I saw a lot of incredible bands at Bonnaroo, however, I’d seen most of them before. Without a doubt, the best band I saw for the first time was the Scissor Sisters. When you’re seeing band after band of guitar rock groups, it’s an insanely great change of pace to see two lead singers like [...]

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I got asked one of the dumbest questions you can be asked at a festival: “How were the Black Keys?” They were the Black Keys, fool! These guys are one of the strongest, most consistent bands making music today. Their albums are A+ material and their live show is so strong that we need to [...]

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Whoa, buddy. I knew Mumford & Sons were popular, but this was probably the closest I’ve ever been to seeing a Justin Bieber/NSYNC/Beatles moment of fangirl ecstasy from an audience. I’m not trying to say that their entire crowd was very excited female fans, but that was 90% of the front row. As for the [...]

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Of all the incredible things about Man Man’s show, this is the most unbelievable: there are no diminishing results. I’ve seen them many, many times over the years and each show has been fantastic. Sure, some are better than others (the ’09 Halloween show was a favorite) but they’ve all been well above what you [...]

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It was a cruel joke of the Bonnaroo staffers to pit the two “Man” bands — Portugal. The Man and Man Man — against one another. Both bands are near to my heart, but given that I’ve seen Man Man nearly a dozen times, I had to spend most of my time with Portugal. Hard [...]

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MP3: Portugal the Man – I’d Rather Go Blind (live Etta James cover) All told, I caught about 1/2 of Portugal the Man’s set at Bonnaroo. Unfortunately this great cover wasn’t included in what I saw. Coincidentally, I missed a large chunk of their set to catch Man Man — another group who have covered [...]

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I can’t speak highly enough of Bonnaroo’s comedy tent. It’s a great opportunity and, what’s more, it’s hilarious. Another huge hit in this trip to the tent as well.

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About dinner time on Saturday I caught wind that Deer Tick would be doing a surprise show. Even better than that, they’d be doing one of their Nirvana covers sets — during which they are known as “Deervana.” It went down at 1:30 on the smallest stage at Bonnaroo and was a complete smash hit. [...]

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This review is going to be one of those unfortunate instances wherein the show was incredible — but you wouldn’t know it from my photos. I’d heard a lot about Ratatat’s shows, so I knew a bit of what to expect, and it was as incredible as I’d been led to believe. Even tired, sober [...]

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