Japanese Breakfast, the solo project of Michelle Zaunder, performs on Friday afternoon during Bonnaroo.MANCHESTER, Tenn. - A man attending the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival was found dead Friday morning, according to Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves.
"We don't have a cause of death, and the next of kin have not been identified, but he was found in a car this morning," Graves said.
He added that the high heat, with temperatures in the high 80s, is the biggest concern.
"I just can't express enough how much people should stay hydrated and stay out of the sun."
The festival continues through Sunday night. Festival organizers, over the last 17 years, have tried to find new ways to lure fans into being willing to camp on a 700-acre farm in the heat of June and to pay for the privilege.
They've planted grass that is more weather and footwear resistant, they planted trees, added water and sewer, electricity and roads. And they've offered VIP experiences from $1,000 to $8,000 per person. This year, they upped the general admission camping experiences with a laundromat, cooking, yoga and art classes and other surprise pop-up events.
But at its core, the festival is about music, whether that means seeing a familiar favorite or discovering an unknown-to-you act. Thursday is traditionally known as move-in day, but as more and more people show up earlier each year, it also has become known as a good day to explore the grounds and the music.
Husband-and-wife act Kristen and Jared Corder attended their first Bonnaroo in 2013 and are playing the Who Stage on Sunday. They did a pop-up concert Wednesday night in the RV camping area and plan to stay throughout the weekend.
"It was amazing," Jared Corder said of the RV show while recording for The What Podcast, which focuses on the music of Bonnaroo.
"We didn't have a stage or anything like that. We just started playing, and someone said they could hear the words so we turned the speaker around. It was very communal."
Kristen Corder added, "And that's what this festival is all about."
She said her husband is the kind of guy who "keeps lists to keep up with his lists," and that playing Bonnaroo made it onto the list of goals about one year ago.
One of the early performers Thursday was Ron Gallo, who endeared himself to a large crowd in and around the That Tent with his clever lyrics and punk attitude. He opened the set by constantly starting and stopping and apologizing as if it were by accident, and closed it by pulling a young woman up and stage, handing her his guitar and saying, "Play whatever. It all works."
The audience roared even louder when she proceeded to play along with the band.
Other opening day acts included Lissie, who performed an intimate, three-song set in the Hay Bale Session studio backstage before her full set in the That Tent; Durand Jones; and French electronic dance music (EDM) artist CloZee, who lit up The Other Stage during an early evening set.
The Other Stage area was created last year by Bonnaroo as a venue strictly for EDM acts and the crowds have responded. Not only were the crowds huge during the shows there Thursday night, many of those same fans headed over to the Kalliope stage for a surprise DJ set from 3-7 a.m.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.