Odesza, Lil Nas X, Jenny Lewis and More Connect Old and New at Bonnaroo

In decades past, you were likely to become a fan of electronic music in general and specific artists or producers through word of mouth, or else you’d find it for yourself at a club, a rave or a record store. Even producers with major followings were more likely to be known for their work with or influence on musicians who make pop or hip-hop. That legacy lingers even in our hyper-connected present. Case in point: Odesza, the electronic production duo of Clayton Knight and Harrison Mills, is the Bonnaroo headliner you’re the least likely to have heard of, despite their fan base being extensive and dedicated. Saturday night, the field around the fest’s main What Stage was packed to the brim with devoted fans and at least a few curious onlookers, who were rewarded with an absolute feast for the eyes and ears.

Though the phrase “electronic dance music” suggests eyes firmly fixed on the future, Odesza’s strength is blending old and new. Stylistically, they work myriad styles and traditions into their songs, but a frequent refrain is the heart-pounding four-on-the-floor rhythms and organic soul and blues roots of house music. That will never get old — rest in power, Frankie Knuckles. 

The lights, lasers and projected animation were dazzling and mesmerizing, but the group also unleashed practical effects like pyro, fireworks and confetti at opportune times. They also tour with a mind-bogglingly dextrous drumline and horn section, who could put on their own headlining set if they wanted to. Though a show this sophisticated has to involve a significant amount of software programming, Mills and Knight engaged in a lot of real-time control, bouncing along as they manipulated banks of keyboards and controllers and whaled on drums along with the drumline. And if that wasn’t enough, an array of the singers who’ve appeared on their tracks joined in person, including Izzy Bizu, Naomi Wild and Sudan Archives. If you’ve got tickets for one of the many other fests Odesza is playing this season and had planned to use their set time to sneak in a power nap, you might want to reconsider.

That said, the previous performer at What Stage matched their spectacle, and with his Bonnaroo debut, no less. Lil Nas X was only 19 years old in 2019 when he began his rapid rise to legend-of-our-time status. He is still only 24 now and has just one LP under his belt — as well as, for part of this show, a metallic bull's head over his crotch. Though he informed the audience that he was recovering from a gnarly cold, he was extremely impressive. 

Saturday’s set was absolutely dripping with queer style. Singing and rapping over recorded tracks allowed him to focus on the performance, which included a phalanx of dancers pulling off provocative choreography (and at least one make-out session with X), gorgeous costumes and artistic props, all of which was loosely organized around an ancient Egyptian theme. The dancers paraded a giant metallic snake around the stage during “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”; later, a minotaur joined him. During the inevitable performance of his 2019 breakout hit “Old Town Road” — mashed up with Ginuwine’s “Pony” — X rode a giant, white-friged horse. He also gave his dancers plenty of room to shine, at one point leaving the stage while they performed dance solos to bite-sized samples of Rihanna and Tokischa tracks.

The sun was high but not broiling when The Beths took the stage at 1:30 p.m. But rather than let the earliness of the shift dull their energy, they strummed out 45 minutes of perfectly crafted power pop that got That Tent ready for a long day of music. The impressively strong early crowd was ready to go from the first note of opening number “Future Me Hates Me,” but they really came alive during uptempo tunes like “I'm Not Getting Excited.” Was the audience made up entirely of fans of the New Zealand four-piece, or are their songs just so catchy that folks learned all the lyrics within the span of four minutes? Either way, the whole tent sang along by the time the final choruses of penultimate number “Silence is Golden” came around.

Nashville’s own Devon Gilfillian kept things rolling at That Tent with a set that was buttery smooth from the very first note. It was his first time playing Bonnaroo, and he drew a crowd that steadily grew as he laid out a spread of delicious R&B with a backing band that featured more brass than you’ll find on most stages on the Farm. 

Many Bonnaroovians presumably got their first taste of Gilfillian’s undeniable stage presence underscoring expertly crafted songs, and he might be a good bet for the Nashvillian with the most new listeners among those driving home from Manchester. Highlights included “All I Really Wanna Do,” a song from Gilfillian’s latest LP Love You Anyway that could have been a hit any time in the past half-century, as well as a cover of Marvin Gaye’s eternally poignant and groovy “What’s Going On,” with a guest appearance from Gilfillian’s brother Ryan Gilfillian.

Jenny Lewis is no stranger to the stage, and you can hear it in her music. She has acted since childhood (shoutout to fans of The Wizard), was the frontwoman of Aughts indie-rock aces Rilo Kiley, and has been releasing stellar records of her own since 2006’s Watson Twins collab Rabbit Fur Coat. Lewis moved to Nashville not long ago, and she played a special adopted-hometown release show for her new LP Joy’all Friday night at Eastside Bowl. Saturday, she strutted onto the Which Stage and immediately launched into the one-two punch of “Just One of the Guys” from 2014’s The Voyager and “Do Si Do” from 2019’s On the Line. 

A few more songs from The Voyager preceded a selection of Joy’all tunes; the common thread tying together all her work is that despite the full and unique life she’s lived, she’s seeking the same kinds of joy and peace as anyone else. It was clear from the crowd’s reaction that this resonates exceptionally strongly. Her band — an all-star lineup combining familiar Nashvillians and players from further afield including Megan McCormick, Megan Coleman, Nicole Lawrence, Ryan Madora and Jess Nolan — held everything down with clear, rich soundscapes that were just as beautiful as the lyrics.

Sheryl Crow looked right at home on What Stage at the peak of the afternoon, and she was clearly having a blast. At one point in the day, she was reportedly rollerblading around ’Roo while playing an accordion, and that energy carried over into her performance of “Soak Up the Sun.” The tune made the now-intense heat feel — well, about as fun as it can get, and the song set the tone for a catalog-spanning set. The recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee sprinkled crowd-pleasers like “All I Wanna Do” and “If It Makes You Happy” with nuggets like a cover of the Stones’ sneer-and-an-eyebrow-flip classic “Live With Me.” For as much fun as the set was, Crow also got vulnerable and deep with the audience. She introduced “Cross Creek Road” as a song for fans who, like herself, “struggle with your low lows.” As she sang her 1996 song “Hard to Make a Stand,” she talked about how the song was inspired by a transphobic incident she witnessed around 30 years ago, nodding to both the progress that’s been made since then and that still yet to come.

Along with a bit of dust, love was in the air when Remi Wolf took the stage at This Tent. As she paused to declare the tent “a space for love,” she mentioned that she’d officiated four weddings at the House of MatROOmony earlier, and she shouted out a couple of the newlyweds who she spied in the crowd in front of her. “If any of y'all are holding a lyric in a special place,” said Wolf, “I need you to let it out and scream it out at the top of your fucking lungs!” Over the past few years, Wolf has tweaked her sonic mixture, leaning a bit away from wiggy electronically enhanced pop and toward funky ’70s soul, but hasn’t abandoned earlier songs like “Disco Man” and “Photo ID.” Another standout was “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye and Kimbra’s hit from 2011. 

In the space between Lil Nas X and Odesza’s sets, champion country songsmith and Bonnaroo veteran Tyler Childers walked quietly to the lip of Which Stage. As he’s done at several recent shows, he saluted the memory of his late friend Moonshine Mike by singing an acapella rendition of erstwhile Nashvillian Cory Branan’s “Sour Mash” and pouring out a shot. It’s an exceptionally personal ritual and a very old one, which connects it in a way to a key theme in Childers’ work. Along with many other Southern musicians who’ve spoken out against racism, sexism and other ingrained social, economic and political injustices, he’s been working diligently at reclaiming and reframing the identity of “Southernness” and “country”; “traditional” doesn’t have to mean “hateful,” but there’s a lot of work involved. 

With all that in mind, Childers and his ferociously talented band — augmented by a string section, superbly funky brass and a trio of singers holding what looked like hymnals — continued the latest phase of their work. Childers & Co.’s latest album Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? features three different arrangements of the same set of spiritually inspired songs, part of building a new framework for talking about spirituality and religion that’s not centered on excluding people. Several of those songs appeared in their most rocking form in the set, perhaps the most psychedelic being “Way of the Triune God.” If there was anything wilder in the set, it would have to be their rollicking, white-hot country-rock take on the fiddle tune “Cluck Ol’ Hen.” 

It’s not grandma and grandpa’s country music, exactly, but it’s something they’d probably recognize and maybe shake a leg to. Massive cheers rose up amid the carnival midway vibe of Centeroo for the gritty “Whitehouse Road” and tender “All Your’n,” as well as a cover of Bob Weir’s “Greatest Story Ever Told.”

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Festival Frenzy 2023

• Scene Staff