tUnE-yArDs

Merrill Garbus may have been joined on stage by a team of capable musicians for tUnE-yArDs' afternoon set at This Tent, but it's hard to imagine anyone taking their eyes off Garbus. Handling percussion, ukulele, vocals, loops and general awesomeness, Garbus held the attention of the crowd bouncing along inside the tent, as well as the ever-increasing number of stragglers who stopped to watch in the scorching sun. To be fair, Garbus's backing band (decked out in matching headbands) delivered on the bass and brass, as well as hyping up the beach ball-batting onlookers. Running through a good deal of last year's w h o k i l l LP, "Bizness" and "Gangsta" got huge reactions, though it was nice to see a nod to the past with "Real Live Flesh" getting thrown into the mix. While genre labels like lo-fi R&B, experimental pop and Afrobeat manage to fly freely at tUnE-yArDs, the set at Bonnaroo defied any of these, just delivering fun, unique live music to an audience that was rightfully awestruck.