The emergence of Caroline Rose into the scene since the release of her excellent third record—Loner—last year has been a joy to watch. As a band, they have leaned into the playful weirdness that defines their sound and the result is pure fun. Rose herself has emerged as a purposeful and coordinated presence leading the proceedings.
The Comet is Coming
I love this booking for Thursday night a Bonnaroo. This improv jazz and electronica ensemble first made waves in 2016 with Channel the Spirits and have followed it up this year with the outstanding Trust in the Life-force of the Deep Mystery. In person they are a powerful force and a perfect transition between the rock of the afternoon and the dance oriented evening. This group manages to sit comfortably in that narrow margin between accessible and experimental music and the crowd was with them the whole way.
Parquet Courts
It is somewhat amazing to me how quickly Parquet Courts have gone from being an emerging act to an institution. In addition to the band’s prodigious musical output, its members have established themselves as mentors in the post-punk and art punk scenes. Their show was a great blend of the old and the new. They closed with the 1-2-3 of “Wide Awake,” “Light up Gold,” and “One Man No City”—three tracks that not only span the breadth of their career but also show the now obviously natural progression of their musical experimentation.
Courtney Barnett
There isn’t a lot one can say about Courtney Barnett that hasn’t been said before. She is certainly one of the preeminent songwriters and guitarist of our time. She was part of the last group of performances before Childish Gambino took over the What field and showed all of the poise that she has developed over several years of relentless touring both with her band and with Kurt Vile. Last time Barnett played Roo was 2015 when she had a Thursday evening spot the crowd was bigger that year but this year the show was more measured and fluid. She has developed into a powerhouse performer—bookending her set with “Avant Gardener” and “Pedestrian at Best” two of the tracks that put her on the map in the first place.
Rubblebucket
To my mind, Rubblebucket is the quintessential festival band. Kalmia Traver is an absolute force of nature on the saxophone. The band has survived Traver’s brush with cancer as well as the deterioration of her relationship with follow founder Alex Toth and the resulting resilience manifests as sheer joy in sound. Rubblebucket kicked off the Which stage on Saturday and firmly demonstrated their ability to hold that space. The set culminated with giant balloon octopi swimming out over the crowd in a positively magical touch.
Kacey Musgraves has played Roo twice before in 2013 she opened the Which stage and in 2015 she had an evening set in That Tent, but this year she arrived as a star. The Which stage was packed as she emerged in a flowing red dress to open with “Slow Burn”—and all of the expectation that has grown around Musgraves for the past few years was brought to bear. Occasionally there are moments at Bonnaroo where everything lines up for maximum impact. The sun was going down, the crowd was electric and Musgraves poured out an absolutely mesmerizing set. She has clearly found her niche in terms of both her sound and her presence and the crowd could not get enough.
John Prine
The only disappointing thing about Kacey Musgraves’ set what that the last fifteen minutes overlapped with the first fifteen of John Prine. If Kacey was emerging as a star during one set, Prine used his time to demonstrate what a sustained legendary status looks like. Prine was playful, focused and exquisite in his delivery. He invited Kelsey Waldon up to sing “In Spite of Ourselves” and Brandi Carlile for a duet of “Summer’s End”. The whole thing ended with an ensemble jam around “Paradise.” It seems like Prine has a preternatural understanding of his venue and audience and always matches them perfectly.
Kikagaku Moyo
This ensemble from Tokyo blew me away. Their attention to the minute details of psychedelic rock and the tightness of their jams are unparalleled. One of the great things about Roo is the opportunity to see so many great acts that might not be on your radar otherwise. Kikagaku Moyo have all of the aesthetics of a serious 70s psychedelic ensemble but they push the sound to the bounds of improvisation and beyond. The sheer skill of this group live is astounding.
Nigerian guitarist and singer Omara “Bombino” Moctar returned to Bonnaroo for the first time since 2013 and he has become even more of a dynamic force in the intervening years. He was back to back on That Tent with Kikagaku Moyo (who were watching with rapt attention)—two absolute masterful guitar performances for Sunday morning. Bombino’s playing has a sweeping, meditative quality to it that carries the listener away.
King Princess
Finally, King Princess closed out This Tent before Phish took to the What stage to close the festival. I was looking forward to the set all weekend. Mikaela Straus (as King Princess) has a powerful energy that charges up a live audience. It’s amazing to me what a difference something like set time can make. At Hangout this summer she had a sunny afternoon set, while at Roo she came on after dark—and there is something about the darkness that makes her sound come alive. It’s great when a young artist really takes charge of the situation and rises to the challenge that a large festival set presents—all of that came together here. From the first Straus swept the audience along with her through a string of excellent pop hooks. It was for us the last thing we saw and a perfect send off to another great year at the farm.