MANCHESTER — By day two of Bonnaroo, tents littered the campground like the world’s dustiest stained glass. Tens of thousands of people started losing voices, either from pollen or singing along to favorite bands. Many might have forgotten what day it is. Day two of Bonnaroo isn’t Friday — it’s the hours leading to Post Malone’s headlining set.
Welcome to the second day on The Farm — home of 92-degree temps, totem poles and alien invasions.
49 Winchester, with an Appalachian sound and big personalities, opened the Which Stage at 2:00 p.m. A large crowd turned out for the set, starting the day by head-banging to deafening, booming country, including their songs “Chemistry” and “All I Need.”
The party slowed, but never stopped, as The Japanese House took the Which Stage at 3:45 p.m. Vocalist Amber Bain led the crowd to sway to the drawl of her guitar, getting her audience lost in dreamy music.
“She brings the most ethereal vibes ever,” said Olivia Napier, a fan of The Japanese House who traveled from Little Rock, Arkansas. “Just pure love, that’s all I can say.”
Ravers cooled off in Bonnaroo’s mushroom-shaped water fountain. Festivalgoers didn’t necessarily take a break at the splash pad. They continued to rock out to booming music from nearby stages. Bonnaroo is the party that never stops.
Three-piece TV Girl ushered in the long-awaited sunset at the This Tent at 8 p.m. with a blend of somber lyrics and invigorating samples. From borrowing Richard Nixon’s Watergate speech for ‘Taking What’s Not Yours,’ to extensive sampling of feminist 80’s band Yeastie Girlz in ‘Not Allowed,’ TV Girl has a knack for keeping listeners on their toes with inventive, and sometimes silly, elements.
Which Stage headliner Maggie Rogers set the night alive at 9:45 p.m. The folk-pop singer has dreamt of playing Bonnaroo since she was sixteen.
“Maybe the biggest crowd I’ve ever played,” Rogers said.
Rogers serenaded the crowd with her upbeat twang and catchy love songs, even implementing a Kiss Cam during her performance of “Love You For a Long Time.” During “So Sick of Dreaming,” fellow artist Dominic Fike appeared to say hello.
At the end of Maggie Rogers’s set, the scream of her fans were drowned out by a pyrotechnic shockwave at the What Stage.
It wouldn’t be Bonnaroo without a massive headliner taking the What Stage on Friday night. Austin Post, better known as Post Malone, walked out at 11 p.m. with an incredible firework display — red and bronze streaming through the dusty night sky. Known for his face tattoos, warm vibrato, and six No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, Post Malone gave the crowd exactly what they wanted.
Post Malone opened his set with a string quartet backing “Better Now” — a stark contrast to his 2019 set, where Post Malone was accompanied by an overpowering backing track.
When Post Malone’s hip-hop anthem “Rockstar” came to an end, the audience was perplexed. After an awkward pause, an acoustic guitar sounded. The guitar belonged to none other than bluegrass musician Billy Strings, joining Post Malone for a duet of ‘Stay.’
While Post Malone kept the party going, he also kept things real.
After a fake-out conclusion to the set and a three-song encore, Post Malone’s crowd quickly migrated to T-Pain on the Which Stage. The set included a run of hits from “Low” to Lonely Island collaboration “I’m On A Boat” and a crowd-pleasing cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
As T-Pain wrapped up his set at the Which Stage, Bonnaroovians headed back to their tents — or Outeroo DJ sets that end at sunrise — satisfied with a great day of music, and with earplugs, C’Roos and Liquid I.V. ready for Saturday.
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