Bonnaroo '09 Breakouts: Four Bands to Watch

Before you hit the campgrounds in Manchester, Tennessee, check out a list of the four bands RS recommends adding to your already-packed schedule.

Chairlift
You know this Brooklyn trio for that too-cute song "Bruises," which was featured on an iPod commercial. But they're far darker than that tune suggests: Chairlift craft surreal electro-pop that serve as a base for singer Caroline Polachek's gorgeous, opera-trained voice. Bonus: they do a killer cover of Snoop Dogg's "Sensual Seduction."

Passion Pit
The must-see catch on Day One: this Boston crew deliver blippy, beat-savvy dance tunes anchored by vintage analog-synths and singer Michael Angelakos' wild, maniacal shrieking. Expect it to be a raging dance party and much of the crowd singing along to every word.

Dirty Projectors
Dirty Projectors are the weirdest and craziest band you will see at Bonnaroo — period. The Brooklyn crew craft brainy, shape-shifting art-rock that flirts with everything from carefully constructed classical music and knotted prog-rock to classic-rock guitar riffs and sultry R&B vocal melodies. It's no wonder, then, that David Byrne picked Dirty Projectors to play on his artist-curated stage, which also features St. Vincent and Santigold. Dirty Projectors' music doesn't always work live — just try getting your groove on to all those tempo changes in "Stillness is the Move" — but they'll pull out a couple of cool musical tricks you won't expect.

Tobacco
Tom "Tobacco" Fec normally fronts the electronic psych-rock crew Black Moth Super Rainbow. But he's doing a couple rare sets (including a late-night one on Thursday) with his solo act — and if his recent solo album Fucked Up Friends is any indication, this will be one of the sleeper sets of the fest. Fec's tunes are woozy, day-glo monsters powered by junk-shop synthesizers, hip-hop beats and Fec's heavily-vocodorized vocals. Dude's something of a shy performer: he insists on wearing masks and performing on the ground, surrounded by his synths. But he totally deserves to have a packed crowd. Do yourself a favor and shout for "Hawker Boat," one of his best tracks.

• 
  MUSIC Exclusive Live Chat With Linkin Park and Incubus
• 
  MOVIES & TV Peter Travers: 'The Avengers' Has it All
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Jon Corzine Is the Original Zimmerman
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive Premiere: Tenacious D's 'Tinnitus'

Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter