Later this week some 80,000 music fans will descend into Manchester, TN to see scores of bands, comedians, DJs and more at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, which will be celebrating its tenth anniversary. The fest humbly began back in 2002 by hosting around 50 mostly jam-oriented bands across four stages. Over the past decade Bonnaroo has grown exponentially and will see nearly as many acts perform on its first day alone this year as at the whole event in 2002. For Bonnaroo X the promoters have put together a lineup that is once again stacked from top to bottom with a little bit of something for nearly every type of music lover. As has become the norm around these parts, we will once again be dedicating a number of posts this week exclusively to all things ‘Roo.
As the story goes, back in 2001 when trying to come up for a name for their new fest, Superfly Presents co-founder Jonathan Mayers was looking up old records online when he stumbled upon Dr. John’s 1974 album Destively Bonnaroo. After thinking the word looked cool, and finding out it was the Creole term for “good stuff,” a brand was born.
To help celebrate their tenth edition and to honor the album that gave them their name, fest organizers have invited ‘roo veteran Dr. John to perform the record in its entirety during a special late-night set on Saturday night at That Tent beginning at 12:30 AM. To make this performance even more unique, Mac will be joined by not only by The Original Meters, who appear on a majority of the record, but also Allen Toussaint, who both appears on the LP and produced it.
Let’s check out this vintage live performance of the album’s lead track, Quitters Never Win…
[youtube]-u7j8EETBHk[/youtube]
Following his late-night appearance Dr. John will stick around and return to That Tent the following afternoon, where he will co-host the Superjam with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.
