Passion Pit / Photo by Ian Witlen

THE BEST

Best Caffeine Substitute at Midnight: Passion Pit
Getting the party started with skittering breakbeats and then keeping it going with a throbbing disco pulse and frothy washes of synths, Passion Pit gave the rain-soaked crowd in This Tent just the midnight pick-me-up it needed. With three banks of keys plus drums and bass, the Massachusetts quintet served up one bracing draught of heavenly electro-pop after another. The biggest high, though, came from frontman Michael Angelakos, whose stratospheric vocals on faves like "Little Secrets" and "Sleepyhead" had enough helium in them to keep the balloons the audience was batting back and forth aloft all night. The children's chorus from New York's P.S. 22 might not have been on hand to chant "higher, higher" on "Little Secrets," but the festival-goers did just fine, throwing thousands of sweaty hands high in the air. -- Bill Friskics-Warren

Best Freaky Fantasy Funk: Janelle Monáe
Atlanta's Monáe did it all during her electrifying -- and out there -- set in the Other Tent. After delivering an intergalactic monologue from offstage to start the proceedings, the futuristic funk diva ignited half-spoken, half-sung verbal pyrotechnics, belted out a Broadway-style ballad, rapped about HIV and OutKast, and played some Bootsy-inspired, rubber-band bass guitar. To say nothing of the dance moves she flashed throughout, or of the portrait she painted mid-performance and then chucked into the audience, only to dive in after it and surf the crowd. Monáe and her trio of funkateers probably could have landed the mothership if they'd wanted to. Instead, they closed with some hyperkinetic, old-school R&B a la James Brown or Bettye LaVette. -- BFW

The Best… Period: People Under the Stairs
The most crowded show at Bonnaroo thus far? Not Passion Pit. Not Janelle Monáe or Chairlift, but Los Angeles hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs, who turned a swampy, muddy field into a bangin' South Central house party with their hands-in-the-air beats and lyrics about hot ladies and smokin' weed. "Party time is anytime and anytime is party time," MC Thes One got the crowd chanting, as Double K sang along and cut up the tables from behind. "Say it with me, say it with me now: 'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh SHIT!'" -- William Goodman

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Most Economical Performance: Murs
Underground rapper Murs took the stage accompanied only by a DJ, his dreadlocks, and a metric ton of charisma. Clad in a Hendrix tie-dye t-shirt (which he soon ditched), brown sneakers, and blue jeans, the politically-minded MC proved that you don't need fancy lighting or trippy visuals to put on a great festival show. To a soundtrack of soul-sampling funky beats, Murs spat funny, urgent rhymes, jumped and touched his toes, ran in place, pulled off a perfectly executed James Brown drop splits, and received a fierce roar of approval when he announced himself proud to be among all the "Non-showering motherfuckers." Glad you could make it, Murs. -- David Marchese

Best Twin-Drum Propulsion: White Rabbits
The Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead might have done it before them, but few bands who sport dual drum kits fuse tribal and pop instincts with more dexterity and abandon than White Rabbits. During their ultra-propulsive appearance in This Tent, drummers Matt Clark and Jamie Levinson pounded out hiccupping Bo Diddley beats, rapid-fire surf rhythms, and Motown-style hip-shake for one of the hookiest and riveting sets of noise-pop this side of Spoon, whose Britt Daniel produced the group's latest. Not to be outgunned, singer Steve Patterson hammered on his piano like it was made of calf skin, too. Percussion guns indeed. -- BFW

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