A Review Of Saturday's Hot Shows At Bonnaroo

I’m missing Calexico as I type, but I believe I can feel the skin around my forehead peeling off my face.  Most Bonnaroo veterans agree that this has been the hottest one ever.  With the exception of a passing shower yesterday afternoon the sun has been brutally unrelenting.  We’re all like shriveled baked potatoes rolling slowly from show to show seeking any sort of shade.  Despite this, I’m having a wonderful time.  The impressive musical performances have more than made up for the problems caused by the weather.
After the Bonnaroo crew signed off WFPK’s air Saturday afternoon I found my friends Jyn & Carla and we took in a bit of Jeff Beck’s show.  I wanted to get over to them sooner, but I was stuck for 20 minutes trying to make my way through Weezer’s overflow crowd at the Which Stage.    What I heard of Weezer sounded great (“There’s a 100,000 people here at Bonnaroo, and they’re all here to watch Weezer!” said lead singer Rivers Cuomo) but I think the band would have been better suited being on the main (What) stage to handle the crowd.
My friends and I decided to beat the sea of humanity to the Stevie Wonder show and set up camp towards the back of the Main Stage crowd.  Fortunately I brought a great pair of binoculars.  Stevie’s backup singers, percussionists and huge 13 piece band roared through Wonder’s catalog of hits and his band was note perfect from first bar to last.  The two hour show went by way too fast.  Most of the crowd stayed put for Jay Z, and though I didn’t plan on catching this famous Rap artist, I’m glad I did.
I know very little about Jay-Z, so it was interesting to see his show as an “outsider”.  His band was incredible, and his intricate raps were often wrapped around loops familiar to all in the audience (everybody from Nirvana to U2 were referenced).  From where I was seated I had difficulty hearing what he was saying so I concentrated on the overall effect of the music and light show.  Behind Jay Z were huge banks of lights modulating on and off like an enormous graphic equalizer.  Cool!
Next I headed off solo to catch my most anticipated show at this year’s festival: Thievery Corporation.  They did not disappoint!  I didn’t take my camera to this show and I haven’t found any good photos of it yet online, but I loved how they set up the stage. DJs Rob Garza & Eric Hilton are the force behind this group and they stationed themselves on the top tier of a two tier stage.  They were silhouetted against a massive bank of blindingly white lights.  Below them their band (all dressed in black) threw down killer groove after killer groove.  The band members stayed mostly stationary with the exception of the bass player who danced back and forth with choreographic precision behind various singers who took turns with vocal duties.  This turned out to be my favorite show (besides Stevie Wonder) at this year’s Bonnaroo.