Bonnaroo 2025 Artist Spotlight: Wisp

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2025 lineup. A festival that feels like it’s ever evolving (especially with some big tweaks and improvements in the past few summers post-pandemic), this year marks Bonnaroo’s 22nd installment (and 24th anniversary), boasting not only another great and varied lineup, but also some exciting additions like the brand new, high-tech Infinity Stage, billed as “the world’s largest 360-degree, immersive sound experience” and unlike anything that’s ever been showcased in North America. Back once again in its usual June 12-15 timeframe, we’re counting down the days until another great weekend on the farm.

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend at the fest!

We’re told tickets are very low and on track to sell out, so grab those right here if you haven’t already (and don’t forget the camping or parking pass), and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

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Though she’s only been releasing music for a little over two years, San Francisco’s Wisp has already achieved viral fame and a passionate following, heralded for her Gen Z take on classic shoegaze and dream pop. Just 20 years old, Wisp, born Natalie Lu, was raised in a musical household and grew up playing violin, but, upon discovering artists like modern shoegaze outfit Whirr and more aggressive and alt-skewing takes on the genre like Deftones, she was inspired to began making music that blends the dreamy, fuzzy aesthetic of ’90s shoegaze and ’00s nu gaze, with more grungy and propulsive riffs channeling elements of alt rock and nu-metal, though made softer and dreamier through Wisp’s tendency for lush, lo-fi production style. It’s always impressive when an artist goes viral with their very first publicly-released song ever, and that’s exactly what happened for Wisp with “Your face” in the spring of 2023, still perhaps her best-known and most viral track. A vulnerable and enchanting debut EP, Pandora, arrived in April of 2024 via Interscope, with tracks like “Enough for you” and “See you soon” also notching millions of streams and social media accolades. A music nerd herself (Wisp has a healthy Reddit presence posting about her favorite artists), the young singer has honed a masterful command of songwriting, effortlessly balancing multiple competing musical influences, while also crafting a fresh, etherial, captivating sound all her own, and one critics and fans seem divided on how exactly to label it (it’s shoegaze-y enough to just call “shoegaze,” in our opinion). She’s also managed to craft a somewhat mysterious and interesting visual aesthetic, keeping her identity fairly obscured at the start (it’s no longer a secret now), and carefully curating her social media, photography, and increasingly higher production value music videos. Championed by the likes of NYLON, Consequence of Sound, DIY, Pigeons & Planes, and featured on the cover of Alternative Press, and on prominent playlists on virtually every streamer, the past year has been a really stunning and well-deserved ascent for the unassuming shoegaze revivalist, and recent singles like “Sword” and “Get back to me” serve as an exciting preview of what’s next. Wisp only made her live debut a year ago, but has since appeared at fests like Lollapalooza, Coachella, and Camp Flog Gnaw, toured three continents, and even opened for shoegaze legends Slowdive. And, flexing her ability to transcend genres, she’s set to tour with System of a Down following her debut at Bonnaroo. If, somehow, Wisp isn’t yet on your radar (looking at you, fellow 30-somethings), you absolutely do not want to miss her at ‘Roo!

WATCH | “Sword” (Official Video)