Bonnaroo fest opens with Metallica, Chris Rock

By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer

BonnarooMetallica

Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett introduced Rock, and the comedian in turn introduced who he called "the baddest ... band in the world." Both acts were unlikely fare for the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, which began in 2002 as primarily a jam band event.

But in recent years, Bonnaroo has broadened itself and brought more diverse fans to its 700-acre countryside site south of Nashville. Among the tens of thousands of festival-goers, Rock, Metallica and many other performers were very conscious of their entry into a tie-dyed world they seldom traffic in.

In a bit in his set about Prozac and other medications, Rock chastised the crowd, who he said was likely on "performance-enhancing drugs."

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves for taking antidepressants to see a comedian," joked Rock. "I am an antidepressant!"

Metallica also touted its cheerfulness.

"Do you feel good?" lead singer James Hetfield asked the crowd. "Metallica is here to make you feel better."

Performing on the main stage Friday night, Rock jumped right into his material, much of which he's performed during recent touring. Looking on backstage were many of the other comedians performing at the festival, as well as Jack White, whose band the Raconteurs took the main stage earlier in the day.

Rock worked the giant crowd without missing a beat in his timing, hitting on the election, Anna Nicole Smith and high gas prices despite the war in Iraq, ("If I invade IHOP, pancakes are going to be cheaper in my house," he said).

Metallica had a more difficult time winning over the crowd, which was head-banging but apparently not moshing. Hetfield repeatedly urged the audience to sing along. He asked, "We do have a few Metallica friends here, yes?"

Hetfield occasionally informed the crowd the titles of the songs they were playing and which album they were from. "That was `No Remorse' from `Kill `Em All,'" he said, an annotation that would have normally been completely superfluous for the band.

But Metallica is an exceptionally hard working band — they could be heard practicing backstage in a trailer shortly before their set. Eventually, they won the crowd over with their tenacity, as well as classics like "Sad But True" and "Enter Sandman," the latter of which was accompanied by pyrotechnics.

Like a jam band, Metallica has a fiercely devoted following and Hetfield alluded to this Bonnaroo-ness of Metallica: "We support live music ... and that's why we're here."

The notorious Tennessee heat that has in the past made Bonnaroo a chore was thus far bearable (after midnight, My Morning Jacket pulled out a cover of Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun in the Summertime"). But by then, the rain that had threatened through much of the day finally fell.

One of Friday's big questions was whether M.I.A., the British electronic dancehall rapper, would show. She recently canceled her upcoming European tour due to exhaustion from touring, but still performed an energetic set at Bonnaroo. She repeatedly called it her "last show."

"This is my last show, and I'm glad I'm spending it with all my hippies," she announced.

Usually sold-out with an attendance of 80,000, this year's Bonnaroo hadn't yet reached capacity, but was overrun with tens of thousands of fans who came from far and wide to camp through the weekend.

Zach GalifianakisFiona AppleKanye Westlate Saturday nightWillie NelsonMy Morning JacketSwell Season

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Musicians try to get out the vote at Bonnaroo

By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer

That's the question many clipboard-wielding volunteers ask themselves as they solicit festival-goers at Bonnaroo, the massive annual music festival better known for dancing and campsite carousing than political activism. But going back to Woodstock, music festivals have long had a political connection, and some organizations are seeing a shift in eagerness from fans.

Headcount is a nonprofit organization founded by Marc Brownstein, the bassist from the jam band the Disco Biscuits, and Andy Bernstein to get people registered to vote. What makes Headcount an interesting barometer of political interest at music festivals is that it does almost all of its work at festivals and concerts.

Headcount will be at all the major festivals this summer as well as along for the ride on tours by the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters. As much as any group, Headcount is trying to bring political involvement to summer concertgoing.

"The fans are significantly more receptive to the idea of stopping and taking the time to talk about voter registration right now," said Brownstein, speaking on his band's tour bus before playing a late set Friday night. "I think it's changing and it's changing rapidly because we're able to use the platform of music to get people thinking about things outside of music."

Bernstein acknowledges the generally young festival audiences have in recent years generally not thought of the political process as relating to them.

"But if there's a core purpose to Headcount, it's to take people who are outside of the process and bring them into the process," said Bernstein.

Headcount has thrived since being created in 2004, largely because of artist involvement. Bob Weir, formerly of the Grateful Dead and now a member of the Dead, is a board member.

Young voter turnout has been a factor in this year's election already, helping to fuel Barack Obama's rise to become the presumptive Democratic nominee. Among whites under 30, support for Obama grew from an 18-point margin through Super Tuesday to 38 points in later primaries — including a 60-point edge last month in Oregon.

Headcount's goal is to get 100,000 people registered this summer. They take registration for those declaring in any party and are on pace with 20,000 thus far. Early returns at Bonnaroo were looking promising.

They aren't the only gig in town. Rock the Vote is also here, as are numerous environmental groups.

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On the Net:

http://www.headcount.org

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Chris Rock performs for Bonnaroo masses

By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer
2 hours, 19 minutes ago

Chris Rock played to a room Friday night that few comedians could command. Rock performed his act in front of tens of thousands on the main stage of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Following him was Metallica, who had the benefit of screeching guitars, a dynamic light show and pyrotechnics.

Rock had only himself and a microphone, but nevertheless appeared to have the festival crowd hanging on his every punch line. Addressing the Bonnaroo crowd, which has traditionally been on the hippie side since it was founded in 2002, Rock mock-chastised them for taking what he called "performance-enhancing drugs."

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves for taking an antidepressant to see a comedian," said Rock. "I am an antidepressant!"

Rock, who recently took his "No Apologies" tour abroad where he in London set a record for the largest standup performance in the United Kingdom with a crowd of about 14,500, didn't do much to tailor his act to the Bonnaroo crowd.

However, there was surely more people there than the London audience; the festival typically draws nearly 80,000 and the majority of Friday's festival-goers watched Rock perform. Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett introduced Rock while many of the other comedians performing at the festival — Zach Galifianakis and Brian Posehn among them — watched from backstage, naturally curious at how Rock would work the outsized room.

"60,000 people is too many for standup," said Rock's friend and frequent collaborator Louis C.K., who flew to the festival with Rock and performed his own set Saturday. "Even if 40,000 love you, you're still bombing really hard."

But Louis C.K. was impressed by how well Rock commanded the audience: "That's a big crowd to be winning over with jokes."

Rock quickly launched into politics and the presidential candidates' false claims of modesty.

"How many Kanye injections must you endure" to decide you should be president, Rock joked, referring to Kanye West, who was to perform late Saturday night at Bonnaroo.

Some of Rock's best material was about the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, who Rock supports. The comedian said he was impressed by Obama's unmistakable blackness, joking that his name makes him sound like "the bass player for the Commodores."

Though Rock thinks America is "ready" for a black president, he doesn't think it's ready for a black first lady. When the crowd oohed, Rock insisted, "Yeah, I said it. At Bonnaroo I said it." His reason? Rock believes a black woman could never be in the background of a relationship, and that Obama would have been better off marrying a white woman: "Look what it did for Tiger Woods," he said.

One of Rock's best bits came while discussing rising gas prices despite the war in Iraq, which some predicted would help keep oil under control.

"Let me tell you something," said Rock. "If I invade IHOP, pancakes are going to be cheaper in my house."

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On the Net:

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