Its that time of the year again! Summer festival lineups have begun to drop like flies off a bug light and the latest to come out has been the one that belongs in our own backyard here at MTM, Bonnaroo! Typically when these line ups drop I look thru it and find the artists that I like and plan to see them and look no further, however this year I have decided to dig a little deeper and give it more of a bottom up approach. Usually I have never heard of the bands at the bottom of the list as they are just beginning to make strides to hit the big time so I figured I would start there this year on my pre-Bonnaroo music binge and give them my first attention.
I present to you the MTM Bonnaroo Discovery guide. Now go ye and discover new artists and maybe in a couple of years they will have moved from beyond the end of the list to be the headliners.
Matthew E. White:
Matthew E. White was the first last name on the list that I came across and you better believe I will wind up at his performance. After giving a listen to his sound cloud account I just can’t help but to have his song “Big Love” grooving
around swirling between my ears to the point that I probably have plenty of people staring at me as I nod and sway my head like a white Stevie Wonder. This little masterpiece begins with a pulsating bass line following some interesting sound-scapes worthy of a trance mix and is followed by the crooning of White’s voice and a light guitar solo that sounds like something straight from the summer of love. The best part of this song had to be the backing choir and sax flourishes following his
voice as he’s “moving on like any other man should.”
The Stepkids:
Turn down the lights and start talking sweet to your lady and if you turn on The Stepkids and you just might get lucky. These guys drip with more soul then a sweaty night with Barry White, and may be so smooth, funky and groovy to start a second baby boom. After watching several videos of them online I hope like crazy that these guys get a set sometime after dark. The light shows they feature and the creepy psychedelic visions they conjure would be a fantastic way to open up the late night Pretty Lights sets and would make any fan of earlier Pink Floyd come running from across Great Stage Park.
Check out the whole lineup and get your tickets (if any are left) here: http://lineup.bonnaroo.com/