David Byrne will curate a tent at Bonnaroo this June. The former Talking Heads leader has handpicked all the bands scheduled to play one of the festivals multiple performance spaces on Friday, June 12. The artists Byrne has selected include: hip-hop diva, Santigold, his Dark Was the Night collaborators the Dirty Projectors, Bonnaroo favorite Ani DiFranco, former Polyphonic Spree member and Beggars Banquet recording artist St. Vincent and the up-and-coming multi-instrumental all-female Norwegian alt/folk band Katzenjammer.

Weve been interested in inviting artists to play a curatorial role in Bonnaroo for some time now, said Bonnaroo co-founder and producer Ashley Capps in a statement. David was the logical choice for us and we were thrilled that he agreed. His love for music of all kinds and his passion for sharing that music make him the ultimate musical guide.
Byrne added: this was an easy one. I basically reeled off a list of what I was listening to
recently or who I had seen live recently and Ashley and Co did the rest. Its not like these folks need me to introduce them to a wider audience, at least I dont think they doIm just thrilled theyll be added to the festival lineup
Likewise, Byrne will perform his own set at the four-day festivalhis first at Bonnaroo since 2004. The jury is still out whether he will collaborate with any of his fellow festival performers, especially Phish who will play a late night set on June 12.
The show goes fine. I can’t quite gauge which songs this audience likes, Byrne wrote about his first trip to Bonnaroo in his blog. I thought they’d go for the more upbeat songs exclusively, but some of the wordplay and sentiments in the ballads seems to get an equally positive response.Trey Anastasio is on after us, the climax of the festival. He’s doing 2 sets, one with an orchestra and one with a band. After our set he comes into our trailer followed by a film crew and invites me to collaborate in the future, on the orchestral material. Unfortunately the sky opens up immediately after our set and we skedaddle before it gets too muddy and the traffic gets insane. So I’ll have to hear what he’s doing later.