Bonnaroo 2024: Pretty Lights, GWAR and Nashville's Medium Build, The Foxies kick off fest on Thursday

With the hot Tennessee sun already beating down, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival kicked off on Thursday afternoon with stellar performances.

This year's Bonnaroo headliners include Post Malone, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fred Again.. and Thursday night's biggest performer: Pretty Lights.

The festival's first day saw sets from Nashville-based The Foxies, Medium Build and Michigander, as well as Matt Maltese, Eggy, Say She She, Vincent Lima, Ocie Elliot, Sid Sriram, Stoley and many more.

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Here are some of The Tennessean's highlights from the first evening of shows.

Medium Build gives heartfelt speech and moving set, brings fans to tears

Medium Build, the stage name of singer-songwriter Nick Carpenter, drew a big crowd as the sun started to set over Bonnaroo's first day.

The crowd was eager as he walked out, sporting a pink bucket hat, white and green polo, and sunglasses. He stood in front of a screen set up like a home's entryway and living room, emphasizing the intimacy of his set.

At the start of his set, Medium Build addressed the crowd: "It’s a beautiful f****** day...I came to my first Bonnaroo—f*** I’m gonna cry—12 years ago." Medium Build started choking up.

In between tears, he told the crowd that his brother would go to Bonnaroo and bring back new music for him, introducing him to My Morning Jacket and Kings of Leon. "He called me at Bonnaroo 2008 and held his phone up to Radiohead," he said, adding that he came to his first Bonnaroo in 2012.

"This place is magical, and the people you come here with. Look around," he said. "Look around at your friends."

The indie-alternative singer played his hits, old and new. He performed songs from his 2024 album "Country," like "Crying Over U" and "In My Room," and other hits "Friend For Life" and "Gimme Back My Soul."

Carpenter sang in his gruff, emotive indie-rock tone, he yelled, he praised Chappell Roan and even led a communal group scream.

His music, and speeches, left more than a few with watery eyes.

The Foxies deliver pop-punk performance, cover Sheryl Crow

Nashville-based band The Foxies hit the Who Stage at 9 p.m. and while their set was plagued with mic trouble and other sound issues, vocalist Julia Lauren Bullock didn't let it slow her down.

"Thank you for bearing with us," she told the crowd. "If you come see us in Nashville I swear we will slay you f*** guys."

She kept the crowd engaged even when nobody could hear her singing. At one point, she took another mic and even sang in both mics until she figured out which one was going to work.

All in all, the power punk-pop trio brought a little bit of non-country Nashville to the Farm with their high-energy set that even included a cover of "If It Makes You Happy" by fellow Nashvillian Sheryl Crow.

On the heels of their week-old release "Natural Disaster," The Foxies, who played Bonnaroo in 2018 made their 2024 stop here before hitting the road with Cassadee Pope.

That's followed by a string of headlining shows, a jaunt across Europe and additional shows in the fall.

Headliner Pretty Lights supplies booming bass and fiery electronic set

The evening's headliner, DJ and producer Derek Vincent Smith, known as Pretty Lights, kicked off the main stage action.

His 8:30 p.m. set at the What Stage began just as the sun was setting over the Farm and Bonnaroovians enjoyed the first break from the day's sweltering heat.

Pretty Lights hit the stage wearing a hat with his "PL" logo and a red short-sleeved sweatshirt.

He told the crowd, "What an honor to be in this beautiful festival on this opening night! We made a little song...the sun machine is going down and we're trying to have a party!"

He opened the show with a sample of Willie Nelson's "Blue Skies," and Smith started with a song they had written "just for tonight."

The energy escalated quickly as the drummer, keyboardist, synth player and DJ all took turns on the big screens, all the while showered by laser lights and thumping beats.

Pretty Lights also played songs "Hot Like Sauce," "Understand Me Now," "Up & Down I Go" and his remix of Parton's "Jolene."

The electronic music DJ's set was slated to stretch late into the night.

Metal band GWAR performs fake beheading, coats audience in blood

Although GWAR hit the stage at 1 a.m. on Friday morning, audience members were so shocked there wasn't one yawn in the crowd.

The shock-rock, satirical metal band took over This Stage for an hour in the middle of the night, giving a performance that included thrashing guitar, screaming, grumbling vocals and intense bass.

Band members wore intricate monster costumes from head to toe and spent the set fake fighting and spraying blood over the entire audience.

They played "War Is All We Know," "The Sordid Soliloquy of Sawborg Destructo," "Hail, Genocide!" and their biggest hit, "Sick Of You."

At one point, a band member came onstage in a mask, portraying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The band members, after pointing out who he was depicting, performed a fake beheading and spurted the blood on the crowd.

Another time, the band members pulled apart a fake body onstage to show a shriveled corpse underneath.

Subtlety was not GWAR's artistic choice at this Roo performance.

The night ended with mosh pits and a member spraying blood out of his eyes.

"People of Bonnaroo we are motherf***ing sick of you!," they said. From there, the stained-red crowd dispersed.

Audrey Gibbs and Melonee Hurt are music reporters at The Tennessean. You can reach them at [email protected] or [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bonnaroo top moments Thursday: Pretty Lights and Nashville shine