Alisa Ali checking in from Bonnaroo

Hello from Manchester, TN! This is my first morning at the old Bonnaroo & I am feeling a bit rough, but it's nothing a big dose of Iced Coffee won't fix. 

Yesterday was a busy day. The 1st day is always a weird mix or logistics and late night music. Logistics: Get to the farm as fast as you can, Find a good spot to camp (KEY: With Shade) Set up tent as fast as you can, & Go! I tell you, I was excited to finally get to to bonnaroo, but when I heard Milo Greene performing as I was setting up my tent, I was stressing out because I could hear how great they sounded and I felt like I was missing it. But you, know there is so much going on, you can't get to everything. There's actually a ton more stuff here since the last time I was here: art installations, carnival games, tons more vendors etc. I don't generally have time for that stuff though, since music is the priority. There is always a band that you could be seeing. For instance, I wanted to go see Futurebirds , JD McPherson & Araab Muzic but they were all playing at the same time. So, I did musical drive bys. & Then, inevitably as you are on your way to one show, you get pulled into another that you hadn't planned for but ends up being one of your favorites, like OGYA Afrobeat. Their drumming and brass section drew me into a fun world dance party;)

Other highlights of the day included Django Django whose bombastic music felt like it was shaking your inner organs (but not in a scary, am I having a heart attack? way). Father John Misty put on a surprisingly rockin set. It was much more lively than the album, (though the album - Fear Fun is also great but in a more quiet way than the live show),  Japandroids had the most crowd surfers I've seen at a show in a long time. Their dense audience was ideal for floating people around. (At some point during this festival I will do  a radio check in while I am crowd surfing - just working out the logistics of doing that now;) & btw - That is a joke. That sounds like a terrible idea!)

Oh but one of my favorite things from yesterday was stumbling upon Sir Paul McCartney soundchecking! He had a full band on stage with him and the video projections were up, so I could see him playing (by watching through a fence) & he sounded so great!. It was a pretty thrilling moment & I immediately wanted to call Darren & Dennis ( our resident Beatles experts and fans ) to tell them about it. I'm super excited to see him play tonight. 

Oh and here's some other headliner news. Mumford Cancelled their set for tomorrow. Jack Johnson will step in as a replacement. Also, apparently the Diiv show from yesterday is rescheduled today. They will play as a replacement for the cancelled Earl Sweatshirt set.  & I'd pretty happy about that.

later today on the schedule for me: Wilco, Amadou & Mariam, Wu-Tang, Pretty Lights and...The Whole Wide World! We're broadcasting live tonight at 7, so tune in. 

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