2005:

• Dave Matthews’ performances of his own song “Two Step,” as well as covers of The Zombies’ “Time of the Season” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” (the latter of which he performed with Robert Randolph).
• Trey Anastasio plays almost the entire second side of the Beatles’ Abbey Road from “Mean Mr. Mustard” all the way through to “The End,” a show I later learned I was present at while I thought I was asleep.

2006:

• Tom Petty invites Stevie Nicks onstage during his Friday night headlining slot to play their song “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” as well as “I Need To Know,” “Learning to Fly,” and “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”
• Beck plays a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” just hours before Radiohead took to the stage, one small part of his strangely intriguing hybrid live human/puppet performance.
• Radiohead’s entire dynamite headlining set, featuring “2 + 2 = 5,” the most explosive song in their catalog.

The ferris wheel is often one of the best activities for when there's a lull in the schedule.

2007:

• Mexican guitarist duo Rodrigo y Gabriela’s polarizing instrumental acoustic set on the opening night, featuring gorgeous covers of Metallica’s “One” and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” which incited a massive sing-a-long among concertgoers.
  

  2008 - a mysterious machine that appears near the Other Tent begins to spurt giant fireballs ...

• Saturday’s insanely stacked Which Stage lineup, featuring (in order): Regina Spektor, Damien Rice, and Franz Ferdinand (who actually had a legit MC/hype man introduce the band and pump up the crowd).
• Saturday night headlining sets by The Police (who unfortunately ended early) and The Flaming Lips, whose insane visual/interactive performance was only paralleled by their own cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” (it’s also the only time I’ve seen the Lips perform their very first hit, “She Don’t Use Jelly”).
• Galactic’s all-star late-night jam session with Chali 2na, Boots Riley, Lyrics Born, and a surprise appearance by DJ Shadow—this show went until the sun came up.
• The White Stripes perform their only Bonnaroo set as part of their final tour, cover Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” with ferocious intensity.

2008:

• Thursday’s one-two-three punch at the This Tent, featuring three of the most promising up-and-comers of the time: MGMT, followed by Battles, followed by Vampire Weekend
  

  ... that turn into giant smoke rings in the air!

• M.I.A. invites fifty or so fans onstage to dance with her during her set, and literally makes it rain.
• Chris Rock is the first comedian to perform on the Main Stage, also serves as the Master of Ceremonies of the evening.
• Iron & Wine performs at The Other Tent next to an art installation that periodically blows giant black smoke rings into the air (especially appropriate during the song “Cinders & Smoke”).
• Sigur Rós’ triumphant Bonnaroo debut; everyone tries to stay awake during the 1-3 AM spectacle, yet most are lulled to sleep by Jonsí’s tender vocals and the band’s sweeping majestic arrangements.
• Perhaps the most infamous disagreement between Bonnaroo and any of their artists: Kanye West, originally slated to play the Which Stage in the evening demands that he be relocated to the main (What) stage during a later hour to accommodate his ‘spectacular’ light show. He is subsequently moved from 8:15 PM to 2:45 AM, and then doesn’t appear onstage until 4:30 AM—just before sunrise—when he is rightfully booed and pelted with glow sticks. ‘Fuck Kanye’ becomes synonymous with Bonnaroo overnight.

Hot air balloons over Phoenix on the Which Stage, 2010.

2009:

• Several nighttime acts on Thursday—as well as the crowds that flock to see them—wage battle with a super cell thunderstorm that later formed a tornado that touched down mere miles from the festival grounds.
  

  The sunset that gave no warning of the weather event that was about to occur in 2009.

• Battle of the Friday undercards: the lineup for the Which Stage on Friday afternoon (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Animal Collective, TV on the Radio) goes up against David Byrne’s impeccably curated tent (Dirty Projectors, Santigold, St. Vincent) on the other side of the grounds, resulting in a series of horribly unfair choices; every music lover subsequently tears out their hair in frustration.
• The Beastie Boys play their final live performance on the What Stage on Friday.
• Saturday headliner Bruce Springsteen spots a Santa Claus in the audience at his show, honors it by playing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”

2010:

• Bonnaroo introduces the (very) short-lived Lunar Stage, erected to showcase up- and-coming talent in the genre of electronic dance music; the music is much louder than anticipated, everyone is annoyed and the project is scrapped for following years (although they do use the stage to project the NBA Finals games during the daytime hours).
• Conan O’Brien debuts his comedy show at Bonnaroo’s Comedy Theatre, the demand is so high that the overflow is sent to the Cinema Tent where a live broadcast of the show is projected on screen; O’Brien also serves as MC for the What Stage.
• Sensitive singer-songwriter and piano virtuoso Tori Amos appears on the Farm for the first time, looking extremely out of place but in fact was very well received; treats her audience to a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
• The Flaming Lips perform two full, back-to-back late night sets; one featuring material from the band’s own catalog, the other a cover of the entire album Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.
• French band Phoenix closes out the Which Stage for the weekend amidst a dramatic backdrop of pink clouds, a gorgeous sunset, and several hot air balloons.

The Flaming Lips perform two late night sets on the Which Stage in 2010 ...

... one that features a mix of old favorites and new material from their recent album, Embryonic ...

... and second: a complete reworking of Pink Floyd's epic and pivotal Dark Side of the Moon album.

2011:

• Bonnaroo celebrates its 10th Anniversary.
• My Morning Jacket headlines the What Stage Friday night, featuring several parachutists that descend from above, adorned in twinkling LEDs.
• Despite some audio issues at the beginning of their set, the reunited Buffalo Springfield play a hit-filled nighttime set at the Which Stage.

• Saturday’s late night lineup boasts the most energetic acts of the time: String Cheese Incident, STS9 attract the jam crowds, while Girl Talk (armed with thousands of balloons) and Scissor Sisters (who light the entire stage ablaze during “Fire With Fire”) aim to please the dance-hungry fans.

That Tent, ca. 2012. (Incidentally, right after this photo was taken, I saw Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood wandering the grounds before their show)

2012:

• Radiohead makes a triumphant return to Bonnaroo as headliners with a fresh new setup and a slew of new, more ambient material.
• Sunday sees two massive reunions: The Beach Boys reunite on the main stage for a 30-song set of classic hits in the afternoon, while 90s favorites Ben Folds Five take to the Which Stage to perform.
• During Phish’s closing headlining four-hour set, Kenny Rogers comes onstage to perform his hit “The Gambler” with the jam-band icons.

2013

• The legendary Paul McCartney makes his Bonnaroo debut on the What Stage, tearing through his extensive solo career as well as several Beatles’ songs; he plays his 2012 song “My Valentine” dedicated to his third wife Nancy to awkward moderate acclaim, totally blows it out of the water when three songs later he blows the roof off with “Maybe I’m Amazed,” the song he wrote for his late first wife Linda, receives thunderous applause; his performance of “Live and Let Die” features enormous pyrotechnics and a fireworks show.
  

  Dancing man made of Glow Sticks.

• Another musical giant, Björk, makes her debut as well, playing a sunset set on the main stage adorned with a shimmering fiber optic dandelion seed cluster headdress, adorably chants “TEN-NES-SEE!” after almost each song.
• R. Kelly performs a late night set on the Which Stage, descending from on high as his entrance, goes right into “Ignition (Remix),” plays a 34-song set, in the middle of which he attempts to get the audience to genuinely express their love of music through a series of call-and-response prompts, immediately ruins the moment by saying ‘This next song is called “Sex in the Kitchen”;’ he ends his set with “I Believe I Can Fly” (from the movie Space Jam) and releases hundreds of helium-filled Mylar balloons in the shape of doves into the sky, the are subsequently seen scattered all over the ground over the course of the night and next day.
• David Byrne and St. Vincent share the Which Stage and close it down, performing a mix of their collaborative work as well as songs from each other’s respective catalogues.
• Tom Petty returns to Bonnaroo to close out the festival on the main stage, sounds like he is tripping balls the entire time, lays on the covers with songs by Grateful Dead, Traveling Wilburys and The Byrds; hundreds of audience members light Chinese wish lanterns that ignite the sky with orange flames.

2015:

• 80s new wave act Tears For Fears play a career-spanning set and are seen easier than ever before on the Tents’ new digital Jumbotrons; they open with “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and close with “Head Over Heels” and “Shout;” also play an arresting cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.”
  

  Jamie xx performs at Bonnaroo 2015.

• The late Maurice White appears with Earth, Wind & Fire on the Bonnaroo stage, one of his last live performances before his death in January 2016.
• Belle & Sebastian invite Mad Men’s Jon Hamm onstage to toss gummy bears into Stuart Murdoch’s mouth; Hamm also appears with Zach Galifinakis at the annual Superjam; later Hamm is seen at a restaurant nearby and leaves his all- access wristband to his waitress as a tip with a simple note reading, Go have fun.
• Billy Joel closes out the main stage, also playing two different love songs for two of his many wives.

The Journey Continues Tomorrow ... Stay Tuned.