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Jack Johnson performing at the second annual Bonnaroo (2003). Photo courtesy of evilvince.com

Thousands of music and arts enthusiasts are gathering in the beautiful foothills of Tennessee to enjoy four days of music, arts and plenty more. Bonnaroo is one of the largest festivals in the United States and the first major festival of the 2008 summer season.

In recent years, Bonnaroo has become as well known as other big music and arts festivals like Lollapalooza, Coachella and Austin City Limits.

But Bonnaroo does not start of with a bang. The line up for the first day of the festival pales in comparison to the artists and bands set to perform this weekend.

For the Thursday kick-off, bands like Vampire Weekend, Superdrag, Battles, and MGMT are scheduled to play - all of these in the so-called "This Tent". The other 'stages', or tents, feature lesser known artists, or bands and musicians that have a comparably small or local following, such as Lez Zeppelin, Dark Star Orchestra, Grand Ole Party and The Felice Brothers.

MP3: MGMT - "Destrokk"

For music fans that have never heard The Battles, check out this driving electronic rock video titled "Atlas". It has been viewed over one million times.




It's not much of a surprise that the first day of the festival, being that it is a Thursday, is not loaded up with must-see bands. Furthermore, the music doesn't even get started until early evening.

Nevertheless, on Friday, June 13, Bonnaroo becomes the epicenter of a wide array of impressive bands and artists, including The Raconteurs, Metallica, My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers, Steve Marley, Jose Gonzales, Rilo Kiley, Willie Nelson, Tegan and Sara, MIA, The Swell Season, !!!, MSTRKRFT, Tiesto, Les Claypool, Minus The Bear and almost a dozen others.

Tegan and Sara performing "Back In Your Head" (YouTube video)



The only problem, and this is the problem with most festivals that have multiple stages, is that you are almost guaranteed to miss some of your favorite artists or bands because they perform simultaneously in different locations. That's why pouring over the schedule in advance and mapping where you want to be and when is so important to maximizing your musical experience.

With that said, and to the credit of the organizers, Bonnaroo is one of the top music festivals at which who plays where and when has been scheduled in such a way that most festival goers will have the opportunity to see most of the 'big name' performers in their genre (i.e. indie rock) without too much overlap.

Another cool thing about Bonnaroo is that headliners play very long sets (Metallica is playing for 2 1/2 hours and My Morning Jacket is playing for three hours) and the music goes well into the wee hour mornings, when the summer sky is full of stars and the cooler night time air makes for a wonderful experience.

Check back for more Bonnaroo coverage or subscribe to the IRC RSS Feed (Feed Me Indie!)

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  8:49 PM June 11, 2008   

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Roman Candle - Oh Tall Tree In The Ear
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Family of the Year - Songbook
The Middle East - The Recordings of the Middle East
Freelance Whales - Weathervanes
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Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence
Foreign Born - Person To Person
Real Estate - Real Estate
Elephantom - Swim. Towards The Sun
Wiretree - Luck
Them Crooked Vultures - s/t debut
Volcano Choir - Unmap
Au Revoir Simone - Still Night,Still Light
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control
Ramona Falls - Intuit
Holiday Shores - Columbus'd The Whim
Why? - Eskimo Snow
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Cage The Elephant - Cage The Elephant
The Dead Weather - Horehound
Portugal The Man - The Satantic Satanist
Port O'Brien - Threadbare
Broken Records - Until The Earth Begins To Part
Headlights - Wildlife
Bango or Freakout - Upside Down EP
The Clean - Mister Pop
Sin Fang Bous - Clangour
Passion Pit - Manners
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Brazos - Phosphorescent Blues
Spring Tigers - Spring Tigers EP
Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom
The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
Bodies Of Work - Flyers
The XX - XX
The Black Hollies - Softly Towards The Light
Sonic Youth - The Eternal Youth
Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next
Generationals - Con Law
BLK JKS - After Robots
White Denim - Fits/Exposion
Rodrigo y Gabriella - 11:11
Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
Atlas Sound - Logos
The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You
Califone - All of My Friends Are Funeral Singers
Taken By Trees - East of Eden
Chet - Chelsea Silver, Please Come
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young
Washed Out - Life of Leisure
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day
The Clientele - Bonfires of Heath
Iron & Wine - Around The Well
Pete Doherty - Grace/Wastelands
It Hugs Back - Inside Your Guitar
Peter Bjorn and John - Living Thing
Conor Oberst & The Mustic Valley Band - Outer South
Paper Route - Absence
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Throw Me The Statue - Creaturesque
The Dodos - Time To Die
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
M. Ward - Hold Time
Deastro - Moondagger
The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
Matt & Kim - Grand
The Antlers - Hospice
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
The Brakes - Touchdown
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
Frightened Rabbit - Quietly Now
We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
The Times New Viking - Born Again Revisited
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
Pet Lions - Soft Right
Paramore - Brand New Eyes
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Beware
Bishop Allen - Grrr
Cage The Elephant - Cage The Elephant
Birds of Avalon - Uncanny Valley
Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
Ben Kweller - Changing Horses
The Acorn - Heron Act
The Twilight Sad - Forget The Night Ahead
AC Newman - Get Guilty
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
Beirut - March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland
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Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada
Wye Oak - The Knot
Vica Voce - Rose City
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
White Rabbits - It's Frightening
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