Sunday – June 23, 2002
The spirits conjured up over the course of Saturday night carried right over into Sunday, starting with more early afternoon sets from Robert Randolph and Galactic as well. Dottie Peoples and the Blind Boys of Alabama followed Randolph and The Campbell Brothers in The Ballroom, closing up shop there for the weekend, making The Ballroom stage a veritable host for Sunday gospel music services.
In a religion of an entirely different sort, Ween brought their unique brand of rock to The Stadium, opening a 90-minute set with “Buckingham Green” which preceded a host of songs from their revered Chocolate And Cheese release. They also didn’t pass up the chance to remind the jam-heavy first Bonnaroo exactly who authored a recently popular Phish cover choice.
Over at The Arena during the afternoon, banjo master Bela Fleck and bassist Edgar Meyer joined their immense talents for a relaxed set of instrumental music that was something to behold. Their mesmerizing set featured songs from Fleck’s 2001 album, Perpetual Motion, which Meyer played on, netting the pair a Grammy in 2002 for their arrangement of Debussy’s “Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum,” in addition to winning the Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Album. The pair would later record and tour behind Music for Two, featuring originals composed by Fleck and Meyer.
Accolades aside, the performance of classical music for banjo and bass, mid-day on a Sunday to a crowd of 30,000 elicited cheers with each composition, and featured the lone rain shower of the weekend. Listen to an audience recording of the full show here.
The final night of the first Bonnaroo was full of more memorable collaborations. Also at The Stadium, Phil Lesh & Friends delivered a set of Grateful Dead classics with Bob Weir along for the ride. The much anticipated get together delivered as promised, starting with a set opening “Liberty” and not ending until an appropriate “Tennessee Jed” closer two hours later. Opposite of this, Norah Jones was in the process of making herself a household name over at This Tent.
At the same time at The Arena, Fleck and Meyer found themselves in a collaboration of a whole different kind as the first Bonnaroo Superjam was unleashed to the world.
Superjam was my personal highlight, I was put in charge – it might have been Pete Shapiro’s idea – it was the first time he asked to do something like this.
Robert Randolph
A core makeshift band consisting of Fleck, SCI’s Michael Kang on violin and mandolin, Robert Randolph on pedal steel and Jeff Raines on acoustic guitar brought a bevy of fellow musicians up on to stage to jam with them in another highly anticipated slot of music. Kang’s SCI bandmates Keith Moseley, Bill Nershi and Kyle Hollingsworth, along with Meyer, appeared for “Rivertrance.” Galactic’s Stanton Moore later got behind the kit for a cover of “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” as part of a turnstile of musicians that never seemed to end.
The first thing I think of is we had been on tour for almost a month so the band was really cooking and Bonnaroo was the last show of the tour so It made it even more monumental. When I got on stage to play you couldn’t see any land just a sea of people, 80,000 if I’m not mistaken. We played a great two sets, just cooking and one amazing thing I remember is when Trey did a call and response with the crowd it was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard, so emotional! I was honored to be playing at the first Bonnaroo and it’s still happening 20 years later shows that a large crowd of like minded peaceful people can get together and have a great time. Loved playing with TAB then and so happy we are still out there doing it.
Russ Lawton, Trey Anastasio Band
Trey Anastasio was tasked with closing out this momentous weekend of music and the Phish frontman delivered with two sets of his band’s signature high-energy and improvisational rock as they wrapped up their Summer Tour. A lengthy “Push On ‘Til The Day” began the set which featured other early TAB staples “Cayman Review” and “Last Tube.” The second set went even deeper, featuring only three songs in total, with Trey channeling his inner Frank Zappa and literally conducting his horn section at one point.
Returning to the stage for the encore, Trey took a few minutes to speak about the significance of the moment at this first Bonnaroo, before playing a pair of Phish-fan favorites in “Wilson” and “Bathtub Gin.” A fitting final encore of “Alive Again” closed the book on the first ever Bonnaroo and established what the music festival scene in America would become – alive, once again.
As fans departed from what has come to be known as “The Farm” and Clean Vibes got to work cleaning up after the festival, they no doubt reflected on the weekend they had just experienced. Whether it became clear during the festival or in the days or weeks after, attendees to the first Bonnaroo – the original Bonnaroovians – knew they had been a part of something profoundly extraordinary, a gold star moment in American music history.
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