I had seen Danny Brown once before his Friday Bonnaroo set, opening for Sleigh Bells back in November. At that concert, it seemed at least half the crowd was actually there to see him, and he was great, but it was still not entirely his show. Old was one of my favorite albums of 2013, but I think I’d underestimated just how intensely Brown is loved. He was one (of several) artists holding down one of the tent stages while seeming like his popularity demanded a much bigger space. So much so, in fact, that it got a little dark there in the beginning. People were so crammed in there that before Brown even took the stage, there was a steady stream of fans exiting over the barricade and out of the photo pit in front of the stage, looking they the mass behind them had been crushing them — many of their faces were deep red, all looked like they were struggling to breathe, and a few even looked to be having panic attacks. And, again, this was while Brown’s DJ was just playing a few songs to get everyone amped up. Brown took the stage around the time that the exodus started to trickle, but that also meant that a few people who found themselves over the wall didn’t want to exit and go to the back of the crowd, and they wound up in heated, occasionally physical, arguments with the Bonnaroo staff members. Once Brown was actually onstage, the intensity of his performance and of the crowd’s reaction didn’t let up for the entirety of his set, but things at least looked like they got a bit safer. To be honest, it was a little unnerving to see the whole thing start that way, but once Brown was underway his set was unstoppable, with him channeling a frenetic, manic sense of energy the entire time. It was great to hear “25 Bucks” for the first time towards the end of the performance, and hearing him perform “Smokin & Drinkin” and “(Side B) Dope Song” will never get old.