On Tuesday (February 9), the crown jewel of the festival season announced its full lineup. Over a period of nine hours, the Bonnaroo MySpace page slowly rolled out the complete list of bands appearing at this year's festival, which will be held in the usual space in Manchester, Tennessee on June 10-13.
Dave Matthews Band, Jay-Z, Kings of Leon, the Flaming Lips, Stevie Wonder and Weezer are among the headliners at the 2010 version of the festival, and like any lineup, the reaction is going to be a mix of jubilation, surprise, rage and head-scratching. So we decided to break down the complete list of acts (over 100 in all) and decide who gets the thumbs up and who gets the thumbs down.
Thumbs Up
Dave Matthews Band
It feels like the end of a great victory lap for the Dave Matthews Band, who came from the primordial ooze of the spirit of the early Bonnaroos, which focused on the jammier side of rock. Having released a chart-topping album (Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King) that was subsequently nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy, the DMB performance should have a phenomenally feel-good vibe.
Stevie Wonder
Stevie is a legend, and he still manages to crank out incredible live shows. His brand of funk doesn't necessarily sound like anything else at this year's Bonnaroo, so while you get one of the all-time greats, you also get a nice change of pace.
Kings of Leon
It's very possible they could be playing in front of the largest crowd they've ever seen, which is fitting for a group of dudes who came from Tennessee and went on to conquer the universe via the power of their last album. The 80,000 lighters that will go up in the air during "Use Somebody" should provide one of the better visual moments of the weekend.
Jimmy Cliff
Like Wonder, catching Jimmy Cliff live gives you an opportunity to see a real icon making his way through some of reggae's signature tunes. While a lot of modern reggae is happy to settle into casual territory, Cliff's brand is easy-going when it needs to be but also deeply melodic and tough-minded.
Thumbs Down
Weezer
As great a live act as they've become, there's something about Weezer that just doesn't fit at this year's Bonnaroo. Plus, in the summer heat, those Wuggies are going to be really uncomfortable.
The Flaming Lips
Normally, the Flaming Lips' presence on any given bill is cause for celebration, as their brand of jubilant psych rock and sense of spectacle makes for a wonderful communal experience. But they've announced that they'll be performing their Dark Side of the Moon (just as they did on New Year's), which means that it'll deprive us of the excellent songs from their tremendous 2009 album Embryonic. Their performance should be fine, but we'd rather see them do their own thing.
Tenacious D
Jack Black and Kyle Gass are still funny, but it's hard to get excited about these songs again. When they performed at last year's Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco, their set was met mostly with confusion. Plus, who did they push out of an evening set for this slot?
Jay-Z
Again, Jigga is great, but we've seen him headline festivals before. Hip-hop is sort of the last frontier for Bonnaroo, so we applaud their outside-the-box thinking, but doesn't Jay's intricate street tales sound a little odd in the middle of a farm?
What bands are you most looking forward to at this year's Bonnaroo? What acts don't seem to fit? Leave your thoughts in the comments!