The West African bassist from Bombino struggled to remember the English word for ‘grass’ as he waved to the crowd at Rock the Garden on Saturday afternoon.

Spectators may also have forgotten what to call that green stuff under their feet, as the annual music festival outside the Walker Art Center has returned from a two-year hiatus in which most of the big names outdoor music festivals like this have been sidelined by COVID.

“You have the sun and you have the grass,” Youba Dia said in his thick French accent, rightly noting the listeners’ satisfaction with these two attractions.

Any loud, mostly hard-grooving music was also appreciated.

A Nigerian desert blues guitar hero who may have even struggled to enter the country at this time last year, Bombino got off to a wild start for the regular eight-hour, seven-strip marathon, which attracted more than 10,000 people divided between two stages.

Rounding out the lineup on the main stage were Denver soul-rockers Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and feminist rock heroes Sleater-Kinney, both staples of Rock the Garden co-host 89.3 the Current’s playlist. Duluth indie-rock innovators Low headlined the second stage at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, delivering a decidedly straight-forward performance there after opening sets for two genre bands, Divide & Dissolve and Dam Funk.

As the sun rose and the rain held back, viral young bedroom star Beabadoobee had the mostly Gen-X crowd and quite a few of their kids singing along to the bright, sunny tones of his “Coffee” hits. and “She Plays Bass”. .”

With Planned Parenthood as the main sponsor and a group (Divide & Dissolve) repeatedly calling out Minneapolis police for “enormous prejudice”, the progressive tone of RTG 2022 created a stark contrast to the Basilica Block Party (on hiatus in 2022 ) and all the country festivals that otherwise dominate Minnesota’s offerings for music festivals these days.

“It’s nice to have a big festival like this right in the heart of the city,” said Tony Loosbrock of south Minneapolis, enjoying his first outdoor concert since COVID with his wife, Alexandra. When asked which act they were excited to see, Tony said “all of them”.

“It’s just great to be able to enjoy music outside again in a setting like this.”