Ask anyone who's attending Bonnaroo this year: when the festival's music schedule was revealed a few weeks back, it was Friday that had everyone pulling out their hair. Tons of this year's biggest names were crammed into a handful of hours on Friday, from mid afternoon to early Saturday morning.
My iPhone pedometer says I walked 12 miles today, and I believe it, as I trudged from one end of the field to the other in hopes of catching the biggest moments of Friday in person.
Here's what stuck with me.
LCD Soundsystem owns the night
The first sound made by this band on Bonnaroo's biggest stage? A cowbell-driven drumbeat. As a sedan-sized disco ball descended from above the stage, the Bonnaroo audience - even those who were completely unfamiliar with LCD - knew they were in for a good time.
The dance-rock group reunited this year after first calling it quits in 2011, and they're certainly a bit removed from your average festival headliner. Frontman James Murphy isn't into big dumb hooks, or onstage histrionics, and that's what many acts live or die by when they're playing for a crowd this big.
"You wanted a hit?" Murphy sang early on. "But maybe we don't do hits."
But his band's grooves - owing much to classic funk and disco - is immediate, universal and hypnotic. It allows Murphy to shine in a more subtle way. But there might have been another reason he was fairly chilled out at the start of the set.
"Oh boy," he told the crowd 20 minutes in. "We're a little hungover. We had a really good time yesterday, so I'm a little stupid. But I think I'm not alone."
Clearly not. Even with Murphy's inspired lyrics, it was big dumb neon fun through the main stage grounds, as Christmas-lot totem poles and balloons swayed insistently to the beat.
Chvrches' surprise guest
Scottish electro-pop trio Chvrches were turning in a perfectly pleasant dance party as the sun set by the What Stage. Then Hayley Williams showed up. The Paramore frontwoman - who hails from Franklin, Tenn. - showed up on stage to sing Bury It, a brand-new collaboration with the group that was revealed on Thursday.
"I don't think I can sing all of the next one by myself," frontwoman Lauren Mayberry said before Williams appeared. "That was a good setup, wasn't it?"
Mayberry has a lovely voice - a tender tone that melds perfectly with her band mates' chilly synths - but Williams' appearance was an invigorating breath of fresh air. The 27-year-old has been a powerhouse vocalist since she was barely out of middle school, and her decade of experience commanding huge stages was on full display as she took the baton. Mayberry noted that it was Williams' first trip to Bonnaroo - which might strike you as odd when you consider that every other massive modern rock act from Tennessee has played the festival multiple times. Perhaps her band will get their turn one of these days.
J Cole's command (with Chance the Rapper)
Well, that escalated quickly. Within 30 seconds of taking the stage, hip-hop star J. Cole had a field packed with diehards leaping in unison, as he ripped into A Tale of 2 Citiez.
"Last night I had a bad dream!" he and his fans barked in unison. It was a fiery thrill, and J Cole kept up the momentum until the end with the help of a special surprise guest: Chance the Rapper.
It was a royal welcome for one of popular music's brightest new stars - especially since he makes a point to attend Bonnaroo even when he's not on the bill.
Halsey's national anthem
It was a field of millennials, waving all kinds of flags - from rainbows to the Stars and Stripes - and singing these words:
"We are the new Americana/ high on legal marijuana/ raised on Biggie and Nirvana."
Depending on where you stand, that scene might sound either empowering or terrifying - but hey, that's the line rock and roll has straddled from the beginning. The 21-year-old edgy pop singer hit the mainstream with a ton of hype last year, and she's aiming to deliver on that promise.
Allen Stone's sunny soul
Stevie Wonder isn't back at Bonnaroo this year - he blew minds when he headlined the festival in 2010. But on Friday afternoon, Allen Stone gave attendees the next best thing.
The Seattle musician broke in Bonnaroo's biggest stage - "What," where Pearl Jam and other headliners will play - with a set of irresistible soul ala Songs in the Key of Life. Each member of Stone's 6-piece band was busting a move, especially his towel-twirling horn section. They even dipped into the main groove of Prince's 1999, and I'm sure that's one of many times we'll hear the late legend's music played this weekend. Stone was visibly red as he hit some sky-high falsettos on Contact High, and it looked like the scorching sun that's persisted today played a role in that. He urged his audience to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen, then changed his mind.
"Make sure you just don't give a ****," he said. "Because if you get sunburnt, there's always next year."
After their epic final number - complete with a blistering "talkbox" solo (more shades of Stevie), Stone and crew bounded off the stage, and the crowd clamored for an encore. Not bad for a 3 p.m. slot.
FIDLAR cleans up
"This is a song about rehab and how much it sucks," said FIDLAR frontman Zac Carper, before the California band ripped into a ferocious punk song titled No Waves. Carper got sober in 2014 after struggling with substance abuse. The Bonnaroo audience likely feels all kinds of ways about keeping clean, but they all united over the band's scuzzy but undeniably catchy rock tunes. Chief among those is 40 Oz On Repeat, which was on their Nashville-made 2015 album Too.
"Everybody's got more money, got more money than me," Carper howled. A dusty sea of college kids sang along - whether they scrimped and saved for their festival ticket or had their parents foot the bill.
