Radiohead's Thom Yorke performs at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts festival on Saturday
Photo: Jeff Gentner/Getty Images

MANCHESTER, Tennessee — It takes exactly 2,378 alternately dusty and muddy steps to travel from the end of Camp Austin Powers to the main gate at Bonnaroo, more than a mile of dirt-caked tents and gravel roads, of dreadlocked good-time dudes hawking all manner of glass-blown accoutrements and girls wearing raggedy dresses. It's a voyage of sunbaked unpleasantness, through dingy campsites and lines of Porta-Potties, across mountains of overstuffed trash bags and down into "Shakedown Street," a sort of countrified Calcutta packed with red-faced vendors selling tapestries, even more glass-blown accoutrements and "organic earplugs" (which are actually rocks).

And it's a trek happily taken several times a day by the maniacs who choose to camp out (in sites with really goofy names) at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts festival, a four-day celebration of sprawling live sets, crunchy communal vibes and poor hygiene held on 700-acres of farmland in Coffee County, Tennessee. (Click here for photos from the show.)

To attend Bonnaroo is to suffer happily. To be dusty and dirty beyond belief (or, when it rains, wet and musty), to be sunburned and uncomfortable and tired times 10, but not let any of those things bother you in the slightest. To dance like an idiot and party until 6 in the morning, then unzip your sleeping bag and do it all over again, all in the name of good vibes and in the spirit of your hippie forefathers (who just may be sleeping in the tent next to yours).

But for the first time in the festival's five-year history, there were rumblings that this year's 'Roo signified an end to all those good times. When organizers announced the initial lineup back in January, the usual suspects where there — Phil Lesh, moe., Bela Fleck and the Flecktones — but entrenched firmly on the list were a host of artists that seemingly had no connection to the fest's jam-heavy past, including British art-rockers Radiohead, indie fave Bright Eyes, genre-defying acts including Beck and Cat Power and (gasp!) even Death Cab for Cutie (see "Radiohead, Beck, Death Cab, Elvis Costello Playing Bonnaroo").

And many of the fest's faithful were less than pleased.

Event organizers tried to assuage them by explaining that they were just trying to put on the best festival possible, and that booking mainstream acts was a way to provide U.S. music fans with a multi-day fest on par with Glastonbury or Leeds. And their audience seemingly agreed, snapping up 80,000 tickets for this four-day edition. But when talking with fans on site, two things became abundantly clear: Bonnaroo 2006 either marked the beginning of the end or the beginning of, well, a new beginning.

"I was more hesitant this year because of the lineup, because I realized they have to have someone big to headline it, but last year was Dave Matthews, not Radiohead," Kumar Jensen, a 17-year-old from Yellow Springs, Ohio, said. "The feeling here seems different this year, too. It was more lively last year — people got into it way more. This year no one really seems that excited."

Others, however, didn't let it get them down. "I don't know, at first I cringed because I was worried that the environment was going to be totally different, but I've had an awesome time," Veronica Walton, an 18-year-old from Indiana laughed. "They have to make the festival successful, and I don't think they made it incredibly mainstream. I don't know how much I like Death Cab for Cutie, but I do like Beck."

And that dichotomy was readily apparent throughout the weekend, as sets by Beck and Death Cab were greeted with strange curiosity (somewhat fitting for Mr. Hansen's performance, which featured puppets, the world's largest boom box and dudes rapping in grizzly bear costumes), while more traditional shows — including the festival's annual Super Jam, which saw Trey Anastasio noodle around with Mike Gordon (dude, that's half of Phish!) — were touted by many as the highlights of the festival.

But there were many more high points. Getting assists from Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty rumbled through a hit-packed Friday night set, while later that night (or, technically, early the next morning, since they took the stage at midnight), Bonnaroo mainstays My Morning Jacket delivered a reverb-heavy performance. Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley and Cypress Hill made High Times aficionados howl with glee, while nearby Les Claypool goofed his way around the stage. The Streets played riffs from fellow Brits the Arctic Monkeys and provided plenty of party-up material (at the close of the set, MC/mastermind Mike Skinner ordered a concertgoer to down the remnants of a bottle of brandy and then crowd surf). The Balkan Beat Box — an eight-man klezmer/gypsy/ska act — had the crowd bouncing. And Matisyahu turned in a star-making mixture of dreamy dub and ragged reggae.

For their part, Radiohead did what they do best: perform intricate and icy anthems of angst and outrage, with the passion of a lunatic and the precision of a machine. During their two-and-a-half hour set, they dipped deep into the well ("Street Spirit" and "Fake Plastic Trees," from 1994's The Bends), played the anthems ("Paranoid Android," "Karma Police") and even strutted out several new numbers ("Arpeggi," "Nude"). And overall, the audience seemed to get it, thrusting lighters aloft, chucking glow-sticks into the air and grooving to the often glitchy rhythms.

The vibe was hampered a bit by pesky technical difficulties, as midway through the band's set, the giant video screens flanking either side of the stage conked out, leaving most in the crowd to stare at a very tiny Thom Yorke who was very far away. But even that couldn't sap the enthusiasm of the crowd, and it was a telling reminder of just what makes Bonnaroo so great in the first place. It's not the location or the performers or the laissez-fair approach to, um, party aids. It's the fans.

Because truly, it probably wouldn't matter if organizers booked Mötley Crüe to headline the 2007 edition of the fest, kids would still show up. They'd still make do, still do what they do best (groove for hours on end, play Frisbee, wear sarongs), and have a great time doing it. Anyone who had feared that Bonnaroo had gone mainstream needed only walk the festival grounds after midnight, as performance-art pieces popped up on the fringes, parades of girls in fairy wings and guys in vegetable costumes made their way through the darkness and kids slept peacefully on the ground or underneath trees, all while fireworks lit the night sky and a giant Ferris wheel slowly creaked in the distance. It was a strangely-serene-yet-sorta-scary experience, no doubt the kind of scene that Bonnaroo vets talk longingly about: vaguely ridiculous and likely chemically aided, but still amazing and pure and freaky beyond belief.

Because honestly, if your scene has been invaded by art-rocking Brits and Death Cab for Cutie, and you have to walk more than a mile just to sleep in a filthy tent, it sort of makes sense to dress up like a carrot and traipse through a farm in rural Tennessee at 4 a.m. Whatever makes the suffering sweeter.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Radiohead, Common, Matisyahu, More At The 2006 Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival

• Radiohead
• Beck
• Phish
• moe.
• Death Cab For Cutie

Photo: Elektra

• Robert Randolph & The Family Band
• The Roots
• Phish
• moe.
• Medeski Martin & Wood

Dave Matthews (file)
Photo: RCA

Dave Matthews, Maroon 5, Kings of Leon and former Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson are among the dozens of artists slated for the three-day Bonnaroo festival.

Part of one of the most eclectic lineups of the summer concert season, they join Bob Dylan, the Dead, Wilco, Damien Rice, Grandaddy, Cut Chemist, David Byrne, the Black Keys, Willie Nelson, moe., Ani DiFranco, Yo La Tengo, My Morning Jacket and String Cheese Incident at the third annual festival, which will again be held on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville, on June 11-13.

Thirty other artists are confirmed thus far, according to a tour spokesperson. Additions are expected to be announced in the coming weeks to bring the total number of acts to more than 60.

Matthews is being billed as "with friends," a crop of pals that will include Trey Anastasio, who's also on board as a solo act. The Phish guitarist played with Matthews on his most recent outing.

More than 80,000 fans came out for last year's festival, 2003's second-highest-grossing concert at a single venue. Its more than $11.5 million was second only to the $38.6 million that Bruce Springsteen raked in from his sold-out 10-show run at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

As in previous years, the show will be filmed for a "Live From Bonnaroo" DVD, expected to drop this fall.

Tickets for the event go on sale February 21.

• Dave Matthews
• Maroon 5
• Bob Dylan
• Wilco
• Damien Rice

Phish's<BR>Trey Anastasio
Photo: VH1

The nominations for the second annual Jammys were announced Monday, and to no self-respecting jam fan's surprise, Phish lead the pack with six nods.

The Vermont quartet earned the right to compete in the prestigious Jam of the Year category with nominations stemming from May 22 "Ghost/Rock and Roll" jam and their Independence Day ad-libbing on "Gotta Jibboo," according to a spokesperson for the awards show. Phish's 10th LP, Farmhouse, will also compete for Studio Album of the Year against releases by the Disco Biscuits (They Missed the Perfume), Medeski Martin & Wood (The Dropper) and Ratdog (Evening Moods), among others.

Nipping at Phish's fins are moe. and the String Cheese Incident, with five nominations apiece, including moe.'s Dither receiving a nod for Release of the Year and two SCI concerts (July 17 and December 21) vying for Live Performance of the Year.

Presented by Jambands.com, Relix magazine and New York activist center/music club the Wetlands Preserve,..." the Jammys ceremony is scheduled for June 28 at New York's Roseland Ballroom. The Derek Trucks Band will serve as the house band, and additional performers are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, the spokesperson said.

Last year's Jammys were held at Irving Plaza, a smaller venue, and were highlighted by collaborative performances from Frogwings (with blues songstress Susan Tedeschi), Soulive (with guitarist John Scofield) and the Disco Biscuits (with Primus bassist Les Claypool). Winners included Phish, the Disco Biscuits, the Grateful Dead and moe.

"Last year we threw a great party, but this year we're going to step things up," Jambands.com Editor in Chief Dean Budnick and Wetlands owner Peter Shapiro said in a statement. "We will be taking the event to the next level in order to pay due tribute to the majesty and might of improvisational music."

• Phish
• moe.
• The String Cheese Incident
• The Disco Biscuits
• Medeski Martin & Wood

Lucinda Williams
Photo: Matthew Weber

Having surpassed all previous attendance counts with this year's opening weekend of Jazz Fest (April 27-29), Louisiana Heritage Fair personnel expect to break those records again during the longer second weekend (May 3-7), weather permitting. The chances look good that they will, as there's been no real threat of rain while the harsh southern sunshine has been offset by brief reprieves of overcast coolness.

Scanning the lineup for the 2001 Fair, the second weekend of Jazz Fest could have been renamed Jam Fest. Widespread Panic, the Dave Matthews Band, moe., Galactic and other jammers are among the acts booked this year that could be expected to attract big crowds with their dedicated audiences.

Outside one of the Jazz Fest entrances opening weekend, a young girl in raggedy jeans and an apron shirt sold Jello shots while a young guy lounged on a nearby lawn next to a case full of glass paraphernalia for sale. An offer of "nugs for extras" to a sold-out non-Jazz Fest String Cheese Incident gig didn't even seem so out of place considering some of the bands on the bill. Yet beyond the gates was quite a different world.

The fairgrounds were riddled with flags — a rainbow Phish logo on white, a Grateful Dead "Steal Your Face" on black, a rubber chicken with a doll's head and a touching banner that read "Gabba Gabba Hey Joey" attached to a fishing pole. It was in front of the main stage and amidst all these flags that the local jazz fans, there to see the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's set, most noticeably overlapped with the jam fans who were there to claim space early for two sets of Widespread Panic.

Introduced as the band that "created the modern brass band" and "changed the New Orleans sound forever," the Dirty Dozen hit hard with their unique brand of funky jazz. When Widespread Panic singer/guitarist John "J.B." came out to sing during a scorching rendition of "It's All Over Now" (a favor the DDBB would return for several tunes during Panic's set), 'Spread heads went wild. Meanwhile, the House of Blues/Old School 102.9 stage held Chris Thomas King, who was busting a more mellow blues vibe with father Tabby Thomas. The Banks Family occupied the Gospel stage under the tent o' the Lord, whipping a crowd full of house shakin', foot stompin', hand clappin' believers into a soul sparkin' frenzy. On the BET/WWOZ stage, Irvin Mayfield was laying down the straight jazz for a rapt seated audience that was ready at all times to jump up for a standing ovation after a hot solo. Czech swingers J.J. Jazzmen's set was in perfect keeping with the Louis Armstrong 100th anniversary series of exhibits and panel discussions that were taking place during the festival. The five-piece outfit gave Satchmo's style a whirl in the Cox Communications Economy Hall tent. There, old folks with parasols floated past the front row and a wooden dance floor in the corner gave several couples, a few young children and a lone tap dancer a place to find their own thrills. On the Sprint PCS/LG stage, across the fairgrounds from thousands of happy heads, roots rocker Lucinda Williams accumulated an equally impenetrable mass of twang-inclined fans for her first ever Jazz Fest appearance. With acts like Williams and upcoming performances by Paul Simon, Mystikal, Keb' Mo', Wilson Pickett and Ellis Marsalis, the neo-hippie invasion predictions had thus far been — and most likely will continue to be — proven false for the fest proper; the grounds were far from overcome with tie-dye wearing, patchouli doused, dreadlocked stereotypes.

The annual During Jazzfest nighttime music series by Superfly Presents (unaffiliated with the official festival), however, has added to the jam focus by pitting bands like local favorite groove funkers Galactic against southern rockers Gov't Mule, the String Cheese Incident against Ben Harper and Jaques-Imo's or moe. against Deep Banana Blackout and Ozomatli by booking them at the same times in different venues. While some fans were wandering around with a finger in the air looking for extra tickets to sold-out shows and some "lot venders" were spotted selling burritos and goo balls on the street, the series was more about the music than the scene surrounding it.

Superfly sponsors at least one SuperJam series a year. Last year's historic meeting of Les Claypool (Primus), Stewart Copeland (The Police) and Trey Anastasio (Phish) was followed this year by two SuperJam groups. This year, the festival unofficially began Wednesday night at the Maple Leaf with the first of two performances by the Jaques-Imo's Café AllStars, featuring Jon Fishman (drums, Phish), Jamie Masefield (banjo/ mandolin, Jazz Mandolin Project), Gregory Davis (trumpet, Dirty Dozen Brass Band), Kirk Joseph (tuba, former DDBB), Lucien Barbarin (trombone) and Tim Laughlin (clarinet). The group played Wednesday and Thursday to packed crowds, blasting local flavors like "Mardis Gras New Orleans" and a requisite jam of "Iko Iko." String Cheese Incident and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals went toe to toe across the street from one another at the Saenger Theater and the State Palace Theater respectively. A percussion and horn-driven Ozomatli (a Santana for the hip-hop generation), opened for Harper, who appeased his audience with his soulful lap guitar funk, then floored the lot of them with a four-song encore, three of which featured the Blind Boys of Alabama. Overcome with emotion, he buried his head in his lap, collected himself and then exited the stage. He and the band returned for a second encore that included "Sexual Healing" and a thunderous "Faded"-into-"Whole Lotta Love"-back-into-"Faded" medley. Over at the Saenger, String Cheese gave their rambunctious glitter-happy, glow-stick-wielding audience two sets, separated by a 20-minute set break. Opening act Femi Anikulapo-Kuti joined the Colorado jamgrassers for a rendition of "Outside and Inside" (from String Cheese Incident's upcoming CD), and closed the first of a two-night run with the Allman Brothers Band classic "Jessica." Medeski Martin & Wood, Joshua Redman, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, DJ Logic, Gov't Mule, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe and moe. are all scheduled at New Orleans clubs and theaters throughout the city for the festival's second weekend, as is a different SuperJam, featuring Carter Beauford (drums, Dave Matthews Band), Meshell Ndegèocello (bass), John Medeski (keyboards), Joshua Redman (sax) and Marc Ribot (guitar).

• Widespread Panic
• Lucinda Williams
• The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
• Paul Simon
• Mystikal

moe.
Photo: Fatboy

BEARSVILLE, New York — Upstate New York jam band moe. owned the airwaves on Saturday night — for an hour, anyway. Hosting a slightly premature record release show in celebration of their upcoming album, Dither (due out on their independent label, Fatboy, on February 6), moe. played to approximately 350 die-hard fans in Bearsville and many beyond. The first set of the show was aired and webcast by local radio station WDST and featured several songs from the upcoming album ("Faker," "Understand," "Captain America"), one previously released tune ("Rebubula," from 1996's No Doy), and a brand new number the band called "Kids." Perhaps too conscious of the unseen audience, moe. came off somewhat stiff during between-song banter, and bassist/vocalist Rob Derhak flubbed a couple of lyrics, smiling at the realization and quickly recovering. The boys seemed more relaxed during the second set, when the entire audience was visible, and the show took on a feeling of familiarity. During one older favorite, "Moth," moe. friend/megafan Sharon Shiner even took to the stage to recite a few lines. moe. formed in 1991 and since have attracted a rabid fanbase with their jazzy blues-rock blend. Last summer the band put together the first "moe.down," a three-day festival in New York's Adirondack mountains that also featured Ani DiFranco.

Saturday's show in Bearsville marked the third surprise appearance moe. have made since the group's New Year's Eve tour-closer in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The band played Thursday under the alias Monkeys on Ecstasy in Albany, New York, and participated in an All-Star Jam at New York City's Wetlands Friday night. So much for taking a break — the band hits the road (and the larger venues) again next month. moe. tour dates:

• 2/1 - Park City, UT @ Harry-O's
• 2/2 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint/The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
• 2/3 - Anaheim, CA @ The Sun Theater
• 2/4 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
• 2/7 - Eugene, OR @ University of Oregon EMU Ballroom
• 2/8 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
• 2/9 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
• 2/10 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
• 2/12 - Flagstaff, AZ @ Prochnow Auditorium
• 2/13 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
• 2/15 - Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Live
• 2/16 - Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
• 2/17 - New Orleans, LA @ Tipitinas
• 2/18 - Memphis, TN @ New Daisy Theatre
• 2/21 - Miami, FL @ Tobacco Road
• 2/22 - Gainesville, FL @ Florida Theatre
• 2/23 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
• 2/24 - Norfolk, VA @ The Norva Theatre
• 2/27 - Wilmington, DE @ Kahoonaville
• 2/28 - Scranton, PA @ Scranton Cultural Center
• 3/1 - Burlington, VT @ Flynn Theatre
• 3/2 - Syracuse, NY @ Landmark Theatre
• 3/3 - Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
• 3/4 - New Haven, CT @ The Palace
• 3/6 - Erie, PA @ Warner Theatre
• 3/8 - Detroit, MI @ The Magestic
• 3/9 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
• 3/10 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
• 3/15 - Omaha, NE @ Ranch Bowl
• 3/16 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
• 3/17 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium

• moe.

Genre-defying songstress Ani DiFranco and, yes, Moe., are the first acts to be confirmed for Moe.down, a three-day outdoor festival to be held September 1–3 in Turin, New York, an Adirondack Mountains foothill community about an hour northeast of Syracuse.

"It's toward the end of summer, and the weather is beautiful there," publicist Zachary Roberts said. "Plus it's a chance for a lot of the people who use grassroots ways of getting their music out to get together. I think Ani's inclusion reflects that."

Although no other acts have been confirmed, the influential hip-hop band The Roots and alt-country innovators Wilco have been mentioned as possible additions to the first-ever Moe.down, which Moe. representatives expect to draw 5,000 to 10,000 people.

Moe.'s latest album, the live two-CD set "L" (Fatboy), was released Tuesday.

• Ani DiFranco
• moe.

Pearl Jam, Amy Winehouse, Lupe Fiasco, M.I.A., More At Lollapalooza 2007

• Pearl Jam
• M.I.A.
• Daft Punk
• Perry Farrell
• Against Me!