After rains and flooding caused our first year on the ground at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in 2025, our team has returned for round two in Manchester, Tennessee. We made our way across the farm throughout the day on Friday to catch a wide variety of sets spanning genres and featuring established and new acts.
Keep reading to see which artists made the top of our lists on Friday, and keep up with us here and on socials through the weekend to see more from Bonnaroo 2026!
Wednesday
Friday morning storms soaked the Bonnaroo grounds, including the newly relocated That Tent. But this didn’t stop Wednesday from making waves with their blend of hardcore and country. They opened their set with “Reality TV Argument Bleeds,” which also opens their acclaimed 2025 album Bleeds. The swell of heavy guitars and Karly Hartzman’s scream ensured the crowd was immediately locked in, bobbing their heads along to the beat.
Xandy Chelmis’ impressive pedal steel work took the spotlight during two of their more heavily country-leaning tracks off Bleeds: “Phish Pepsi” and “Elderberry Wine,” the latter of which garnered a singalong of the track’s chorus led by Hartzman. She also continued her on-stage tradition of speaking up about the current political state of the U.S., adding impassioned commentary on the importance of Southern liberals staying in the region to fight and protect immigrants affected by ICE.
Finally, Wednesday wrapped up their impressive set with “Wasp,” which showcased Hartzman’s wide-ranging vocal flexibility, sending the crowd off with an impassioned, blood-curdling scream.
Geese
Although the grounds were muddy inside That Tent on Friday evening, New York City’s Geese started off their set by building up the hype by playing a montage of their hometown’s sports teams, including the Knicks’ surprise last-minute win during the NBA Finals. The clips served as the perfect catalyst for the band’s emergence on stage, where they kicked things off with “Husbands” and the title track from their celebrated 2025 record, Getting Killed.
While frontman Cameron Winter’s unique blend of vibrato and shouting led the crowd through an hour of dancing and singalongs, Geese’s drummer Max Bassin kept things moving with his unparalleled musicianship, truly wowing the crowd with his drum solo during “Bow Down.”
Winter’s talents as both a lyricist and performer took center stage during “Au Pays du Cocaine” and “Taxes,” which garnered the most singing and audience interaction of the set. Finally, Geese reminded us that rock and roll isn’t dead with their closing track “Trinidad,” which prompted an impromptu mosh pit to form underneath the muggy and muddy, yet joy-filled tent.
Wet Leg
English indie rock outfit Wet Leg brought a high-powered set to the Which stage as the cloudy skies began to break apart on Friday afternoon. Frontwoman Rhian Teasdale, radiating an effortlessly cool aura, immediately seized command of the crowd, kicking off the set with “catch these fists.” The track served as a fitting lead song for their performance, which featured multiple cuts from the band’s most recent album, 2015’s Moisturizer.
Thanks to multiple sing-along/scream-along segments and back-to-back songs propelled by hypnotizing electric guitar runs, Wet Leg kept the crowd engaged and curious with ease. Along with Moisturizer cuts “davina mccall,” “pond song,” and “jennifer’s body,” they treated Roo attendees to renditions of “Wet Dream” and their 2021 breakout hit “Chaise Longue,” further increasing some much-needed fun, sexy vibes into the festival’s midday scene.
The Strokes
Indie rock pioneers The Strokes closed out Friday night of Bonnaroo 2026 with a setlist spanning their entire career, including tracks off their upcoming album, Reality Awaits. The main field surrounding What Stage was packed full of fans, both new and old, doing their best to dance along without slipping into the growing mud pit beneath their feet.
The band kicked off their set with tracks from their earliest records, including their signature LPs First Impressions of Earth and Is This It, before bringing in the youths with their 2020 track “The Adults Are Talking.” Singer Julian Casablancas took hold of the crowd with his iconic, dry vocal style, but was also in rare form in another way. He infused plenty of vocal banter between songs, including expressing his love of southern hospitality, hatred of NFTs, and his ode to the fictional founder of the festival, John C. Bonnaroo.
The long-running NYC rockers ended up extending their set 15 minutes past their end time (to the chagrin of some fans waiting for Lil Jon to start their set across the field at the mud-filled That Tent), wrapping up with their trademark tracks “Reptilia” and “Last Nite” before ending things in an eyebrow-raising rendition of “Ize of the World,” giving an unexpected end to a set filled with unpredictable moments.
Check back for more daily updates live from Bonnaroo 2026!
