We were told early on Friday that, once again, Bonnaroo is sold out – 80,000 people. Therefore, on this weekend, Manchester becomes the sixth largest city in Tennessee. While the numbers don’t compute as you wander around the site during the day, it was clearly evident at last night’s main stage.

The day started off as expected – hot. James Blood Ulmer offered up some old-school bluesy rock while the Firecracker Jazz Band went with old-time jazz in tent revival fashion.

The Cold War Kids hit hard with a powerful indie rock in one tent, as Alexa Ray Joel showed she has her father’s talent for singing and the piano in a smaller intimate setting.

It’s not all music though. There are belly dancers and break dancers if you look for them.

The amazing thing about a festival like Bonnaroo is, outside of seeing your favorite bands, the opportunity to see so many diverse acts that you may never have heard of before.

Out of the 25 or so bands that I’ve seen so far, I’ve only seen two in concert before. It should be noted, however, that I don’t spend much time at one particular band. I often check out a handful of songs before moving on.

Tortoise impressed me with its unique sonic arrangement of double drummers up front hammering home heavy beats.

Paolo Nutini had the girls screaming as he stumbled around the stage in a hunched over manner. (Apparently, they think he’s good looking, but he just looked hammered to me.)

A mid-afternoon press conference gathered together an unlikely cast of characters – Richard Thompson, Warren Haynes, David Cross, ?uestlove, Lily Allen and the singer for the Cold War Kids, Nathan Willet. (The lucky press people were in a tent for the only 10 minutes it’s rained so far this year.)

While known-for-partying Brit Allen said she wished Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan was here to take attention away from her, Haynes noted if they were here, he wouldn’t be.

Haynes also discussed the finer points of jam bands with Cross, who admitted he doesn’t like hippies.

In response, Allen said, “It’s all music, so we should enjoy all of it.”

Kings of Leon kicked off things on the main stage as Michael Franti & Spearhead got things grooving elsewhere.

Franti even jumped down from the stage to get closer to fans at one point.

Tom Morello, performing as The Nightwatchman, got things political with his new solo acoustic songs. It’s around this time of the day that more and more women started opting for the naked look. There weren’t many, but those who opted for their birthday suits were usually only wearing bikini bottoms and paint. (There has been one sighting of a fully naked man, which caused eye damage on the first night.)

?uestlove’s talent was shining through as The Roots played the second main stage gig of the day. Meanwhile, Allen was busy turning up a Jaegermeister bottle during her set. She may have said she wouldn’t get drunk during the press conference, but two songs into her set, she asked who else was as drunk as her.

Dierks Bently offered a country crossover for those interested. He told the crowd that while he expected only 50-100 people, he got a lot more as the crowd spilled out onto the hillside.

The main act of the night was Tool who performed for a massive sea of people for two hours. As the band walked out, singer Maynard James Keenan – known for his sarcasm – said, “I smell patchouli.” After the first song, “Jambi,” he said, “I had a shower earlier. Felt great. Even used soap and hair conditioner. Jealous?”

At another break, he said, “I see most of you are all on the marijuana. Or the LSD. You’re all under arrest.”

The show was basically the same as their recent Greenville stop with the addition of “The Pot” and “Aenima.” They also welcomed a plugged-in Tom Morello who shredded his guitar for a solo during one of the songs.

Morello played guitar with his teeth at one point, before finally ripping the strings from his guitar and walking off. Explosive is the only word I can think to describe it.

Toward the end of the set, Keenan said, “Thank you very much for bearing with our cynical attitude. Police tomorrow. Damn fun.”

A short time after Tool wrapped up, String Cheese Incident – who is on its final tour before an indefinite hiatus – had people dancing all over the place, while the majority of people, or so it seemed, were watching the Superjam.

Ben Harper, ?uestlove and John Paul Jones tore through a number of Led Zepplin songs such as “Good Times, Bad Times.” They also welcomed out other members of The Roots for “Superstitious.” The only disappointment of the day was that the scheduled midnight to 3 a.m. jam ended before 2.

Highlights for Saturday – Ziggy Marley, Regina Spektor, Ben Harper, Ween, Gov’t Mule, The Flaming Lips and a highly anticipated headlining set by The Police.

Tip of the day: An ice-cold shower feels better at noon than it does in the morning.