What? You’ve never heard of Bonnaroo? Gotta admit, here at the offices of ShaqFu Radio, we’ve heard the name, but were never really up to speed on the thing. Turns out it’s a huge music and arts festival right smack in the middle of Tennessee, in the town of Manchester. Now you know.
So yeah, it’s in Tennessee, so the country music part of the show is huge. But so is all the rest, including an appearance by our man Shaq, of course as his alter ego, DJ Diesel.
Like most other big festivals of this kind, Bonnaroo is an all-day, all-night affair. If you’re up and about in the middle of the night, there’s music happening somewhere. For Shaq – sorry, DJ Diesel – that meant a set that started at 2:30 AM Saturday this past weekend. Wow!
O’Neal took the stage in his typical larger-the-life style, yelling, “Are we having a good time Bonnaroo?” as things got underway. He played a mixture of EDM beats with samples of hip hop, house music and even rock mixed in.
The 51-year-old NBA Hall of Famer first got into EDM – electronic dance music – back in 2014. He’s been a collaborator with with DJ Nitti Gritti, who joined Shaq on stage at the festival to spin “Moshpit,” a track released in 2021. Since, the track has racked up more than three million streams on Spotify.
When he’s not doing the TNT / Inside the NBA thing, our man Shaq stays busy with music events and concerts all over the globe. In the past year alone, DJ Diesel has performed at Electric Daisy Carnival, Lost Lands, Red Rocks and more. Now there’s talk of a planned new EP release coming soon, which will be his first collection in decades.
As for Bonnaroo, Shaq spun the music and encouraged the middle-of-the-night mayhem, with playful threats of “I’m coming out there!” during his set.
He frequently asked if anyone wanted to join him onstage, which at first seemed like offhand banter, but people began to trickle onstage greeting the self-proclaimed “world’s biggest DJ.”
There were some quieter moments, too. Shaq paused to say, “I love you Bonnaroo,” while making the heart symbol with both of his hands. The crowd ate it up, following every demand and singing along whey they heard samples from Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow,” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and even The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.”
Even though he only played for an hour, the fans definitely got their money’s worth from the Diesel performance. A lot of fun and nonsense, but exactly what was needed to keep the Bonnaroo audience awake and engaged in the wee hours of the morning.
