Well…by now you probably already know how the story of the 2025 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival ends…
But all the good times that we experienced before the weather cancellation shouldn’t be forgotten. In fact, we think it should be highlighted to show why there is such a bond between the fest and its fans.
Thursday kicked things off with a dose of sunshine and just enough breeze to keep the Tennessee humidity from becoming unbearable. Crowds filtered in steadily throughout the afternoon, with Centeroo (the main festival performance area) coming alive as early risers set the tone for a high-energy weekend. From bluegrass pickin’ to EDM bass drops and a little bit of country chaos, the first day of Bonnaroo 2025 was anything but quiet.
Anyone who read our Bonnaroo preview and updates already knows that the festival is known for its genre-diverse lineup. And, you already know that Bonnaroo’s stages have names like What, Who, This, That, and The Other. With that background in mind, let’s explore what we experienced in our (way too short) time on The Farm.
Thursday at Bonnaroo 2025: Returning “Home”
Thursday at Bonnaroo is full of traditions: getting camp set up, hearing the first notes of the weekend, seeing the fountain and tower lit up for the first time, and…usually overdoing it a bit so that we are tired come Friday morning. Thursday serves as a ‘welcome home’ party for many of us. But at the forefront is the music!
Kitchen Dwellers
This was our 12th year at Bonnaroo and we can still say that we get chills when we walk up to the first set of the weekend and the music starts. We always try to make sure that we’ve got something good lined up. That led us to This Tent to see Montana’s Kitchen Dwellers.
Playing Bonnaroo for the first time the band wasted no time diving into a dark, heavy jam session on “Sundown” which drew people in and instantly got them in the Bonnaroo spirit. Up close at This Tent, fans clapped along and nodded in time; further back, reels and solo dancing broke out as the rhythm took hold.
Bluegrass, and jamgrass in particular, has enjoyed an explosion in the festival scene. It wasn’t a complete surprise to see a crowd at This Tent for the show. However, it was a shock to see just how many people were pouring out of the confines of the tent and filling the surrounding lawn so early on the first day of the fest!
We used the phrase “jamgrass” but don’t want to oversimply what the Kitchen Dwellers do. Their set wasn’t just improvisational noodling — the band wove together melodic themes, particularly between banjo and guitar, while the upright bass thumped out a steady pulse. Each jam built with intention, layering ideas into a cohesive groove. The aforementioned “Sundown” showcased their vocal harmonies while “At Ease” highlighted smart lyrical writing.
This was a high-energy set and exactly what we needed to get Bonnaroo under way.
Exploring the Bonnaroo Grounds:
Between all of the sights, sounds, vendors, and just good old fashioned chaos, Bonnaroo is something that really needs to be scene in-person to be fully appreciated. Before our next set, we wandered around the Centeroo grounds to see what was going on.
PARISI
PARISI delivered one of the most musically nuanced DJ sets of the day, keeping the crowd on their toes with unpredictable structure, layered builds, and a seamless blend of melodic tension and dancefloor drive. Performing on the festival’s new Infinity Stage, the Italian-born, London-based brothers radiated joy from behind the decks, clearly hyped to be playing for the Bonnaroo crowd.
Though their set came early in the day, the energy was anything but mellow. The duo’s blend of cinematic tension and fluid grooves pulled in an actively dancing crowd, many of whom were already moving like it was after midnight in the club. Known for their work with Fred again.. and Swedish House Mafia, PARISI brought both emotional pull and technical polish to the farm, bridging the underground and the mainstream with ease.
Wisp
Wisp brought a dreamy blend of shoegaze and alternative textures to the stage at That Tent, pairing walls of distorted guitar with soft, airy vocals that floated just above the mix. Much of the set leaned into newer material, including their most recent single, “Save Me Now,” giving fans a sense of where the project is headed sonically. One moment mid-set saw the crowd gently swaying and lifting their arms in unison as the tempo softened slightly — not exactly quiet, but more restrained — creating a shift in energy that felt just as powerful as the biggest drops elsewhere. One highlight, “Sin,” stood out as a vocal showcase, cutting through the haze with emotion and clarity. Throughout the performance, Wisp balanced haze and melody with skill, pulling listeners into a soundscape that was more about atmosphere than clarity.
Of The Trees B2B Tape B
This late-evening back-to-back set on the Infinity Stage delivered deep wubz in full force, fusing Tape B’s dubstep intensity with Of The Trees’ atmospheric, experimental bass. The duo’s sonic contrast played to their strengths — one leaning into heavy drops and clever flips (like “Dopamine” and “Gas Pedal”), the other guiding the crowd through textured, psychedelic soundscapes. The overall sound invited slow head-nods and full-body immersion in the waves of bass. No flashy hype tactics, no filler — just two artists locked into their own language of sound design and groove. The set proved that deep bass doesn’t have to mean predictable — and that even without a word spoken, the energy said everything.
Luke Combs
There has long been a debate among Bonnaroo old heads about whether the fest would ever have a true country headliner. That question was finally put to rest this year. On the What Stage, Luke Combs proved why he earned the honor of such a headlining slot, delivering a set that was both familiar and unexpectedly wide-reaching.
Even for those who don’t regularly tune in to country radio, songs like “Beer Never Broke My Heart” landed with surprising familiarity and undeniable energy — especially the way he leaned into its party anthem power. The crowd knew more lyrics than many expected, and the singalongs stretched deep into the field.
Combs also stacked the setlist with surprise guests: Miranda Lambert joined him for “Outrunnin’ Your Memory” and took the lead on her own hit “Kerosene”; Jon Bellion stepped in for his own song “WHY” and their collaboration “Good Things Fall Apart”; and Marcus King joined for a gritty take on “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma.” It was a set rooted in country, but played big enough to reach across genres and generations.
Dom Dolla
Dom Dolla’s late-night set brought a hard-hitting blend of tech and bass house to The Other Stage, a space specifically designed to showcase EDM with towering screens, open sightlines, and room for massive lighting rigs. While rooted in classic house grooves, his signature low-end punch gave the set a darker, heavier edge that kept the field moving. Flow artists lit up the perimeter while huge lasers sliced across the crowd, eliciting awed cheers with every burst. It was the kind of performance that didn’t need words — just motion, rhythm, and overwhelming sensory power. It was a top-tier moment for dance fans and one of Thursday’s most physically immersive sets.
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse was… well, insane. The legendary horrorcore duo lived up to their name in every possible way, from their over-the-top rap delivery to the carnival of costumed clowns hyping the crowd. It’s hard to say what was more unhinged — the aggressively absurd lyrics, the chaotic energy on stage, or the now-infamous Faygo breaks. At regular intervals, the crew would pause to shake up 2-liters and launch them into the crowd, then come back with buckets of Faygo root beer to make sure they soaked anyone they missed. It was loud, messy, ridiculous, and exactly the kind of genre-breaking, logic-defying moment that makes Bonnaroo… Bonnaroo.
Friday At Bonnaroo 2025: Returning Home…
We woke up surprisingly crisp and ready for Friday on The Farm…even though we stayed up way too late taking in some EDM at the festival’s Where In The Woods campground venue. Phones and camera recharged we headed in to Centeroo just in time for a weather delay. At the time it didn’t seem like much would happen. A quick-hitting storm was about to blow over and the music would start.
By the time we got back to camp a different reality had set in. It wasn’t just a fast storm, but an entire line of storms had made a precise turn to come right over Manchester. Even worse, it was going to take hours for them to pass. By 3 PM we realized that we were going to miss shows. By 6 PM it seemed likely the whole day would be cancelled. Around 8 PM heartbreak hit as the entire rest of the festival was cancelled due to flooding and deteriorating conditions in the campgrounds.
What happened after that seems to depend on individual experience. Around our camping area there was an initial sadness that was quickly overcome with a desire for one last night of partying as a Bonnaroo family. At one point over 100 people gathered around a pickup truck as a Bonnaroo attendee broke out boards and kept the feelings high with an improvised DJ set. Glow sticks were tossed, beer was drank, people laughed and danced. It truly felt like the Roo community even without the large stages and huge artists. Numerous Instagram posts confirm that similar parties broke out all over the campgrounds. In contrast, some social media posts described difficulty leaving the site the next morning with a lack of guidance being provided on the exit routes and lines. While we did not experience this, the reports are out there and can’t be ignored.
Overall, there is still a sense of shock. Something we all anticipated for so long was gone so fast. Many found “make up” shows being put on by Bonnaroo artists in Nashville and Chattanooga. While not everyone could attend, the spirit of Bonnaroo was clearly alive. Our experience seeing Justice in Nashville is going to be a memory that lasts a lifetime.
While we could write forever about our feelings on the cancellation, let’s close it out with this: Bonnaroo is, and always has been, more than a music festival. It’s a community. It’s a feeling that can only really be explained by experiencing it. And we know that we will be back on The Farm to reconnect with the Roo family as soon as The Farm is ready for us again!
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