Festival Frenzy 2023: Bonnaroo Thursday

Settle in on the Farm with hip-hop, rock, soul and lots more

Thursday at Bonnaroo is the kiddie pool of the weekend — a chance to get your feet wet, get used to the temperature and find your music-fest sea legs. (Tennes-see legs? Expect a lot of walking, anyway.) Thursday’s lineup is stacked with some of the best up-and-coming artists in the Nashville music scene. We’ve got a separate roundup of local artists to check out, so here’s a look at out-of-towners you won’t want to miss.

If you’re camping out way early, a Pride Parade featuring the Human Rights Campaign starts at noon at House of Yes (Plaza 3 out in the campgrounds). Afro Cuban maestro of Caribbean hip-hop and funk Cimafunk and queen of bounce Big Freedia will be taking part; both will perform later as well.

On the heels of her 2022 album All of Us Flames, Ezra Furman — whom you’ll have heard quite a bit on the soundtrack to Netflix’s hit series Sex Education — will rock That Tent starting at 3:45 p.m. Broadway star, honorary Highwoman and — as I know her — cast member of the 2000s reboot of The Electric Company Celisse is set to bring her stellar vocals and her phenomenal band to This Tent at 6:15 p.m.

It-girl songsmith Suki Waterhouse is at That Tent at 8:15 p.m., fresh off her first album and EP, both released last year. Waterhouse also recently starred in Amazon’s adaptation of Daisy Jones and the Six, but fans may be just as likely to catch her set hoping to get a side-stage glimpse of her sparkly boyfriend, Robert Pattinson.

The aforementioned Cimafunk and his massive nine-person backing band head to This Tent at 9:45 p.m., while Gen-Z rap sensation 070 Shake will follow at This Tent at 11:30 p.m. Hometown heroes Diarrhea Planet (more on them in our roundup of headliners, unofficial though their status may be) will start at That Tent at 11:45 p.m., and the also-aforementioned Big Freedia takes over at 1:30 a.m.

For those looking to follow the beat of their electronic dance hearts, the stages at The Other and Where in the Woods will be in full swing Thursday as well. Mersiv hits The Other at 10:15 p.m., followed by Liquid Stranger at 11:30 p.m. and Zeds Dead at 12:45 a.m.; if you can’t get enough Zeds Dead, they’re also on at Where in the Woods from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.

It’s the first real day of the festival, so it’s a great time to catch those late-night happenings before the long hours catch up with you. A few other notable recurring events for the night owls: Dublab’s ambient Tonalism experience happens midnight to 6 a.m. nightly at The Fun House & The Grove (campground Plaza 7) and the Silent Disco is open each night at Who Stage from midnight to 3:30 a.m.