The lineup
U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Weeknd, Chance the Rapper, Major Lazer, Flume, Lorde, The XX, Travis Scott, Martin Garrix, Cage the Elephant, Marshmello, The Head and the Heart, Big Gigantic, Glass Animals, Future Islands, Tory Lanez, Tove Lo and Crystal Castles. Umphrey’s McGee, Portugal. The Man, Tegan & Sara, Milky Chance, Yellow Claw, Cold War Kids, Kaleo, Superjam, Russ, Jon Bellion, Royal Blood, The Strumbellas, Car Seat Headrest, Michael Kiwanuka, Gallant, Louis the Child, D.R.A.M., Borgore, Dualipa, Nghtmre, Getter and Snails. James Vincent McMorrow, Joseph, Illenium, Flatbush Zombies, Amine, Claude Vonstroke, Francis and the Lights, Margo Price, Badbadnotgood, The Front Bottoms, G Jones, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Cam, Bad Suns, Coin, Mandolin Orange, Eden and Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Ookay, Herobust, Kevin Morby, Goldfish, No Name, Leon, Bluegrass Situation Superjam hosted by Ed Helms and friends, Albin Lee Meldau, San Holo, Rezz, Angélique Kidjo, Haywyre, Deap Vally, Hippo Campus, Luke Combs, Vanic, Unlike Pluto, Kaiydo, Ten Fé, Nightly, The Orwells, Stick Figure and Mondo Cozmo. Barclay Crenshaw, Goody Grace, July Talk, Turkauz, Lucy Dacus, Klangstof, Kevin Abstract, Khruangbin, The Lemon Twigs, Wilderado, Twin Limb, Big Jesus, Twiddle, White Reaper, River Whyless, Alaxandra Savior, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Innanet James, Ganja White Night, Welles and Aaron Lee Tasjan.
Barry CourterSo the 2017 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival lineup was announced yesterday, and before we go any further, please understand the deadline for this column was well before I had the list in hand, so this isn’t about who is coming and who is not. Kind of. We did get early word on Monday that U2 was confirmed. I’d heard they were coming weeks earlier along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chance the Rapper and The Weeknd.
No matter. I’ve contended for years that whether we are talking about the lineup for Bonnaroo, Riverbend, the county fair or whatever, qualifying it as good or bad is mostly subjective. If your favorite acts are included, it’s the best, and if they’re not, it’s terrible. That’s in general, of course.
We can break it down or assign values to the lists then argue over whether it hit those values or not. Are the acts current or mostly oldies, for example? How many original members does the act have; or if current, do they have new material out and are charting well?
These are all fair questions, and they do impact the excitement level of fans, especially given the number of options available.
When Bonnaroo began in 2002, large music festivals in this country were few and far between, and they were not always successful. Multi-day, multi-act events had come and gone in Birmingham, Nashville and Atlanta.
From the beginning, Bonnaroo has modeled itself after the successful and long-running festivals in Europe such as Glastonbury. Organizers have said from the start that they have been thinking long-term, and that has been proven by the improvements done to the 700-acre farm over the years. What was once just a cow pasture is now home to roads, permanent power and water lines, bathrooms and trees that were planted with the idea they would grow and one day provide shade.
Anyone who has been knows how big a deal those trees are. They also planted a variety of grass that would withstand heavy foot traffic and high heat.
But last year was a down year in a lot of ways. Ticket sales were reportedly down about 45 percent. The site was cleverly reconfigured to make everything seem big and full, and it worked. While not my favorite lineup of the previous 11 I’ve attended, it was still plenty good, and overall it was a great festival.
Several things contributed to the low numbers last year, I believe. Among them, a sharp increase in ticket price, a less than stellar top of the lineup and the increased numbers of other festivals. People had choices, and they chose to go elsewhere.
LiveNation needed to go big with this lineup. Ticket buyers will decide if they succeeded.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.