Bonnaroo 2014. It was halfway through Jack White’s thrashing rock and roll set, @808Dave, @JoleneMannina and I knew it would be tough but we had to leave to make sure we were on time for the Superjam ft. Skrillex & Friends! So off we went, leaving our nearly front row spot for a chance to see something amazing happen. As we ran through the farm we finally arrived at The Other Tent with time to spare, or so we thought! Thanks to a fellow Bonnaroovian, he informed us that a push notification announced a switch in for Frank Ocean with the Superjam so off to This Tent we marched. Finally we really had made it! Thanks to some friends we had been tipped off to the remaining unannounced special guests and just knew this was going to be one of the most incredible performances we’d ever witness. And as people who weren’t there soon after found out, it was just that, an epic performance from incredible musicians. Just click play below to see the Danny Clinch directed documentary showing the preparation leading up to this unreal late night evening of music which started out with the “house band” of Skrillex and Big Gigantic with Thundercat on bass, Mike Einziger of Incubus on guitar and Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee on keys. From there it was on with the special guests as Fatman Scoop hyped the crowd on a couple of tracks, Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead sat in for a few, Craig Robinson and Mystikal (yes, really), followed by the ladies of Warpaint, the incredible Janelle Monae, A$AP Ferg, Zedd on drums, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Matthew Shultz of Cage The Elephant, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and then a four song encore with Ms. Lauryn Hill. It was simply incredible and something I was in awe of. Hands down one of the coolest performances I had ever been witness to. To this day that memory on the farm stands out. If anything it set a new bar for where Superjam’s of the future need to go. Sonny Moore, Paul Peck and the Bonnaroo Crew, bravo and I can’t wait to see what awaits at Bonnaroo 2015 in June! SET LIST and WORDS.
NEW MUSIC: D’Angelo – Black Messiah
15 DecAnd on December 15 music lovers freaked out in the best way possible as D’Angelo released his first new album in nearly 15 years when he dropped Black Messiah. The album is up on Spotify (see below) and click HERE to read a post from NPR Music and one HERE from Pitchfork.
On a personal level, it well into the night between June 9 and 10, 2012 we were deep in the middle of nowhere Tennessee (Manchester to be exact) at Bonnaroo inside This Tent for ?uestlove’s Superjam when we heard one of the most amazing and yet familiar voices on vocals. It was in fact the voice of D’Angelo, gracing the stage for the first time in 12 years. At that moment my friends and I looked at each other in amazement and were captivated by the R&B crooner. I didn’t think it could get better. Today it has. Welcome back, D’Angelo!
Do You Hear The Music? 