Phishing for a Future: The Unusual Evolution of Bonnaroo
This weekend, Bonnaroo returns to its dwelling on the Farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Began in 2002, for nearly twenty years, the multiday tenting occasion has served as a pillar of competition tradition and, by extension, popular culture in the present day.
The competition is at the moment on observe to promote out, making 2019 one in all its most profitable iterations in years. Bonnaroo’s evolution has been much-discussed over the previous few summers, and usually the dialog has taken a adverse slant. After the traditionally low ticket gross sales of 2016 and lukewarm vital reception (like our personal resolution to say no protection in 2018) within the years following, the occasion is bouncing again.
In some ways, this yr’s lineup is a return to traditional type, with jam favorites Phish headlining for 3 units and a staging of the Grand Ole Opry kicking off the competition on Thursday evening. This, plus the inclusion of Americana acts like The Nationwide, The Avett Brothers, Kacey Musgraves, John Prine, The Lumineers, and Brandi Carlile, reveals a competition reflecting on its previous successes and reaping the rewards.
Nevertheless, that’s to not say that extra mainstream pop and hip-hop artists aren’t represented, as a result of they’re with heavy-hitters like Infantile Gambino, Publish Malone, Cardi B, Odesza, Solange, and BROCKHAMPTON equally topping the invoice. In distinction to the previous few lineups that leaned (arguably) too closely into newer acts, ‘Roo 2019 has struck a stability with an eclectic combine that embraces one of the best of each worlds.
A Return to Roots (Pun Supposed)
Seventeen years in the past, Bonnaroo was a starkly completely different occasion than it’s in the present day. When AC Leisure and Superfly first established the competition in 2002, it was extensively considered solely as a “jam band” competition. With traditional jam and roots acts like Widespread Panic, Phish’s Trey Anastasio, String Cheese Incident, the Grateful Useless’s Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, Gov’t Mule, Jack Johnson, and Béla Fleck heading the inaugural lineup, the affiliation was kind of inevitable.
The competition organizers continued to faucet high-profile jam acts, with The Allman Brothers Band, The Useless, and Dave Matthews serving as headliners from 2003 to 2005 alongside different bands from its first version. Nevertheless, these variations additionally noticed Bonnaroo starting to diversify with rock and funk legacy acts like Neil Younger & Loopy Horse, James Brown, Bob Dylan, and David Byrne, all of whom have main crossover enchantment throughout the jam band neighborhood.
Regardless of comparatively little recognition from exterior the style in these fledgling years, Bonnaroo flourished. Its first two installments bought out with out using any conventional advertising, the competition as a substitute incomes a grassroots following by way of the jam neighborhood. And whereas it’s fairly the feat, it’s actually not shocking. Jam band followers have all the time been generally known as probably the most devoted purveyors of reside music — identify one other style whose followers are identified for residing on tour to listen to the identical songs evening after evening.
Annabel Lukins — who put collectively the primary yr’s official CD sampler, ran the Sonic Stage for over a decade, and has continued to work with the competition as an artist liaison — elaborated: “Jam band followers had been rampant again within the day, and we had been all on the lookout for a spot to go. We want a spot to go see music, as a result of that’s what we do — we see music. Again then, Bonnaroo had all the massive names, so all of us used to go yearly. It was the primary huge competition of its form. It was like a pilgrimage.”
She provides, “There’s little doubt that jam bands helped strengthen the Bonnaroo neighborhood. Jam band followers are all about neighborhood, they usually introduced that sense of neighborhood to the competition.”
Bonnaroo in 2004, picture by Doug Mason
Nevertheless, Ashley Capps, founding father of AC Leisure, pushes again on the concept that Bonnaroo first got down to be a jam-oriented competition. He explains:
“From the very starting, the workforce was actually keen about music usually and all types of various music. All of us needed to create an incredible music competition, however we had been by no means targeted on a specific type of music competition. We began out with a jam band base, however I don’t assume any of us actually considered jam bands as a style. For us, it was an perspective towards making music. It was very broad and open, the place the bands had been very influenced by all several types of music: bluegrass, rock, blues, people, completely different sorts of worldwide music, jazz. There have been already so many various musical genres that so-called ‘jam bands’ had been drawing upon to create the music that they beloved.
In addition they had this actual spirit of efficiency. Every evening was completely different. That they had very music-loving fan bases, not simply of informal concertgoers, however individuals who had been deeply into the bands that they beloved. They had been actually tuned into the second and to the shifting nuances of how the music was carried out. All of these issues — the influences, the passionate followers, the performances — gave us so much to construct on from the very starting.”
Many of those options stay true for ‘Roo in the present day, albeit manifesting in several kinds. Slightly than artists who draw on a plethora of disparate influences throughout a person set, that very same variety is showcased by way of the big selection of genres provided throughout the competition’s 4 days. And whereas lots of the followers who attended the early years have gotten older and “grown up” within the final twenty years, juggling full-time jobs and households, the competition continues to enchantment to music-loving followers who brazenly reap the benefits of Bonnaroo’s full vary of musical choices.
It looks like no coincidence that the success of this yr’s competition is due, partly a minimum of, to Bonnaroo eschewing the extra customary modern lineups of latest years. As an alternative, the emphasis on diversified genres, together with these foundational to the competition since its earliest incarnations, has reaffirmed its identification as stalwarts of variety over mainstream recognition.
Gone Phishin’
These days, competition tradition is a mainstay of the tradition at massive. Influencers thrive at occasions like Coachella, going as far as to pretend attending to spice up followers and be “seen,” whereas manufacturers boast catalogs devoted to “competition” put on. As Lukins succinctly put it, “There’s one other competition taking place each weekend. They’re a dime a dozen.” Nevertheless, this was not all the time the case. Slightly, Bonnaroo cemented itself in historical past as being a forefather of the trendy festivals we all know in the present day.
Capps defined:
“It’s exhausting to recollect this now, however again when Bonnaroo launched, there have been only a few festivals in the US, particularly tenting festivals. Many of the huge rock festivals had been a catastrophe of some type or one other. Proper earlier than we began, you had Woodstock ’99 very recent in everyone’s reminiscence, which was only a horrifying expertise. There have been profitable bluegrass festivals everywhere in the nation — folks are likely to overlook about that — however they had been much more low key than your typical rock competition. There have been issues like New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Pageant, which has been superb for a protracted, very long time, however, for probably the most half, most individuals thought that festivals weren’t a good suggestion.”
With few fashions to attract on, Jazz Fest served as one of many templates for Bonnaroo to start with. The heads of Superfly, which was began in New Orleans after three of its 4 founders attended Tulane collectively, had seen firsthand the success of the historic occasion, which inevitably helped form their thought of what a competition might be. In actual fact, the identify “Bonnaroo” is a nod to New Orleans and its favourite son, the late and nice Dr. John, who handed away simply final week. Famous Lukins, “The connection to New Orleans runs deep. Exterior of among the founders discovering a house within the metropolis, ‘Bonnaroo’ means ‘good occasions’ in Creole, they usually acquired the identify from Dr. John and his mid-‘70s album Desitively Bonnaroo. Dr. John’s sound was actually synonymous with New Orleans, and in loads of methods, he was the soul of the competition.”
Nevertheless, whereas Jazz Fest helped formed the vibe of Bonnaroo from the beginning, it’s a far cry from what we consider most tenting music festivals in the present day. As an alternative, the Bonnaroo workforce additionally drew inspiration from this yr’s returning headliners, Phish, who had been efficiently internet hosting annual tenting festivals since 1996’s Clifford Ball. Along with proving the energy of jam band followers after they get behind an occasion, Phish’s hiatus in 2000 laid the groundwork to assist Bonnaroo come to fruition.
Traditionally, when a serious jam act disbands, it leaves loads of misplaced jam band followers within the wreckage. When Jerry Garcia died and the Grateful Useless broke up within the mid-‘90s, many Deadheads jumped over to Phish to proceed touring. Throughout Phish’s first break, which spanned from 2000 to 2002, once more, followers began looking for new summer season plans. To an extent, Bonnaroo’s first yr took benefit of this opening, tapping Phish frontman Trey Anastasio’s solo undertaking to headline the competition alongside different touring bands that Phish followers had migrated to, comparable to Grateful Useless spin-off Phil Lesh & Pals, String Cheese Incident, Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule, moe., the Disco Biscuits, and Umphrey’s McGee.
Apart from bringing collectively the newly topped heavy hitters of the jam band scene, the competition took cues from Phish’s pioneering presence on the Web. When the World Broad Internet was nonetheless in its fledgling incarnations, the Vermont quartet took full benefit of the medium, utilizing it to instantly talk with followers, construct fan communities, and help their touring. In flip, ‘Roo’s success in these first few years sans conventional advertising got here, partly, from continued buzz generated on-line.
Nevertheless, the hiatus additionally helped form Bonnaroo extra instantly on a deeper degree. Capps defined:
“By the point we truly acquired round to launching Bonnaroo, Phish was on hiatus, which enabled us to faucet into their workforce. The individuals who had helped Phish create their festivals grew to become the important thing leaders in serving to us launch Bonnaroo, not solely within the first yr however within the first a number of years. They gave us a base of experience that definitely was one of many key components to our success in that first yr — and I’m speaking about nuts-and-bolts, operational issues just like the logistics of setting a competition up on the dimensions of Bonnaroo.”
In fact, Phish’s affiliation with Bonnaroo extends exterior the time of their first hiatus. Whereas the members’ numerous facet initiatives have all the time discovered a house at Bonnaroo, this yr, the group returns to headline the competition for the third time. In 2009, the jam act debuted on the competition, making Bonnaroo one in all their first stops after getting back from a second hiatus began in 2004. The band adopted up their inaugural efficiency in 2012, after they served as headliners for the occasion’s most profitable yr thus far with a staggering 100,000 folks in attendance.
Progress Spurts
Whereas Bonnaroo has roots in jam band tradition, these preliminary 4 years actually solely served as one period of a competition that’s skilled near-constant evolution. In establishing itself as one of many biggest music festivals of its time — we named Bonnaroo the competition of the last decade in 2009 — for higher or worse, it needed to preserve pushing itself to develop and never relaxation on its laurels.
In 2006, the competition took a step ahead in difficult its jam band-heavy identification. Whereas Phil Lesh returned to spherical out the headliners, the highest two spots got to Radiohead and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty was an enormous seize for the occasion, however the late rocker kind of fell consistent with previous years’ traditional legacy acts. As an alternative, it was Radiohead who helped largely redefine public notion of the competition on this fifth yr.
Capps defined: “When Radiohead performed in 2006, to begin with, it was probably the most superb Radiohead performances ever. And I feel the band would agree with that. Definitely Thom [Yorke] mentioned so publicly. However, it was additionally an actual watershed second for the competition. We had been a bit of annoyed being typecast as a specific kind of competition. That yr felt prefer it was breaking open the idea of what Bonnaroo was all about due to what that band represented.”
Radiohead opened Bonnaroo as much as an entire new market, broadening its scope to enchantment to followers of more and more fashionable indie and alt-rock bands. The competition was getting into its golden period; annually, the occasion tapped more and more high-profile artists as headliners, additional solidifying its identification because the music competition of the summer season. The next yr, The Police’s sole North American competition look got here throughout Bonnaroo, they usually had been joined on the lineup by Instrument and The White Stripes. Then, 2008 boasted Pearl Jam, Metallica, and their first-ever hip-hop headliner, Kanye West, and 2009 featured Phish’s inaugural efficiency alongside Bruce Springsteen and 9 Inch Nails.
All through this era of progress, Bonnaroo managed to broaden its fan base whereas (typically) conserving its authentic followers blissful. Not solely had been jam and traditional rock acts all the time nicely represented throughout the invoice, however following Radiohead’s historic efficiency, the competition continued to faucet into the luxurious indie-rock market of the mid-2000s, providing sufficient of the style to attract these followers in, too.
Capps elaborated on the thought course of that guidelines the reserving workforce:
“The illustration of several types of music — from the Grand Ol’ Opry to Cardi B — has all the time outlined the breadth and depth of what we want Bonnaroo to be. There’s undoubtedly an artwork to creating certain that the stability is true. You possibly can’t isolate an artist and have them representing a style all by themselves. You need every little thing to have a context. It’s like weaving a tapestry with these different-colored threads. The presence of a specific strand must be sturdy sufficient, in any other case it gained’t be observed within the lineup. It’s a give-and-take course of that basically emerges after weeks and weeks of pondering what’s potential, what’s truly going to occur, and the way it can all work collectively.”
All through the following half-decade, this grew to become Bonnaroo’s modus operandi, and it paid off in spades. The competition thrived, rising its fame as a spot the place you may get a bit of little bit of every little thing. Throughout this time, a brand new wave of fashionable digital music equally blossomed, and the competition deftly included EDM into its material with out overly pandering to its followers. Take 2012, which is basically thought of Bonnaroo’s zenith, for instance. Certain, Skrillex was a top-billed act, however he was one amongst Phish, Radiohead, Pink Scorching Chili Peppers, The Seaside Boys, The Avett Brothers, The Shins, and Foster the Folks, the latter nonetheless driving excessive from their breakthrough pop hit “Pumped Up Kicks”.
Finally, Bonnaroo led the trendy resurgence of competition tradition. In some ways, the latest rise of music festivals within the 21st century mirrors Bonnaroo’s trajectory throughout its first 10 years. Although the workforce may not have had many profitable examples to attract from (in addition to these of the ‘60s counterculture and a handful of its predecessors), ‘Roo grew to become an exemplar for the wave of festivals that adopted in its wake. From the mid-aughts on, competition tradition started to seep into the favored tradition at massive, with its prevalence hitting a excessive be aware by the beginning of the second decade of the century.
Rising Pains
Carry on Keepin’ On
The success of this yr coincides with AC Leisure’s return to the lead position in reserving over the extra collaborative course of with Stay Nation up to now. However Capps is fast to emphasize that the acquisition wasn’t a significant component in inflicting the latest criticisms:
“When Stay Nation grew to become our associate on Bonnaroo, it was like every other relationship. You spend loads of time attending to know each other. It takes some time to grasp what makes one another tick, what their strengths are, how we are able to greatest and most successfully work collectively. I might say that early on there was perhaps a bit of little bit of too many cooks within the kitchen. Not in a adverse manner, however in that everybody’s excited, everyone’s attempting to benefit from a chance, and everyone’s attempting to get to know each other and make it possible for the competition continues to be as profitable because it has been traditionally. As we’ve gotten to know one another, everybody has settled into roles that capitalize on their strengths. The willpower was made that it’d be good for us to step into a number one position within the reserving, but it surely’s nonetheless very collaborative, very cooperative. We discuss to at least one one other, we get concepts, and travel. Finally, we’re all enjoying to one another’s strengths, and I feel the truth that the competition goes to promote out once more is a testomony to our success in in the end doing that.”
He continued:
“I don’t assume that ticket gross sales plunged — if you wish to name it that — due to Stay Nation by any stretch of the creativeness or as a result of there have been too many cooks within the kitchen. We’re on the mercy of artists who’re touring, what their schedule is like, whether or not they’re going to be within the nation at that specific time of yr. There are so many components that come into play at any given time. Any enterprise that’s twenty years outdated goes to have its ups and downs. It’s not all the time going to be at a sure degree. Perhaps there have been a bit of little bit of rising pains in there that had a bit of little bit of an impression on it, however for probably the most half, it’s actually exhausting to level and say, ‘That was the explanation gross sales had been a bit of bit lighter this yr.’ Finally, it’s all pushed by the lineup and what else is happening on the market in competition world and what’s distracting folks and so forth.”
In addressing latest modifications, Capps additionally emphasised the reserving continuity that may be seen from the manufacturing facet behind the scenes. The method for reserving headliners can occur years prematurely, with a few of its most lauded moments coming to fruition years after an artist was first approached. He elaborated, “Radiohead wasn’t one thing we instantly determined to do in 2006. We’d been speaking with them for a few years or extra earlier than that present truly got here to fruition. That’s the case with many artists. I feel we first approached Paul McCartney about enjoying the competition again in 2006 or 2007, and we thought he would possibly play it both later that yr or the following yr. It ended up being seven years later or one thing.”
And for his half, Capps is comparatively non-plussed about any criticisms that befall the occasion.
“I’m a bit of jaded about this I suppose as a result of folks have been telling us that we’ve been screwing up the competition since 2003 or 2004. In all equity, yearly, there are individuals who say that you simply’re ruining it, you already know? I chalk a specific amount of that as much as simply individuals are resistant to vary, and a few individuals are extra resistant to vary than others. Relying in your style, in fact, some years are extra thrilling than different years is perhaps.
I don’t assume anyone goes to love every little thing they see at Bonnaroo. That’s actually not the purpose. This is sort of a feast of lots, and also you don’t have to love every little thing on the desk to nonetheless have an incredible meal. Typically talking, the main target of Bonnaroo reserving is similar because it was in 2002, which is that we would like probably the most thrilling reside performers of our time enjoying our competition. That also is in the end the guideline. I feel we’ve acquired that this yr in spades, and I’m excited in regards to the dialog that we’ve for subsequent yr. So long as we keep targeted on that, I feel the competition will keep its vitality within the cultural panorama.”
Now, if this yr is any indication, Bonnaroo’s evolution continues. Coming into (hopefully) a fourth period, the competition has realized from the nice and unhealthy over the previous 17 years. Like the mixing of genres throughout its various golden years, the occasion has struck a stability weaving pop music into its material, whereas nonetheless leaving area for the plethora of different genres for which it’s identified.
So far as we are able to inform, Bonnaroo is again. Lengthy might it reign.