With the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival's lineup drop show coming on Tuesday, Feb. 19 in a Bonnaroo365 webcast hosted by Weird Al Yankovic, it's that time of the year when I boldly go where a whole bunch of other people have gone before and try to predict at least part of the Bonnaroo 2013 lineup.
These lineup predictions come from three places. First, and primarily, from the hard work of my fellows at the Inforoo message board who have spoken to artists at shows and scoured news for any clue of a band's Bonnaroo appearance. They are by far the most reliable and consistent resource for anyone looking for hardcore Bonnaroo fan discussions. Second, from artists who have self-confirmed Bonnaroo appearances. Third, from educated guesses. These come from logical tour gaps, my own guesses to the Bonnaroo Clue game questions, and from bands appearing at other festivals close to Bonnaroo time.
Here are my predictions. Feel free to post yours in the comment section or to come back and openly mock me for any incorrect predictions.
Headliners
There's been a lot of speculation about headliners this year but 4 artists seem to have come together as the consensus best guess. I cheated a bit on Saturday's headliner because I think it will either be a split headliner situation like Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z in 2010 or a possible dueling headliner situation like The Beastie Boys and David Byrne in 2009.
Friday: Sir Paul McCartney
Saturday: Mumford & Sons/Bjork
Sunday: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
McCartney has been clued in by a number of people to the point that most people think he's a virtual lock. Bjork has bubbled up a ton and could be a reasonable answer to at least two of the Bonnaroo clues. Mumford & Sons are a band Bonnaroo has been promoting like crazy on their site and make the most sense for a "up and comer" headliner to balance off the two classic rockers. Tom Petty's name has been consistently floating around since November and really hasn't ever completely gone away, enough so that he seems to be a "good sense" guess, although I wouldn't be surprised to see Widespread Panic or Furthur in that slot instead.
Late Night Acts
Some of the most special shows at Bonnaroo are always the Late Night acts. The hardest predict here is whether Bjork ends up being a Which stage headliner opposite Mumford & Sons or a What Late Night in the vein of Phish and Jay-Z, which would knock out one of the Which Late Night acts. In the end, I hedged my bets and put Bjork as a Late Night What, but assumed there'd still be a very late, 3:00 a.m. or later, Which Stage DJ as well.
Which Stage Late Night: Friday: Phil Lesh and Friends. Saturday: Pretty Lights.
Tent Late Nights: The XX, Wolfgang Gartner, Jim James, A$AP Rocky, Wu-Tang Clan, R. Kelly, Animal Collective, Tame Impala, Yonder Mountain String Band.
Other Artists
These are artists who I see in other places on the lineup, but still there. Some, like Jeff the Brotherhood, have self-confirmed. Others have hinted at it at shows, are playing other festivals in the same time frame, or fill one of Bonnaroo's typical "slots" like legendary country artist.
Dave Grohl's Sound City Players, Father John Misty, Diiv, Swans, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Local Natives, Grizzly Bear, Cat Power, Japandroids, Frank Ocean, Of Monsters and Men, Sleigh Bells, Richard Thompson, Emmylou Harris, The Postal Service, Purity Ring, Trombone Shorty, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Atlas Genius, Janelle Monae, Alt-J, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, Weird Al Yankovic, Passion Pit.
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