Metal Lungies

It’s June so you know that our coordinates are are 35.469000, -86.051360, right in the middle of Bonnaroo (like we always do about this time).

We hope to have some dispatches on what we hear and see around us on the farm this weekend, maybe even describe some smells ????.

If you aren’t lucky enough to attend, or too lazy to leave your ‘Roo campground, once again RedBull.TV is streaming a rack of performances.

You’ve might have already seen our must bring list. This year we have one addition: the mission multi-cool. Can you guess how we wear it? (Hint: we gotta protect the neck!)

Overwhelmed with choice paralysis on what to check out? Here are our picks to get you started:

• Friday
  • D.R.A.M.
  • Gallant
  • The xx
  • Glass Animals
  • Portugal.the.man
• Saturday
  • Belly
  • Chance The Rapper
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Flume
  • Marshmello
• Sunday
  • Skepta
  • Flatbush Zombies
  • Royal Blood
  • BADBADNOTGOOD
  • Travis Scott
  • The Weeknd

Follow our updates (incoherent rants) on Twitter and Instagram all weekend.

If Bonnaroo is meal, Thursday is the appetizer, Friday and Saturday is the 2 part main course, and Sunday is the (bitter)sweet chocolate desert.  On Saturday our 2nd part of the main course was substantial, and didn’t leave the farm till 3am.

First on our agenda was The Internet, the Los Angeles R&B  group might be the youngest veteran R&B act out, with their 3rd album ‘Ego Death’ coming out earlier this year. The group’s guitarist, Steve Lacy, was performing with the band for the first time after graduating High School last month, which is more badass than most post high school graduation plans. Next at a packed Other Tent, Mr. I have songs named after NBA players aka Post Malone was holding court. The bulk of the songs he performed came off his recently released mixtape ‘August 26th’. While the vibe was on point with a great stage presence, we were distracted by a backing vocal track at times. Post Closed with ‘White Iverson’ as on could guess with the entire tent singing along. This past May we spent a lot of time listening to Oh Wonder’s self-titled and self-made album that came out last September. They were our most anticipated act of the day, and they delivered. Our personal highlight was their superb cover of Queen Bey’s ‘Crazy in Love’  which we weren’t sure would be a part of the setlist. The duo fully embraced the Bonnaroo experience hanging out and taking in performances on Friday, while also participating in the SuperJam late night Saturday. Since there was no leaving Oh Wonder early, we only caught the last third of Sister trio Haim’s set. We heard they performed a Prince tribute playing ‘I Would Die 4 U’ which we FOMOed over. Their closing number was a perfectly synchronized 5 person drum breakdown which reminded us what a great rock band they are. Then came a forced intermission. 

For the first time in 8 years of being at Bonnaroo, Centeroo was cleared and forced to seek shelter due to some lightning that was making it through the area. Luckily everyone waited everything out without issue, and the music resumed 90 minutes later.

After the music returned We saw the EDM and pop songstress, Ellie Goulding. She headlined the Which Stage, a much bigger venue from when saw her play a bar at SXSW 2011. The crowd sang along to all her hits new and old, and closed the show by showing us that not only can she sing, she can shred on a guitar. Afterwards we dabbled in a little bit of everything which exemplifies the mix that Bonnaroo offers. We saw headliner Pearl Jam on their 25th anniversary tour rocking out on the What Stage; Miguel and his white clad R&B rock band at That Tent, and finally RL Grime. Mr. Grime may have been arguably our favorite electronic act of the weekend, masterfully working slivers of ‘All the Way Up’, ‘Pony’, ‘Bound 2’ edits, surrounded by his original production. After our last serving of EDM it was time for the tradition known as SuperJam. This years edition was hosted by Kamasi Washington and the theme was a tribute to Tennessee music. SuperJam was the place to be if you like brass and the blues, as Allen Stone covered B.B. King’s ‘The Thrill is Gone’, it was kind of a surreal scene as unrelated (we think) fireworks rang off to the left of This Tent. Some other covers we heard were Stephen Jenkins (from Third Eye Blind, the band you grew up with in the 90s) doing Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’. Our favorites moments were from the singer Lizzo nailing Missy Elliot’s ‘The Rain’ and Usher’s ‘You Don’t Have to Call’ and Miguel popping up for a cover of Justin Timberlake’s ‘SexyBack‘. As we were wrapping up our night we had a chance to see the teaming of Big Boi and Phantogram for their collaborative project Big Grams. Their life performance was a seamless mix of two musical worlds. While performing songs of their album, they also weave in and out songs respective catalogues perfectly as the duo went from ‘I Like the Way You Move’ to ‘Keep Your Body Still’ and back again. Big Grams was the perfect closing act for some BIG SLEEP that we desperately needed.

Random moments and thoughts:

• Kids wearing graduation gowns is a fashion trend that we spotted at Bonnaroo.
• Spotted: two dudes (play) fighting to who would get to kiss a strangers blowup doll
• We heard that Pharrell was spotted checking out The Internet and RL Grime.. that guy has good taste!
• Is it rude to want to hand sanitize after a high five?

Backwards hat of the day: (Sherman Williams cut the check!)

Favorite food item:

Saturday Fitbit steps count:

Friday at Bonnaroo kicked it into the next gear with all tents being joined by the openings of the Which & What Stages.

Our day started out in the Comedy Tent.  The MC and opening act Ian Abramson got the crowed laughing. A part of his set included wearing a fully functioning shock collar he gave to the fan to zap him if the joke fell flat (which the fan didn’t have any qualms about). Next was the Bonnaroo veteran,  the over the top Bridgett Everett and her physical shock humor mixed in with showing off her singing chops as well. Note if you ever see her you had any reservations of female nudity & forced close personal contact with a stranger, you are best served not to sit too close to the stage as we learned first hand.  Next was the headliner for the time slot, Piff The Magic Dragon and his sidekick Mr. Piffles the Magic Dog. Once again the hazards of sitting too close in a comedy show made themselves apparent with one fan getting a $20 dollar bill torn in half to make change for a $12 magic trick. Piff was a unique experience that mixed quick witty snark, a dog and magic; a trifecta we mess with.

The day got rolling musically with DAUGHTER the London based trio bringing slow driving folk rock gave us a gentle start to the day. We shortly jetted our way across Centeroo to catch IBEYI. The sister duo of Lisa and Naomi Diaz took inspiration from their Yoruba heritage to bring a blend of soulful percussion & piano mixed with strong hip hop influences to give a perfect fusion of old & new. We had heard of them coming into the festival, and by the time we heard them sample Jay Electronica’s ‘Better in Tune with Infinite’ we were enamored. Afterwards, the much heralded by the interents, Shamir, did not disappoint. The Las Vegas born 21 year old brought his falsetto voice and got the crowd’s feet & hips moving with disco-Diana Ross-esq jams like ‘Make a Scene &  Youth’. Any doubt of him living up to the hype was put to rest with him taking off his microphone & jumping into the crowd for one last dance party as his band finished the set. 

Our first journey to the What stage was to catch the Glasgow based electro-pop trio CHVRCHES. This marked their debut at What stage having previously played The Other Tent at Bonnaroo 2014. In alignment with the larger venue they came out hard with old hits with instrumentalist Martin Dohrety taking to vocals for ‘High Enough To Carry’ & Lauren Mayberry taking to the drums on some of the newer material. With our dancing feet still moving we got over to Keys N Krates as the sun began to set on the farm. The turntable, drum and keyboard trio’ kept the crowd hype with samples of Tove Lo’s ‘Stay High’. We were pleased to hear turntablisim incorporated in to their set. Next we got over to That Tent for Long Beach, California’s raps from a 19 year old courtesy of  Vince Staples. There we no extra thrills & frills on his set– just a DJ and a mic– the perfect environment to show off his rapping skills and storytelling. All this despite having suffered a asthma attack earlier in the day (!!). He also to be commended for his subtle anti-drug message during his performance. After a brief food break set to Halsey‘s radio hit ‘Colors’, we made our way to That Tent for Flosstradamus. If there is an award for the most elaborate DJ stage platform, it would be awarded to them for their 20″ tall prison looking warehouse stage by a barb-wire chain linked fence with stair & ladder access. It wasn’t just all presentation though, they even had the kids dance to their edit of ‘Macarena’.

Later in the night we got into some of the heavy hitters. M83 got things started for us with hits such as ‘Wait’ & ‘Midnight City’. Despite their impressive muscianship and hard driving performance they faced a mass exodus early into their set as folks migrated for Friday’s main headliner: the return of LCD Soundsystem. James Murphy’s Brooklyn based rock group brought it in with ‘The Time Has Come’ and kept the What Stage rocking with hits like ‘Daft Punk is Playing at My House’. Murphy bore his sole with his self-conscious hit of ‘Losing my Edge’, ruined any remaining grass on the farm with dancing hits like ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ and closed out the set with the sing along rock out hit ‘All of Your Friends’. A triumphant return after a 7 year hiatus from the farm. As the clock ticked past 1am Tame Impala took the stage to bring their psychedelic rock to the Bonnaroovian’s with their 2nd appearance on the farm. Like CHVRCHES they moved up in stage & production of their set, opening up with a guitar controlled oscilloscope, confetti blasts and more complex lighting production compared to previous performances. Frontman Kevin Parker got things started in reverse to their last album with ‘Nangs’ and crowd pleaser ‘Let It Happen’. He bore his sole & got intimate with the crowd on the slow jam ‘Yes I’m Changing ‘and closed with the Rhianna-used ‘New Person, Same Old Mistakes’. We closed the night with a nutritious serving of Blood Orange. Playing the Other Tent, the most intimate of tents, was the perfect venue for Dev Hynes’ passionate r&b . 

Random moments and thoughts:

• What year will there be reliable cell service at big gatherings like music festivals?
• Pins are huge right now, as we saw kids swapping them like 90s pogs.
• DMX’s ‘Party Up’ is entering some rap oldie phase, we heard it twice in sets in one day.
• We saw a “Forgive Kanye” sign which is the absolutely right message. You could’ve even seen the sign if you’re following us on snapchat: whut777 (plug!!)

Backwards hat of the day:

Favorite food item:

Friday Fitbit steps count:

We have arrived to the farm. The shortest day of the festival was also the coolest, temperature wise, and for checking out more under the radar acts.

We kicked off our festival by watching LANY, the poppy modern ballads were perfect for young love…we thought that was a good idea to describe the group when we saw a dude facetiming the entire set. We had to lean in to confirm, because someone needs to be doing music festival investigative journalism, damn it. Shout out to the dude’s mobile carrier, too. LOLAWOLF may have been the highlight of the day,  their sound could be described as influenced by someone like M.I.A. with much more crack drums. Their performance of ‘Bitch’, was something we were replaying in our mind the rest of the day. Vulpeck is what would happen if you cloned Mayer Hawethorne, and those clones were multi-instrumentalists. They had the entire tent signing along. When Hermitude unleashed their Australian dance vibes in  That Tent, we were thinking of the similarities in their vibes to Odesza. Just as we were thinking that, they played their remix of Odesza’s ‘Say My Name’. The scene was alike to a religious service as the crowd bopped their totems on beat with their original cuts mixed in with fire remixes of Kanye’s ‘All Day’ and Rihanna’s ‘Work. The Philadelphia electronic duo Marian Hill impressed in The Other Tent. They performed their viral hits like ‘Got It’ and ‘One Time’, and did them justice, helped with the incorporation of a live saxophone player. Their performance was one of the special moments that happens more often here then anywhere else, when the performer reciprocates the love and enthusiasm the crowd has show them. Gold Link showed a glimpse why he could be the next biggest rapper out of the hometown, Washington D.C. His live performance was polished to a T. His DJ perfectly hyping up the crowd (not killing time like you see so many pre-rap show DJ sets go), and the by time he hit the stage with his crisply delivered rapid rhymes, the crowd was fully locked in. Gold Link showed the diverse ability to spit rhymes, rock a crowd, and sing.  We finished the night with the best feline0inspired named act in the world Cashmere Cat, who had the most perfect “Blame the cat!” drop. He also showed off his cat like quickness, playing an edit of Travis Scott, Young Thug And Quavo’s ‘Pick Up The Phone’ which just came out last week.  Day 1 served as the perfect appetizer that is Thursday’s at the farm, and we headed back to our accommodations to rest up for the main course that is Friday and Saturday.

During Day 1 there was a wide range of random moments and thoughts that entered our mind; here’s a quick list:

• fans using disposable cameras
• a lot bands video that accompanies their performances seem to be a master cut of youtube searches for “nintendo game footage”, “90s cartoon”, “car crashes”, and “nature”
• We’re still waiting for the crowd to revolt when an act asks them if they’d like to hear a new song performed.
• The new permanent bathroom facilities at Centeroo deserve a Pritzker Prize.
• A lot of bands are going ALL CAPS for their spellings.
• Are glow sticks at a music festival becoming extinct?

If you recall in a previous year we hunted the festival for the best NBA jersey. This year we decided to be on the lookout for the best baseball hat (hopefully backwards, as an ode to legend Fred Durst).

Thursday’s pick was a Wawa hat from a dude paying tribute to any mid-atlantic college student’s best friend.

We’re also looking for the best food at the festival, so we will be sharing our favorite pick food item, cause eff our dietary restrictions.

Thursday’s pick:

We’re still counting our steps on our fitbit and trying to burn cals off from the food pick of the day;

Thursday’s total was:

Metallungies is heading back to the farm for our annual music pilgrimage for the 15th installment of Bonnaroo. We’re lathered up in the highest of SPFs, our hydro kanteens are filled with the finest of filtered water. These are the keys to not dying in 99 degree heat and being able to type some unfunny content for all 2 of you (Hi, mom and sister!).

Like years past, we’ll be posting daily quick recaps of what we saw, what intrigued us, and what made us the happiest (usually either rap or some amish donuts).

We’re like you’re parent’s in that we’re trying to figure out snapchat (we fathered your whole style, never forget). Follow us there and all the other social media handles below. We’ll be serving up erratic content like a krispy kreme conveyer belt that’s malfunctioning.

Snapchat: whut777

Instagram: metallungies

Twitter: @metallungies

Not lucky enough to make it to Manchester this year? RedBull.TV will be streaming allll weekend long like have done in years past.

Overwhelmed by what to see or stream at Bonnaroo 2016? Here are our picks not named LCD Soundystem or Pearl Jam.

Thursday:

• LANY
• Lolawolf
• Hermitude
• Marian Hill
• GoldLink

Friday

• Daughter
• Ibeyi
• Vince Staples
• Shamir
• Blood Orange

Saturday

• The Internet
• Post Malone
• Oh Wonder
• Haim
• Big Grams

Sunday

• Cymande
• Charles Bradley
• Lettuce
• Death Cab for Cutie
• Third Eye Blind

Our world famous suggested essential list is still a must read if you are trying to figure what the hell to bring with you. We’ve even updated it this year, instead of linking to a post from 2011.

• Doppler Lab’s DUBS (which we love from last year)
• Red Bull (because there is a good chance you might be seeing the sun come up before you have a chance to go to bed)
• Vitamin C packets (we prefer Emergen-C)
• 5 pairs of socks, underwear.
• 5 Shirts, shorts
• Windbreaker/Hoodie
• Gum
• Water/Bottle
• Gold Bond (Worth it’s weight in.. Gold.)
• TP
• Blister Kit + Bandaids
• Cash $$$, to avoid the ATMz.
• Baby Wipes
• Clif Bars (or whatever bars you like, it’s what I get by, food wise for the majority of the festival)
• Flashlight (so you don’t step on sleeping hippies scattered around!)
• Poncho (a solid one.)
• Sunglasses
• Bandanna
• Cell Phone charger, extra battery (cause you know your fire snaps drain that battery)
• Camera (if you know how to use it without automatic)
• Hat (pref. *not* black and wool)
• Toothbrush/Toothpaste (and special cleaner for those with grillz and dentures, right, Lil Wayne?)
• Pen (to write deep thoughts in your moleskin journals)
• Flip-Flops
• Towel
• Plastic zip bags

As the dust settled on the final day of Bonnaroo 2015, there were still many things to see (and eat) for the ML crew. We started the day checking out Twenty One Pilots, who are all the rage to the youts. While not our cup of tea, the stage antics of the band were amusing to watch on the main stage. We continued the day at Mø [1], whose mellow electro pop set was perfect to calmly vibe out while in the middle of what seemed to be the hottest day of the festival. We weren’t ashamed to sing along to her cover of Spice Girl’s ‘Giving You Everything’, either. Mø also had the best visuals of the day by implementing music video quality clips on the backdrop. Next up it was time to get out in the baking sun to watch Spoon perform their indie jams on the main What? Stage. There were some die-hard fans waving spoons during their set, which had us wondering if this was planned or if people were using their camping resources creatively. As you do at the farm, we completely switched it up to check out the fantastic Cali rap partnership of Freddie Gibbs and Madlib where Gibbs’ gangster raps sounded oh so good over Madlib’s production. The crowd at the Other Tent didn’t disappoint waving piñata totems and throwing blunts on stage in honor of Gibbs’ birthday. While we snacked (thank god for no more Cliff bars) on mushroom and truffle oil french fries we checked out Rudimental. We tried to eat our fries as fast as the tempo that Rudimental was offering with their brass sections on tracks like our favorite ‘Feel the Love’, don’t try this at home. 

We then entered the home stretch with Florence and the Machine on the what stage who won our non existent award for The Most Barefoot Running Around the Stage by an Artist (we know, it’s a mouthful). Florence and her big band filled the What? stage sound, which featured what is probably the dopest harp in music (sorry Joanna Newsom). During our walk back to the Other Tent we geeked out to see New Balance’s booths where they had a showcase of their current sneaker line. You have to be a brave soul to let the NB soles touch the Bonnaroo dirt! When we made it to the Other Tent, Carbiou’s set gave us the excuse to just put our heads down and dance. They closed out with a mix of songs from both their first and second albums but the highlight of it all was the extended version of ‘Sun’ that was their final closer. We’re not a fan of bands milking their singles and turning them into 12 minute long renditions but Caribou managed to give us a version that sounded so unique live that we were super into it. Dad rock god and legend Billy Joel closed out Bonnaroo 2015 and instantly won our other non existent award for Classiest Attire on Stage. Mr. Joel treated the crowd to all the songs your dad raised you on in between cracking jokes about the crowd launching Chinese lanterns in the air and fly swatters (??). There was a cover of what Joel dubbed a sacred song, ‘Highway to Hell’, with vocals by his longtime roadie, Chainsaw. It made us wish rappers brought out their weed carriers for covers. After finishing all the hits, Joel’s job was done and just like that Bonnaroo 2015 was over. As we left the grounds with the dust settling in every crevice of our shoes we spotted Reggie Watts and Corey Feldman and his female entourage. Like a lot of things you see here, only at Bonnaroo. 

Shout out to the good folks at Doppler Labs for hooking us up with their DUBS ear filters which helped contain the listener fatigue and not have us look like we were working on a construction site.

Amish pretzel consumption for Bonnaroo 2015: 5.

Amish donut consumption for Bonnaroo 2015: 6.

Best of the day: Caribou

Step Counts:

Dj01:

Meaghatron:

1. Billboard on how to pronounce Mø 

Day 3 started off late for our crew when we decided that resting up was more important than catching anything before 6PM. Arriving bright eyed and only a little bit dusty we booked it to Jamie XX‘s set. As you’ve seen here we’ve been pretty excited about his new album that dropped a few weeks back. He started off his set with The Persuasions’ ‘Good Times’ which he then rolled into what we’ve decided is the song of the summer: ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’. He kept his set pretty diverse, mixing in a lot of  the songs you would expect from a Jamie XX dj set (i.e. songs he pulls inspiration from rather than his own work (inc. ODB’s ‘Got Your Money’!) but managed to seamlessly integrate a handful of his most successful work. Sadly, the crowd was surprisingly thin and wasn’t feeling the set as much as we were… let’s blame the heat. We stuck around the same tent (the Other Tent if you’re curious) for SBTRKT who took their performance to another level. We weren’t huge fans of their last album, Wonder Where We Land, probably because we loved the debut album so much but the way that they performed the newer tracks live was a completely different feel than from the record. SBTRKT managed to take even the slowest of songs and turn it into something that was impossible not to dance to. With moody lighting and songs that were [insert 10 fire emojis right here] it was really disappointing to see more than half the crowd migrate out of there (probably for Childish Gambino) 2/3rds of the way through the set. SBTRKT, we’ll say it loud… thank you for the Radiohead ‘Weird Fishes’ cover, and you deserved a better crowd.

We split off after this, a few of us deciding to set up in the beer garden (as you do) to listen to Childish Gambino without having to deal with the crowd. This proved to be an incredibly lackluster performance (Dj01 you win that bet) but hey… we had craft beer! We also found some time to check out the conclusion of My Morning Jacket where they served up a nice plate of some modern southern rock with a side of big sound. 

After this we had intense musical ADD skipping from Slayer at This Tent (where we were too scurred to mosh) to DJ Logic at Silent Disco to stumbling upon Mija at the Kalliope stage. Fun fact: Mija has only been DJing for a year. She met Skrillex when he was on the farm last year and he took her under his wing to show her the ropes. It paid off because her set was fire.

Mumford and Sons headlined Saturday night after having to cancel their performance two years ago. They more than made up for that absence by playing the bulk of their catalog with flawless execution. After nearly a a decade of playing Bonnaroo, headlining the main What Stage on Saturday night was a graduation of sorts for the band, where they cemented themselves as a major rock band (read: not folky). They closed their encore by bringing out some special guests from Dawes, War on Drugs, Hozier, and The War on Drugs, My Morning Jacket as well as Danny Clinch and Ed Helms to cover Joe Cockers’s ‘I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends’ . After Mumford we caught the end of Tycho‘s set. If you’re into chill vibes and awesome visuals this is the band for you. There’s nothing more refreshing seeing a band perform something that others would probably just show up with a laptop for. Props to you, Tycho.

Now for a string of disappointments. We headed to see D’Angelo… wanting nothing more to see him perform live (we hear you Twitter, he’s great). We waited over a half hour, already cutting into the beginning of the long awaited Super Jam, and we had to bail before he even hit the stage . We’ll try to see him again in the future but we’re still feeling a little salty that we didn’t get to see him last night. We moped our way to Super Jam and found a spot that we could see those big shiny new screens we’ve been talking about. Unfortunately as the lights lit up the stage in front of us the screen sparked out and turned off so our supposed wonderful view of what was about to happen turned into us staring at the backs of some pretty grimy heads (that’s not an insult, it’s day 3 of Bonnaroo). The theme of this year’s Super Jam was throwback 90s which was pretty awesome. There were a whole array of guests but Jack Antonoff‘s (of FUN. and Bleachers) kind of blew us away with his cover of the Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’. Pretty Lights, this year’s Super Jam composer, made sure to include a horn section courtesy of Cherub which is always a good time. We closed out the night with Flume which turned out to be a little bit more of a DJ set than we were expecting. His set was solid but he did a thing that we’ve been seeing a lot of other artists doing: dropping a part of their set in perfect Hudson Mohawk TNGHT fashion with heavy horns and bass that hits you to your core. We dig TNGHT but uh… we want to hear something that sounds unique to who we’re seeing, too.

Best of the day: SBTRKT.

Step Counts:

Dj01:

Meaghatron:

ML’s 2nd and first full day of Bonnaroo 2015 kicked off with the English duo Royal Blood, who instantly won us over with their selection of Pharaoh Monch’s ‘Simon Says’ as their intro music. We agreed the way to describe Royal Blood’s big amp guitar shredding sound is a mix of Arctic Monkey and The Black Keys. After witnessing a lot of air drumming and air guitaring we put our empty Crystal Geyser water bottles (holler at us for sponsorship opportunities!) to use and did the same. Royal Blood’s drummer, Ryan Thatcher, did something we haven’t seen in a while, he took a break from manning the drum kit to crowd surf, v rock n roll. Next up was Glasgow’s Rustie who has the material in his catalog for the great set but just seemed off. The transitions were very abrupt, the creative visual effects (that even the most upstart DJs have) were lackluster, and he kept throwing in a wolf sound drop… we’d prefer that to be left to A-Trak.

As the afternoon progressed we caught Sylvan Esso who converted the Other Tent to chill vibes central for 45 minutes. We dug their interpretation of Beyonce’s ‘Flawless’ to wrap up ‘Dress’.  We had an amish donut pit stop on our walk to check out the bluesy southern rock offerings of Alabama Shakes, which allowed us to check out some of the offerings of the always solid underground raps of Atmosphere. Atmosphere is one of the best when it comes to knowing and interacting with his fans. Once arriving at the Shakes, who had graduated from playing a tent a few years ago to the main stage. It was the perfect soundtrack to enjoy the famous Bonnaroo sunset to. The Shake’s lead singer Brittany Howard’s vocals sound as booming and powerful in person as they do on record (or more likely, your Spotify stream). The ML crew decided to rest up before being summoned by King Kendrick Lamar for his 3rd Bonnaroo appearance in 4 years, where he took the main What? stage as the Friday night headliner. As a headliner at a major festival your execution needs to be flawless, and Kendrick came prepared with a reworked band backed versions of all his songs and original video footage to match. His set relied on many of the songs from Good Kid, M.A.A.D City for the bulk of it but when he did pick some tracks from To Pimp a Butterfly they delivered. ‘King Kunta’ was cemented as a G-Funk rap masterpiece right in front of our eyes. Hearing ‘I’ with the band on such a big venue, you understood why Kendrick elected to include a live version on the album. As the clock struck midnight it was time to Run The Jewels who had the This Tent as rabid as you would expect the RTJ1 + 2 cuts to be. We found out after the fact that the group’s DJ, Trackstar played with a bad back which makes the intensity of their performance that much more impressive when you combine it with Killer Mike’s arm being in a sling. To close out the night we hung out at This Tent to wait on our sore legs for Odesza, and ended up missing some things. Odesza had a flawless execution of their loved-by-the-internets material. There were horns, the visual effects were perfectly paired, and the entire tent dancing. When they closed their set with one of the duo’s newer songs, it featured horns that give TNGHT (the clubhouse leader for horns) a run for their money.

Best of the day: Odesza.

Step Counts:

Dj01:

Meaghatron:

Day 1 of Bonnaroo 2015 for ML started off with working our way through the heat to hip hop blog sensation Dej Loaf. We’re looking forward to what she’ll have to show us in the next year or so but in her debut Bonnaroo appearance it was clear that the crowd was more into her DJ dropping ‘Trap Queen’ and ‘Tuesday’ in the middle of her set than any of her material. We caught newcomer Raury at The Who Stage (which replaced the Sonic stage) who clearly understands the importance of throwing a good party. He played to his strengths when acknowledging the crowd’s demographic of recent college graduates in his closing freestyle, referencing college debt and financial insecurity garnering a noticeable response from the audience. Our bets are on Raury for blowing up on your neighborhood internet channels sometime this year. Next up was Glass Animals who were somewhat of a disappointment but to no fault of their own. A big challenge for artists performing at Bonnaroo is being able to fill the space given with their sound. We’ve noticed this in the past, particularly with bands that have softer vocals such as Purity Ring (2013) and Washed Out (2014). Glass Animals is no different as their sound relies pretty heavily on their lead singer’s whisper-vocals. That being said, the band sounded on point… we just wish we could have heard more of the actual songs.

Best of the day: Jungle. The UK’s most mysterious act blew us the fuck away. The fact that they had us dancing post-midnight with the absolute last ounces of our energy (after sleeping for only 3 hours and traveling for an entire day) is a testament to how much they brought to the stage. We caught them at DC’s Black Cat which was also fantastic but this performance was taken up a few notches. It’s going to be really really hard for any act to top them this weekend.

Last year we told you about the best jerseys we saw but this year we’re moving from apparel to bring you the best totems that we’ve seen. What’s a totem you ask? It’s the thing that the asshole in front of you is holding that ends up blocking your view of the stage. All shade aside, last year we saw some pretty inventive stuff, including a guy who turned himself into a Sim. Check back on Day 4 for our top of the top totems.

Lastly, it wouldn’t be Bonnaroo if we didn’t combo brag-complain about how many steps we’ve been getting. Dj01 will be posting his loyal Fitbit steps but, sadly, my Fitbit met it’s demise a few months ago and I made the switch to the Misfit Shine. This just turned into a step tracker comparison post… you can probably already tell that Dj01’s steps are more accurate than mine.

Step Counts:

Dj01:

Meaghatron:

It’s June and what happens in June? Bonnaroo, duh. Metal Lungies’ favorite time of the year where we pack up and setup camp (in an air conditioned rented home) to enjoy the best music festival in America (maybe North America? maybe Earth?). We’ve been to so many ‘roos that we are within reach of using a 19 roos and counting joke!

Like we did last year, we picked 5 acts that you shouldn’t miss whether streaming on Red Bull TV, or in-person, or on Red Bull TV while at Bonnaroo if you’re too lazy to walk from that tent to this tent.

Thursday

• Glass Animals
• Jungle
• Dej Loaf
• Ryn Weaver
• Raury

Friday

• Royal Blood
• Sylvan Esso
• Tears for Fears (!!)
• Run The Jewels
• Odesza

Saturday

• Jamie xx
• SBTRKT
• Slayer
• D’Angelo and The Vanguard
• Flume

Sunday

• Shabazz Palaces
• Mø
• Spoon
• Rudimental
• Caribou

If you’re doing some last minute packing and trying to figure what to bring you should check out our absolute essential packing list from a few years back (scientifically proven to keep you dry and semi-clean!). It’s missing Emergen-C/Vitamins to keep the Bonnaroo Plague at bay, so don’t forget that.

We’ll be filing quick recaps from our dust covered MacBooks, so keep refreshing your RSS feed all weekend long (also, thanks for still having an RSS feed). Seriously, don’t even thinking about stepping outside to take your finger off the refresh button.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram where will be using the finest VSCO filters to make the famous amish donuts and pretzels looks glamorous all weekend long.

Our Instagram handles are @meaghatron & @dj01, give us your <3s dammit.

We’ll also sprinkle some painfully unfunny tweets on @metallungies & @meaghatron.