08. Bonnaroo Vs. Kanye, Forever

Between Macca, Kells, Wu-Tang, Animal Collective, and Petty, Manchester was rife with scenery-chewing legends. And yet, as this photograph lays bare, the specter of Kanye West continues to loom large here. BONNAROO NEVER FORGETS. (Refresher: Five years ago I joined thousands of people waiting in a field until 5AM for Ye to begin, hours late, his Glow In The Dark. It didn’t glow; the sun was rising.) I suppose we should at least be thankful that episode provided what is arguably Kanye’s #1 rant/quote of all time in “SQUID BRAINS!“, and that counts for something. But people seethed the rest of that weekend, scrawling their anti-Ye slogans on the festival walls and their own persons, and apparently it’s a tradition that will live forever. Factor in the fact that we spent every morning and late night of this year’s festival feverishly absorbing Yeezus, and that Kim released her own Kanye production over the course of the weekend, and you’re left with an unavoidable fact: Kanye was a major player at Bonnaroo 2013 without being anywhere near it. It’s a whole new measure of star status.