Festival Frenzy 2023: Bonnaroo Friday

It’s Bonnaroo Friday and we got to stay hy-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-drated — because rap legends Three 6 Mafia are on Which Stage at 7:45 p.m. We need to be on top of our game — this is a party marathon, not a party sprint. If you’ve never seen Memphis heroes Triple 6 on close-to-home turf, get ready to watch the locals get buck. DJ Paul, Juicy J and their crew — who will sadly be minus the late, great Gangsta Boo, who died in January — have a catalog two decades deep with some of the rowdiest club bangers the world has ever known. “Tear da Club Up”  still goes harder than just about anything else I could name, “Stay Fly” will remain in your head for days, and you can count on everyone from the crustiest festie to the most genteel soccer mom to drop it low to “Poppin’ My Collar.”  Three 6 is Tennessee music at its finest.

The ’Roo hip-hop undercard spreads its wings Friday, bringing the cream of the crop from across the country and around the globe. You can start your day with Zambian rapper Sampa the Great, who’s at This Tent at 1:45 p.m. — all spring, “Avalanche of Love,”  her collaboration with Zamrock legends W.I.T.C.H., has been in constant rotation, and we’re stoked to see her border-busting, genre-bending catalog come to life. You can stay up way late for Atlanta-born rising star Destroy Lonely, whose “Bane”  was a viral hit with the TikTok kids and who takes over This Tent at 2 a.m. Right in the middle is producer-MC Baby Keem, bringing his new-school West Coast flow to What Stage at 8:45 p.m. He’ll be warming it up for his cousin Kendrick Lamar, who appears on Keem’s Grammy-winning 2021 banger “Family Ties.”

The rest of our plans for Friday run the pop-music gamut, just the way we like it. Alt-goth punks AFI open up the main What Stage at 3 p.m. U.K. skronk-funk outliers Black Midi are brainy and bold, pushing and progressive, thoroughly and absolutely engaging. Prepare to have your wigdome rattled when their rippin’ jazz-punk assault starts at This Tent at 3:15 p.m. MUNA (What Stage, 4:45 p.m.) really came into their own with their 2022 self-titled LP, their third overall and first since linking up with Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. As part of a one-two punch with singer, Tennessee Equality Project benefit star and John Wick: Chapter 4 supporting player Rina Sawayama (Which Stage, 5:45 p.m.), MUNA conjures up shimmering pop and dynamic dance vibes that are not to be missed. Charley Crockett’s dusty, rootsy folk makes That Tent at 6:30 the stop for a little downlow dinnertime fun — a moment to refuel the soul while double-fisting arepas and crushing some more water. If you’re looking to cool it down a little further, Philly’s Alex G (This Tent, 7 p.m.) has your back.

Late-night plans? That’s simple: Sylvan Esso takes over That Tent at 12:30 a.m. The North Carolina duo has been pushing the pop envelope for more than a decade, creating some of the most sublime synthesis you’ll find on record. On 2022’s No Rules Sandy, the duo is in peak form, with Amanda Meath’s finely tuned voice blooming in the next-level soundscapes she creates with Nick Sanborn. From their early fan fave “Hey Mami”  to their recent “Echo Party,”  Sylvan Esso has a stack of party-starters ready to go.

Festival Frenzy 2023

The who, what, where, when and why of this year’s Bonnaroo and CMA Fest