bonnaroo

Summing up an event like Bonnaroo takes time for reflection and consideration, but by the time Phish’s closing set was over on Sunday night, it was clear and simple – Bonnaroo 2012 is going to be remembered as one of the great ones. Looking back over the music and surprises of the weekend, Sunday’s shows don’t necessarily stand out among the shock rock and superjams and sunrise sets (okay, Lionel Richie showed up and sang “All Night Long” with Kenny Rogers, but that wasn’t totally unexpected). But it was as solid as any of the festival’s four days thanks to solid if relatively unsurprising performances by veteran acts.

As an unintentional exclamation point on the day, I happened to walk by shock schlocker Alice Cooper’s show just as the guillotine dropped and the band broke into “School’s Out.” From the truly odd (Puscifer) to the frightening (Danzig, Alice Cooper) and fascinating (Superjam), Bonnaroo 2012’s stupendous Saturday carnival had it all.

Radiohead are the booking that put Bonnaroo over the top back in 2006. Festival higher-ups have regularly pointed to that year as the year Bonnaroo broke, and the prospect of an equally epic show from Thom Yorke and company had tens of thousands salivating as Friday night kicked into full gear. Much like 2006, though, the audience found itself divided. After the band interjected a panicky "15 Steps" among a group of mellower material (Opener "Bloom," In Rainbows favorite "Wierd Fishes/Arpeggi"), many who jammed the field at 10 PM didn't stick around for the one-two punch of "I Might Be Wrong" and "The Gloaming" that occurred about half an hour in.

After a smashing 10th anniversary, Bonnaroo has officially become part of the fabric of Tennessee. Press members are being offered tours of Nashville, as the powers that be endeavor to tie the state’s old musical history in with the new; most locals have embraced the event, or at least the residual dollars; and the proprietors are planting trees, building structures, and basically settling in for the duration of whatever time we have left. And they’re gonna throw a party every year, just in case that time isn’t long.