Bonnaroo is one of the few music festivals that dare to represent the multiple facets of music today. After three years, it has already made a mark on the large concert circuit. Designed to be a festival that brings together premier live performances from across traditional genre boundaries, Bonnaroo is aimed deftly at the college music crowd. The artists on the bill cover everyone from Ani Difranco to Galactic to The Dead and the X-Ecutioners, rounded off with the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. A small portion of the show was released to the majority of the public (those not fortunate enough to actually be there) in the form of a 2 disc CD set on April 5th. While not very comprehensive, it does offer a nice look at some of the performance highlights (with great audio recording!).
A much nicer companion to the concert arrives May 17th in the form of the Live From Bonnaroo 2004 double DVD set. Coming in at around 4 solid hours, this collection adequately captures the festival’s eclectic and peppy nature by showcasing 30 of the featured artist’s performances with fine cinematography and nice interspersed footage of musicians canoodling behind the scenes.
There’s a definite hipster appeal with this collection. Conveniently broken up into hour long chunks, the Bonnaroo DVD set not only provides enough musical entertainment for a few weekend nights, but also has enough content for the scrutinous collector. If you’re perplexed or intimidated by the number of artists, there is also comprehensive information on each of the bands.
As with any collection this size, there are a few performances that will illicit some boredom after initial listens. Fortunately there’s enough content to make the purchase worth it (Amazon: 26.99!), especially considering the addition of Dolby 5.1 sound and a small handful of extras.
If the collections are any indication, I might be looking into booking a ticket to
2005’s Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, TN, June 10 - 12.
DVD Chapter Listing:
Disc One:
1. Burning Spear - Postman
2. My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday
3. Los Lonely Boys - Cottonfields and Crossroads
4. Gillian Welch - Caleb Meyer
5. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Ska Me Crazy
6. Praxis - Praxis One
7. Dave Matthews & Friends - Trouble
8. The Black Keys - Hard Row
9. X-Ecutioners - Symphony for 6 Turntables
10. Steve Winwood - Dear Mr. Fantasy
11. Gov't Mule - Blind Man in the Dark
12. Damien Rice - Volcano
13. Primus - My Friend Fats
14. moe. - Rebubula
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