20. Catfish & the Bottlemen | Bonnaroo, This Tent
This was my first time to see these new darlings of Britrock in person, but a lot of technical difficulties caused some distractions in their set, and eventually ended it after only 30 minutes. You could tell they were genuinely excited to be there, and the songs they were able to get out sounded pretty good. But with how much I have spun The Balcony this year, I was really hoping for something more.
19. Nattali Rize | Wakarusa, Revival Tent
It was the last day of Wakarusa and I was napping in a hammock about 100 yards away from the Revival Tent, when I was awakened by the sound of a perfectly ambiguous accent thanking the crowd for being there for her first ever show on American soil. This was enough for me to drag myself out of my sun-coma and crawl under the tent to check out Nattali Rize. She was charismatic, she oozed positive vibes, and she had a really solid voice. Reggae isn’t something I tend be drawn to, but I also think that I probably wasn’t the only person surprised by how much they enjoyed the show. I was even inspired enough to tweet her a thank you afterward. She could certainly be someone to watch out for on the jam band/festival scene.
18. Broncho | Bonnaroo, Miller Lite Lounge
What kind of Oklahoman would I be if I didn’t check out our hometown heroes play to a worldly crowd at the biggest music festival in the country? They were in a tough spot as Courtney Barnett and Tove Lo were also performing at the same time, but I will be damned if the crowd at the front of Broncho’s set didn’t bring it just as hard as the crowd at the bigger stages. It was pretty cool/surreal to see so many people from outside of the city/state be so familiar with Broncho’s deeper cuts and older jams, and everyone (including the band) looked like they were having a pretty great time.
17. Reggie Watts | Bonnaroo, Comedy Theater
I might be biased based on the fact that I was able to interview/fall in love with Reggie IRL at Bonnaroo on Saturday, but seeing him on stage doing his Reggie Watts thing is certainly something I will remember for a long time. His particular style of mostly improvised musical comedy is one of the most original things happening on the comedy circuit in 2015, and his new job as the band leader for James Corden has raised his profile to new heights. So much so that even the older staff members at the backstage buffet were singing his praises and telling him how they “watch him on TV every night.”
16. Phoebe Ryan | Bonnaroo, Who Stage
Phoebe Ryan is my favorite new artist of 2015. Her debut EP dropped last week, and her cover-mashup of R. Kelly’s “Ignition Remix” + Miguel’s “Do You” is one of my five favorite songs of the year. She’s still very new and was placed in a weird timeslot Saturday evening, but her crowd showed up in droves. You could tell Ryan was legitimately shocked by the amount of people there to see her when she walked on stage. It was the biggest crowd I saw at the Who stage (which is small and reserved for “unknown” artists) all weekend, and there was even a charming girl standing in front of me who snapped at her boyfriend to “get the fuck up and dance with me because ‘Mine’ is my favorite song!” Ryan’s voice was on point and her crowd banter was enthusiastic. She is going to be a huge star, probably sooner than we think.
15. Naked Guy/Black Tiger Sex Machine (NSFW) | Wakarusa, Satellite Stage
While Bonnaroo has the Kalliope stage that will let people rage to EDM music until sunrise, Wakarusa has the much more beautiful Satellite Stage, where they would schedule a DJ/group every night around 5 a.m. to play through the sunrise. It’s really a work of art the way it’s decorated and tucked away in the woods, surrounded by trees. And on the Saturday night/Sunday morning of Waka, one naked hero decided to climb one of those trees. All I know about him is that his name is James, and that he apparently had been up in the trees all night long, but no one noticed him until the light started to peak out during Black Tiger Sex Machine’s sunrise set. One of my friends pointed him out to me at the break of dawn and we were transfixed by his naked-dancing moves for the rest of the night/morning. He instantly became a star. The crowd quit watching the music and started watching this guy have the best night of his life while partying 40 feet in the air. There are plenty of videos of him doing his thing, but he was sadly detained by security guards after nearly escaping. If Wakarusa had a spirit animal, it would be James.
14. Slayer | Bonnaroo, This Tent
I couldn’t name two Slayer songs going into the weekend, but once I saw that I was accidentally in the right place at the right time to see them live, I couldn’t resist, and was not disappointed. 90 percent of the show was spent people-watching, but not in an insulting, making fun of them way. The people who were there really love Slayer, and it was pretty incredible to watch them see and react to the thing that they love. I have been to hundreds of shows in my life, and nothing will ever compare to the insanity that happened at Bonnaroo when Slayer launched into “Raining Blood.” Circle pits formed and kept forming until the entire tent was a massive mosh pit. People who didn’t want to be a part of something this brutal were running out of the tent by the dozens, while the rest of the crowd was beating the shit out of each other and legitimately choking each other out. It was wonderful and terrifying and something I will never forget.
13. Umphrey’s McGee | Wakarusa, Main Stage & Revival Tent
I have seen Umphrey’s a number of times, and was always so-so with them. I never disliked them, but I also never really loved them. So when I went to their Main Stage set on the first night of Wakarusa, I thought I knew what I was in for: a jam band that’s gonna jam. Instead, I was treated to one of the best damn guitar performances I have ever heard. I dunno what happened to them between the last time I saw them and now, but they started out going a thousand miles per hour and only crescendoed from there. I remember standing in awe for most of the show and then telling my friends afterward that it was the closest we’ll ever get to seeing Dragonforce. They played a second show the next night in the Revival Tent that was a little more low-key and not quite as metal, but they closed that set with a cover of “Sabotage,” which totally made up for it.
12. Robert Plant & the Sensational Space Shifters | Bonnaroo, Which Stage
I got to see Robert Plant play a handful of Led Zeppelin songs live. That’s really all there is to say about this.
11. Chris Hardwick & Friends | Bonnaroo, Comedy Theater
I really love Chris Hardwick, but I’m not a huge fan of his stand-up comedy. In fact, I only dipped into this show to get some relief from the heat. So imagine my surprise when the emcee of the show (the hilarious April Richardson) announced that the next comedian coming to the stage was actually not Chris Hardwick, but instead we would be treated to a surprise performance from Zach Galifianakis, one of my personal comedy heroes. Zach came out looking surprisingly svelte and goatee’d, and did about 15 minutes of non-punchline comedy that was just as hilarious as anything he was doing in 2008. Jon Hamm also made a surprise appearance and fed him gummy bears (!). It was weird and exciting and surprising and I still can’t believe I was in the same room as Zach Galifianakis.
