Photo by Victoria Leuang / MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
MANCHESTER, Tenn. — Weathering an early morning deluge, big crowds maintained the energy level as the 17th annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival drew to a close, with Chance the Rapper among the front-row fans Sunday night.
Future counts Chance the Rapper among move-busting fans at What Stage
Rap star Future took Bonnaroo’s biggest stage in confident fashion Sunday night at Bonnaroo.
Future’s lively presence fired up the huge crowd on the festival’s closing night at the What Stage. Fans were bouncing to bangers such as “Bugatti,” “Low Life,” and “Jumpman.”
The stage featured a large walk-through cylinder with alternating yellow, red and purple lights shined onto the stage and the audience. Future constantly hyped-up the audience while four dancers on stage backed him with hip-hop dance trends such as the dougie, stanky leg and floss dance.
So nearly everyone danced, no matter if they knew the latest moves.
Bonnaroo regular Chance the Rapper, who was just a fan this year, appeared in the crowd at the front-of-stage pit, dancing along with his crew. Future kept checking in with the crowd by yelling, “I know my hippie fans aren’t tired yet!”
Winding up the set with “Mask Off,” Future completed the show in a cappella fashion, with the crowd repeating the chorus.
“Shout out to all of my real fans,” Future said, closing it out.
— Victoria Leuang, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
Alt-J wows crowd with light show, inviting sound at Which Stage
British indie alt-rockers Alt-J used their breathy tones and echoed sound to captivate a sizable crowd and to close Bonnaroo’s Which Stage Sunday night.
Known for their amalgam of electronics, rock, and what’s become known as folktronica, Alt-J’s Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamilton and Thom Green brought a stage presence that matched their unique sound.
LED lights illuminated the crowd as psychedelic colors flashed across the projecting screens, changing colors during different songs while the musicians remained in stark black and white.
Alt-J performed some of their most popular songs, such as “Tessellate” and “Every Other Freckle, ” with the crowd swaying along to the smooth beats and evocative lyrics.
— Megan Cole, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
St. Paul and the Broken Bones rock That Tent stage
Soul band St. Paul and the Broken Bones took the That Tent stage at Bonnaroo Sunday night in rousing fashion, and if high-energy lead singer Paul Janeway acted like he’d been here before, it’s because he has.
“I use to work security at Bonnaroo,” Janeway told the crowd. “Anything that would get me in for free.”
Based in Birmingham, Alabama, the energetic band decked out the stage in true Southern royalty fashion with gold
microphones, drums and even gold upholstery. It was an apt setting for the brass instruments, twangy organ, keyboards, electric guitars and one huge voice.
They performed songs from both of their albums, “Sea of Noise” and “Half the City,” including: “Flow with It,” “Crumbling Light Posts, Pt. 1,” “All I Ever Wonder,” “Half the City,” “Broken Bones and Pocket Change,” “Call Me,” and “Grass is Greener.”
Amid the already vigorous set, Janeway decided to take his golden carpet to the next level by “taking a magic carpet ride.” This involved hurling his body into the masses and crowd-surfing atop his legion of fans.
Janeway began the show by promising to give his all to the Bonnaroo crowd. He clearly loves them and this place, losing a shoe and maybe a few shirt buttons in the process of a most soulful, mic-dropping performance.
— Tiffany Brady, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
Broken Social Scene brings numbers to That Tent stage
Canadian alternative-rock collective Broken Social Scene nearly filled the stage at Bonnaroo’s That Tent late Sunday afternoon.
Broken Social Scene has undergone numerous personnel changes over their two decades spent as a band, pulling alternative musicians from associated acts that include Metric, Feist, Stars, and Do Make Say Think. The center of the act has remained consistent with lead singer Kevin Drew.
Drew and company can be considered veteran musicians, with five records and a longstanding reputation in adult-alternative music circles. With nine rockers spread across the stage for their Bonnaroo set, Broken Social Scene’s sound was colossal indeed.
As they opened up with a dynamic “KC Accidental,” the crowd swayed along with the song’s vacillating energy. The group packed as much music as they could in their set’s allotted hour, ranging from earlier hits such as “Texico Bitches” to “Protest Song” from their latest record, “Hug of Thunder.”
While Drew held center stage for most of the time, he handed off the mic to Ariel Engle of the act La Force to sing lead on “Stay Happy” and close off the set with “Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl,” but not before a rallying departing message from the lead singer.
Drew proclaimed that their performance of the melancholy “Anthems” would be dedicated to Kate Spade, the popular handbag entrepreneur who took her own life last week.
“You are not alone,” he told the crowd. “Pain is real, and we’ve got to help each other through the struggle.”
— Hayden Goodridge, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
Daniel Caesar’s harmonious set mesmerizes audience at Bonnaroo’s This Tent
Daniel Caesar performed a groovy set Sunday night as Bonnaroo prepared for its final acts. This was Caesar’s first time attending Bonnaroo.
Full of lights, smoke and soulful background singers, Caesar took the stage after a short video played. Fans were ecstatic to see Caesar enter the This Tent.
Ashton Simmons, widely known for his stage name, Daniel Caesar, is a Canadian singer-songwriter that mainly performs R&B soul music.
He released his most recent album in August 2017, titled “Freudian,” and as a newer artist, Caesar continues to inspire his listeners with songs about heartbreak, coming of age and love.
Caesar ended his performance with his lead single that reached number one on iTunes, titled “Get You.” The crowd erupted and sang the lyrics as they did with many of Caesar’s other tunes of the night.
His smooth voice and tone set the mood as the end of Bonnaroo 2018 was just hours away.
— Megan Cole, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
Nashville band *repeat repeat brings raw energy, pop/rock blend to Who Stage
Nashville band *repeat repeat brought its infectiously fun blend of garage rock and ‘60s pop to Bonnaroo’s Who Stage late Sunday afternoon.
The band is fronted by Jared and Kristyn Corder, a married couple who describes the band as a family business. Jared performs lead vocals, while Kristyn serves as a sweet, melodic harmony singer.
Both brought an undeniable energy to the Stage and had the crowd shouting and shaking in minutes.
“I know it’s Sunday, but we’re ready to squeeze every last drop of energy you have in you,” Jared said.
The band’s raw energy and jolting vocals created an aggressively rockin’ atmosphere. Throughout almost every song,
Jared kept the momentum going by headbanging, conducting rapid guitar riffs and leaping across the stage.
“I never thought I’d see this many (expletive) faces out here,” Jared shouted to the crowd.
There was also a playful nature that *repeat repeat instilled into its show. At one point, Jared wiped his sweat with a black cloth and repeatedly sang into his mic, “It’s a wipe-down break.” Later, he demanded a beer to sip from the audience, leading a few fans to raise their cups to Jared. He then leaped down off stage and took swigs of several beers.
In the latter portion of the show, the band introduced one of their most popular songs, “Everybody’s Falling In Love” by Jared explaining that the band’s first album, “Floral Canyon,” was all about love songs written when Jared and Kristyn were dating.
After their final song, Jared announced to the crowd, “(Kristyn) hates it when I do this in a show, but she worked really hard to get here.”
“I’m really proud of you,” Jared said to Kristyn before planting a kiss on her lips.
— Andrew Wigdor, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
Nashville’s Millsap gives soulful performance to kick off What Stage on fest’s final day
Nashville-based Parker Millsap, a versatile young guitarist and singer-songwriter, turned in a stellar performance with his band as the first post-thunderstorm act Sunday afternoon on the massive What Stage.
Originally from Oklahoma, Millsap’s soulful music touches a multitude of music genres, including rock, country, blues, Americana and folk. Songs such as “Morning Blues” tapped into the festival’s last-day nature of the crowd, with Millsap backing his vocals with harmonica and electric guitar.
With plenty of firepower remaining after a Saturday performance in Chicago on the “Live From Here” NPR radio show, Millsap and band played most of the songs from his critically acclaimed new album “Other Arrangements.”
Before ending his hour-long set with the title track “Other Arrangements,” Millsap sweetly dedicated his song “She,” to his girlfriend, Nashville’s Meg Morgan, who was part of the crowd pressed close to the stage as the bright sunlight dried the early morning rain.
— Megan Cole, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service.
Bazzi makes first festival appearance count
After the passing of the morning thunderstorm, American rising pop singer-songwriter Bazzi performed his first-ever festival at Bonnaroo’s that Tent Sunday afternoon.
Bazzi’s groovy beats and twinkling synths prompted the late-arriving audience to sway — and sometimes sing — along with songs from his first album, “Cosmic.” Displaying sharp, crisp vocals, he introduced each song by calling out its title and asking the onlookers if they were doing OK.
Fans waited patiently for him to perform his hit “Mine,” which came near the end of the show. He was saving the best for last.
Ending the chorus of “Mine,” Bazzi asked if he could perform it in a cappella with the crowd. He then jumped down to the rails in the front row and onto a step to reach for his fans.
They dutifully sang along with him, remarkably on-key.
— Victoria Leuang, MTSU Seigenthaler News Service
For more Bonnaroo coverage, visit here.
