In 2002, the jam scene was ripe for tapping into, with scenes across the country finding core audiences for Umphrey’s McGee, Disco Biscuits, String Cheese Incident, Galactic, among many others. It was also the second year in a row of Phish taking a hiatus from touring, leaving the door open for their southern jam peers Widespread Panic to headline the fest, as well as other bands to fill the void. The Other Ones and Phil Lesh and Friends were the two main touring acts of former Grateful Dead members, and would combine forces for their appearance at the first Bonnaroo. Add in artists like Robert Randolph, Norah Jones and Jack Johnson who were ready to burst onto the national scene, and the stars had aligned over Coffee County, metaphorically and literally; the first Bonnaroo changed the tone of what music festivals could aspire to be as both and event and a brand.
One thing that may go overlooked 20 years later is that Bonnaroo was the first national musical event to take place after the harrowing acts of 9/11 the previous year. Fans were not only looking for a proverbial “release” valve, they were doing it in massive numbers. And with massive numbers, comes massive traffic.
Traffic would also be a factor given Itchykoo in 1999, with concert promoters telling skeptical local officials “Traffic will be backed up for 20 miles.” Concert promoters knew to expect 80,000 fans, and planning for the impact to local traffic, as well as on I-24, helped establish a strong relationship with Manchester, in addition to contributing $20 million to the local economy each year.
In addition to the small army of cars en route to Tennessee, the area was also experiencing a significant heat wave, with temperatures easily soaring into the low 90s for the weekend. Between that and a noticeable lack of rain in Coffee County and the rest of the state of late, veritable dust bowl conditions were almost inevitable. Dirt and dust were continuously kicked around and baked into the festival grounds over the course of the weekend. Water, like always, was essential this weekend and fans were looking out for their neighbors left and right, with bands doing their best to remind everyone to hydrate, only adding to the strong communal vibe Bonnaroo inspired early.
The first Bonnaroo Lineup
The location in Tennessee being key to the festival, it was the lineup that led to the festival’s sell out in 11 days, and stands as one of the best festival lineups of all time. Heavy hitting headliners included Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio Band, String Cheese Incident and Phil Lesh and Friends with Bob Weir, were the biggest of names to find on the lineup, and were bolstered by the additions of Galactic, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, moe., Ween, Keller Williams, The Disco Biscuits, Umphrey’s McGee, Col. Bruce Hampton, North Mississippi Allstars and Soulive all added up to the jam scene fans across the country coalescing at Bonnaroo.
Notably, and more apparent now than in past years, is the limited gender parity among artists on the lineup. Among the more than 48 artists on the first Bonnaroo lineup, only two acts (Norah Jones and Dottie Peoples) were female led; overall, less than 10 total musicians and/or singers were women, including Jones, Tara Nevins from Donna the Buffalo, Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman of Trey Anastasio Band, and three members of Dottie Peoples & People’s Choice Choir.
For comparison, by 2012, the lineup would feature 125 artists, with 6 female-fronted bands (Tune-Yards, Alabama Shakes, Little Dragon, St. Vincent, Phantogram, The Joy Formidable) and 5 female solo artists among them (Laura Marling, Big Freedia, Sarah Jarosz, Kathleen Edwards, Feist). At this year’s Bonnaroo, among the 143 artists on the lineup, more than 30 were female fronted, solo, or duo artists, plus headliners Stevie Nicks, and The Chicks. Times have changed, and Bonnaroo has made progress, even if incremental.
With the shift from the male-dominated jam scene to the more diverse pop and indie scenes, Bonnaroo has evolved with the times in bringing together a diverse lineup on the gender level, to match their long history as a genre-diverse music festival.
Day One – Friday – June 21, 2002
Amongst a sprawling festival grounds, the music for the weekend was spread across four separate stages, each conveniently spaced apart so as to limit audio interference. The largest and main stage called The Stadium and a slightly smaller one called The Arena were both out in the open, offering a massive spaced out “lawn” for patrons to enjoy music. The two smaller areas, dubbed The Theatre and The Ballroom, offered a circus-like tent for sun blockage and added acoustics and served as the homes for much of the late night activity.
The Big Wu, one of the early pioneers of the jam scene, was one of the first acts to play at The Ballroom, getting the weekend off to a roaring start. One of their signature songs, “Kangaroo,” conveniently had some of the lyrics altered to “Bonnaroo.” Check out their set on archive.org here.
New York State had the some early representation at Bonnaroo with an afternoon set from none other than Donna The Buffalo in an afternoon set that followed on the same stage. Umphrey’s McGee followed suit in the The Theatre that afternoon as well. Their grand introduction to a national audience was a long set of music that consisted of such classics like “Push The Pig,” All In Time” and “Hurt Bird Bath.” Take a listen to it here.
Umphrey’s McGee was a late add to the inaugural Bonnaroo lineup in 2002. We were elated to be playing at all & were able to sync up a new album release with the performance. Scheduled for a 5:30 Friday set we weren’t sure if anyone would be there yet. But when we stepped on stage we were welcomed by about 10,000 raging fans who wanted to see what we were all about. 75 minutes later we had made some new fans from all over the country and sold something like 800 copies of our new album “Local Band Does OK.” It was like we had played 50 shows in one day. Quite a kick off to the summer and our most impactful show to date. I’ll never forget that first huge festival play & the excitement the festival fans brought for our music.
Joel Cummins, Umphrey’s McGee
Another one of New York’s finest in Soulive played an afternoon set at The Arena. But one of the main attractions of the weekend was the first of two performances from Widespread Panic, some of the last shows the late, great Mike Houser would play with the band. One of the first night highlights was indisputably the Dirty Dozen Brass Band joining Panic in the second set for a stellar “Red Hot Mama” > “Fishwater” pairing. Gov’t Mule’s Matt Abts sat in on percussion and Randall Bramblett made multiple appearances on saxophone during the evening as well. Listen to the June 21st performance via PanicStream.
The opening night late night duties were handled by Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe underneath one tent and Keller Williams Incident in the other with String Cheese Incident essentially serving as the backing band for Williams. The tent was abuzz as the set began with Keller classics like “Best Feeling” which spawned a hearty jam that bled right into “Freaker By The Speaker.” A cover of “Men Smart, Women Smarter” and SCI’s own “Little Hands” are also featured in this iconic late night set which can be heard here.
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