Bonnaroo Preview: The Top 5 Must-See Bands

Posted on Jun 10th 2009 1:30PM by Benjy Eisen
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An estimated 80,000 hippies are about to descend into Manchester, Tennessee for the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. (Didja hear? Phish is playing ... twice!) And with only one day left to pack the sunscreen and scrape together $5 for a bottle of water, we thought we'd make your scheduling life easier by naming our Top 5 Must-See acts. You can thank us later.

Passion Pit
Thursday is arrival day at Bonnaroo and while Charlie Allen officially kicks things off in the afternoon, look for Passion Pit to provide the true opening day fireworks. With their first full-length album 'Manners' firmly embedded in the iPods of hipster America, all eyes will be on the Pit to live up to the hype. We believe in them.

David Byrne
It's kind of ridiculous that we're putting David Byrne on a must-see list because some things in life are just givens. However, given the fact that he's up against the Beastie Boys, it might be easy to forget just how much of a must-see the former Talking Head still is.

Toubab Krewe
It's been a hot minute since Bonnaroo was a jamband festival, per-se, but then again, Toubab Krewe isn't exactly a jamband ... per-se (although the band does, in fact, jam). Remember the first time you heard Paul Simon's take on African beats and rhythms? You're going to feel the same way about Toubab Krewe's infectious Mali-inspired grooves. Think Africa by way of Asheville, NC.

MGMT
Alright, MGMT was one of the "must-see" bands at summer festivals last year but before you say "that's so 2008," think about this: MGMT return to Bonnaroo this year not as one of the afternoon introductory showcase bands but in the late-night melt-your-face slot. True, they haven't released a new album since last year's fest, but given that they'll be performing from 2:15 to 3:45 AM on Saturday night (err, Sunday morning), expect full-on late-night debauchery.

Phish
After a five-year break-up, when Phish fans seemed to crawl into the woodwork (and disperse to Disco Biscuits andWidespread Panic shows), the band is back with a vengeance, performing their best shows since the late '90s. Midway through their first real tour since reuniting earlier this year, Phish will be on top of their game and they better be: like it or not, Bonnaroo is Phish's festival. All four members have performed at the festival in various solo and side-projects, repeatedly, through the years, and what's more: Bonnaroo was actually inspired by Phish's own festivals. Look for the band to own it.