Cameron Meindl, one of our DJs, was lucky enough to attend this year’s Bonnaroo, and recaps four days of New Orleans funk, My Morning Jacket-fueled glowstick fights, Nathan Williams’ Aerosmith cover, and more unforgettable music.

A first time festivalgoer, I had no idea what to expect upon attending this year‰’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Although my friends and I were greeted by enormous crowds, blistering heat, and burdensome dust storms, the music at this tenth edition of Bonnaroo more than made up for these annoyances. The four days still seem like a blur, but I‰’ll do my best to recap all of the music I caught over the weekend.

Thursday at Bonnaroo is always used as a showcase for smaller indie bands waiting to make the next step to main stage headliner, and this year was no exception, as the multiple tent shows were overflowing with attendees. My first show of the weekend was River City Extension, a folk-rock group who, despite occasionally sounding like another Mumford & Sons retread, brought loads of energy to This Tent. Wavves was up next, and they did not disappoint. Even with the crowd acting a bit too rowdy for my liking, their punky set was highlighted with cuts from last year‰’s King Of The Beach, such as “Post-Acid‰” and “Idiot.‰” The crowd was even treated to Nathan Williams‰’ brief rendition of Aerosmith‰’s “I Don‰’t Wanna Miss A Thing.‰” Seriously.

After listening to a relaxing, straightforward evening set by Best Coast on the lawn surrounding The Other Tent, my group pushed forward to catch back-to-back sets by The Drums and Sleigh Bells. The former was a fun, crowd pleasing set, consistent with their performance at 9:30 Club late last year, while Sleigh Bells delivered a performance that was everything you‰’d expect it to be and more. Blinding strobe lights and ground-shaking guitars made for one extremely raucous show, and opener “Crown on the Ground‰” was a clear highlight of the weekend. If one band on Thursday proved they are ready for a bigger stage at Bonnaroo, it was Sleigh Bells.

However, Deerhunter gave what was perhaps my favorite show of the night, playing a majority of their great 2010 album Halcyon Digest. Songs such as “Desire Lines,‰” “Helicopter,‰” and an extended, set-closing “He Would Have Laughed‰” all featured the same incredible texture as their respective studio cuts, putting the audience in a trance. Bonnaroo couldn‰’t have been off to a better start.