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Photos by Bracken Mayo
Yes, The Pulse is almost ready to retire the subject of this festival for the year, but it should be noted that Bonnaroo 2012 was a successful one (for us) for multiple reasons. Temperatures far less stifling than last year, plus clouds and showers closing day helped inspire the “peace and love and goodness and kindness” Flea referred to during the Chili Peppers’ set. The Murfreesboro Pulse went for the long haul, camping from Wednesday evening until Monday morning, and witnessed the good, the bad and the naked. To break down the most noteworthy
Thursday, June 7
Moon Taxi
We watched from the back of That Tent to take in the enormity of the crowd rallying around the Nashville band. Their flashy jam-rock was seemingly blown up loud enough to fill a stadium, and with the set came an amazing and unexpected cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing In The Name.”
Phantogram
Nighttime show for a nighttime band. Phantogram had a moon-and-stars ethereality in their electro-pop that made the loose and ghostly synths and guitar feel like an alien experience. Onstage, the duo was lost in blue light, but Sarah Barthel’s voice, angelic and hollow, came echoing out over the heads of the crowd.
Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes
Alabama Shakes
Considering how Alabama Shakes have blown up the radio as of late, This Tent was unsurprisingly packed tight. Couldn’t see a damn thing (thanks, seven-foot-tall guy), but this was still one of the coziest, intimate, and at the same time, rocking shows we saw. Brittany Howard’s voice is like a lovin’ mama’s–warm and sweet–and is the wheel steering this rock/soul train.
Casey Strength of Glossary
Glossary
Murfreesboro’s own Glossary got its first opportunity to play Bonnaroo in 2012 and offered a rocking tight set in the Great Taste Lounge on a Thursday night (~ B)
Friday, June 8
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Two extremely dexterous live wires created an acoustic delirium out of nylon strings and world music influences. What Stage’s surrounding area was transformed into a dance floor.
Radiohead
A musician friend referred to this as “one of the most influential shows of my life.” It was indeed a brightly lit experience with misshapen screens projecting split images of the band, especially Mr. Yorke, who was in high spirits and asked the crowd if they planned to spend the night face-down in the mud, which is “a British tradition.” It was a glorious electronic blur mostly of cuts from Amnesiac (“I Might Be Wrong” was killer live), Hail To The Thief, King of Limbs, In Rainbows and Kid A.
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Radiohead
Saturday, June 9
Dawes
The band was surprised and grateful for the crowd that showed up for this tiny Sonic Stage gig, but there was good reason. It’s quite possible that the only thing capable of cutting through the heat-induced stupor that settles over your head by the third day of Bonnaroo is Dawes lyrics. Listen to ’em. Start with “A Little Bit of Everything.”
Glenn Danzig
Danzig Legacy
The metal fans got their horns up for a lengthy set of Danzig tunes. Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (pictured) then joined Glenn Danzig and company for a Misfits portion of the show. Glenn said he was glad when the sun went down (he’s a nigth person), but there was no reason to complain about the heat—it was quite comfortable under That Tent as dusk fell on the coolest Bonnaroo ever. (~ B)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
As fans in the boat that loves the Chili Peppers of old, we think they played enough of their back catalog–but there could have been more. Random jams between Flea and “new” guitarist Josh Klinghoffer between songs were fun to watch. Though it’s strange to see a guy who isn’t John Frusciante playing guitar up there, Klinghoffer looks thrilled as all hell to be there, and damn if he can’t play. Toward the end of the set, Flea took the mic to condone the spirit of Bonnaroo, tell us who he was into (Santigold, Radiohead, St. Vincent, Dumpstaphunk…) and encourage the support of live music.
Skrillex
After 20 minutes, we felt like we were hearing the same thing repeatedly. The attraction here was in visual presentation; huge billows of smoke shot upward and strange, industrial-looking images shape-shifted onscreen, intermittently cutting to shots of the teeny and dark-haired Skrillex, aka Sonny Moore, who looked like a little garden gnome Alice Cooper might keep on his front porch.
Sunday, June 10
The Black Lips
A heavenly breeze was a-blowin’ as The Black Lips thrashed through short and nasty numbers, thanking the audience at least twice for getting up so early to catch their show (it was 2 p.m.) and dedicating songs to people such as “that guy . . . who pretended to be asleep in the tent last night . . . while his buddy was fuckin’ that straaaaange giiiiiirl” and “the girl who cleaned the puke out of the port-o-potty right before I took a shit.” Isn’t that kind of thing half The Black Lips’ charm anyway?
The Beach Boys
Even if the other Beach Boys have aged, Mike Love hasn’t. Al Jardine kind of hasn’t. At any rate, they played every bubblegum hit anyone could have possibly wanted to hear with surprising gusto and vigor. And unless they were lip-syncing, their voices have held up all these years and could still deliver the trademark “whoooooooo”ing harmonies. We could have done without all the beach balls bouncing around the crowd, though.
Kenny Rogers
The young and the old gathered at The Other Tent to catch Kenny Rogers Sunday afternoon, and while it was a relatively small group, it was a sing-along crowd that knew every word. And then–whatwhat–Lionel Richie came onstage looking exactly the same as he did in the ’80s, and joined Rogers on “Lady,” then took over to sing “All Night Long.”
Phish
The headliner of the headliners at this year’s Bonnaroo was every hippie’s dream. Kids were getting real loose on the lawn around What Stage as Trey Anastasio, the cutest little wookie berserker that ever was, led the charge through three and a half hours worth of nu-jazz jams. If you looked down from space, we’re pretty sure a giant Glow Stick would be visible in Middle Tennessee.
