Conan O'Brien plays rock star at Bonnaroo

MANCHESTER, Tenn. — Conan O'Brien, often trading a microphone for a guitar, got to play rock star at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

The former "Tonight Show" host brought his "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" tour to the Tennessee music festival on Friday. He played to a packed comedy tent that, before he hit the stage, chanted "CoCo" — the nickname that he earned during his "Tonight Show" run and became the rallying cry for his fans when NBC ousted him.

As O'Brien has done throughout his cross-country tour, he frequently rocked out, performing songs by Elvis, the Band, the White Stripes, Willie Nelson and others.

The tall, red-haired O'Brien fit in well at the music festival. If one wandered into O'Brien's act during his earnest encore of the Band's "The Weight" — when he leapt from the stage and walked through the crowd — his show may have appeared to be just another music act.

But there were plenty of jokes, too.

"In six months, I've gone from hosting the 'Tonight Show,' to performing at a refugee camp," O'Brien announced at the top of the show.

Bonnaroo is held on a giant farm south of Nashville. Heavy rain the day before the festival opened Thursday night muddied the grounds, though excessive heat dominated Friday's performances. This year's Bonnaroo, the ninth annual, is on track to be one of the hottest. The heat index — a combination of temperature and humidity — is forecast to be near 100 for much of the weekend.

O'Brien made light of the surroundings and of the experience playing his first music festival — "unless you count the time I went stage diving at the Lilith Fair," he joked.

"I love doing comedy in a tent, at one in the afternoon, for people who haven't slept in two days," O'Brien said wryly.

O'Brien is a talented guitarist (he has often worked guitar-playing into his late-night shows), and he flashed his skills with a solo on the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army." He was backed by most of his "Tonight Show" band.

The White Stripes have a long, friendly history with O'Brien. After years of appearing on his shows, it was O'Brien's turn to play on the band's turf. On Thursday night, O'Brien performed a rockabilly set at Nashville's Third Man Records, the label owned by Jack White. The show was recorded and will be released on vinyl.