Georgia Does Bonnaroo 2013: The Peach State Invades Tennessee
With the eve of the 11th annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival only weeks away, I’d like to take the time to pay special attention to the bands that claim the Peach State home and will be playing at the four day festival located in Manchester, Tennessee. While not all of the artists currently live in Georgia, they each have a special connection with the state and its people – whether they were born and raised here or moved and settled down. Some of our best and brightest will be taking This Stage, That Stage, or The Other Stage in a few short weeks and we’re incredibly proud that they’ll be representing our home.
The 11th annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will be held on a 700-acre farm outside Manchester, Tennessee from June 13th to June 16th. General admission tickets are available for $269.50 + fees, however there are a number of VIP packages available too. Over 100 artists will take the stages that weekend – including headlining performances from Paul McCartney, Mumford & Sons, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and Bjork.
We’ll see you there.
TheBlueIndian.com’s “10 Artists to Watch at Bonnaroo 2013”
These sisters were featured as one of our “10 Artists to Watch at Bonnaroo 2013”, and for a good reason. When they’re not making appearances on Letterman, Brian Williams, and Conan, they’re either touring the States or relaxing in their hometown of Atlanta. Kathryn, Annika, Fiona, and Petra – von Grey respectively – released Live at Criminal Records 1.1.13 earlier this year and the album has been a topic of conversation from everyone from DayTrotter.com to Billboard. As mentioned in our previous Bonnaroo post, it’s worth noting that only half the is even old enough to drive. That should make McCartney feel old..
Royal Thunder – Photo by Christy Parry
To steal a term from o’brother‘s lexicon, Royal Thunder are all about “tone worship”. The Atlanta-based band released CVI last year, quickly garnering acclaim from NPR that the album was a “revved-up Southern hard-rocker that howls like Led Zepplin astride a psychedelic unicorn”. How’s that for convincing?! Along with Baroness, Royal Thunder will be putting on one of the “darker” sets at the Festival. Let’s just say there probably won’t be a great deal of rompers in the crowd while they’re playing. Royal Thunder is currently on tour supporting The Faceless and Dillinger Escape Plan and will be embarking on a run with Baroness following the festival. I’m particularly excited about their set at Bragg Jam 2013 this year as well..
Albeit that only one member of the band still actually lives near Athens, these boys are Georgians through and through. Their most recent album, Baba Yaga, is a testament to their Athens’ roots, but more so to life beyond the homefront. Though we’ll always have the memories of shows at Caledonia, Futurebirds have grown more accustom to theaters and festivals – where they rightfully belong. 2013 marks the band’s second appearance at ‘Roo – they made their debut in 2011.
Reptar – Photo by David McClister
If you’re headed to Manchester and feel like participating in a giant daytime dance party, Reptar’s 12:30pm set time on Friday the 14th will be the place to be. Since forming in 2009, they’ve toured alongside Grouplove, Foster the People, Rubblebucket, Stepdad, Phantogram and just about any other band in that vein. Their set at AthFest last year will go down in Festival history as one of the wildest (bloodiest) performances to ever grace the Main Stage.
Now recovered from their tragic bus crash last fall, the Savannah-based metal outfit is back in full force. Though their lineup has changed a bit, the band is in the middle of a headlining tour in support of their album titled Yellow & Green – released last July. Like aforementioned with Royal Thunder, Baroness is stylistically one of the bands that varies from the Bonnaroo lineups of yesteryear, but that’s one of the things that makes this festival so great. Let the “tone worship” begin..
Cat Power – Photo by Roe Ethridge
Originally a resident of Atlanta, Chan Marshall (Cat Power) has been responsible for some of the most prolific songwriting of her time. Personally, You Are Free and The Greatest are two of my favorite albums of the 2000’s, for their unflinching honesty and beautiful composition. Marshall begins her 2013 leg of touring with a series of festivals in the States, before playing only two US theatre dates and then heading overseas. This would be the opportune time to see her play this year.
Your argument for “Best Rap Album of 2012” is invalid unless it includes Killer Mike’s R.A.P Music somewhere in it. The Atlanta-based rapper teamed up with producer El-P to create a hip-hop masterpiece that is everything I’ve wanted from an album in that genre. Mike is about to start a tour with Big Boi (who also made one of the best albums of the last year), so in between what I expect will be one of the best sets of the weekend and his upcoming club shows, it’s going to be a good year.
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