The Weight’s Bonnaroo Must List

The lineup this year certainly has had its share of controversy. With the festival continuing its transition from empty pocketed hippies to, arguably, deeper pocketed hipsters, this year is by far the most eclectic lineup Bonnaroo has offered.

Picking a personal schedule prior to arriving at the site is pretty much like Phish writing up a set list before a show: about three minutes into it the whole thing it’s off the rails and no one know what’s gonna happen. Any grand plans quickly evaporate and you just may find yourself mysteriously on your own, your friends have disappeared, and you’re eating a $7.00 veggie burrito, washing it down with a $7.00 water-downed lemonade all while grooving to a random mix of bluegrass, metal and hip-hop outside a tent overflowing with hippies.

My ‘must see’ list wasn’t very hard to put together, (keep in mind that I just caught The Raconteurs and Rilo Kiley in NYC, so they didn’t make my list, although they would have), so here it goes…

Metallica:

I’m no metalhead. For evidence, I’ve seen Phish 30 times and get scared by the Megadeth logo. But, Metallica is a legend of massive concert-going proportions and deserves to be celebrated for their history, ability to shred and their rightful place among the giants of stadium rock/metal. Enter Sandman, One, Master of Puppets, Nothing Else Matters and Sad But True are as burned into my psyche as Ramblin’ Man and Up On Cripple Creek. The band has arguably altered more 16 year old’s lives than unlimited porn on the Internet, and that’s saying alot! I truly don’t believe that Metallica brings a different demographic to the festival, as the wide array of music fans that were already planning on being in attendance will be the ones flashing the devil horns and head banging like Jim James at a Bonnaroo late night set.

What Stage: 6/13, 9 PM – 11:30 PM

Kanye West:

Like Metallica, Kanye West is as divisive a selection for the festival as there has been in the history of Bonnaroo, but that just makes me love his appearance even more. No one can argue his dedication to creativity and interest in elevating hip hop out of the thuggish doldrums that have ruined any momentum the genre once had. He’s been busy sampling artists from Daft Punk to Steely Dan, collaborating with exciting artists like Takashi Murakami (Wikipedia the guy…amazing stuff), and making sure the world knows that George Bush doesn’t care about black people.

Kanye has managed to always keep things interesting and unpredictable at a time when record labels are out looking for the next Nickelback and Carrie Underwood knockoffs. Good Life and Stronger have been in my iPhone rotation for almost a year now and his ‘Glow in the Dark’ concert experience appears to be another huge risk that is getting very positive buzz. This tour could have easily turned into another Styx/Mr. Roboto fiasco.

What Stage: 6/14, 2:45 AM – 4:15 AM

B.B. King

The ranks of guitar legends are thinning out. With the passing of Bo Diddley last week, it is all the more obvious that the blues and rock legends of the 50’s and 60’s that helped invent their respective genres need to be seen and celebrated as long as they can still grace the stage. B.B. King, in my opinion, is the grandfather of the blues guitar, having influenced everyone from Eric Clapton to Stevie Ray Vaughan to Buddy Guy. B.B. King has been a walking blues museum and encyclopedia for over 50 years.

I’ve seen B.B. King four times, most recently at his own blues club in Manhattan, and I am as in awe of the man as I am of his music. He brings a gentlemanly charm and charisma to the stage that needs to be experienced to be believed. I had the honor of meeting him (full disclosure – it was at a book signing) and he genuinely seemed as pleased to meet me as I was to meet him. His set will be a master class in making his guitar sing and I’m damn sure not gonna miss it.

What Stage: 6/14, 5:30 PM – 7 PM

My Morning Jacket:

Superjam is going to be sooo tempting. I’ll probably need to check out who is at the Superjam tent first. But unless it’s Led Zeppelin, Phish or Elvis, I’m gonna head over to the ‘Which Stage’ for Jim James and company. Bonnaroo is certainly about taking musical chances, but when something is this much of a sure thing, you take the easy money. To be honest, I’m not too well versed in their catalogue, I haven’t heard the new album, and I certainly can’t name the other dudes in the band, but My Morning Jacket has become synonymous with Bonnaroo for a reason.

Which Stage: 6/13, 12 AM – 3 AM

Pearl Jam:

I was in high school from 1993 to 1996. Pearl Jam were already legends at the time, with merely two albums under their belt. Sure they had credibility, (wasn’t every kid sitting in their bedroom trying to learn the Alive solo on guitar?), but I never thought that almost two decades later I would be pushing 30 and itching to see them live for the first time (in Tennessee, no less.). I’m picturing 70,000+ fans, tired after a long day of This, That, and The Other stage, getting energized by Even Flow, Alive, Jeremy, Corduroy and so many others. It will be like a big, bad karaoke bar and I’m okay with that. I have a feeling Pearl Jam will be as pumped to be there as the audience, and this just could be the highlight of the festival.

What Stage: 6/14, 10:15 PM – 12:15 AM

Honorable mention goes to:

Cat Power (Chan is hotter than Spanish Harlem in Santana’s Smooth video), Phil and Friends late-night set (the more friends, the merrier – especially anyone named Bobby, Warren, Trey, or Kanye), Donovan Frankenreiter, The Felice Brothers, Levon, Little Feat, Ben Folds, Jakob Dylan, Aimee Mann, Phil’s acoustic set, Panic, and Robert Plant/Alison Krauss.

So who made on your “Must List”? Let us know by leaving a comment…