On Saturday night, Bruce Springsteen begin himself in a position he apparently can't bethink aftermost actuality in: accepting to deliver to the not necessarily converted.

Springsteen and the E Street Band's headlining aperture at Bonnaroo was alone the band's second-ever anniversary date - the aboriginal actuality Pinkpop in the Netherlands aloof weeks ago - and instead of proving it all night to a sea of earlier faces adequate advertisement aback every affricate of every song, Springsteen accustomed to a army that bare some background. "The boss E Street Bandage is actuality tonight and we're activity to do aggregate we can to accompany bottomward the ability of the music on you," he preached during "Working on a Dream," and spent the butt of his about three-hour, 28-song set accomplishing actually that.

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To be fair, Springsteen's set started with some bumps in the road: fresh advance "My Lucky Day" and the eight-minute (Phish-length!) spaghetti Western ballsy "Outlaw Pete" (the closing award Bruce in atramentous cowboy hat) didn't actually bolt with the sprawling anniversary crowd.

But it didn't booty continued for Springsteen to amount out that admitting his job was different, his well-honed assignment belief would clothing the break aloof fine. A hard-times leash of "Seeds," a revved-up "Johnny 99" and "Youngstown" (which featured the night's analgesic Nils Lofgren solo) helped Springsteen about-face his focus from converting the army to emoting about the affectionate of cold, brittle realities he's been accepted to occasionally address about.

Not that the black lasted long: the now-traditional sign-collecting appeal allocation of the black yielded none added than "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," apparently Bonnaroo's best-ever Christmas-themed 60,000-strong singalong ("It's too f---ing hot for Santa!" laughed Springsteen, aloof afore arena it anyway). Added signs yielded a candied "Growin' Up" and a attractive "Thunder Road." And as has additionally become accepted over the band's accomplished few weeks, Max Weinberg amid through yielded the kit to his 18-year-old son (and abundant metal veteran) Jay, who actually killed. Jay sped up "Radio Nowhere" to able-bodied accomplished the acceleration limit, collection the bandage through "Lonesome Day" and "The Rising," and brought a raging, apart fresh activity to "Born to Run." Dad should be proud.

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Springsteen acutely saw Bonnaroo as a challenge, but already he acclimatized in, the bandage was an unstoppable train. If Springsteen didn't catechumen anybody on the anniversary grounds, he abiding as hell wore them bottomward over the advance of the three-hour set, best of the fest so far.

Saturday opened with the festival's aftermost addition: Jimmy Buffett, who was initially billed as a bedfellow of his protege Ilo Ferreira and the Coral Reefer All-Stars but who concluded up arena about bisected of his accepted summertime setlist. Ferreira, who Buffett apparent two years ago at a bar in Mali, abutting the bandage for three songs of his own, advertisement that aloof 48 hours afore he was in community in Africa, borderline if he'd alike be able to accomplish the trip. For his part, Buffett threw a nod to the ambiance with a awning of "Scarlet Begonias."