Dead & Company Set to Perform 2 Sets on Sunday

The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has released their daily lineup for the 2016 event taking place in Manchester, Tennessee June 9-12.

Thursday’s lineup includes a steamy sets from Vulfpeck, The Floozies, and Cashmere Cat. It was rumored that Dead and Company was playing on Thursday. I thought this would give Bonnaroo a chance to open up one of the main stages for Thursday.

After covering the event in 2015, I noticed 80-90% of the attendees arrived on Thursday. With the ticket price for Bonnaroo, I highly suggest opening up the Which Stage, and give Vulfpeck a chance to shine. They are one of the hottest acts to debut at Bonnaroo 2016.

“Let’s make Bonnaroo great again.”

Friday will feature gigantic performances by: Flosstradamus, Leon Bridges and GRiZ. Out of all the band’s on Friday, I would give GRiZ the What Stage from 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. Let LCD Soundsystem have the stage from 9 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. The reason I want to give GRiZ a push, is his effort behind creating collaborations. Let GRiZ shine with members of Lettuce.

I suggest having the medical staff nearby for the Flosstradamus set. After seeing them in 2013, I have good reason behind my suggestion.

If Ellie thinks 7 years is a long haul, I have been working multiple jobs for over 7 years, and I don’t get a break. If she is going to not tour, please book Alison Krauss now.

Stop listing J. Cole above real talent on the lineup. Stop buying into the idea he is worth that listing. Pop stars, like Maroon 5, should be at the bottom of the lineup, like in 2004. Trust me, we won’t hear about J. Cole or Ellie in 12 years. Artists have earn respect with extensive bodies of work, (decades of work) and not from marketing by major corporations. We need artists to stand up for their fans, and right now, pop stars only sing about water down topics to distract the masses from the real problems we all face daily. I wouldn’t mind seeing them get booed off the stages they don’t deserve. I’m not being heartless, I’m being honest.

Bring back Widespread Panic with a choir from Atlanta. That is soul. 

Saturday’s live entertainment showcases the brilliant work from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Not many people know this, but Bonnaroo is one of the only festival appearances that Macklemore has on the books in the United States for this summer.

Their latest album, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, is a testament to their careers. I suggest you give Macklemore a four hour set. One of the best sets I’ve ever seen in my life was a Particle set from Bonnaroo 2003 that went for 6 hours straight. Let’s see how long Macklemore can perform.

The Pearl Jam set will be a greatest hits collection, and should be a good headlining performance overall. It is a joke to see Ellie next to Pearl Jam. She is going to continue to get “buried” on this site. I only “put over” artists that put in the work.

Big Boi and Phantogram should be billed next to Pearl Jam. They should have the What Stage all to themselves after Pearl Jam’s set. No one wants to cram in a tent, or not even be able to see the show due to capacity.

Sunday’s entertainment has the most anticipated set of the weekend with Dead and Company performing two sets. I just realized that other headliners are not booked with two sets. I would switch that for Pearl Jam. LCD Soundsystem only needs one set.

The Bluegrass Situation is acoustic tradition on Sundays at Bonnaroo. It is relaxing to check out some bluegrass after a wild weekend.

I remember in 2009 Bonnaroo had several themed stages, curated and live sets. It would be excellent to get back to that point. Let’s make Bonnaroo great again. Greatness only stems within you. Without the people, the corporations win.