Post Malone, Maggie Rogers and More Blast Off at Bonnaroo

Thankfully, Thursday’s tech issues at Bonnaroo’s Who Stage seemed to have been resolved by Friday. As the afternoon sun beat down outside the tent, Cookeville’s Dan Spencer called on his small but mighty flock to keep time while he sang a hymn. The tune, naturally, was his a cappella ode to the flashes of rage that spark bar fights, “Beat Your Ass to Death.” Spencer and his band’s music scans as country at first blush, but the snarl of the guitar solos and the sheer mass of the rhythm section are your first clues to the metal influence.

Spencer is skilled at tapping into the feeling of being stuck in a place where you don’t fit, something that shapes so many people’s experiences and which musicians in both genres have explored well; one prime example is “I Like to Worship the Devil” from Spencer’s new LP Return to Your Dark Master. Fans in this modest crowd recognized that song from the first couple bars; if their enthusiasm is any gauge, expect the crowds to be a lot bigger before long.

Faye Webster’s set came just before 6 p.m., that point in the day when sun-induced exhaustion starts kicking in. It was difficult to actually see the Atlanta-based country-folk-rocker from the fringes of the packed That Tent; those two factors combined to make hers a great show to sit down and soak in. Her performance was a wonderful score to the advancing twilight, as she and her band expertly blended gentle R&B-schooled rhythms, ethereal pedal-steel licks and her smart, sometimes snarky lyrics into luscious soundscapes. Webster’s music is great for reflecting — perhaps on how weird time is. One day, it’s 2019 and you’re listening to Webster's breakout third album Atlanta Millionaires Club, which became a cultural moment. Then you blink, five years have passed, and Webster is riding the release of her contemplative fifth LP Underdressed at the Symphony.

Can you hotbox a whole field? That’s what it felt like was happening outside That Tent a couple of hours later as Key Glock’s DJ got the enormous crowd fired up. (His efforts paid off: This was one of the most hyped crowds we’ve seen at a Bonnaroo hip-hop show in a minute, or at least since BigXThaPlug on Thursday.) We’re not complaining; the atmosphere was right, and if nothing else, a little weed smoke just added to the hazer mist and made the lasers beaming from the eyes of the giant model of Glock’s head onstage look even cooler. As he swayed his way coolly around the stage — backed up by a kickass dance crew — he spit bars from new songs as well as old-school standouts like “1997” and the fan favorite that he shouted out as his own favorite from his catalog, “Word on the Streets.” It was clear there was lots and lots of love for Glock, his late cousin Young Dolph and the Paper Route Empire enterprise that Dolph started. Glock gave it back too, packing song after song onto the end of the set.

Over at What Stage, Texas psych-funk trio Khruangbin brought exactly what you’d hope for: gobs of fever-dream grooves, coupled to gauzy slow-motion visuals. They front-loaded their set with heady pieces and newer songs from their latest LP, April’s A La Sala, to warm up the audience before working in faster pieces and ones you’ll probably remember — even if you can’t quite recall from where. (Hint: Lots of NPR programs have used portions of Khruangbin songs as bumper music.) Not being able to immediately call out specific songs actually helps you get the most out of the band’s music: It’s best when listeners can surrender to the trance and embrace the sweet, sweet psychedelia.

Maggie Rogers’ Bonnaroo performance was as powerful as it was joyous. After warming up with a more intimate surprise show in Nashville at Brooklyn Bowl, Rogers was ready for a packed audience that stretched as far as the eye could see at Which Stage. As she bounded and danced around the stage among the many members of her substantial band, she seemed almost giddy to be at the fest, sharing that playing here was something she’s wanted to do since she was 16. She dug in with those powerhouse vocals that can easily work the spectrum between pop, rock, R&B and folk music. The energy stayed effervescent all the way through; newer songs from Don’t Forget Me, released in April, were just as fun as more familiar favorites like “Love You for a Long Time.” During “Retrograde,” Rogers leaned into the dance-pop vibe and sang the chorus of Whitney Houston’s “I Want to Dance With Somebody.” Singer, rapper and actor Dominic Fike, who’d been at What Stage earlier, made a brief cameo to say hi to the audience and heap praise on Rogers, calling her set “so much better than my show.” 

On his previous visit to Bonnaroo as a headliner in 2019, Post Malone had the crowd in the palm of his hand despite appearing onstage all by himself. Friday, he brought a full band including guitar wiz Liv Slingerland and a string section, plus pyro and lots and lots of fireworks. There were some notable differences in the overall energy this time that seemed to reflect how the highs and lows Malone has experienced are amplified by being a very public figure. Now in his late 20s, he is a parent who has had some relationship struggles and grappled with alcoholism; he also happens to have a record-setting nine RIAA Diamond certifications to his name, and he has appeared on recent smash hits by Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. 

You could feel this in Saturday’s set list, which featured plenty of older favorites like “Sunflower” and “Wow.,” but also included many midtempo breakup songs like “Take What You Want” and “Goodbyes.” If you were looking to get amped up for a night of partying, your mileage might have varied. Still, it was a rich and heartfelt performance, and his stage presence — genial, earnest and effusing delight and gratitude to his fans — was very much the same as ever. 

There weren’t as many nods as you might expect to the country record Malone has been teasing. However, guitar phenom and jam-grass-rocker extraordinaire Billy Strings dropped in for an acoustic duet on longtime fan fave “Stay,” and in the middle of the encore, Malone unleashed a ripping rendition of “I Had Some Help,” the twangy breakup anthem he co-wrote with Morgan Wallen. The two men are similar in age and have had some similar experiences. Among other things, Wallen is known for throwing around racial slurs and throwing a chair off the rooftop bar at Eric Church’s honky-tonk, while Malone has not done those things. Malone referred to Wallen as “a buddy of mine.” Call it wishful thinking, but maybe their friendship can help Wallen figure out better ways to deal with his issues and stop being an emblem for reactionary racism and general dipshittery. At any rate, Malone and the band didn’t need any help to knock the song out of the park.

As Bonnaroovians shifted into late-night mode, they clearly adored T-Pain and his Which Stage set. How could you not love a man who has brought us so many absolute party-starting bangers over the years, from “Bartender” to “I’m Sprung” to “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper),” not to mention the unbeatable chorus on Flo Rida’s “Low”? A ’Roo frequent flyer, T-Pain expertly commanded the crowd and really made the audience part of the set — perhaps a bit too much. He left it to us to sing the choruses and sizable chunks of his many hits, which we pretty much all could do by heart. It was an absolute blast, but also a bit saddening if you were hoping to take in his astounding singing talent. Taking us on a tour of his discography, T-Pain focused most of the set on older tunes, but worked in a few snippets from last year’s On Top of the Covers, including — naturally — “Tennessee Whiskey.” While the fest raged on, that was a good place for us to wrap our second day on the Farm; after all, it is a marathon, not a sprint.

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