81 Monday, June 20, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Bonnaroo's diverse music leaves reality behind Ten enc( A wo eter of Arts Fes ture pro inspired informa tures of names c past, sp write qu sical top Perha quote on the absei Withi the soun up with glance u oversize over an i ground1 Tenn.'s1 80,0001 The att most ec musical in the w styles fr hip-hop1 to dance other ab jured up nessee's festival Not enough? Take in a movie fol- lowed by a Q&A session with the ompasses genres likes of Zach Braff, Aziz Ansari or Kareem Abdul Jabar. Prefer to be By DAVID RIVA bombarded with jokes that induce Daily Arts Writer side-splitting laughter? Easy solu- tion: Socks are regularly knocked oden fence lines the perim- off by comedians whose influences the Bonnaroo Music and range from politics to marijuana. stival. The plywood struc- And for the more adventurous at vides amateur artists and heart, a giant water slide constantly attendees alike with an awaits spontaneous belly flops and I canvas to paint carica- swan dives. festival headliners, display No, this is not reality. This is of performers from years Bonnaroo. ray generic graffiti and But behind all the glitter and otes ranging from nonsen- gloss that most experience at the rofound. festival is an intensely well-planned ps the most noteworthy event that has evolved into a pre- the wall reads "Reality is miere destination for live enter- nce of Bonnaroo." tainment. Over the past ten years, n earshot of this spotcomes the organizers of Bonnaroo have ad of techno beats mashed worked out all the kinks and turned lines from "Star Wars." A a jam-band dust bowl into an oasis p to the source reveals an of art to satisfy anyone's pallet. d cuckoo clock towering One of the festival's keys to suc- unfathomably large camp- cess is the attention to detail that that balloons Manchester, can turn an exhausting or frus- population from 8,000 to trating day into an undeniably for four days each June. enjoyable one. For example, a new raction? How about the mechanism for audience arrange- lectic conglomeration of ment that brings in a fresh group acts assembled anywhere of people at the beginning of each orld running the gamut of main-stage set allows attendees to om classic to modern rock, camp out for artists without having to electronic, to-fi surf pop to get dangerously sandwiched and metal and practically any sweaty in the process. 'surdly named genre con- Similarly nice touches car- by the blogosphere? ried over from years prior include eloquently framed band names on giant poster boards displayed onstage during shows - which come in handy in the instance of a lost schedule or confusion with stage names - as well as something as simple as the sandy ground under the performance tents that lends itself well to burrowing feet and tired toes. All of these minor touches com- bine with the aforementioned, more obvious draws to create aone-of-a- kind atmosphere. Musicians and festivalgoers equally contribute to this conta- gious dispensation of good-natured feelings. Slug, of the hip-hop group Atmo- sphere, described why this is so important. "There's a vibe at festivals - but especially at one like this - that's real communal," he said at a press conference last Friday. "To be able to see a bunch of people who don't know each other from Adam come together and enjoy what we do - to see them get on the same page with their hands in the air or using their voice together - you know, this is as close to church as a lot of us are goingto get." Although hip hop acts are a newer addition to Bonnaroo's rock- based roots, Atmosphere was not the only group throwing down beats and rapping vocals. Lil' Wayne and Eminem head- 4 4 The fence outside Bonnaroo 2011 is covere lined Friday and Saturday night, respectively, and the industry giants provided a contrast of why people both hate and love live hip- hop music. Weezy's set - regardless of technical difficulties outside of his control - was unremarkable with a lack of cohesion from the few instruments onstage and a heavy dose of prepackaged samples. On the other hand, Detroit's own Slim Shady created a stunning stage show both visually and soni- cally, belting out hit after hit from a back catalogue that has rarely been performed live in the past several years. A surprisingly complete band produced a consistently tight sound and was supplemented by scenes from Eminem music videos and other images made specifically for e7 yoga /i Oo 5 215 S. State St. 2nd Floor Ann Arbor 734-604-0741 facebook.com/RussaYogAA youtube.com/user/russayogi www.rUSSayO g .com d with the artwork of festivalgoers. the show, bringing the songs that so many know so well to life. And to top it all off, Marshall added unbri- dled energy into the entire set. "I think the reason Bonnaroo is so open-minded to (hip hop) is because it started as a jam band fes- tival," said Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule, The Allman Brothers Band and The Dead at the press confer- ence. "When the jam band move- ment started, my only complaint was, it needs to be more open-mind- ed." "It needs to include other genres (like) bluegrass, jazz, blues, hip hop, reggae, whatever, because the only thingyou need to be a jam band is to improvise and have a mindset that goes along with this," he added. Needless to say, the festival had its fair share of guitar-driven acts as well with mind-blowingsets from My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire and The Black Keys. In usual Bonnaroo form, the lineup paid tribute to the past with singers like Wanda Jackson and Mavis Staples being booked this year. The two legends used their songs as a backdrop to tell their life stories, fillingin the gaps between music with anecdotes about personal experiences rang- ing from Elvis Presley and Martin Luther King Jr. to Jack White and Jeff Tweedy. After four days of a diverse sonic landscape, intellectual 6 stimulation, comedic relief and water works, festivalgoers were forced to enter back into reality. Although the grounds are left dor- mant, the abstract, yet intoxicat- ing concept of Bonnaroo, remains as a tiny reverie in the back of 0 peoples' heads, collectively count- ing down the days until a field in Tennessee erupts with creativ- ity and positive energy once again next year.