Maggie Rogers
After what may be an unbearable night in the toss- and turn-inducing Tennessee heat followed by your first baby-wipe bath, it’s time to get serious and plan ahead early for the late-night party. We didn’t pack our AppleBottom jeans or boots with the fur, but it might be easier to get low in that good ol’ sweat-drenched Bonnaroo spandex anyway. So bust out those flip-flops — or cowboy boots, if you’re feelin’ fancy — to hit the floor at Which Stage with T-Pain into the early hours of Saturday starting at 12:30 a.m.
For those seeking moments of calm before the storm, Friday afternoon and evening come chock-full of ethereal, dreamlike sounds. The Japanese House (3:45 p.m.) and Lizzy McAlpine (7:45 p.m.) make the Which Stage a circle-back staple, with quintessential sets to complete any main character’s real-life movie soundtrack. Atlanta-based Faye Webster may hypnotize unsuspecting That Tent crowd-goers at 5:45 p.m. with the familiar opening twang of the pedal-steel guitar on her viral hit “Right Side of My Neck.” Rounding out the feminine energy offered by the quartet of tranquil indie-pop acts anchoring Which Stage is Maggie Rogers, fresh off her new album Don’t Forget Me. Rogers is part of a dying breed of musicians doing their own thing, with her signature transcendental indie-folk sound ready to whisk crowds away to another planet at 9:45 p.m.
Nostalgic quintet Grouplove will ramp up the indie BPM at This Tent at 6:15 p.m., activating the early 2010s sleeper agent in all of us. You will find yourself jumping up and down to the opening strums of their first hit “Tongue Tied,” now something of a classic; don’t try to fight it. Quirky and equally earworm-y group TV Girl follows, sure to captivate This Tent at 8 p.m. The California band brings a whimsical neon sound with songs that sample every piece of media under the sun, including Richard Nixon’s Watergate tapes — and yes, it works.
Mdou Moctar at Fond Object
Ready to deviate from the indie tidal wave? Ross Lynch — who seems to have graduated from his Disney Channel days — and his brother Rocky make up a duo called The Driver Era (What Stage, 4:45 p.m.) that has a firm grasp on the tail end of modern rock. Dominic Fike is next on What Stage at 6:45 p.m. with his modern take on upbeat indie pop complemented by a generous helping of hip-hop. Tuareg guitar wizard Mdou Moctar hits That Tent at 2:45 p.m., and Memphis rap ace Key Glock is there at 7:30 p.m. Folk stars Bonny Light Horseman take over This Tent at 3 p.m., and modern progsters The Mars Volta kick off their set there at 12:30 a.m., just as headliner Post Malone wraps up. At 9:45 p.m. This Tent hosts Interpol, the New York band whose angst-ridden early-Aughts post-punk-revival sound might have made you swear they were from Manchester. (Not this Manchester, of course.)
If you’re looking to go out with a bang and T-Pain is not your speed, prepare to submit your night-prowling electro heart to the strobe lights and mosh-pitting of The Other Stage for SVDDEN DEATH (midnight) and follow-up Seven Lions (1:15 a.m.). For those more inclined to lower the pace but kick up the funk, progressive R&B maestro Thundercat (That Tent, 12:45 a.m.) wants to party all night — or until the sunburn finally sets in and it’s time to hit the air mattress.
The who, what, when, where and why of CMA Fest and Bonnaroo 2024
