Florence and the Machine at Bonnaroo: by now most music lovers and festival goers are aware that Florence puts on a great live show. We saw her at Governors Ball in New York, and we saw her again at Bonnaroo. With an epic lineup scheduled for the weekend, the stakes felt especially high for Florence Welch, who performed on Sunday evening. Her set was cut down from the typical 90 minutes to only 60, which felt much tidier but also allows for less of that glorious unfurling of emotion that we’ve come to expect from the singer. The regal British woman responded to this challenge by cramming every ounce of her being into the shortened performance, and she even ran through the pit not once but two times. She serenaded the crowd around her as a security guard ran along behind her. We can see now how the performer managed to injure her ankle at Coachella, considering how passionately she throws herself about on stage. We also understand now how she toughed it out and performed the second week with her injury. The woman is a living, breathing juggernaut. Even though her fellow headliner Billy Joel was also great, Florence put on one hell of a show. It was emotional, sweet, and powerful. People were crying, smiling and singing along. The atmosphere was downright euphoric. This group makes awesome music.
