If Thursday night at Bonnaroo has moved past its former status as a festival prelude, Sunday has certainly maintained its rightful place as the event’s mellow epilogue. The music certainly isn’t mellow, but the atmosphere tends to be just that. Sunday night’s headliner usually draws a smaller crowd, and campers begin leaving in droves. This mass exodus makes for a full, pleasurable day for the dedicated fans, and Sunday at Bonnaroo 2011 was one of the finest yet.
Once again, the manner in which the day unfurled flew in the face of the lineup naysayers. The main stage featured not only two bands that performed at the first Bonnaroo, but a genuine one-of-a-kind, once in a lifetime show. Galactic stormed the stage and filled the dusty afternoon air with their trustworthy funk, which featured Corey Henry on trombone and Corey Glover (of Living Coulour fame) on vocals. Along with the band’s trademark NOLA-riffic instrumentals, they added a rocking touch on vocal songs like “Total Destruction to Your Mind” and serenaded Robert Plant with a ripping “How Many More Times.”
Cold War Kids played like troopers, giving the performance their all in the face of weary, thinning crowds and inescapable clouds of dust. Perhaps intentionally, they placed some of their heavy hitters like “Hang Me Up To Dry” and “Audience of One” early in the set, bouncing around the stage with infectious aplomb. While Cold War Kids defended This Tent, Most of the audience gathered at the What stage for a date with Robert Plant, who brought along a magnificent band: Marco Giovino on drums, Buddy Miller on electric guitar, Darrell Scott on acoustic guitar, mandolin and more, Byron House on bass, and Patty Griffin on vocals. The Band of Joy proved to be enough of a show on their own, with Griffin, Miller and Scott all taking turns with their own song selections. But Plant is Plant, and though the idol’s aging voice is no longer capable of Zeppelin-style peaks, he’s found a way to incorporate some of the band’s most beloved tunes into the show. “Black Dog” was given a swampy, southern folk feeling, “What Is And What Should Never Be” basked in its own inherent elegance, and “Houses of the Holy” was a surprising highlight, resplendent and bluesy in its stripped-down arrangement. They even threw in a welcome version of Plant’s relaxed 80’s solo hit “I’m In the Mood” among selections from the Band of Joy album.
Just like that, the last band of the weekend was up. Widespread Panic stepped up like the veteran Roo-closers they are and delivered a knockout blow to everyone’s expectations. The entire show featured the four-piece Megablasters horn section, and they added sustaining spark to the two and a half-hour set. After warming up with a riotous opening combo of “Arleen” and “Fishwater,” energetic selections like “Weight of the World” and the anthem-like “Tall Boy” found the band at full throttle. Jimmy Herring makes the most amazing guitar feats sound simple, and the rest of the band has an incomprehensible mental connection born from decades on the road together. After a relentlessly funky version of “old Neighborhood,” the band debuted a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” that scorched the few remaining patches of grass on the festival grounds. The grand finale of the weekend included an appearance from Bruce Hornsby, who traded solos with Herring on a massive “Red Hot Mama” and added instrumental drama to “Her Dance Needs No Body” before Panic brought the farm to its knees with a closing run through “Bust it Big,” “Pigeons,” and “Chilly Water,” the latter of which enveloped a rollicking “Love Tractor.”
The folks at Bonnaroo managed to continue the festival’s trend of fresh, unexpected headliners while holding true to the people and artists that made the event into the spectacle it is today. Traditional music festival fans don’t have to be turned off by the big name headliners. There’s so much to see and do that the inclusion of controversial choices like Eminem and Lil Wayne doesn’t detract from the cavalcade of other offerings, and the money-bringing crowds drawn by the stars help make the event more musically inclusive. All eyes were on Manchester this year for the sold out tenth anniversary happening, and the music and fanfare at Bonnaroo X exceeded expectations in nearly every way.
