The 2008 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was held June 12–15. Aside from the festival's opening year (2002), attendance at the 2008 event, at approximately 70,000, was the smallest in Bonnaroo's history.
Bonnaroo had many cancellations and reschedules by artists both before and during the event. Cancellations included Black Kids, who appeared on the initial line-up but were later removed. Two months prior, due to health issues, The Allman Brothers Band cancelled their slot at the festival. Their cancellation led to the replacement band Widespread Panic being announced as the festival closer.[1] Due to a schedule conflict, David Cross also had to cancel his appearance and was replaced by Louis C.K. in the Bonnaroo Comedy Theatre.
The surprise SuperJam was composed of Les Claypool on bass/vocals, Eugene Hutz (guitar/vocals), Sergei Ryabtsev (violin), Oren Kaplan (guitar), and Yuri Lemeshev (accordion) of Gogol Bordello, and Claypool's touring drummer (and Cake member) Paulo Baldi on drums. They were later joined by Kirk Hammett of Metallica on guitar for three numbers. Hammett was introduced by Claypool as "some guy that used to sell me weed back in high school." The set consisted of eleven Tom Waits covers ("Russian Dance" was performed twice, the second time as an encore), along with a single Claypool song, "D's Diner".
Chris Rock's main stage set was billed as being "one of the largest ever for a comedy show".[2]
Kidz Jam, a non-profit organization out of Dayton, Ohio provided free entertainment, water, earplugs and safety information for the families which attended Bonnaroo in 2008.
Kanye West's Saturday night set, having been moved back and forth between stages by Bonnaroo promoters, eventually ran on the main stage. West was not on time due to a scheduling conflict. This, in addition to Pearl Jam playing over an hour longer than scheduled and taking a long time to remove their equipment, and the complex stage set-up for West's performance, meant the show started at 5:00 am.[3]
| BP | Artists | Venue | BP | Artists | Venue | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | align=left | That Tent | align=center | align=left | The Other Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | The Other Tent | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | What Stage | align=center | align=left | That Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | Which Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | The Other Tent | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | The Other Tent | align=center | align=left | Which Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi’s Soul Stew Revival | That Tent | align=center | align=left | |||||
| align=center | align=left | Which Stage | align=center | align=left | This Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | |||||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | This Tent | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | What Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | The Other Tent | align=center | align=left | Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road | The Other Tent | ||||
| align=center | align=left | That Tent | align=center | align=left | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | The Other Tent | align=center | align=left | That Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | That Tent | align=center | align=left | What Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | That Tent | align=center | align=left | Which Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | Which Stage | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | What Stage | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | What Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | Which Stage | align=center | align=left | This Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | What Stage | align=center | align=left | That Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings | Which Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | That Tent | align=center | align=left | That Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | |||||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | The Other Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | (cancelled) | |||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | | align=left | Tiësto feat. Cary Brothers, José González, and Tegan & Sara | This Tent | ||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left | That Tent | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | That Tent | align=center | align=left | What Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | That Tent | align=center | align=left | That Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | Umphrey's McGee | Which Stage | ||||
| align=center | align=left | This Tent | align=center | align=left | Which Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | What Stage | align=center | align=left | This Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | That Tent | align=center | align=left | Which Stage | |||||
| align=center | align=left | The Other Tent | align=center | align=left | Don DiLego | |||||
| align=center | align=left | The Sons of Roswell | align=center | align=left | ||||||
| align=center | align=left | What Stage | align=center | align=left | This Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | What Stage | align=center | align=left | This Tent | |||||
| align=center | align=left | align=center | align=left |
Somethin' Else- New Orleans:
Bonnaroo Comedy:
Cafe Acts
Cinema Tent