Crowds at Bonnaroo swelled to capacity on a typically over-the-top Saturday that saw some of the music world’s most popular live acts perform. The teeming horde that filled the What stage field for Eminem’s headlining set rivals any assemblage of humanity in the event’s history, and the masses made for tight quarters at many of the shows.
At the Which stage, Alison Krauss and Union Station’s meticulously intertwined acoustic music stood up impressively under the afternoon’s searing sun. The usually candid Krauss was stunned into silence for a few songs by the sheer size of the audience gathered before her. She mouthed “wow” to her band members upon taking the stage and starting the widely varying set with “Paper Airplane.” The duality of her creamy croon and guitarist Dan Tyminski’s mountain-toppling howl was exhibited by the opener and the subsequent “Dust Bowl Children,” a Peter Rowan song that sounded perfect under the great Bonnaroo dust cloud of 2011. After 2001’s “Daylight” and the more recent “Sinking Stone,” the crowd – most of which were waiting for Mumford and Sons to take the stage – woke up a bit at the sound of Krauss uberhit “Let Me Touch You For A While” and her well-worn cover of “Baby Now That I’ve Found You.” Krauss warmed up as well, joking around with her band and cracking wise in the manner of which her fans have become accustomed. Dobro master Jerry Douglas offered his beloved solo combo of Duane Allman’s “Little Martha” and his own “Monkey Let The Hogs Out.” The rest of the show featured choice covers that AKUS have made their own, like Tyminski’s Oscar-worthy work on “Man of Constant Sorrow” and the swinging “Oh Atlanta” that closed the set, along with 20 years worth of original songs such as the delicate “Ghost in this House” and the haunting “Lie Awake.”
Mumford and Sons followed Union Station’s intimate song craft with boisterous Brit folk, and it’s not hard to see why they’ve become one of the biggest bands in the world in very little time. The apparent joy on each member’s face as they slammed through the 90 minute set was enough to enchant even the most jaded music fan. It’s not the setlist, which of course included the majority of their hit album Sigh No More, but the fervor with which they attack the material that makes a Mumford show. After the exhausting run through their catalog, the band invited a cavalcade of friends, including Jerry Douglas, onstage for a rousing “Amazing Grace.”
Saturday’s first headliner, The Black Keys, were a two-man army during their set, ruling the huge What stage with a bombastic concoction of blues, fuzz, rock, and groove. Dan Auerbach is a whirling dervish onstage, and drummer Patrick Carney is the aggressive force that drives him. Their all too brief set included standbys like “Thickfreakness,” “Your Touch,” “Everlasting Light,” and “Howlin’ for You.” Much like Mumford, it’s not the songs that make the Black Keys experience memorable, but the pure adrenaline with which they hose down the audience.
The award for largest crowd in the smallest space goes to Buffalo Springfield’s set at the Which stage. It’s not that the band, whose deeper catalog resides in relative obscurity, needed a bigger space for their legendary reunion. It’s that there were no other shows happening to thin out the crowd, so the start of the set was a major mess of bodies with nowhere else to be. Neil Young’s presence tends to have that effect on people. The glob of people thinned a bit, though, as Springfield’s mellow set was made much more for sitting than Saturday night shenanigans. Those who eased into the show’s majestic atmosphere were eventually rewarded. “Mr. Soul” was an early highlight, but the real bang was the ending. The encore showcased Young’s fantastic vocals on “Broken Arrow” and the timeless “For What It’s Worth,” the performance of which will certainly enter the annals of Bonnaroo lore. Perhaps even more enjoyable was the final song, “Rockin’ in the Free World,” during which Young was turned loose for multiple instances of his dirty, noisy soloing skills.
After Eminem’s gaudy, grating main stage set, which offered major production value and a couple of appealing moments during “My Name Is” and “Lose Yourself,” the original lineup of The Meters opened up a freighter of ass-whoopin’ funk at That Tent. After the lineup announcement this year, people wondered where the tenth anniversary celebrations were. Well, this Meters set was one for the ages, finding the band reunited, running on a couple days practice, and absolutely lighting it up. George Porter Jr. looked to be having a blast as he, insane guitarist Leo Nocentelli, drummer Zigaboo Modeliste, and keyboardist Art Neville powered effortlessly through classic burners like “People Say,” which included a lengthy, mind-boggling guitar solo, and “Fire on the Bayou” among others. More evidence of the Bonnaroo origin story could be heard as I disappeared into the night, passing the visually spectacular String Cheese Incident show. The “Tennessee Jed” opener and subsequent wide-open excursion of “Roll Over” were just the start of a conceptually captivating show. There’s nothing wrong with a little jam late at night, for old times sake, to slightly counteract the overwhelming musical monster that Bonnaroo has become. After a day of wild stylistic variations, it was good to just chill and let the easy cheese satisfy the last of my aural urges. With only one day remaining, the big picture of Bonnaroo X is starting to take shape, and it is fascinating.
