Nashville, TN (Top40 Charts/ Webster & Associates) "Spellbinding…Breathtaking…One of the 10 Best Performances of Bonnaroo 2012…"
- Billboard (Kenny ranked #3 on Billboard's list of 10 Best Performances of Bonnaroo 2012)
"The star of Sunday was none other than Kenny Rogers, who rocked his Sunday afternoon audience with a slew of hits…(He) was owning the crowd with a sumptuous tour of his five-decade career…"
- Billboard
"Rogers was a dynamic stage presence on classics like 'Islands In The Stream' and 'The Gambler,' with huge swaths of the audience holding up their beers to toast the breathtaking set list and its creator."
- Billboard
"Spectacular…He delivered the most exciting set of the day…"
- FUSE ("Top 5 Reasons Why Kenny Rogers' Bonnaroo Set Was Better Than Your Favorite Band")
"Top 5 Reasons Why Kenny Rogers' Bonnaroo Set Was Better Than Your Favorite Band:
5. He Mocks Himself
4. He Mocks His Audience
3. He Only Played The Hits
2. He Received The Key To The City
1. He Brought Out Lionel Richie"
"Kenny Rogers might have had the biggest Sunday of any of the nearly 80,000 music fans that packed the farm…"
- MTV.com
"Fans waved their hands and clapped along during Rogers' set as he sang his classics…between each song, a grin spread across Rogers' face as he heard the chants for more…"
- CMT.com
"It was the one and only
Kenny Rogers who joined
Phish for a sweet version of 'The Gambler.' That's right.
Phish and Kenny Rogers."
- CMT.com
"The country star fit in beautifully (at Bonnaroo), delivering crisp versions of hits like 'Love Or Something Like It' and 'Islands In The Stream'…He belongs…"
"Kenny rules."
- Yahoo Music
"Pleasing the masses at Bonnaroo on Sunday was country legend Kenny Rogers, who is now officially my new favorite person. 'Kenny Rogers and Bonnaroo: What's wrong with this picture?' he joked. 'But I belong here. Know how I know? I have a bracelet.' Kenny definitely belonged at Bonnaroo--Manchester mayor Betty Superstein even appeared onstage at one point to ceremonially hand him the key to the city--and he was so amusing with his awesome stage banter, he almost belonged in the Comedy Tent. 'My fans fall into two groups: those born after the '60s, and those born before the '60s but they don't remember them,' he told a delighted Other Tent audience of all-ages fans, who cheered when he announced, 'I'm going to do every hit I've ever had.' Kenny then proved he's a man of his word, as he crooned 'The Gambler,' 'Islands In The Stream,' 'Lucille,' 'She Believes In Me,' 'We Got Tonight,' and a tune that certainly went over well with the Bonnaroo crowd, 'Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).' And when Kenny performed 'Lady,' he was even joined by the song's writer, Lionel Richie, who then stayed onstage to belt out his '80s signature song 'All Night Long.' Fiesta, forever! (Side note: Later that night, Kenny made a cameo with festival-closers
Phish for a 'Gambler' reprise. Like I said, Kenny rules.)"
- Yahoo Music
"True to his reputation, Kenny had the crowd in the palm of his hand and singing along with each of the 21 number-one hits he promised he'd sing…the reaction was pretty spectacular."
- Broward Palm Beach New Times
"Kenny Rogers had the best Bonnaroo set ever…he also got a key to the city of Manchester from the Mayor during his set. Plus he sang that First Edition song about acid!"
- The Daily Swarm
"Country
Music Superstar Kenny Rogers performed to a packed house…young or old, the crowd happily sang along with hits like 'Coward of the County,' 'Lucille,' and 'The Gambler.'"
- Examiner.com
"The performance of a lifetime…"
- International Business News
"It was refreshing to see a performer with such an accomplished career still really enjoying playing his big hits and interacting with his fans…Rogers came into the festival with the perfect mindset and turned in a performance of the ages…"
- International Business News
"One of the Top 10 Moments at Bonnaroo:
Phish and
Kenny Rogers Team Up…Phish were there to save the day, bringing out the country music legend to collaborate on a relatively straight forward and highly satisfying run through of 'The Gambler.'"
- American Songwriter
"I can't help but assume that's the defining moment that this set will be known for."
- American Songwriter on Kenny Rogers' surprise performance of "
The Gambler" with
Phish at Bonnaroo 2012
"The four hour closing set from (Phish), the greatest jam band since The Grateful Dead, (included) a surprise cameo by Kenny Rogers, who sang "
The Gambler" - causing ear-piercing roars…"
- Joonbug.com
"What could be more surprising than
Lionel Richie joining
Kenny Rogers at Bonnaroo? How about
Kenny Rogers joining Phish, for the second 'Gambler' of the day…getting to see what was probably about 65,000 people sing along to 'The Gambler' and go apeshit for
Kenny Rogers was pretty cool."
- Nashville Scene (Nashville Cream)
"Kenny Rogers pleased a Sunday crowd just fine with his hits, but threw in something extra special: a surprise appearance by
Lionel Richie (another
Alabama native). Richie joined Rogers in a performance of 'Lady'…Rogers left the awestruck audience with 'Islands in the Stream.' Later that night, Rogers made a cameo of his own when he joined
Phish on stage for 'The Gambler.'"
- The Huntsville Times ("Seven Great Moments from Bonnaroo 2012")
"Out in the crowd, one could feel the vibe of jittery
Phish fans that had been waiting all weekend for their band. A thunderous ovation greeted the quartet as they stepped into their element, and the farm's biggest stage was a blaze of color for the next three hours - as was the field of fans before it. The
Beach Boys sang about 'Fun, Fun, Fun' on the same stage earlier in the day, and that's what this
Phish show was all about. In the end, it will be remembered for three things: the brilliant
Kenny Rogers sit in (and in small part the subsequent 'Gambler' tease in the beginning of 'Possum'), the first performance of "Shafty" since 2003 and the filthy, bloody-sounding "Carini" that birthed it."
- Glide Magazine
"During the festival Bonnaroovians were tasked with crowning either Aziz Ansari or
Childish Gambino as Mayor of Bonnaroo, but it was
Kenny Rogers who was actually honored with a key to the city by the real Mayor of Bonnaroo, Manchester Mayor Betty Superstein. After critiquing the crowd's singing skills of some of his early hits, Rogers brought out friend
Lionel Richie to sing 'Lady' and 'All Night Long.'"
- Paste Magazine
"What a great performance. In fact, Kenny's appearance made Billboard's top 10 performances of the four-day rock and arts festival at #3. Way to go Mr. Rogers, you've still got it."
- NashvilleGab.com
"Phish closed the festival with an extended two-set show that included a cameo by country legend
Kenny Rogers on his signature song, 'The Gambler.' The performance was the climax of another successful edition of the Manchester, TN festival as well as one of Bonnaroo's most eclectic days in recent memory."
- Jambands.com
"Rogers was among the day's breakout acts. Playing for one of his youngest audiences in recent memory, Rogers offered a set of hits that included 'The Gambler,' 'Islands in the Stream' and other songs most of the crowd had never seen live. Near the end of his show, Rogers also brought out the weekend's biggest surprise guest, cross-generational pop icon Lionel Richie, to sing on his own 'Lady' and 'All Night Long' (Richie considers Rogers his mentor and joined the veteran country star at SXSW this past March.)"
- Jambands.com
The Ultimate 2012 Bonnaroo Fashion Guide
Fab or drab? I break down this year's hottest fashions at one of music's biggest festivals. (Matt Stopera / Buzzfeed.com)
FAB:
Kenny Rogers and Ben Folds
They just look good together.
