For four days in June, 70,000 gather in a 700-acre field in Manchester, Tenn., hoping for good music, good vibes and just enough rain to keep things cool. Led by Metallica, Pearl Jam and Kanye West, the just-ended Bonnaroo festival yielded its most divers

In its first major U.S. outdoor festival date in several years, Metallica ran through a blistering, two-hour set Friday (June 13) to headline the first official day of music at the seventh Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tenn.

Chris Rock introduced Metallica as "the baddest rock 'n' roll band in the world" for their Friday night headlining set at Bonnaroo 2008.

Every festival has that band that becomes small talk fodder fest wide, the easy ice breaker, the default conversational touchstone. Last year's Lolla it was Pearl Jam. Last year's Bonnaroo it was the Police. And last night, it was Metallica.

Bonnaroo began in earnest Friday with the rarest of double bills: Chris Rock followed by Metallica.

Metallica treated 175 lucky fans to a short nine song set on Thursday (June 12th) ahead of the performance at the Bonnaroo Festival.

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of hype and speculation about the upcoming Metallica album.

Metallica rarely turns down the chance to pack its stadium-sized sound into a tiny venue, and Thursday was no different, as the group warmed up for its Bonnaroo peformance tonight with a nine-song set in front of approximately 175 lucky fans at Nashville'

To warm up for Bonnaroo, Metallica played a secret show in Nashville last night at the Basement for a mere 175 fans. The group played nine songs, none of them new.

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