Bonnaroo: Man found dead

Actuarial realism means if a lot of people get together in one place at a time, chances are this might happen: The clean-up crew at Bonnaroo found a dead man amongst the festival's left-behinds.

Police are saying there's no evidence of foul play, so it's either going to be the drucks or just bad luck.

Festivals on the instalment plan

James P emails, bringing news of plans by US festivals to allow tickets to be bought on HP terms:

The $120 (£82) cost of Langerado, which takes place in Miami in March, can be paid over three months. The festival features artists such as Death Cab For Cutie, The Pogues, Snoop Dogg and Ryan Adams and the Cardinals.

The lineup for Bonnaroo, from June 11-14, is yet to be announced. Special pre-sale tickets are being offered until December 31 and include five instalments of $50 (£33).

James sees Carol Vorderman's First Plussed hands in this, and wonders if there's going to be other options:

The Langerado line-up currently includes Ryan Adams, Death Cab for Cutie and Snoop Dogg. Oasis haven't been approached yet, although if they are, the beer tent will presumably offer the audience the opportunity to consolidate all their urinations into one managable bottle.

Still, it's nice to see festival organisers at least realise that they've reached a point where their entry fees have got completely out of line with what the audience can afford - although if you're flogging something expensive, putting up "Interest Free Credit" signs all over the place hardly reduces the sense that you're looking for someone to make a hefty investment in something. They might have tried, perhaps, reducing the prices a little first?

The great Led down?

The NME was quite excited yesterday to have the exclusive first news of headliners for Bonnaroo festival. Pearl Jam and Metallica, they insisted:

The much-rumoured performance by Led Zeppelin is not set to take place. However, frontman Robert Plant is slated to perform with Alison Krauss, as is Lez Zeppelin, the all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band.

That's pretty definitive.

Unfortunately, it seems the organisers sort-of-forgot to mention something to the NME, as the Associated Press have announced:

The reunited Led Zeppelin will headline the 2008 Bonnaroo Arts and Music Festival, concert organizers announced Wednesday.

Led Zeppelin, who reconvened for a single December concert in London, had for months been rumored to be heading to Bonnaroo, which will be held Jun 13-15 on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn.

Which makes sense - what sort of party is headlined by Pearl Jam?

But should the Zep do it? It does have the effect of sucking the specialness of that supposed one-off "for Ahmet" reunion straight and - with the inevitable tour to follow - leaves them looking just as careless of their legacy as the Sex Pistols. Who, by the way, are booked to headline the Serbian Exit festival this summer. If they can find someone to cover at the estate agents.

[UPDATE: Or has the NME had it right all along? There's some suggestion that the web reports of a Led Zep headline are based on someone in an agency misreading the billing for Lez Zeppelin... certainly, the official site doesn't have any mention of the Zep on the front page.

Indeed, it turns out that when asked at the launch, the organisers denied it:

Ashley Capps, president of Bonnaroo co-organizer A.C. Entertainment denied that the band would make a surprise appearance.

"Believe me, if Zeppelin was going to be there we would be shouting it from the rooftops," he said, adding that no one would be more surprised than him and his team if the band did perform.

]

Ornette collapses

Slightly alarming news from the Bonnaroo festival at the weekend, with the collapse of Ornette Coleman. Apparently, it was a the combination of the 100 degree heat, Coleman's 77 years and his insistence on wearing a suit onstage.

He passed out, and although he came round quite quickly, he still went off to hospital for a quick once-over. He was released without the need for an overnight stay, which is good news.