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Raving on The Farm: iEDM's 10 Favorite Sets Of Bonnaroo 2019
Bonnaroo 2019 under the full moon was once again a favorite weekend of summer. From the crowd's incredible energy, to artists expressing it with their words and visuals, and the moon shining bright in the sky, this weekend will live on in our memories forever.
Ravers found themselves spending most of their time at The Other Stage because the majority of the EDM acts performed there. There is no denying that the The Other Stage had the best noise and visual production on The Farm.
Choosing the top 10 performances when every set I saw was super impressive was a challenge, so I had to include some honorable mentions.
One of my favorite happenings around The Farm was The Camp Reddaroo Craft Beer Exchange Friday afternoon in Groop Camping. It was an event to meet new people, exchange craft beers, eat food, share good vibes all while enjoying tropical house beats!
Another favorite Roo experience was the Kalliope Stage that goes until sunrise. My three favorite Kalliope sets were Hekler, Essex, and SNBRN. Essex was complete surprise who wasn't even on the lineup! He brought his heavy bass vibes. SNBRN's early Sunday morning set continued his dance party from his Saturday slot with house vibes at Kalliope. Not only was the sound quality great for Kalliope but it also had fiery pyrotechnics blasting!
The four hour Closing Party at Where In The Woods was also pretty badass. People constantly flooded in looking for the last night party until it ended. Justin Nyce knows how to throw a party. Songs went from filthy bangers and mixes of songs like Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten" to Chris Lake's "Turn Off The Lights" and more for hours. This was a great closing curation by Bonnaroo.
10. Hekler
Hekler played twice at Roo: at the Kalliope and the Other Stage. His Kalliope set was completely different than his set at The Other Stage. The Kalliope set was more bassy downtempo set compared to his raging set that took place earlier Thursday night. A set filled with aggressive beats and mosh pits is not typically my thing but I loved the high energy! Two awesome sets at his first Roo got him on our top 10 list!
9. Whipped Cream
Whipped Cream was one of many Deadbeats artists on the Bonnaroo lineup. The female DJ had an enthusiastic turnout Saturday afternoon despite the heat. She reciprocated with a high energy performance as she danced on the stage! Whipped Cream showed some diversity with her tunes, as she mixed in Beethoven's "Fur Elise" into some dirty drop. The visuals were awesome too; I personally liked those scorpions.
8. G Jones
As to be expected, G Jones had a tough set! Plenty of bass filled songs but nothing too aggressive - something you can get a slight headbang and heavy stomp! His black and white visuals always hold your attention.
7. Space Jesus b2b Eprom b2b Shlump
Having a sick b2b on the opening night set the mood for the weekend. What a great way to start the festival ahead, with downtempo space bass. The three meshed so well together.
6. Gramatik
Always a pleasure seeing Gramatik. A little different than most of the EDM acts of the weekend. The artist mixes music with funky hip hop backgrounds in addition to shredding the guitar with the company of the occasional saxophone. He had the crowd just jamming and getting down on Saturday night. There was no GRiZMATiK but he did flip the script and play "As We Proceed".
5. GRiZ
GRiZ is one artist that has grown on me. He brought the party and a supporting band and vocals to The Which Stage on Friday. Watching his show from the pit was pretty epic. Being amongst a crowd singing every word and playing inflatable saxophones note for note to songs like "Caught Up" was such a blast. The entire set was a funky party.
4. SNBRN
A house party took place at The Other Stage on Saturday with SNBRN having the crowd going crazy. It was a cool golden hour set that began with The Lion King opening song straight into tropical dance party beats. He wrapped up his set with a few oldies everyone could sing along to like "Ain't No Mountain" and "Another One Bites The Dust." He played again at the Kalliope which was also an epic dance party!
3. ZHU
(In my best ZHU voice) "Bonnaroooooooo!!!" He opened up with the words at the beginning of "Good Life" followed by a proper Saturday night closing set playing songs like "In The Morning" and Desert Woman." He engaged the crowd with his unique voice drawing out the word 'Bonnaroo' several times. There was a onesie party with dancing unicorns making it another incredible set.
2. Space Jesus
Space Jesus was all over The Farm this year. He had three sets that I know of; I only saw two. His set Saturday night was what I needed from the weekend. He gave a several shoutouts throughout his performance - Esseks, Huxley Anne, his dad, a talented 17 year old kid, DMT, and the full moon. You could feel the bass in your chest at his set while being mesmerized by trippy visuals.
1. TOKiMONSTA
If you don't know about TOKiMONSTA, she has an interesting triumph involving multiple brain surgeries. I arrived about 20 minutes in to a girl in checkered socks shuffling to TOKiMONSTA having the time of her life. Everyone in the crowd was! Minutes later I joined friends up front to TOKiMONSTA smiling and mixing banger after banger. She threw in some RL Grime in addition to some Waka Flaka. Her set had basic but cool visuals, so much bass, and TOKiMONSTA seemed like she was having as much fun as the crowd. If you have ever the chance to see TOKiMONSTA, do it!
Sure I missed a few sets but I had fun at ones I attended. I am sad I missed certain sets, but it wouldn't be a festival if you didn't!
Honorable Mentions: Dorfex Bos, Liquid Stranger, CID (Sunday set), Dombresky, AC Slater (Sunday set), and Illenium.
Festival season is in full swing! Gear up for your next event with the iEDM FESTIVAL LOOKBOOK HERE.
Guys step up your festival fashion for the rest of the season HERE with our article, From Chat To Rad: What Do Guys Wear To A Music Festival.
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