Rural Minority

A fairly thorough survival guide for all you ‘roo rookies. Start planning for the madness now–get your time off, your gear, and your tickets asap.

Another conformation for the 2010 ‘Roo Party – Flaming Lips will be there performing Dark Side of the Moon.

Lead singer Wayne Coyne, in a recent interview with Spinner Magazine, says “We’re gonna do [Darkside] at Bonnaroo at the midnight slot, the first night.”

Coyne adds that the band won’t just be playing covers. “”We do a Flaming Lips set then starting about 2:30 we do this ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ thing. In that sense, it’s perfect for that. It lets you play a little bit longer.”

Even though the Bonnaroo official unveiling is still a few days away, more and more of the lineup is coming out.

While Jay-Z, Dave Matthews Band and Kings of Leon are all widely expected, so are: Paul Simon, [newly-crowned] Grammy-award winning act Zac Brown Band and Bonnaroo vets My Morning Jacket.

Confirmations of these bands are now making their way around Bonnaroo circles and third-party web sites. If these quasi-confirmed additions are to believed, the 2010 ‘Roo party could be the biggest to date. And adding to the hype are the cancelations of Michigan’s Rothbury festival and Minnestoa’s 10,000 Lakes festival. More acts for us, eh?

Well, I hope none of you have any plans this upcoming Tuesday [Feb. 9th] – because the organizers of Bonnaroo have just made them for you. Starting in the morning, Bonnaroo officials will begin to release the lineup, one by one….

Headling rumors for this year’s festival include Jay-Z, Dave Matthews Band and Kings of Leon.

It seems the organizers of Bonnaroo want another week to solidify their lineup, at least if past years and rampant internet rumors are to be believed. Last year ‘Roo officials sent an email to subscribers saying the initial lineup annoucement would be made in slightly under a week’s time. Well, that time has come and gone for us – leading us here at TRM to believe we’ll be seeing a week delay.

Why they are postponing it is not exactly clear. It appears ‘Roo organizers were so sure that Feb. 2 would be the day that they actually confirmed the date to one web site. Now it appears likely that we’ll be getting the announcement on Feb. 9th. All festival goers should receive an email announcement from organizers next Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, but nothing is in stone. Time will tell…

Here was last year’s annoucement, issued on Wed, Jan. 28th:

“It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The time when you finally see if the rumors are true or if we have some tricks up our sleeve…

 Can’t wait for the Bonnaroo lineup? We’ll be making our initial artist announcement on Tuesday, February 3rd. Check out the Bonnaroo website and look for an email, we have lots of exciting updates coming soon!”

As far as rap acts go: 2008 was Kanye. 2009 was Snoop and Public Enemy. Now what? Well all indications point to Jay-Z as the next major rap act to hit The Farm. According to several outlets,  Jay-Z has signed on to be one of this year’s headliners, exciting news for any fan of hip-hop. As for which night and stage he’d play on, I’d have to think it’d be the big stage. Hova is simply too big for any other stage, in my opinion, even for a festival with jam band roots. I, for one, wi’ll be interested to see where he is placed, if the many rumor mill is to be believed.

Side note, if Jay does indeed play, there is a very good chance Kanye would join him on stage. Read about that possibility here: http://www.ruralminority.com/trm/2010/01/25/bonnaroo-2010-perfect-platform-for-kanye-west-return/

Multiple sources are now confirming that Dave Matthews BAND will be at Bonnaroo this year. The group just released their June summer dates and there is a giant hole from June 8th to the 15th. One would have to think that they’d play Sunday night as the closer, as jam bands have been the traditional closer at The Farm, but that has yet to be determined.

Jay-Z rumors went from luke-warm to boiling over the weekend for this year’s ‘Roo party, which opens the door for one thing: The Return of Rockafella protege Mr. West. Kanye, as we all remember, decided to delay his “Glow in the Sticks’ ‘Roo show til the sun was up a year and a half ago, enraging many in the audience at the same time. [Some of this was Pearl Jam's fault as the Seattle rockers ran late, but  they are only at minor fault as Kanye then reportedly had one of his ego trips that delayed the show further.] When he did hit the stage – at the ripe hour of 4:30 a.m. – people threw his glow sticks back at him and went on to spray paint ‘not-so nice-things’  after Kanye refused to even apolgize for the delay.

Back to present tense, having Jay-Z at The Farm this year would be the perfect venue for Kanye to return to the public eye. Following the Taylor Swift incident last year at the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye left the spotlight and has been rarely seen in the public eye. In short, he says he wants to be a better person and returning to the stage (under Jay-Zs watchful eye) would be a good way to do that.

In addition, the media loves stories such as this. Think of the headline: “Disgraced Rapper Makes Triumphant Return”. Time will tell if this comes to fruition, but I like the chances if Jay-Z hits The ‘Roo this summer.

Bonnaroo 2010

Now it is just another rumor…sorry guys.

Favorite Bonnaroo sets from the past two years:

2008:

Pearl Jam, Levon Helms, Swell Season, Lez Zeppelin, Widespread Panic, Aimee Mann, Robert Plant, and Metallica

2009:

Phish and the Boss were great, but my favorite acts were Public Enemy, (maybe my favorite set of all time) Rodrigo y Gabriella, Citizen Cope, Snoop Dogg, and NIN

In 2008 I was new and there were many acts I already loved whereas in 2009 I was surprised by new sounds everywhere I turned.  I’m hoping for more of the same this year—where I’ll seek out new sounds and maybe stumble across a few classics.  Considering the need for exploration and uncharted forests, it’s tough to decide on an ideal list of bands because the discovery is so much part of the experience.  So, in this case, I’ll try to expose others to some lesser known music that I’ve enjoyed over the past few years while indulging in some of my faves. Maybe Eminem will get my friend Adam to finally come.  Note:  I believe every Bonnaroo should open with Lez Zeppelin and close with Widespread Panic (and guests).

Thursday

Lez Zeppelin

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead

Blood Brothers

Friday

Razorlight

Grand Buffet

Black Crowes

Tenacious D

Guns and Roses

the RZA

Arcade Fire

Ween

Saturday

Old Crow Medicine Show

Johnny Lang

Marshall Tucker

Ray Lamontagne

Ricky Gervais

The Rolling Stones

Eminem (feat Dre and 50)

Ok Go

Sunday

Counting Crows

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Ryan Adams

R.E.M.

Death from Above 1979

Widespread Panic