Bonnaroo has finally returned, and Judah & the Lion is ready to jam again.
The “Take It All Back” outfit is set to perform at the Tennessee festival — which is back this year after being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic and weather, respectively — this Saturday. The set will essentially be a hometown show for the Nashville-based band, and they plan to celebrate accordingly.
“We’re going all out on the production,” frontman Judah Akers tells ABC Audio.
This year marks Judah & the Lion’s second performance at Bonnaroo, following their debut in 2016. However, they have a long history of attending the festival as fans.
“When we were in college, we would go and camp for the four days,” Akers shares. “We just love that festival a lot.”
The Bonnaroo set will also give Judah a chance to play songs off their new album, Revival, which dropped last Friday. Perhaps they’ll bring out the single “Scream!”, which, ironically, doesn’t have any screaming on it. Instead, Akers merely whispers the word “scream” on the song.
“We talked about it, ’cause I scream a lot on certain songs,” Akers explains. “When we were talking about, [we thought] it feels like the fans should be the ones to do it.”
Playing “Scream!” live, Akers thinks, will be an opportune time to let the crowd let their emotions fly.
“We wanted to subtly play at that whisper that we did on the track,” Akers says. “But we’re hoping that the fans gravitate [to it] live and will take over that spot.”
Even if you’re not going to Bonnaroo this year, you can still “Scream!” along to Judah & the Lion’s set, which will air via Hulu’s livestream of the festival.
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.