First Official Confirmation

Well we have our first official confirmation for '08 as WSMV in Nashville broke the news that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will grace the Manchester grounds - so much for hipster music blogs.

The unlikely duo put out the critically acclaimed Raising Sand album earlier this year - which you should definitely pick up. You can also tune in to WXPN on Monday, December 24th for the re-broadcast of their appearance on the World Cafe - or just head here and stream it from their archives now.


So no Led Zep, but this is a start.

Thanks to Hidden Track for the heads up on this.

Live Bonnaroo On iTunes

I guess it's been a big week in the world of everything-Bonnaroo. The latest announcement being the return of the Live Bonnaroo download series. Head on over to their iTunes stores for sets from....

Bob Weir & Ratdog
The String Cheese Incident
North Mississippi Allstars
Hot Tuna
Dierks Bentley
James Blood Ulmer
Xavier Rudd
David Bromberg and Angel Band
Mavis Staples
Dr. Dog
RX Bandits
Robert Glasper Trio

Mark Your Calenders

Circle June 12th - 15th of '08 on your calendars as those are the official dates for the 7th installment of Bonnaroo. So start booking your flights, reserving your RV and convincing your friends that it's not that hot in Manchester in June.

Superfly's Response

Here's Superfly's response to the whole Led Zeppelin/Metallica rumor made that made it's way around a few days ago (via Jambands.com).....

Bonnaroo promoters Superfly and A.C. Entertainment have commented on recent rumors that Led Zeppelin and Metallica will headline Bonnaroo in 2008. In a statement released to Relix/Jambands.com, Superfly and A.C. Entertainment said, “The rumors that are out there about the Bonnaroo 2008 headliners are inaccurate. We're very excited about the lineup that we're putting together for this year's festival. We'll be announcing the confirmed lineup towards the end of January, beginning of February."

So sit tight folks I'm sure more rumors will be swirling around in the weeks to come before the official announcement.

Denied.

As quickly as rumors get started they also get squashed just as easily. So before the hellfire from Bonnaroo fans could light up message boards saying how Superfly is ruining the festival with booking Metallica and they'll never attend it again, etc. Q Prime Management - who represent the hard-rockers - flat out denied the report that the band will be in Manchester next June. Read about it here.

Led Zep And Metallica To Headline In '08???

This story has been making it's way around the internet, so thought I'd post it here....

Via the Digital Media Wire:

An anonymous reader tipped Bob Lefsetz, author of The Lefsetz Letter, yesterday about an interesting development in the live music world: “Zeppelin just confirmed for Bonnaroo. They can't officially announce until after the London gig so pass it on! Also Metallica is confirmed on the bill too!”

Anyone who has experienced the unique event that is Bonnaroo (or its younger sibling Vegoose) knows the four-day Manchester, Tennessee show’s trademark is its eclectic mix of bands. Considered “the largest hippy festival in the world,” as Andrew Stockdale, lead singer of Wolfmother said onstage last June, the festival organizers always manage to add plenty of non-hippy artists. In 2007 there was also the addition of a “classic” billing, the reemergence of The Police.

If the anonymous reader is right about Zeppelin and Metallica, Bonnaroo 2008 has a leg up on alternatives like Coachella before ’07 is even finished.

Make of it what you want. There has been tons of speculation that the reunited Led Zeppelin will in fact announce a full-blown world tour, but as of now they are sticking to their story that their upcoming one-off performance will be just that. I really didn't believe the rumors about The Police, but that turned out to be true.

Thoughts??

Rock Daily has some more on this story - head here.