The best of Bonnaroo: 2008

August 26, 8:06 PMNashville Festivals ExaminerChris Griffy

Previous Next

4 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Nashville Festivals Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

In my ongoing series looking at the best bands to play the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, it’s time to look at 2008. The 2008 festival got started with more controversy than most as a number of big league music publications reported “reliable” leaks that Led Zeppelin would be kicking off their United States tour with an appearance at Bonnaroo. This wasn’t helped when the lineup came out and many mistook all-girl covers band Lez Zeppelin’s appearance for evidence that Led Zeppelin would appear.

Alas, the Led Zeppelin appearance (or the US tour it was supposed to kick off) did not materialize but that didn’t leave Bonnaroo short of high quality acts. Headlining the festival were Metallica, Pearl Jam, and Widespread Panic. Bonnaroo 2008 also featured performances by legends like B.B. King and Willie Nelson, up and comers like MGMT and Vampire Weekend, Bonnaroo favorites like My Morning Jacket and Les Claypool, and even an appearance by a Led Zeppelin-less Robert Plant, performing with country songstress Alison Krauss in support of their album Raising Sand.

2008 was also far and away the most controversial Bonnaroo in the history of the festival. Always a lightning rod, Metallica brought out both rabid metalhead defenders and hippie Bonnaroo veterans who proclaimed that by bringing in “sellout” Metallica, they were betraying what the festival was all about. In addition to that, 2008 has the dubious honor of playing host to both what is widely considered one of the two best shows in Bonnaroo history, as well as the almost universally accepted worst.

Here are some of the best performances from Bonnaroo 2008, with video provided by Youtube.

Metallica
No one was quite sure what to expect when Metallica took the Bonnaroo stage. Their new album Death Magnetic wasn’t out yet and their last album St. Anger was widely considered to be their worst. Fortunately, Bonnaroo patrons did not get the whiny Napster suing Metallica but a invigorated Metallica who heard the skeptics and came to put doubt to rest. After a three hour set made up almost exclusively of their older material, very few in attendance could doubt that Metallica was one of the best of the weekend.

Les Claypool
Practically a Bonnaroo mascot by now, Les Claypool has seen his fair share of Bonnaroos with a wide number of bands. His Bonnaroo set was a blistering Friday afternoon set on the Which Stage that had the entire crowd jumping.

B.B. King
Music legends are nothing new at Bonnaroo. Every year seems to bring in a few old timers who still know how to rock, but none have fit the “old timer” bill quite as well as 82 year old B.B. King. After receiving the key to the city of Manchester, B.B. King put on a blistering set of classic blues and hilarious stories that upstaged many of the young folks on hand that weekend.
 

My Morning Jacket
Long the darlings of Bonnaroo, My Morning Jacket has played their way up from an early afternoon slot on a small stage in 2004 to one of the most anticipated late night shows in Bonnaroo history. The packed Which Stage was not disappointed as My Morning Jacket ripped through a four hour set of their hits, tons of covers, and a surprise appearance by Metallica’s Kirk Hammett.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
While many were disappointed by the lack of Led Zeppelin at Bonnaroo 2008, few were able to walk away unhappy after hearing the magical collaboration from Zep singer Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Their pre-headliner set on Sunday was a serene masterpiece, even including a couple of slowed down Zeppelin tunes.

Did I miss your favorite show from Bonnaroo? Let me know in the comments section. If you’d like to read my recap of previous years, you can find them all here.

Photo Credit: Eric Draper/Public Domain