Saturday night at Bonnaroo offered one of the most-diverse and
highly-anticipated late nights in the history of the festival. The
Flaming Lips had arrived the prior evening and band members and crew
worked together through the dawn to install a metallic spaceship prop
which descended from the top of the stage at the outset of their set as
the group emerged (with vocalist Wayne Coyne encased in his signature
ball). The Lips then performed for well over two hours on the Which
Stage, joined by numerous festivalgoers dressed either as cheerleaders
or Santas.
Meanwhile, Gov’t Mule performed two sets over at This Tent which
featured multiple guest slots from the festival’s artists. Their
performance opened with Michael Franti joining in on a cover of "Play
With Fire." Next up, Bob Weir (who appaered with RatDog the following
day) contributed vocals to "Sugaree" and "Loser." Comic Lewis Black
joined next, stepping out during a “Johnny Bratton Jam.” The set then
charged to a close with am appearance from Led Zeppelin’s John Paul
Jones on bass and later keyboards for bit of “Moby Dick,” and then
rousing versions of “Livin' Lovin' Maid,” and “No Quarter.” The Second
set opened with Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady up with the Mule for
“Come Back Baby” “Death Don't Have No Mercy” and it closed out with
Luther Dickenson on guitar for “That's What Love Will Make You Do” and
“32-20 Blues.” Also of note was the “War Pigs” encore which marked the
song’s second appearance of the evening as the Flaming Lips had
soundchecked the tune with a full-on light show an hour before their to
the frenzied cheers of a few thousand fans (many of whom thought Lips
had opted to begin their since earlier The Police had closed out things
a bit earlier than anticipated on the What Stage).
Over at That Tent, Galactic put on an extravaganza in its own
right, with a range of MCs participating. Chali 2na, Lyrics Born, Gift
of Gab, Mr. Lif and Boots Riley joined in for a performance that
previewed the group’s From The Corner To The Block
release (which is set to hit on August 21). The group encored with a
version of “Kashmir” that drew together all of the rappers who appeared
over the course of the evening.
Meanwhile, over At Somethin’ Else the jazz venue (it would be
an injustice to call this a tent as it was effectively a small club),
Scott Amendola Band started the late night action with his band that
featured Wilco guitarist Nels Cline. The Philadelphia Experiment
followed and at one point Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, Christian McBride
and Uri Caine were joined by actress Gina Gershon on jews harp.
Finally the Other Tent saw Girl Talk (Gregg Gills) perform to
an enthusiastic auidence, that saw him strip to his boxers and crowd
surf at the close of his set. Finally, Sasha & John Digweed were on
hand to spin well past their scheduled 3:30 conclusion, as music
pulsated from the Tent well after sunrise.
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