For many years now I’ve had the idea that Grizzly Bear would absolutely kill at Bonnaroo. It’s a slight compromise in venue setting for what has to be one of the most receptive crowds they could ever see. It’s a grouping of tens of thousands of people who are into melodic, earthy music that has the power to elevate. Well, that’s Grizzly Bear to a tee. And you know what? I was absolutely right. Aside from being about 20 degrees too hot to ideally watch Grizzly Bear, the set and its audience reception could not have gone over better.

After a few minutes of waiting around for the show to start, we were treated to pitch-perfect renditions of some of the best songs of the decade. Ordinarily it’s not that out of the ordinary for bands to sound close to how they do on record, but Grizzly Bear really go to great lengths to recreate the layered sound of Veckatimest. It was the first show I’d seen since their new album landed them in the top 10 and they’ve only gotten smarter about their strengths as a band. Their sets these days are 100% fantastic material performed at the expert level.

But the real great news here is that Grizzly Bear have not fallen into an easy trap. As a now-experienced band full of well-trained, gifted musicians, it would be all too easy for them to get focused on how the music sounds, rather than what they’re putting into it. Ask anyone who’s ever dabbled in punk rock, sometimes you’re willing to trade just a little bit of precision for a load of passion. But instead of coming across as a group of jazz camp attendees (which at least one of them is), the members of Grizzly Bear craft shows with staggering technical ability and a passionate connection to what they’re playing. You can’t watch Ed Droste sing and tell me he’s not absolutely living in that song. On stage, he looks as if his entire world consists of whatever three-minute song is exploding from him. It’s beautiful and it’s inspiring and I hope they never stop.

More photos after the jump…