Music

afropunk is at bonnaroo! recap – day 1

June 12, 2015

In what was initially birthed as a jam band festival, now has become one of the preeminent music gatherings in America. Thousands of music lovers flooded “the farm” located in Manchester, Tennessee for the 14th annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The popular festival hosts some of the best acts in the industry; with an eclectic lineup and varied activities (films, Yoga-Roo, Red Bull Music Academy’s Silent Disco Party, and curated talks) that keep festival goers entertained throughout the four-day get together. AFROPUNK teamed with AC Entertainment, the folks who are the organizing force behind the festival, for our first ‘Groop Camping’ experience. It’s been a laid back camping experience so far; it’s evident ‘Groop Camping’ is the way to go. On the musical end, day one  highlighted loads of  rock n roll acts where a mix of rockers brought the fun. Here’s a little recap of day one.

By Andrea Dwyer, AFROPUNK Contributor

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Unlocking The Truth

Malcolm Brickhouse, Jared Dawkin, and Alec Atkins burst onto the music scene back 2013 when they performed at our Afropunk festival. A lot has changed since then. The boys had the crowd lit, I mean crazy lit, at ‘This Tent’ where they played an interactive set throughout. At various points lead vocalist, Malcolm Brickhouse made several requests, asking the crowd to jump and mosh along to their metal heavy tracks. I was glad to see how fans showed up and showed out for our boys.

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Benjamin Booker

The New Orleans-based singer-songwriter with the mad guitar skills played to a packed tent late into the night. Playing the type of feel good rock tracks that you can’t help violently rocking along to. At points Booker taking breaks here and there to have a drink and a cigarette. My favorite track he performed was “Wicked Water”–a track I can’t seem to get enough of.

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Jungle

Jungle is the epitome of cool. Wait, no, that’s Lenny Kravitz but the U.K indie hit making collective has been putting out 80’s inspired tracks for some time now. Remember the video that dropped two years ago that had a young b-dancer front and center? Well, we have Jungle to thank for that one. The group performed a solid set and songs like “Julia” were more powerful and not to mention enjoyable live.

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Ron Funches

We didn’t catch Funches’ entire set, but we heard loads of good things about it. Folks especially talked about his and Cameron Esposito’s performances.

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.Raury

Atlanta’s indie prince began his set about fifteen minutes late, but the wait was well worth it. Raury came out guns blazing. According to the artist, he would much rather a great thirty minute set than a mediocre forty-five-minute one. Tracks “Higher” and “God’s Whisper” were crowd favorites. The young talent also dropped an unreleased track “Odyssey,” where he speaks of his journey from high school dreamer to a young prophet.

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Photo credit: Richard Martin

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