Mark Humphrey/Associated Press
Music fans cool off in a fountain at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Friday, June 11, 2010 in Manchester, Tenn.
Mark Humphrey/Associated Press
Music fans cool off in a fountain at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Friday, June 11, 2010 in Manchester, Tenn.
By the third day of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival there is a more relaxed feel. Bonnaroo attendees have come to accept that things will be so hot that even Satan would say “gimme a break,” that whatever colonies of bacteria are living on their bodies are simply going to be old friends by the time the festival is over, that the smell of rotting hay at least masks general body odor and the music goes on forever – or at least until late Sunday night.
By Saturday, even those who are least prone to spontaneous dancing become slaves the beat. At 1 p.m. Saturday the Senegalese musicians led by vocalist Baba Maal drew people from all over the Bonnaroo grounds to the Which Stage to shout and dance to African rhythms.
The band's colorful outfits were drenched in sweat long before the concert was over.
Meanwhile at the What Stage, Big Sam's Funky Nation had another crowd in the full sun churning their bodies to New Orleans funk, dropping down and jumping up on command. Both Maal and Big Sam gave the kind of shows that would typically climax any other music event and that was before 2 p.m.
Over in This Tent Circa Survive was delivering some furious rock, but with the same goodwill that seemed to permeate the Bonnaroo crowd.
“You see now how it works?” the singer shouted from the stage. “We hold each other up. We hold each other up.”
Just across the site, Norah Jones was offering calm music with a similar sentiment with a cover of the classic Kinks song “Strangers.” At 3:30 p.m., while Jones was still onstage at the Which Stage, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff began singing “You Can Get It If You Really Want” on the What Stage.
While on Friday a huge crowd gathered to watch a simulcast of Conan O'Brien's set from the Comedy Tent, on Saturday a somewhat smaller crowd gathered to watch the World Cup.
In the crowd there was a buzz about the previous night's performances. Bassnecter was one of the acts that everyone seemed to agree had been a must-see event. And the majority of the Bonnaroo attendees seemed most primed for the Stevie Wonder performance later in the night. Bonnaroo has always been one of those places where musicians seem excited to perform together and create special moments. Julia Nunes announced at her show on Friday that she would sit in with Weezer. Rumor had it that Jeff Beck and Norah Jones might be guests at Wonder's show.
But, whatever eventually happens in the night, Bonnaroo participants seemed ready. And even the heat can't lay them low.
© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 3
mamabob writes:
the girl in the yellow shorts looks like she's trying to pee.
SutherlandAve writes:
^^That question is asked by everyone who has ever been to Bonnaroo.
PepperGrinder (Inactive) writes:
Im guessing it is because college students make up a large percentage of the demographic.
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