We are sad we can’t be at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival this holiday weekend, especially since the weather is fine now. But Hurricane Ida had other plans for Middle Tennessee earlier this week, and moving thousands of vehicles and bodies onto the waterlogged farmland to host the massive event was just not tenable, forcing the festival’s cancellation on Tuesday.
For our September 2, 2021 edition of #ThematicStatic, we’d already planned to celebrate past Bonnaroo performances, and the storytelling this morning felt even more special in light of the week’s disappointment. Stream the show, hear about some favorites sets, and follow this post for substitute happenings here in Middle Tennessee this week, if you — like many of us — now have many open hours at your disposal. Listen!
#ThematicStatic Playlist & Listener Memories
- Brownout “The Wizard” – Yancey remembers seeing this Austin psych-funk outfit cover Black Sabbath at Bonnaroo 2015. ICYMI in-person, here’s a video from stage of another Sabbath classic, “Sweet Leaf,” watch!
White Stripes – “Slowly Turning Into You” – Paula left a voice memo recounting several great Bonnaroo shows, like Jack and Meg’s set in 2007. Listen!
- Radiohead – “There There” – this one’s a memory from my first Bonnaroo in 2006, and my first time seeing this Top 5 favorite band of mine! Thankfully, the pro-shot footage from that show was released last year during Radiohead’s pandemic streaming series on Friday evenings, so you could watch the whole 2+ hours on YouTube here:
- Grateful Dead – “Mama Tried” – our own Emily Young recorded this story from Bonnaroo 2016, when she fibbed her way side stage to see Dead & Company, Listen!
- Rodrigo y Gabriela – “Temacun” – this Mexico City duo has played Bonnaroo several times, including once with the ensemble known as C.U.B.A. The two make a lot of racket themselves, though, as this fan who saw them up close in 2009 can attest. Watch!
- The Commodores – “Easy” – this one was for anyone skeptical about Lionel Richie being a headliner skeptics; they missed one hell of a show in 2014, said WNXP Program Director Jason Moon Wilkins.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Right Red Hand” – Alexis Marshall, WPLN Producer and a morning voice you might hear on our sister station 90.3 FM, recounted a sweet memory from Bonnaroo 2015. Listen!
- The Word – “Glory Glory” – the Robert Randolph/North Mississippi All-Stars/John Medeski collaboration known for its “sacred steel” instrumental gospel tunes performed a late net set at Bonnaroo that same year, 2015, and blew me away. Guest vocalist Amy Helm (on this studio track) was not there, that I can remember, but the whole Soul Food album is great for a boogie. Listen!
Pour one out for the ‘Roo and set your sights on 2022!
