Into The 'Roo: Kings of Tennessee

posted in: Features

While it may have seen like a no-brainer to fans, Kings of Leon appearance as a main stage headliner at this year’s Bonnaroo fest was a long time coming. Back in 2004, the little known band from Tennessee performed at the fest for the first time, returning again in 2007 to perform on the Which Stage.

The Kings have come a long way, and have no qualms acknowledging all those who’ve helped them along they way. During their Friday night performance they brought out their producer and songwriting partner, Angelo Petraglia, to help debut some new material. The band mentioned how they retired the song Holy Roller Novocaineafter playing it at their initial Bonnaroo performance because they felt they had completely nailed it.

In addition to the new material, the Kings played all their usual hits as well as a spooky and resounding cover of the Pixies’ Where Is My Mind. Fuse TV will be broadcasting the entire set on June 17, 2010 at 7 pm EST.

Directly following Kings of Leon on Friday was The Flaming Lips who performed Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon at the Which Stage. Their first set, comprised of The Lips originals, was energetic and visually stunning, and ended with an inspiring if not clichéd Do You Realize? The Pink Floyd covers however, while dazzling, fell short. Apparently the slowly thinning crowd agreed as they, presumably, headed over to watch The Black Keys perform material off their new album Brothers.

Michael Franti

Throughout the festival, the Which Stage was a happening place. The National and Michael Franti and Spearhead both performed to huge crowds, with Matt Berninger of The National launching himself into said crowd multiple times, on Friday. Michael Franti, described by another festival goer as the “happiest man on Earth,” lived up to this description with light-hearted rock/reggae/hip-hop sounds.

And Friday didn’t just set the stage for hot performances. The weather was also HOT. With the mercury topping out at 95 degrees, the blazing Tennessee sun and humidity made for sweltering festival conditions. Water bottles and afternoon siestas became necessary means for survival throughout the weekend, which proved to only get more intense”both temperature and music wise.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the rest of the Bonnaroo weekend, including photos of Mumford and Sons, Zac Brown Band and more.