Bonnaroo 2012 Lineup Includes Phish, Radiohead and 3 NOLA-Based Acts

The 2012 Bonnaroo Lineup || http://lineup.bonnaroo.com

The 11th Annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has unveiled their 2012 lineup and once again it’s a beast, starting off with Radiohead (back for the first time since 2006), Phish (returning for first show since 2009), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Bonnarookies) and the reuniting Beach Boys (also appearing at Jazz Fest). The 4-day outdoor festival traces its genesis back to the late night Jazz Fest club scene, where festival producers Superfly Presents began booking shows and got the idea to take the idea of Jazz Fest After Dark and the bands populating that scene to a larger concept, selling out the inaugural festival in 2002 by word-of-mouth alone. Hence, the 700-acre farm was rented (now owned) and 10 years later, the Bonnaroo Music Festival lives on and continues to evolve with each year’s lineup.

As usual, some familiar suspects from the NOLA scene will be there with Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk and Soul Rebels making the cut, as well as Big Freedia the Queen Diva of sissy bounce (who one must hope will be getting a late night slot to really throw a proper Azzstravaganza down on the farm). Still tons of smaller cafe tent artists and comedians to be announced so probably some more local acts to come (last year Rotary Downs and GIVERS played smaller tents). Phish and Radiohead at the top makes this a worthwhile trip in itself, but the top-to-bottom quality isn’t quite up to par with last year’s remarkable lineup. Having said that, once again, Bonnaroo has stacked it’s lineup high with more than enough exciting acts to fill a four-day schedule and not see anything remotely un-entertaining.

Will be my first missed Bonnaroo since 2002. Be back in 2013!

2012 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Lineup

Radiohead
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Phish
The Beach Boys Featuring Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks
Bon Iver
The Avett Brothers
The Shins
Foster The People
Skrillex
Aziz Ansari
Dispatch
Feist
The Roots
Alice Cooper
SuperJam
Black Star
The Word featuring John Medeski, Robert Randolph and North Mississippi Allstars
Ludacris
Ben Folds Five
Flogging Molly
Spectrum Road featuring Cindy Blackman Santana, Jack Bruce, John Medeski, and Vernon Reid
Mac Miller
Childish Gambino
Major Lazer
tUnE-yArDs
Afrocubism
Flying Lotus
Umphrey’s McGee
Little Dragon
St. Vincent

Lineup also includes:

City and Colour, The Civil Wars, Young The Giant, Two Door Cinema Club, Punch Brothers, NEEDTOBREATHE, Fitz & The Tantrums, Bad Brains, Yelawolf, Dawes, Battles, Danny Brown, The Black Lips, SBTRKT, Phantogram, Kendrick Lamar, Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, The Kooks, The Joy Formidable, The Antlers, Kathleen Edwards, Mimosa,Kurt Vile & The Violators, Alabama Shakes, Das Racist, Delta Spirit, Gary Clark Jr., Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Laura Marling, Trampled by Turtles, Mogwai, The War On Drugs, Ben Howard, Grouplove, Blind Pilot, ALO, The Devil Makes Three, White Denim, EMA, Here We Go Magic, K-Flay, The Lonely Forest, Mariachi El Bronx, Big Freedia, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., The Soul Rebels, Kvelertak, SOJA, Steven Bernstein’s MTO Allstars Plays Sly, Big Gigantic, Sarah Jarosz, Orgone, Darondo, Fruit Bats, Moon Taxi

February 14, 2012 | by Wesley Hodges | Festivals, News

About the author

Wesley grew up in coastal Georgia and is a former resident of The Music City and The Big Easy where he helped get LMB NOLA off-the-ground after launching in January 2011. Over the past few years, he has also contributed steadily to JamBase and Relix Magazine. Recently, Hodges moved on to L.A. where Abita Beer is hard to find, costs about $6 if located and impromptu parading in the streets will most likely get you arrested on the spot.