Daily Smoke Rings, Huge Bobbleheads, 5 Stages, and "a really good time" ...Bonnaroo is on the Horizon

Many of us may not know where the hell the word, "Bonnaroo," came from. A man who appeared in the great "The Last Waltz" as well as put out 38 live and studio albums also identified the cajun slang word meaning "a really good time," bonnaroo, in his 1974 album Desitively Bonnaroo. The festival is just that, a really good time. During this good time, you are exposed to many different cultures, lifestyles and artforms. The main attraction, however, is the music. And the world's wide array of musical styles, techniques and genres are exemplified at the 700 acre farm resting in the foothills of Manchester, Tennessee. This post is the first of many that will highlight, preview and critique the bands we feel will shake the stages and tents for all in attendance. Below are previews of two bands, MGMT and Gov't Mule, one of which I've seen twice and one of which I have not personally seen but am an avid listener.



-Electronica's Wild Child...MGMT-



MGMT returns, for their second consecutive year, to Manchester. Talking with these guys after their show at the Bad Earl in Atlanta (January ’07) proved two things: These are down to earth cool ass guys and they are about to blow up the music industry. Frontmen, Ben Goldwasser (Sporting jorts above) and Andrew VanWyngarden (Carrying Ben above) obviously couldn’t have agreed more when they combined brainwaves to knock out Oracular Spectacular which was released in January 08. After the Atlanta show and their performance last Bonnaroo, I know these guys can rock (the "catbox"). Anxiously waiting for their hits, “Time To Pretend,” “Kids,” and “Electric Feel,” to pierce the night air, their less known jams (“Of Moons Birds & Monsters” and “The Handshake”) will rock the hell out of whatever tent they’ll be in. The scariest part, a new album is expected to be released this summer which could open the doors to a whole new hallway in the electronica/dance/”healing”/”easy listening”/jam genre they have so eloquently created, defined and redefined.



-The Les Paul, Allman Bros, and Skynyrd's First Born Son-




















While Bonnaroo is a Music and Arts festival and contains new age music, art galleries, and exhibits, it does, however, include older more seasoned acts in it’s concoction. Matt Abts, Warren Haynes and Allen Woody bob and weaved their way through the formation of NAFTA, Kurt Cobain’s untimely death, the 25th Anniversary of Woodstock, and the other unforsaken events in 1994 to form Gov’t Mule. 14 years and 13 albums later, the Mule has proved they are seasoned and ready to rock. This is a southern rock and blues cocktail, shaken (not stirred) and poured into a jam band highball. “Soulshine” and “Banks of the Deep End” rocked my house on Maxwell during THE summer and sure as hell will rattle the earthworms stuck under the towel of two hippies passed out on the lawn at the What Stage. If Warren Haynes truly loves Bonnaroo and all that is holy, he will add Cortez the Killer, which absolutely kills the live scene, to the (most likely) Saturday evening set list.

Stay tuned for more previews brought to you by the righteous music critics here at YourDalyFix.com.