That feeling that the world is, indeed, a small place, and we are all joined by some invisible connection, came into focused play on Saturday. For the second night in a row, the headliner appeared humbled by the occasion and the stature of the Bonnaroo Festival and delivered a career-defining performance which emphasized intensity, tight playing, and occasional improvisational elements. Alright, maybe guitarist Mike McCready playing his “Even Flow” solo behind his head may have been a bit studied, but it sure looked like he was having a good ole jam moment.

The international flavors on the Bonnaroo menu continued to expand. One minute, you’ve got an acoustic quartet playing a soft bluegrass piece with English lyrics, and the next, the foursome is waltzing through a wonderful Eastern landscape with Chinese lyrics. Abigal Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck played an exquisite performance at This Tent, one of those legendary Bonnaroo sets that initially appeared to be off the radar, but offered some of the most transcendent playing of the festival. In short, their set was a unique glance at ethereal Americana, and a nice bookend to a later set at the Other Tent featuring Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road, itself featuring guitarist Larry Campbell who pulled double duty during the day as he also closed the Which Stage with Phil Lesh & Friends, carrying the original jamband Bonnaroo trademarked torch.

Although the soul of the world is mysterious and hard to define, we have music to use as an oddly appropriate philosophical compass. As the day began, this language was spoken by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and there is nothing like hearing a sweet brass section early in the afternoon to welcome the day’s events. From there, Ozomatli offered Latino hip-hop on the Main Stage with occasional political snarls sent in the direction of the White House due to a lack of commitment to New Orleans, before tearing into a version of “Magnolia Soul,”…Gogol Bordello dispensed their cantankerous gypsy spirit…Cat Power added a little Memphis soul… Donavon Frankenreiter, prefaced another famous surfer and exalted cultural figurehead, Jack Johnson, with a mellow acoustic mood on the Sonic Stage…Mastodon pushed volume 11 to a new dimension…Zappa Plays Zappa defied chord changes and time signatures, shooting through alternate realities in “City of Tiny Lights”…B.B. King eased into a relaxed pure blues late afternoon 90-minute set, having not lost his touch or ability to rein in an attentive audience…Jack Johnson brought out Vedder on acoustic guitar and co-conspiratorial howlings on the beautiful “Constellations”—which also was a mere prelude to a luminous full moon sky during Pearl Jam’s set, and, strangely, somehow linked to Dweezil Zappa covering his father Frank’s consummate catalogue with an extraordinary group of musicians, with a version of “City of Tiny Lights”—that wondrous universe which is created when one…well…one squints and imagines a parallel dimension as only Zappa could…Much later, Sigur Ros created its own lexicon during a mesmerizing late night set.