers."
JOSE GONZALEZ
After seven albums, it finally seems like Jose Gonzalez is making some headway. The classically trained guitar player, perfectly compliments his subtle tunes with a crisp voice that seems to compliment the music just right. The set featured at one of the festivals smaller tents, drew crowd members anxious to get out of the hot sun and relax. Gonzalez provided a soft soundtrack to the weather sprinkling his set with fan favorites like "Crosses."
MINUS THE BEAR
Armed with their intriguing name and the fresh cover of clouds, Seattle's Minus the Bear's set started around 2:30 prompting many younger fans to head over to the concert which seemed to grow by word of mouth. The young rock band showcased their musicianship playing their songs which combined the weird time signatures of Mars Volta with the outright pop sensibilities of the Strokes. The sound which was diverse in influence went over well on stage as the drummer pounded the band's delicately clean guitar licks into pummeling riffs. While the group played their songs with maximum enthusiasm the band seemed unwilling to take the songs to the next level busting out into a surprisingly small amount of jams as the band chose to coast on its songwriting ability rather than its musical expertise.
LES CLAYPOOL
Well known for being quite the strange guy, Les Claypool is also a master of stage presence. Entering decked out in a dapper black Victorian suit with an equally bizarre long-nosed mask, the former bassist of Primus proved why he is one of the most talked about bassists of all time. Claypool showed that not only is he capable of playing bass but practically coaxing any sound he wants out of the instrument. The band which backed Claypool provided the right backdrop for the musician's odd sound providing the right support for the musician while simultaneously letting him take over the stage. The music bounced over the crowd seemingly equally inspired both the structure of classical music and cartoon theme songs, but nonetheless effective in getting the crowd moving.
THE RACONTEURS
Leading off with the first cut on their new album "Consoler of the Lonely" Jack White and his band of rockers took the stage as if they were grabbing it by force. The new songs proved quite capable of getting the crowd going as Jack White bounced around like the manic commander of his army of amazing musicians. True to form, the other Raconteurs never left their posts, seldom breaking from their three corner triangle stance around White who whipped around with wild abandon. White proved to anyone that doubted his guitar prowess wrong with blistering solos, even one that sent him crashing headfirst into a speaking and getting up with his chord wrapped around his guitar. The band graced the main stage which also featured a live video feed on two huge monitors. The live footage directed like a movie provided the perfect counter for the rocker's mix of storytelling and music. The intensity of the performance was sometimes staggering with the band ripping through new songs "You Don't Understand Me," "California Drama" as well as old classics like "Level" and "Store Bought Bones." Before leaving for their first encore, White seemed bent on the band's musical perfection. Sometimes even a palpable anger seemed to pass between White and Benson, the bands other guitarist and singer, as the two harmonized solos and shot each other hard glances. The music was unceasing as not one second of dead air was allowed to pass out of the band's speaker system. Finally after an hour and a half of this epic assault the band left the stage, trotted out front and center for a bow and promptly left only with smiles and shrugs.
METALLICA
Many have been speculating for weeks as to what Metallica's reception at the festival would be given that the rocker's "Kill 'em All" style doesn't seem to meld with the festival's relaxing hippie vibes. However by the time Metallica was about to take the stage a light drizzle was falling from the sky as a perfect prelude to the rocker's set. The main stage was packed as far as the eye could see as anywhere upwards of 60,000 people were trying to get closer to the stage. Right on cue the rocker's burst onto the stage, looking older but no less inspired by the same angry muses of their youth. Opening with "Master of Puppets" the band offered up a greatest hits set featuring cuts like "Unforgiven," "Nothing Else Matters" and a host of flying riffs from the early "Kill 'em All" and "Master of Puppets" albums. Surprisingly however the band seemed too timid to dip into any new material only debuting four new songs. The crowd however, many whom were seeing Metallica for the first time seemed receptive if not totally engrossed. Despite the rocker's playing their best, the crowd was unable to sing along with some of Jame's Hetfeild's song requests. However if nothing else the band proved that they are still a solid live act, if somewhere a decade behind their creative prime. Their set ended on high notes as they shot fire works into the sky and played a few cuts including a sharp version of the recently guitar hero certified "One."
MY MORNING JACKET
Fresh off the debut of their new album "Evil Urges," the band which recently has graced the cover of SPIN and was named Rolling Stone's "Breakthrough Artist of the Year" took the stage around midnight reportedly playing until 5 a.m. well past their 3 a.m. deadline. The band came out of the gate with the title cut from their new album which was a five minute funk jam. The band weaved in and out through material from all their albums. The particular highlights were an epic version of Z's "Lay Low" and the band's new price inspired jam "Highly Suspicious." The latter which sounds like the best funk song about the dangers of a 1984-like society you've ever heard. The big story however was the last song before the band's first break. About halfway into the set, in began to rain hard on the crowd which seemed to only be more enthused by it. In contrast the band had a few technical difficulties. However when Kirk Hammett came out with his flame embossed black guitar emanating the riff from "One Big Holiday" it was more than enough to make the rain soaked concert well worth it.
SUPERJAM
Sometime after 2 a.m. after walking by DJ TIESTO's thumping techno blasts, I made my way over to the "Other Tent" to see the much hyped "Superjam." For all the hubbub and speculation their were few big names for the act. Much of Gogol Bordello was onstage with Les Claypool and surprisingly given the talent at Bonnaroo, not much else. Reportedly the set featured all Tom Waits covers and Kirk Hammet on the last four songs.
HOT RUMOR
MIA's set that was reportedly canceled, was in fact played. Rumor has it around the media tent that the show went on only because the Olsen Twins decided to come to Bonnaroo for the show.
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