The Nonesuch artist invasion of Bonnaroo, the big four-day music and arts festival in Manchester, Tennessee, began last night with an opening-night performance by The Low Anthem, which performs again this afternoon. Also performing today are Toumani Diabaté with Béla Fleck at The Other Tent's all-day program of African music, culminating in an evening set by Amadou & Mariam. David Byrne closes out the day's performances on the Which Stage and leads the first-ever artist-curated stage. On Saturday, Allen Toussaint plays two stages; Sara Watkins plays with Fiction Family; and Wilco, one of SPIN's "must-hear" acts there, plays a two-hour set on the What Stage.
The Nonesuch artist invasion of Bonnaroo, the big four-day music and arts festival in Manchester, Tennessee, began last night when, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports, even with "powerful thunderstorms drenching the grounds, the music played on into the early morning and the fans stuck it out with the bands."
First arrivals among the Nonesuch roster was The Low Anthem, which performed on the That Tent stage on the festival's rainy first night. The band performs again this afternoon on the intimate Sonic Stage, where Toumani Diabaté and Béla Fleck perform this evening. Earlier in the afternoon, Diabaté and Fleck perform in The Other Tent for its all-day program of African music, which culminates in an evening set by Amadou & Mariam. David Byrne closes out the day's performances on the Which Stage with a set from his Songs of David Byrne & Brian Eno tour.
Earlier this week, the audience at Byrne's Opening Night Celebrate Brooklyn! performance in Brooklyn's Prospect Park set record attendance numbers for New York's longest-running outdoor concert series. And his participation in the Bonnaroo festival continues with its first-ever artist-curated stage. In addition to his own Friday-night performance, Byrne hosts his recent collaborators Santigold and the Dirty Projectors, singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco, former Polyphonic Spree member St. Vincent, and the all-female Norwegian alt/folk band Katzenjammer in their performances at the festival this weekend.
On Saturday, Allen Toussaint plays an early afternoon set in the That Tent and another on the Sonic Stage later in the afternoon. Sara Watkins joins her brother Sean and his new band mate, Jon Foreman, for a Fiction Family set in the Troo Music Lounge.
And at 6 PM, Wilco takes the What Stage for a two-hour penultimate set leading to the night closer there by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. SPIN magazine picks Wilco as a Bonnaroo "must-hear act," explaining: "With their June release, Wilco (The Album), these Midwesterners have crafted their best record yet by balancing the studio wizardry of their 2002 classic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with the stripped down sound of 2007's Sky Blue Sky. That, and guitarist Nels Cline's playing is entertaining in itself."
Check out bonnaroo.com for all the latest news and updates on the weekend's events. For additional tour information on these and other Nonesuch artists, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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