Bonnaroo 2010: Day One Report, Photo Gallery And More

Thursday, the first day of Bonnaroo, is all about the Three G’s:

1. Gearing up
2. Getting in
3. Getting down

Gearing up, at one of Tennessee’s many fine WalMarts, is part of the tradition. Thursday the New York Times reported that Bonnaroo contributes nearly $20 million to the region’s economy each year. A solid half of that clearly goes to the caravan of tarps, styrofoam coolers and cheap cases of beer seen streaming out of the Coffee County WalMart.

Getting in this year was a breeze, the highways heavy with traffic but moving quickly thanks to the State Police. Nine years in, county officials and the Bonnaroo organizers have this down to a science.

Once in, the important part begins. That thing we all came here to do: GET DOWN!

The Thursday sets at Bonnaroo have become known as the “tastemaker” sets, showcasing bands that will without a doubt taste great success in the coming year. Leading the charge on this year’s opening day was a crew of up-and-coming acts that included the Postelles, Local Natives, the Temper Trap, the xx, Neon Indian and Mayer Hawthorne. Each rose to the occasion, playing to packed crowds at the not-confusingly-named This Tent and That Tent.

The xx are an uber-buzzy British three-piece who play an emotional brand of electro indie-pop that digs deep and tugs at the heartstrings. Before they sat in for one of Bonnaroo’s famed backstage “hay bale” performances on Thursday, they sat down with WXRT’s Marty Lennartz for a chat about the incredible year they’ve had. Stay tuned for that interview on these pages, as well as audio of their incredible backstage session.

Day One drew to a close with the sounds of Lotus and Joshua James riling up the late-night masses, reminding everyone why they came back again this year: to Get Down.

Stay tuned for reports from Day Two at Bonnaroo, which along with images and reviews will include sets from the National, Tenacious D, Damina Marley and Nas, the Black Keys, the Flaming Lips, and headliners Kings of Leon.

See all Backstage at Bonnaroo coverage courtesy of our friends at WXRT.

A brief history brought to us by our friends at Myspace.

When Bonnaroo started in 2002, it seemed like just another jamband lovefest headlined by artists like Widespread Panic , String Cheese Incident , Ben Harper , Trey Anastasio and a host of other artists heralded as “Gods” in every freshman dorm across the world.

Yet, despite the festival’s immediate success, over the years it has slowly started to evolve, bringing everyone from hip-hop artists like RJD2 to indie rock icons such as Sonic Youth out to the sticks of Tennessee to perform. But it wasn’t until 2006 that Bonnaroo truly became the diverse festival that we’ve come to love—they’ve captured some of the biggest, and established acts in the world in order to give the festival the power to please even the most hackysack-allergic of music fans.

Here we examine five moments that redefined the festival forever— helping it grow into the genre-defying celebration that it is today.

See all Myspace Bonnaroo coverage here.