Bonnaroo 2013 Day Two Recap & Photos: Awards and Observations

The full magic of Bonnaroo 2013 is underway! We had a blast on Thursday, but Friday hit a high gear of music and hedonistic mayhem with performances from Paul McCartney, Wu-Tang Clan, Of Monsters and Men, Wilco, Foals and many more.

We crushed another full day of musical mischief and got caught up in quite a bit of festival fun during Friday’s performances – check out our full play-by-play recap of Day Two at Bonnaroo 2013!

GALLERY: Wu-Tang Clan performs at Bonnaroo 2013

The “Are We At The Same Show?” Award: This Couple

Random Moment of Awesome: Crowd chanting goes viral

The entire crowd of 80,000-plus, waiting for Paul McCartney, chant-roaring the main riff to the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”. Seriously, Bonnaroo, Jack White lives right up the street. You couldn’t have convinced him to come down and save the day on Saturday? He’d have been a perfect replacement for Mumford & Sons – instead we’ll be singing the theme song to the Curious George movie with Jack Johnson.

Strongest Performance: Paul McCartney

Sir Paul’s thirty-plus song set was absolutely packed with the kind of gems you fantasize about hearing at a show by a surviving Beatle. For a man 328 years old, it was flat-out astonishing to hear the energy behind everything from “8 Days a Week” to “Helter Skelter,” “Blackbird” to “All My Loving” and more. Sure, “We Can Work It Out” was a bit too fast and thus lacked the eager heart of the classic we all love, but still. Paul freakin McCartney played it, right in front of our faces. Then a huge, cascading fireworks display closed out the performance.

Same Set Every Time Award: Of Monsters and Men

Having seen Of Monsters and Men at Sasquatch, and Coachella before that, it’s a bit difficult to understand why a band riding the highest wave of their career seem uninterested in building the dynamic of their live performance. Aside from some subtle movement by the adorably pinchable Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, each member performed their duties with mannequinish immobility. Good thing for them they have a bit of a Midas touch for hitmaking.

GALLERY: Of Monsters and Men perform at Bonnaroo 2013

Unexpected Copycatting: McCartney & ZZ Top covering Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady”

At the end of “Let Me Roll It,” Paul led his band through a positively awesome extended tag of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady,” much to everyone’s air-guitar joy. When ZZ Top ripped through the entire thing at their performance just a bit later across the fields, it was the sweetest return of the day.

Photogenic Hippie Dude Award: This guy

Take a Shower Award: Wilco

Seriously. Somebody throw some water on Jeff Tweedy and find him a razor. The starry button-down can stay, however. Because ‘Merka.

GALLERY: Wilco performs at Bonnaroo 2013

Obligatory “Fun in the Fountain” Picture: This one

Magic Moments: Paper lanterns during McCartney’s set

Towards the end of “Paperback Writer,” a dozen or more paper lanterns took flight, burning skyward throughout the next few songs. Clustered loosely in the sky as they made a rough orbit around the fields, they looked like birds unaware they were on fire. It was perfectly beautiful.

Most Awesome Festival Sign-Language Interpreter Ever: This lady right here

On to Saturday!

All photos: Johnny Firecloud

Bonnaroo 2013 Day 2 Recap & Photos: Awards and Observations