Bonnaroo Recap Part 3: Saturday June 12, 2010
Jay-Z at Bonnaroo 2010 - Photo by Shantel Mitchell
Saturday of Bonnaroo brought us more amazing music than we could ever have hoped. We’ll get straight to the point with this post, and describe some of our favorite moments of the day.
Beitcher’s Highlights: Saturday was probably my favorite day of the festival. From beginning to end, the day was jam packed with amazing acts such as The Melvins, The Dead Weather, Stevie Wonder, Thievery Corporation, Jay-Z, Weezer and, of course, Deadmau5 (just to name a few.)
Weezer: I arrived at Weezer’s set just in time to get a great spot, and everything about their performance completely blew me away. Front man Rivers Cuomo acted as the band’s hype man throughout the show, performing with such exuberance that by the end of the show, I was truely shocked that he managed to aviod fainting from heat exhaustion. On stage, Weezer moved through their discography with an ease that only comes from being true veterans. The crowd loved every minute of it, never hesitating to raise their “flying Ws” with pride. After the set, Weezer returened to the stage for several encores, including a cover of MGMT’s “Kids” and Rivers Cuomo in a blonde wig singing “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga. I was excited to see Weezer even before the show because I’ve been a fan ever since my childhood, and their show was really everything I hoped it could be and more.
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Deadmau5: What else would you expect? Of course Deadmau5 was one of my highlights, in fact, his was the show I was most excited to see. It should come as no surprise that thousands of people were gathered at the tent to see his late night set hours before he came on, in some cases missing out on other great acts such as Jay-Z and Thievery Corporation, whose sets ended prior to Deadmau5′s entrance. While I wasn’t willing to miss any of those shows, I still manged to secure a decent spot in the massive crowd. His new light setup took a while to get online and by the time he finally came out, the crowd was starting to get restless in anticipation. All that build-up energy exploded as soon as his set began and didn’t stop until it was all over. His new DJ booth and Mau5head are illumanted with thousands of LED lights, allowing him to make faces, talk and smile while performing. As for the rest of his lightshow…well, I’ll just let this video give you the idea.
Faxing Berlin (Grifta Dubstep Remix) – Deadmau5
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Claire’s Highlight: There was one act that took me by surprise, and that was Jay-Z. I’d seen him once before, at Live 8 in Philadelphia. That performance was your standard huge venue rap show. Jay-Z at Bonnaroo, however, was a whole different story. Waiting for Jay to take the stage, the crowd was buzzing with excitement; it seemed like everyone at the festival was there. There was a countdown projected onto the stage, and the second it hit 0:00, the audience lost it. From then on, everyone was hooked onto Jay-Z’s every word. And it was for good reason, as he turned out a set full of favorites from all points of his career. He made sure to acknowledge the crowd, saying that he didn’t something like this for granted. At one point, he even invited a girl from the front row onto the stage so that the audience could sing happy birthday to her. That kind of spirit is what made his show so much fun. Everyone was clearly enjoying themselves as they danced along to Jay’s classic beats. Overall, it was quite a pleasant surprise.
Dirt Off Your Shoulder – Danger Mouse
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