Bonnaroo: Thursday 6/14/07

1:17 PM EDT on June 15, 2007

Greetings from Manchester, Tennessee, where the sun is shining and the restaurants are closing way too early. As they're saying in Centeroo, Thursday is the new Friday: Bonnaroo has gone from a three-day fest with a "pre-night" to a full-on four-night extravaganza, cemented in our minds by seeing the National play to an amped, massive crowd. Maybe it was their delay taking the stage, maybe it was just Alligator's slow-burn ignition, but Boxer had early arrivers hanging on our boys' every note, supporting like true Nationalist zealots. More bands we were psyched to see on night one: Georgian Westerberg-devotees the Whigs, who turned out the TROO tent with their woozy alt.country; a midnight set by virtuoso guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela at That Tent; and Mute Math ('cause we heard there'd be nudity involved, and in TN, skin is in). Take the jump for pics from the Thursday night acts, including a shot from the Silent Disco (people dancing to their own private headphones -- think Legion Of Rock Stars for the MDMA set).

For this field trip, Jon Bahr (from ASCAP and the Slip crew) is lending his talents and excellent lenses, so take the jump to enjoy some of his shots of the night, More will be mixed in with Amrit's shots all weekend. The on-site daily rag Bonnaroo Beacon will be runningour best shots too.

So we're off to hit the fields, fend off sunstroke, and take in some Tortoise and Hot Chip. You can join us from the comfort of your cubicle by streaming sets at AT&T blueroom, where they'll have Cold War Kids (2:15PM), Brazilian Girls (3:15PM), Kings Of Leon (4:45PM), Paolo Nutini (6:00PM) Gillian Welch (7:15PM), Tom "The Nightwatchman" Morello (8:45PM), Lily Allen (10:00PM), and the most fabulous Roots crew (11:00PM) -- all times EST. Have fun with that, and feel free to suggest some sets; we'll do what we can to please. If you're down here, look for the sweaty Jew and his sidekick Indian sporting Stereogum tees. Especially if you're kind. (Also, we'll probably be looking at Blackberrys).

THE NATIONAL