Hello again and welcome back to my front porch, my happy place. The fighting teens and screaming toddler have been banished to the inside of the house to have it out thunder-dome style. Last week I gave you a taste of four of my can’t miss bands at Bonnaroo, this week I am going to give you my four favorite bands that are playing this year. This week’s installment is brought to you by night shift, when you work odd hours and can’t sleep at a normal time with your family on your days off … night shift.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise (RKS)

My favorite band of the last 7ish years has been Rainbow Kitten Surprise or RKS for short, so why not start with them? Formed in Boone, North Carolina and labeled as alternative/indie RKS defines genre and labels. The band first jumped into my rotation with their song “Devil Like Me” and I immediately had to go listen to that whole first album. RKS is one of the rare bands for me where I have zero songs I skip when im listening through their catalog. The live show is fun, the music is amazing and their fans span various demographics. According to their social media they have been in the studio making new music after their release of 2024’s Love Hate Music Box. In lieu of making this whole thing a diatribe about why you should see them I will give you a few songs to check out to see if their are for you. My recommendations are, “Cocaine Jesus” , “Devil Like Me”, “First Class”, “All is Well That Ends”, “It’s Called : Freefal”l, “Mission to Mars”, “Lucky” and “Meticulous”. Yes it is a lengthy list but well worth your time.

Mt Joy

Right up there with RKS is another band I have been following for quite some time, Mt Joy. They have a new album Hope We Have Fun dropping tomorrow, May 29 and I can’t wait to get a listen to the complete project. Mt Joy first came to my attention with the song Jenny Jenkins which is a favorite of mine. They won me over with meaningful songs like “Silver Lining”, “Rearrange Us” and the aforementioned “Jenny Jenkins. They also have fun feel good tracks like “Orange Blood” and “Johnson Song”. If you are a fan of Folk Rock or just good music in general I implore you to see Mt Joy at Roo  if you haven’t, just save me a spot up close. On a tangent, Thank You to the beautiful Rooovian who caught a drum stick the last time they played and gave it to my daughter it is a memory she will never forget.

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend is a band I was supposed to get to see play Bonnaroo many years ago. Thanks to a selfish, we shall call them a coworker, I ended up having to cover extra shifts and ended up missing them. So this year will be extra sweet to go get to catch a band I’ve had on my list for so long. I feel like if you’re reading this you probably know do Vampire Weekend so I won’t go into great detail but I am a big fan of the old stuff “A-Punk”, “Step”, “Unbelievers”, “Oxford Comma”, “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Giving Up the Gun” to name a few so I will have to brush up on the latest album before I hit the Farm.

Jack’s Mannequin

To round out this ensemble of amazing acts I am leaving you with Jack’s Mannequin. Andrew McMahon is absolutely one of my favorites. I took my kids to Roo with me 2 years ago to see Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, he was at Roo last year for the Superman and now I look forward to completing the trifecta and seeing him with Jack’s Mannequin. For those who weren’t in their early 20’s in the early 2000’s my first taste of Jack’s Mannequin was “The Mixed Tape”. It stayed in my CD player for what could be considered way too long. Andrew is amazing in the piano and brought the energy the last time we got to see a full set in the blazing June Tennessee sun. I have no doubt this year will will be no different. It was Father’s Day the last time he graced the farm with Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness and closed out the set (I believe it was the closer) with “Cecilia and the Satellite” bringing his daughter on stage to join him, I can’t wait to see what’s in store this year.

There you have it folks, this week’s installment of the old man screaming from his front porch about the music you should hear. Atleast I didn’t tell you to get off my lawn. Below I will include my 10 songs of the week Bonnaroo style and a link to my Spotify playlist (if I figure it out) where I feature bands and artists I am enjoying. Have a great week and be good humans.

GRO’S 10

• God Loves Weirdos – Mt Joy
• Dark Blue – Jack’s Mannequin
• First Class – Rainbow Kitten Suprise
• Step – Vampire Weekend
• Glue Song – Beabadoobe
• Remember When – Wallows
• Lost in Space – Foster the People
• Sally, When the Wine Runs Out – Role Model
• Disco Man – Remi Wolf
• Wristwatch – MJ Lenderman

Playlists!

GRO’S Music Fix

Bonnaroo 2025 Gro’s Way