Bonnaroo 2023: Foo Fighter's new chapter, Paramore's homecoming and 5 more things to watch

Don't call it a comeback.

Two years removed from a COVID-19 cancellation and a rain-soaked washout, it feels like Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival never left. 

The beloved psychedelic summer camp returns to Great Stage Park (AKA "The Farm") in rural Coffee County, Tennessee, this weekend for four nights of marathon jam sessions, ground-shaking EDM, hip-hop heavyweights, and old-fashioned rock 'n' roll escapism. 

And last year, after the unexpected hiatus, festival-goers walked a beaten path in a return to The Farm. This year, they're sprinting to Bonnaroo. 

Organizers expect an audience the size of a small city to take hold of the 700-acre property near Manchester, Tennessee, some 60 miles southeast of Nashville. As Bonnaroo inches toward a sell-out at publication time, a crowd of roughly 85,000 could help erect a one-of-a-kind congregation where music runs until the sun rises and — from dance parties to wedding receptions and kaleidoscopic art — every corner could hold a new discovery. 

Foo Fighters, Kendrick Lamar, Odesza, Tyler Childers, Paramore, and Lil Nas X lead the 2023 bill. What can Bonnaroo faithful expect at this year's event? From all-night music to Paramore's homecoming and heavy metal's anticipated takeover, let's break down some of the can't-miss storylines heading into Bonnaroo.

Foo Fighters play The Farm

A year ago, Foo Fighters at Bonnaroo seemed unimaginable.

The band entered an unexpected hiatus in Match 2022 after beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins died ahead of a gig in Bogotá, Colombia. Hawkins' death left the Foo without a bedrock drummer to one of rock music's most reliable acts — the most recognizable and arguably influential member behind frontman Dave Grohl. A Foo Fighters show without body-bending drum fills sending Hawkins' sweat-soaked blonde hair into a lightning-like flurry? A three-hour gig without his off-the-cuff banter or the occasional Queen cover? Last year, it seemed impossible.

But, eventually, the band played on.

Foo Fighters returned to the road last month, begining a new chapter in the band's 28-year career. One of the first stops? The Farm, for a long-awaited (and once-cancelled) Bonnaroo debut. And when Grohl and company pull up to Manchester this weekend, it may sound a little different than past Foo shows in Tennessee. They'll bring a new album, the aptly-titled "But Here We Are," and new drummer: Josh Freese, a trusted session player known for working with Devo, Weezer and Nine Inch Nails, among others.

In a statement posted late last year regarding the future of Foo Fighters, the band shared: "... our fans have built a worldwide community, a devoted support system that has helped us all get through the darkest of times together. A place to share our joy and our pain, our hopes and fears, and to join in a chorus of life together through music. Without Taylor, we never would have become the band that we were – and without Taylor, we know that we're going to be a different band going forward."

The statement continued, "We also know that you, the fans, meant as much to Taylor as he meant to you. And we know that when we see you again ... he'll be there in spirit with all of us every night."

Paramore's homecoming

Nashville always shows up to Bonnaroo. As the closest major city to The Farm and a modern epicenter for guitar-wielding songwriters, a Bonnaroo lineup rarely drops without daily nods to Music City's deep well of talent.

Let's start a list for 2023. Artists at Bonnaroo this year with ties to Nashville include country up-and-comer Morgan Wade, singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis, soulman Devon Gilfillian, indie rock band Colony House, nu-metal staple Korn (with at least two members relocating to Music City in the last decade), Americana favorite Drew Holcomb and Rock Hall of Fame member-elect Sheryl Crow, among others.

Oh, and Paramore, of course.

The Nashville band that cut its teeth as pop-punk teenagers on boiling-hot Warped Tour stages before evolving into a trendsetting rock act with a fevered following returns to Bonnaroo for a Sunday night performance on the main stage (AKA the What Stage).

The show comes in support of "This Is Why," the first Paramore album since 2018; the band played a one-off album release show earlier this at the Grand Ole Opry House, but Bonnaroo — the band's lone Middle Tennessee stop since launching a North American tour in support of "This Is Why" — feels like a homecoming months in the making. After all, some fans still buzz about the band's 2018 debut on The Farm.

Drag parade

Those who identify as LGBTQiA+ return to Bonnaroo after a tumultuous year where many believe GOP lawmakaers in Tennessee targeted the community with laws limiting gender-affirming care and local drag performances.

Bonnaroo celebrates equality annually with a Pride parade that marches Thursday from the campgrounds to the Centeroo arch to open gates for the festival. Launched in 2019, thousands of rainbow-dressed festival-goers attend the growing tradition.

Big Freedia, a "Ru Paul's Drag Race" alum and cornerstone artist in the bounce-rap scene, serves as 2023 Grand Marshal; Cuban funk musician Cimafunk performs.

And the parade takes place on the heels of a legal victory for equal rights advocates. This month, a federal judge ruled the law banning drag performances to be unconstitutional, citing it as restricting freedom of speech.

Headbanging headquarters

Wait, Bonnaroo isn't a metal festival? Could've fooled me.

Metal — the angry, loud cousin to jam music — always finds a place on The Farm, and 2023 may be the heaviest year yet. Following performances from Metallica, Slayer, Tool and Gojira in previous years, Bonnaroo welcomes two doses of headbanging fun this weekend: Aforementioned nu-metal giant Korn and Knocked Loose, a Kentucky hardcore outfit that may be the heaviest act in Bonnaroo history (that title could also go to prog-metal staple Between The Buried And Me, which played 'Roo in 2015).

Earlier this year, Knocked Loose brought moshpit bedlam to Coachella (starting the so-called "biggest circle pit" in festival history). Will Bonnaroo follow suit? Catch 'em Friday to find out.

Bonnaroo after hours

Unlike other premier music festivals coast-to-coast, Bonnaroo isn't anchored to a curfew — and it shows. Festival organizers embrace late-night hangs and freewheelin' jam sessions that keep some artists playing until the sun rises on a new day. Coined "After Hours," let's dig into a few of the all-night highlights on the main concourse (AKA Centeroo) in 2023:

• Kicking off at 12:30 a.m. Friday: Big Freedia brings bounce music to Bonnaroo opening night.
• 2:30-3:30 a.m. Saturday: Diesel — AKA NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal — hits the Other Stage for a late-night DJ set.
• 12:30-2:30 a.m. Sunday: Rock staple My Morning Jacket performs on the Which Stage. On the nearby Other Stage, jam band STS9 plans to perform a "sunrise set" until at least 5 a.m.

A small city (in the woods)

Each year, the expansive acreage surrounding mainstage Centeroo transforms into a gathering that rivals the population of a small city (if attendance hits 85,000 this year, it would be a congregation larger than any of the suburban cities surrounding Nashville, according to population tracking at the University of Tennessee).

Organizers divide the campgrounds into plazas, where each features distinct experiences ready to explored for weekend memory-making. All-nightmusic? A pop-up wedding? A fun run? A mini film festival? Nothing seems off limits with festival-goers step into the plazas. Coined "a festival within a festival," some highlights include:

• Where In The Woods: A self-described "disco ball UFO" lands in the Bonnaroo campgrounds for a lineup of largely electronic music — including fan-favorite Zeds Dead. Music at Where in the Woods typically runs from sun down until sunrise.
• Galactic Giddy Up: A slice of the campgrounds transform into a bonafide hootenanny with performances from country and Americana acts — including two nights of Kendell Marvel's tastemaking Honky Tonk Experience.
• More music ... everywhere: With multiple stages tucked into campgrounds, artists slated to appear throughout the Plazas include Devon Gilfillian, The Beths, JP Saxe, Madison Cunningham and more.
• Art for all: Outside of music, campground entertainment includes wedding ceremonies, cinema clubs, tarot card readings, a circus show and more (and that doesn't include off-the-cuff entertainment curated by festival-goers).

Sheryl Crow's Rock Hall victory lap

This year in Nashville, Sheryl Crow lobbied for gun reform, rallied for LGBTQ rights, sang "Landslide" with Stevie Nicks (at Nissan Stadium, no less) and surprised Bridgestone Arena with a "Strong Enough" duet alongside John Mayer during his acoustic tour.

This year outside of Nashville, she received an invited to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, one the highest career-spanning achievements in popular music.

Safe to say, it's been a busy few months for Crow, an influential singer-songwriter who penned some of the best-known songs of the 1990s ("All I Wanna Do," "If It Makes You Happy," "Soak Up The Sun" ... and the list goes on).

Her music feels tailor-made for a sunny Saturday afternoon on The Farm, and that's when fans can celebrate this storyteller at her first Middle Tennessee headlining gig since earning the Rock Hall nod.