Bonnaroo 2015: Trampled By Turtles

Trampled By Turtles are one of those bands who have built their entire careers based on word of mouth press and festical presence. After all, they had five albums under their belts already by the time their "breakthrough record", Stars and Sattellites was released in 2012. Due to this foundation it was no surprise how laid back the five Turtles were, standing shoulder to shoulder on the Bonnaroo main stage casually dressed in shorts and tshirts.

In fact, the band barely even said a word to the audience. Aside from dedicating the song "Victory" to someone named Rufus (presumably Rufus Wainwright), stating that the song "Duluth" was about their hometown of Duluth, Minnesota, and announcing that bassist Tim Saxhaug would be seeing a cover of Loudon Wainwright III's "Swimming "Wewe get Song", already a staple of their set, they didn't say much at all. 

But they didn't need to. As a band whose roots are deeply set in a groundwork performances and social interactions with loyal fans, their lack of small talk was comparable to a romantic couple who are at ease with each other so much so that they can comfortably share a silence. 

The set was a blend of the entire Trampled By Turtles catalogue, "Are Yiu Behind a The Shining Star", "Codeine", "Walt Whitman" and, of course, "Alone" we're all included. 

The moment that the partnership between artist shone the most clearly was when lead singer, Dave Simonett excitedly said, "We get to actually hang out for once. Finally we're going to get to come out with all you. Crazy kids after." And the audience cheered and agreed, despite the band's earlier lack of talking about feelings, showing just how strong the artist/audience bond can truly be.

-Kendall Stewart