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2013 was my 10th Bonnaroo, and favorite yet. 3 completely unexpectedly awesome headliners and my new best hip hop show of all time take it. From Paul McCartney totally NOT being just the nostalgia act I was expecting (80K person singalong), to Tom Petty bringing the classics (some magical singalongs of his own), to Jack Johnson filling in for the ailing Mumford and Sons. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis absolutely destroyed their set, biggest daytime What Stage crowd in history (and at only 2:30 in the afternoon on a Sunday), and my new favorite Hip Hop show of all time (beating out Jay Z, Galactic backing up Chali 2Na, and Outkast in a club).
This continuous DJ mix is a retrospective of the best I heard live on the farm last year. So many amazing memories. With the 2014 lineup announcement immanent, figured I'd help remind all of you what another glorious time we have in store for us come June (no matter who they bring, this is the best festival in the country for a reason!)
1. Paul McCartney - Live and Let Die (those unexpected pyrotechnics!)
2. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Ten Thousand Hours (welcome to the heist)
3. Pretty Lights - Hot Like Sauce (this was playing all over the carousel too)
4. Twenty One Pilots - Car Radio (climbing to the top of the stage was nuts)
5. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Here Comes my Girl (took this song to a whole new level, such proud passion)
6. Talking Heads - Burning Down the House (David Byrne and St. Vincent was such a fun trippy show, this encore was brilliant)
7. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Man on Fire (Little Daylight Remix) (overwhelming positive vibes from these guys)
8. Lord Huron - Time to Run (on both the tent and sonic stage)
9. Jack Johnson - Upside Down (favorite song of his, its from the Curios George soundtrack, and first time getting it live)
10. Empire of the Sun - Alive (Mat Zo) (such wonderful madness happening on stage for these guys, this track makes you feel alive for sure)
11. The Beatles - Get Back (I got every single Beatles song I wanted, this was unexpected to score)
12. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Can't Hold Us (absolutely bonkers, THIS is why this was the best hip hop show of all time
13. Conspirator - Hammer Down (all time best inflatable toy battle during this set, from the alligator fighting the whale to the giant dildo having relations with the giant inner tube)
14. Capital Cities - Holiday (Madonna cover) (these guys had no business being in a cafe, so crowded, hope to catch them in a tent this year)
15. Green Day - Brain Stew (snippet) (certainly didn't expect to hear a Green Day cover on the farm, last of which from Trombone Shorty who ruled it)
16. Trombone Shorty - Backatown (perfect way to open up the What Stage)
17. The Lumineers - Flowers in your Hair (they have way more than one song!)
19. Purity Ring - Belispeak (those xylophone lights, her voice)
20. The National - Conversation 16 (lead singer just could not stop running out into the crowd, so much fun. Their latest is one of the best albums of 2013)
21. John Denver - Country Roads (Pretty Lights Remix) (what a perfect fit for the Roo crowd, singalong maddness)
22. alt-J - Dissolve Me (unexpectedly good set during conflict central Thursday night)
23. Drew Holcolm & the Neighbors - Wine we drink (only song I knew from him, and happened to catch it when I popped in. He was sweating like mad on stage, very hottie other band member)
24. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Learning to Fly (again took this song to a whole new level, "coming down, is the hardest part")
25. Steve Miller Band - The Joker (snippet) (heard it covered twice in one day, Jack Johnson's was perfect)
26. Sublime - Badfish (snippet) (part of Jack Johnson's glorious medley)
27. Mumford and Sons - The Cave (snippet) (not only did he only practice 6 hours, he also learned this cover when filling in for Mumford)
28. Jack Johnson - Flake (seems to be that maybe, pretty much always means no)
29. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Starting Over (feat. Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses) (such an amazing storyteller)
30. Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed (I was more than amazed, I was mesmerized by his stage presence)
31. Gov't Mule - Thorzane Shuffle (my favorite Mule track, what a bassline)
32. Weird Al Yankovic - Yoda (The Kinks - Lola parody) (Weird Al's all time best crowd, seemed like there were 10K of us singing every single word to every single song, so much fun)
33. Marvin Gaye - Let's Get it On (snippet) (from in the silent disco, close to dawn with Jim James dancing with the rest of us)
34. Lionel Richie - All Night Long (all right) (snippet) (silent disco melody continued, I love dancing in there as the sun comes up)
35. Toto - Africa (snippet) (more silent disco gold, fun oldies set with everyone singing)
36. Daft Punk - Get Lucky (snippet) (heard it all over centeroo and the rest of the farm all weekend long, plus in the silent disco a couple of times, Song of the summer for sure)
37. The Lumineers - Ho Hey (great crowd interaction from this band)
38. The Beatles - We Can Work it Out (crowd was going nuts for this, the 2 hour singalong was such a blast)
39. Milo Greene - Perfectly Aligned (caught my favorite song from them as I was walking by, the stars certainly were perfectly aligned for this Bonnaroo)
40. Lord Huron - Ends of the Earth (love these guys harmonies)
41. Dwight Yoakam - A Thousand Miles from Nowhere (only caught like 3 songs, and they were the 3 I know best. I always have the best luck wandering Roo)
42. Beastie Boys - So Whatcha Want (snippet) (this was our request in the carousel/main Roll Like a Rockstar Hangout area, totally got the party going Sunday night after Petty)
43. Lyle Lovett - Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead cover snippet) (Tom Petty did wonders covering this Sunday, nice choice)
44. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Don't Come Around Here (fantastic energy during his set)
45. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Same Love (perfect way to bring attention to a ridiculous issue, love who you want)
46. Capital Cities - Nothing Compares 2 U (Prince/Shenade O'Conner cover) (packed in the cafe, but way fun set)
47. Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream (Ben Watt Remix) (walking around centeroo late night always feels like a dream)
48. Araabmuzik - Electronic Dream (love his Above and Beyond rework)
49. Conspirator - Tumblr (their "we don't need no education" cover was also fantastic)
50. Pink Floyd - Time (Pretty Lights Remix) (one of my all time favorite songs and such a money remix, so wonderful to get it live)
51, The National - Fake Empire (these guys are sooooo different and so much better live than on record)
52, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Home (RAC Remix) (Bonnaroo always feels like home)
53, The Beatles - Hey Jude (I have never really liked this song, hearing it live and how Paul took each verse at the end to new dimensions with the crowd going insane was such a perfect experience, as good as live music can possibly be)
Heres to 2014 being another one for the record books:-)
I can't trust anyone who says Macklemore is the best hip hop show of all time
You'll find it easier when he gives us 12 different 90 minute mixes of all the artists playing Bonnaroo. I always do my own searching and usually just put every artists album into one playlist and hit shuffle. These mixes save me SOO much time and effort. I still catch a couple on shuffle from time to time. Always enjoy them.
Thanks for the feedback everyone, it was way fun to make and relive the experience myself.
It is strange to hear that I can't be trusted for my opinion. Music and live shows are pretty subjective, to each their own. In my experience hip hip is often not that great live, the sound is never balanced well and verses are often mumbled or yelled/screamed without the same effect as on record. I can say that I have enough experience to make an educated decision.
Live, I've seen Jay Z (top 3 best of all time), Kanye (ok), Eminem (ok), Kendrick Lamar (nothing special), Outkast (3 times, in club was top 3 best of all time while 2 times at festivals were just ok), Big Boi solo (outstanding), Jurassic 5 (finally at Coachella last year, really good), Snoop Dogg (twice, just ok), Blackalicious (one of my favorites on album, but not as great live), Del the Funky Homosapien (good), Deltron 3000 (at long last a couple of months ago, awesome), Kid Cudi (great on album other than the n word so much, just ok live), Wu Tang Clan (twice, terrible both), Action Bronson (good), Nas (3 times, all just ok), Aesop Rock (ok), DJ Shadow (3 times, outstanding at Roo, just ok the other 2 times), Beastie Boys (2 or 3 times, mediocre even though one of my favorites on album), The Streets (twice, ok), Lyris Born (awesome), Talib Kwali (good), Mos Def (twice, ok), The Roots (many times, good to great), Chali 2na from Jurrassic 5 with Galactic as his backing band (top 3 best of all time), and plenty of other smaller ones. This is just in the hip hop genre, I've seen thousands of others counting all genres. I'm not stating an opinion willy nilly.
Also please keep in mind that I am not saying ALL Macklemore and Ryan Lewis shows are the best (I watched some streams from other festivals and it wasn't the same). I'm also not saying their album is the best. What I am saying is that at Bonnaroo in 2013, on Sunday, at only 2:30 in the afternoon, the biggest daytime crowd in What Stage history gathered (again, keeping in mind that I have been at 10 Bonnaroo's so have experienced almost all of it first hand), Macklemore killed it. The wearing a wig thing was a little cheesy, but still fun. The 4 songs I put in the mix were absolutely awesome. You can watch the video I shared to as proof of what it was like, Can't Hold Us was an insane release of energy..
So all that being said, which hip hop shows that you have seen live that are better (and what else do you have to compare it to)?
Post by those are some cute dogs on Jan 26, 2014 14:05:33 GMT -5
rjsonbeek15 just argues with people for no reason so i wouldn't worry about it. this list is fucking awesome making my Sunday that much more enjoyable, thanks!
Post by pondo ROCKS on Jan 27, 2014 8:48:09 GMT -5
Billion...
Glad to see you back my brother! Love the new mix! I cannot wait to see what you come up with for the 2014 lineup (and of course, I will do one as well. Credit to you of course!)
Got to meet you last year and I hope to do the same this year. Your opinion is good as gold with me man!
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I agree regarding the Jay Z set at Roo in 2010, outstanding. It was my first time ever in the What stage pit. 'Young Forever' was simply amazing, awesome moment of unity. The full backing band is what really made it, I remember the band members just looking at each other being blown away like "WOW, feel that crowd" (in my experience nothing tops the magic of the Roo audience). Herding out after the show I remember hearing someone in the crowd yell "suck on THAT Phish fans, now that was a headliner!".
At a certain point of awesomeness, there really isn't a level of "better" for one show over another. But I still choose the Macklemore set over that Jay Z party (not diminishing the Jay Z set in the least). It was Sunday, the last day of the Roo marathon when everyone is run down (our stink was in full glorious force). And it was only 2:30 in the afternoon (when normally a huge percentage of Roovians haven't stumbled into centeroo yet). And the What field was totally freaking packed (I heard the rest of centeroo was a ghost town). And the crowd totally ate it up, got most everyone moving. There was this extremely hot topless woman on a guys shoulders to my left. There was another one in a bikini dancing in front of us (where her bottoms kept falling down as she was shaking it). Everyone was jumping up and down, fist pumping. Macklemore walked out over the crowd (crowd surfing standing up!), grabbed a flag and stated waving it like a madman. Seriously one of the greatest releases of energy I have ever experienced in my two decades of world class shows.
And it was great to finally meet the Pondo last year (I am a card carrying member of the Pondo army now). Interesting story. I spotted the viking horns right before Clockworks fun set (awesome having EDM to dance to so early in the day). I went and got Pondo a beer and water from backstage ("for a fellow DJ"). On the way back, Weird Al drives up in a golf cart to check out his stage in the daylight (this is backstage at the Other Tent). I spotted him, got his attention, waved and did the whole worshiping motion to him. So wish I would have gone to talk to him. He has never really played festivals because he is afraid people won't like him. Weird Al is the first album my brothers and I ever purchased...30 years ago. I loved Weird Al before I liked music (music didn't really click with me until I was like 17, as deep into it as I am today). I wanted to reassure him that he would be welcomed by the Roo crowd, and man was he ever. He said it both that night and in a later interview, "it was the best crowd I have ever played, ten thousand people going nuts." Late night Bonnaroo is sacred in the music world (what sets Roo apart from all the other majors), Weird Al deserved his spot and owned it. That show was music coming full circle for me.
You will either like them or you won't, all good. Just know that I spend a long, long time making these Bonnaroo DJ mixes. Filtering through over 2000 songs from all the artists playing Roo each year. Then putting them together into an adventure (rather than just a collection of random songs). Then getting the mixes as seamless as possible (medleys are the hardest, couple of miscues along the way). They will give a different perspective of the festival, so much fun.
If any of these Beck or Flaming Lips rumors come true, man the 2014 mixes will be fun indeed.
