Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Entertainment
Entertainment

The Roots Bring D’Angelo Back At Bonnaroo

Posted byBy ABS Contributor | Published on: CommentsComments (1)

The Roots conquered nearly every genre of music while they entertained the crowd at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee on Saturday and Sunday. Early Sunday morning Questlove, The Roots drummer, brought out D’Angelo for his first U.S performance in over 10 years.

The crowd at Bonnaroo cheered as The Roots effortlessly transitioned from hip hop into jazz and from soul to fist pumping rock during the almost two hour long SuperJam.

The Roots told their fans they had a special guest and after a few songs Questlove paused to make the quick introduction.

“I’ve been waiting 12 years to say this: Ladies and gentlemen, D’Angelo,” Questlove exclaimed as the R&B singer came on to the stage. The legendary crooner had spent most of his time doing shows in Europe, but for the first time in 12 years he graced a stage in America. D’Angelo accompanied The Roots for nearly an hour as they opened up with the Jimi Hendrix hit “Have You Ever Been (to Electric Lady Land).”

Being ever so diverse, the band switched from Jimi Hendrix to the Beatles to Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and What Should Never Be.” It had been rumored that D’Angelo would make an appearance in one of the music tents in Manchester, Tennessee, but many fans assumed it to be just a rumor. The crowd went crazy when they actually heard the neo-soul singer/songwriter and his sultry voice.

Many people in the large audience admitted that they didn’t know much about The Roots other than their gig as the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but by the end of the show they had certainly been converted to fans.

According to USAToday, at the end of the set the crowd chanted together screaming, “One more song! One more song!” When their request for another song wasn’t met, Questlove came to the mic to explain. “We don’t know any more songs. We crammed all those songs into, like, six hours (of rehearsal). The dinner break was The Roots’ main set,” he said as he chuckled a bit.

Throughout the night the band also performed hits by Guns N’ Roses, Bo Diddley, Band of Gypsys, and the Funkadelics.

 

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top