When the Bonnaroo 2014 lineup was announced on Wednesday, waves of surprise and controversy rippled through social media as a contentiously familiar name was rolled out as headliner alongside Elton John and Jack White: Kanye West.
Six Reasons Why Bonnaroo is The Best Festival in America
Bonnaroo and Kanye have a troubled history, going back to 2008 when the egomaniacal hobbit-loving rapper took the stage for his headlining performance at 4:30 AM – several hours later than scheduled – on the last night of the festival. Producers explained that the delays were due to “production issues, schedule changes, and various requests” from West’s camp, which was made worse by the fact that he played a short, disappointing set. Days later, Kanye unleashed a blog tirade blaming the festival and Pearl Jam who played before him, stating: “WE WERE OBVIOUSLY DEALING WITH F*CKING IDIOTS WHO DIDN’T REALLY HAVE THE CAPACITY TO REALLY PUT ON THIS SHOW PROPERLY.”
This resulted in a backlash of frustration and anger towards the narcissistic superstar:
That being said, Bonnaroo is certainly playing with fire by inviting him back, especially as a headliner. Rick Farman, co-founder of Superfly, Bonnaroo’s promoter, explained the fest’s reasons for having him back to JamBands.com:
“First and foremost, we think Kanye is one of the most prolific and groundbreaking artists of this generation,” Farman admits. “He’s hugely influential. His albums are as great and as acclaimed as they get. He’s also a great live performer. He takes a lot of chances and he’s adventurous with the live space. All those things are what Bonnaroo performers are about. That’s why we booked him [in 2008].
His return to Bonnaroo will offer a chance for redemption.
“Everyone has moved on–it’s in the past,” he continues. “We’re happy he wants to come back to Bonnaroo and is embracing this. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to look forward, and we think it’s a great opportunity for the Bonnaroo community to show what it’s made of. It goes back to what Bonnaroo stands for: It’s about having good time, radiating positivity and that whole message. We couldn’t be more excited about what we think has the potential to be another historic Bonnaroo moment.”
Needless to say, ‘Ye’s got his work cut out for him this year. But with a spectacular touring live show in motion and a world of focused expectation on him, we’d say it’s a safe bet that he’ll rise to the challenge with Olympic determination. Never in history has a musician been so good at defying doubters – or been more in touch with what drives people out of their minds at a live show. We’re calling it now – Kanye’s Bonnaroo performance is going to be one for the record books.
Photo: Johnny Firecloud
