A
VIEW OF BONNAROO 2008
• My Bonnaroo homepage
• My 2007
experience
•
The official Bonnaroo
site
The
Bonnaroo Music Festival was a fantastic experience this year.
A
few key elements:
1)
Because we attended last year, we were really well prepared.
2) The weather was perfect. Lot's of cloud cover on hot, breezy
days. Light rain during the shows. The heavy rain happened only at night.
Bonnaroo
is, for all practical purposes, a hippie festival. And as such, the
people are all quite friendly and happy. Young people are the largest
demographic, by far, but there is a tremendous cross-section. All ages,
colors, sizes, shapes and certainly every level of intoxication are
represented. Yet it is always an all-for-one mentality. I have yet to
see a single fight.
There
is plenty of jam based music available but Bonnaroo has begun to bring
heavier mainstream acts in - last year with the band Tool, this year
with Metallica. Good news for a rock fan like myself. But I'm also a
fan of the festival experience and I appreciated it a lot more this
year. I would end up seeing a total of 19 acts over
the course of 4 days.
I had few disappointments.
Here's
what happened.
*Note: I have included YouTube
links to many of the performances. It will open a new page. Enjoy.
Thursday
12:00am
Mike and I left the house at exactly 12:00am. We had rented an Enterprise
cargo van, which proved to be perfect for bringing two men and necessary
gear to Manchester, TN.
In fact, we had room to spare.
I
was driving the first shift at 2:45am when we came over a small hill.
In the middle lane of I-75, stood a dark SUV – on FIRE.
The owner, presumably, was standing next to the vehicle working on it.
I slowed down, as did the traffic behind me. Mike dialed 911 and was
told units were already en route. A car peeled off to help. We decided
to keep going. It was freaky.
After
crossing northern Florida and Georgia, having breakfast at Denny’s
and gaining an hour in the central time zone – we hit the line
of cars. We were 15 miles from the entrance.
There were plenty of things to watch along the way… Like people
peeing out in the woods on the side of the road. One girl pee’d
in plain sight. And she would turn out to be one of our neighbors at
the campsite. There were also motorcycle cops all over the place. About
15 congregated at a motorcycle crash.
Bonnaroo actually has it’s own interstate exit (Exit
112). Except this one is only open one week a year and it immediately
takes you on to a vast field.
They
did a quick search of the van. (Cargo vans are notoriously used to bring
in boxes of fake Bonnaroo shwag.) They also searched the coolers for
glass. It’s a big rule. We purposefully converted
everything to Tupperware and other self-sealing items.
Then they strapped on the wristband, which this year was made of sturdy
nylon, and sent us back in line where we were directed to our campsite.
We ended up in Camp Lando Calrissian, which happens
to be the closest non-VIP / non-Handicapped Accessible campground. (There
are nearly 100 campgrounds.)
The
site was perfect. We were the last row of cars coming in and,
as a result, had no one behind us. Our site ended at the road - which
was three times the area as last year.
Setup went smoothly. We brought large tarps to manufacture much needed
shade.
We covered the back of the van, two tents, and a suntent with tarps,
making good use of Mike’s bungee cords.
After
setup, it was time to have a seat, grab a portable fan and a
cold beer and relax.
Thousands of people trickled in for the next 24 hours. We met our neighbors
(west side) Jake, Justin and Travis from Illinois,
(about 8 hours away).They were psyched to see Pearl Jam.
Our other neighbors, (east side), were a group of teenagers, some from
Ft Lauderdale. They were a rowdy group and often migrated to other sites.
They arrived in a black pickup and the poor kid who owned it, would
soon lose his keys, spiral slowly into perpetual worry and eventually
have to leave early.
About
6pm we ventured into Centeroo - the huge section encompassing
all of the concert venues, the comedy club, bars, vendors, the silent
disco, art sculptures, and other odd delights – most open 24 hours
a day.
We caught two music acts, What Made Milwaukee Famous
and solo artist
Newton Faulkner. WMMF was energetic and fun. Faulkner had an
excellent acoustic presentation and was very inspiring.
Back
at the site, dinner consisted of hot dogs and hamburgers cooked my propane
flattop grill. We had brownies for dessert. Resting
after dinner turned into a full-blown nap. I woke up after midnight
to find Mike sound asleep. Yelling and flashing lights wouldn’t
wake him, so I left his sorry ass behind.
I
was off to see the all-girl Led Zeppelin tribute band: Lez Zeppelin.
I arrived about half way through their set and they had just started
Cream’s “Sunshine for Your Love.”
Damn fine song. After that it was all Zep: “Dyer Maker,”
“Since I’ve Been Loving You,” “Moby Dick,”
“Blackdog,” “Kasmir” and “Whole Lotta
Love.” They did an encore with “Communications Breakdown.”
They were frickin awesome.
I went back to the site where I found sleepyhead. We stayed up that
night and I found myself, at 4:00am, listening to Mike play acoustic
guitar. He played some Dragonfly Ripple, Seether even
some Oasis. He is an unofficial Bonnaroo musician.
I was there.
Friday
7:30am
Even with tarps – the heat comes on early with a vengeance. There
is a nice breeze once outside of the tent. But it’s the direct
sun that you constantly fight.
We
cooked a breakfast of eggs, sausage, potato’s and fresh fruit.
Naturally, we had a brownie for desert. The kid next to us was still
looking for his keys. But he was trying to stay positive.
After
lunch, we headed into Centeroo.
Each time you enter they search the contents of your pockets and/or
bags. I passed through without incident and we stopped off to get some
frozen mocchachinos and some Bonnaroo t-shirts. Then we stopped to see
Drive By Truckers perform. Not really the kind of music
I was expecting. It was more folksy than rock. But they played very
well.
I
went to take a picture and noticed …
my camera was missing.
%*$#!
I backtracked my steps to the t-shirt place. No sign. I went to the
mocchachino stand and stood in line. As I reached the front, a couple
came along side me. The woman was holding a small dark-blue camera case
with a grey strap sticking out. Identical to mine. I mentioned how ironic
that we had the same case and she boasted its usefulness.
So I asked “What kind of camera do you have?”
“Canon ELF,” she replied.
Uh-huh, I thought. Sure you do.
I
asked the counter girl at the mocchawhatdidya if she had seen my camera.
“It looks exactly like this,” pointing to the blonde’s
blue case. Nothing.
The
couple walked away. Maybe I dropped it near the entrance, during security.
Nothing.
I went to information and filed a report at the lost and found. I had
spent almost an hour looking.
I
found Mike waiting patiently. We wandered a bit and headed back to the
site. I lost him somewhere and walked into the Cliff Bars booth and
talked with a cute and fit, Shannon, who was here from Denver.
She
talked about Cliff
Bars 2 Mile Challenge, where they're asking people to bike
for two miles that they would normally drive. She also mentioned some
interesting things at their other location such as a solar bus, which
completely powers the Solar Café next door next to it. I told
her I would check it out.
Back
to the site and Mike was there. I sat down in my folding chair and popped
back up. Something on the chair had jammed me in the butt. Only it wasn’t
on the chair.
It was my camera – in my back pocket the whole time.
Agghhh!
We
went in after 4pm to catch Les Claypool, (of the band
Primus). He has played every single Bonnaroo to date. He was wearing
a pig mask. His music is a little weird. I just don’t get it.
Bygones.
After
that we headed over to the What Stage, (the largest venue, followed
by the Which Stage and the three Tents.), where we caught The
Raconteurs. It was an exceptional show. They were ferocious
and intense. Jack White even fell onto to an amp while playing guitar.
Excellent band. Watch Steady
As She Goes
We
walked over to catch the first half of
Willie Nelson’s set. I got what I expected from Willie.
He played “Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys”
and “On the Road Again.” I did not recognize the others.
He was fun to see.
But
Chris Rock started before Willie ended and so we left to see the comedian.
Apparently, most of Bonnaroo had the same idea.
It was here that I met Matthew and Melissa from Demopolis,
Alabama. Cute kids.
Chris
Rock came out kind of late but he quickly had the crowd on
his side. He was introduced by Lars and Kirk from Metallica.
His
opening set
He talked about politics and the presidential candidates like Barack
Obama. He was impressed by Obama's unmistakable blackness,
and said his name makes him sound like "the bass player for the
Commodores." He talked about rising gas prices despite the war
in Iraq, which some predicted would help keep oil under control. "Let
me tell you something," he said. "If I invade IHOP, pancakes
are going to be cheaper in my house."
He talked about the differences in men and women – “Women
can’t go backwards financially; men can’t go backwards sexually.”
He had a huge crowd, at Bonnaroo, and it was hanging on his every word.
It had begun to rain during his set. Not very hard, just a light sprinkle
to cool everybody off. He ended at 8:45pm and we decided to stick around
for Metallica.
The
crowd swelled. Mike and I had decided to get close to the stage for
this show and people crammed themselves in. It was slightly claustrophobic.
Chris
Rock introduced Metallica at 9:15pm.
The crowd erupted.
They blasted into “Creeping Death.” They played a slew of
songs – Master
of Puppets, Fade
to Black,
One, “Sad But True," Harvester
of Sorrow,
Ride the Lightning and Enter
Sandman to name a few. They had fireworks and explosions.
The rain grew steadier.
Metallica closed their set with a blistering version of Seek
and Destroy. I have mixed feelings with this band but tonight
they put on one hell of a show.
What a day.
Mike
and I made it back to campsite about
15 minutes before the rain really started to come down. It came in several
minute bouts every 20 minutes or so. The wind would whip the tarps into
a frenzy and I had a little leak in the back. Some MacGyver-style engineering
saved us. The group of kids next to us, (east side), left their tent
windows wide open as the rain poured in. Deservedly so since they turned
out to be utter slobs.
Needless to say we did not venture back out to catch late-night shows
DJ Tiesto or the elusive SuperJam,
which we also missed last year.
Ah, well.
Saturday
7:30am
Saturday morning brought no rain but great cloud cover which kept everything
nice and cool. Everybody took advantage of it. But, by the afternoon
the clouds gave way to sunshine and humidity. We stayed relaxed and
got in some extra nap time.
(We are on vacation, aren’t we?)
And
after an early dinner of NY Strip steak, garlic mashed potatoes and
a brownie - we went in to see the legendary BB King.
The man is 82 years old but is just as humble and feisty and talented
as you please. He played a song for the ladies, inducing the crowd to
sing “My Only Sunshine.” Then he played one for the boys,
roughly called “Just Because I’m Over 50 Doesn’t Make
Me a Dirty Old Man.” He made references to Viagra. He ended with
Thrill
is Gone to a pretty big audience. He repeatedly thanked
the crowd and offered a lot of love. And the crowd loves that stuff,
man.
After BB, it was off to see some of Zappa Plays Zappa.
Zappa Jr plays Zappa Sr’s music. It was very ethereal, non-sequential
music. Again, not saying its bad – it’s just not my deal.
Bygones.
And
then, because my friend E-d suggested it, we watched Levon Helm
and the Ramble on the Road. This was a truly talented group
of individuals who played to an overwhelmingly enthusiastic crowd. Levon
took a turn playing the drums (while singing). A great musical act.
Watch a short clip of Evangeline
We
went back to the campsite for a cold beer and a brownie then came right
back to watch Pearl Jam in action. We stayed farther back in the crowd
this time. (And closer to the beer tent.) While waiting, I let loose
one of my long, loud screams. It was one of my record
screams and my throat paid dearly for it but when I stopped I was overwhelmed
with an explosion of audience approval. Mike said there were two “How
long is he gonna keep doing that?” moments and three “Holy
sh*t!” moments that occurred until I finished.
Pearl Jam started at 10:25pm and were scheduled to
play until 12:15am. They played an hour longer. They played a cover
from The Who. They played three sets featuring amazing
versions of “Rearview Mirror,” “Crazy Mary”
and “Alive.” They played "Evenflow," "Animal,"
Life Wasted, "Daughter," "Black,"
Betterman,
and "Elderly Woman ..." Not necessarily in that order.
They
also played a song called “No More War” that Eddie Vedder
dedicated to
Thomas Lyons. Lyons, is an Iraq vet who is wheelchair bound and
recently went into coma.
They closed their set with “All Along the Watchtower” by
Jimi Hendrix. This band showed some grit. And aside
from Eddie’s short political rants – it was a long and amazing
performance.
Back
at the campsite we debated on staying up to see Kanye West
perform. He was scheduled to go at 2:45am. I awoke from a nap in time
to go but decided to go to bed instead. Good thing. Kanye didn’t
go on until 4:25am. Blame was placed on Pearl Jam’s late performance
and the difficulty of setting up Kanye’s elaborate set - but even
that was done at 3:30am and the artist still failed to show up until
an hour later. Supposedly he failed to address the crowd about anything,
much less the delay.
The next day I saw port-o-lets, walls, signs and people painted with
the slogans “Kanye Sucks” or “F*ck Kanye.” Chants
of these same slogans could be heard throughout campsites and concert
fields for the duration of the festival.
Bad Kanye. Bad.
Sunday
7:30am
It’s going to be hot and humid. This day would be the most similar
to the weather we faced last year. I decided to go for a walk and found
the Green Pod, which was home to the Solar Bus that
Shannon had told me about. I saw a cool line of bikes called
Dahon.
They fold up really small but (supposedly) do not give up any performance.
During
a trip to the port-o-lets, on which there is new artwork everyday, I
read the inscribed:
For a good time call Drew 401-996-2915
I called.
I woke up some guy.
"Is this Drew?" I asked.
When he said yes, I told him "Yeah, I'm calling for a good time."
When he was thoroughly confused, I asked “Have you heard of Bonnaroo?”
“Yes.” he responded.
“Do you have friends at Bonnaroo?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said groaningly.
“We’ll you should expect more calls ‘cause they put
your name and number on the side of a port-o-let. I expected Drew Barrymore
and all I got was your sorry ass.” I said.
“Sorry,” he replied, “How
are the shows?”
After
lunch I decided to go to Centeroo. I rode the ferris wheel for the first
time. It offered excellent views of Centeroo and the campgrounds. I
rode with another couple – Eric and Megan from
Birmingham, Alabama. Eric was kind enough to take the picture of me.
Then
I went to check out Israel Vibration – one of
the first bands of the day.
Despite the name, none of the band members are from the State of Israel.
They’re from Kingston, Jamaica and they play
reggae, mon. Still, it was pretty cool. Lots of interesting smells came
from the crowd.
On
the way back I met Steve Kennedy and his friend Rosebud.
It was Steve’s sixth Bonnaroo. I also got a temporary tattoo and
my picture taken at the booth from
ilovemountains.org. Then I stopped at the Bonnaroo
post office to send Christine a postcard. Romona was the office
worker and was a damn pleasure to deal with.
Around
3pm it was time to see Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels.
(Jakob is the singer of the band The Wallflowers and has a father named
Bob.) It was a mellow performance and Dylan’s voice is just as
smooth as syrup. The sun beat down and shade became the precious resource.
Even bits of shade from a sign or sculpture was used.
I headed over to the comedy tent and picked the first group in line.
They were from Oklahoma and were waiting out in front of a vast line
to see Louis CK. As it turns out, they were at the
front of the stand-by line. Another equally vast line had formed on
the other side for people who already had tickets. But for most of the
group this was their first Bonnaroo and their 2nd comedy show in two
days. They were all big fans of the Pearl Jam and Sigur
Ros shows.
Dylan’s
set ended and we headed to the Which Stage to see O.A.R.
I was not greatly impressed.
But at 6:15 on the What Stage, I witnessed my favorite show of the festival.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Zeppelin is an all
time favorite band of mine. That should be said up front. But this was
not Zeppelin. This was bluegrass music. Alison played one of her songs.
She is a natural beauty with an angelic voice. And she plays a mean
violin to boot. Featured artist T Bone Burnett played
a song too. And Plant and Krauss played a couple of other songs they
had done together. But the real gems were the Zeppelin songs that had
been converted to bluegrass. Plant, in his sixties, gave the same respect
to this music as anything else he has done. More importantly, the crowd
knew the potential for Zeppelin to rear its famous head and came prepared
to sing. It was familiar songs in a crazy tempo.
Pretty frickin awesome.
Watch
Black Dog and Black
Country Woman
I
took a picture of a girl’s foot because she was wearing a flag-like
ornament. Her name was Gabriella and she didn’t mind
the intrusion. She and her boyfriend were happily medicated and enthralled
with the show.
When
Plant & Krauss ended we stopped to see Death Cab For Cutie.
The production was clean and clear but they didn’t play any songs
I know. But, I don’t know a lot of their songs, so - my bad.
After
Death Cab, we headed to That Tent to see Derek Trucks &
Susan Tedeschi’s Soul Stew Revival. They played way past
their scheduled 8:45pm cutoff. And if the crowd had had anything to
do with it, they would have played all night long. As with most great
jam bands, they were able to maintain a pool of tensioned energy with
the crowd, so when the band starting kicking in harder – the crowd
responded. It was true illustration of the power of live music. The
crescendo of the performance came during their last song, a cover of
“Hey Jude.” I was blown away by both the synchronicity of
the band and the reality that this would be the last show I would see
at Bonnaroo. The final band Widespread Panic was due
at 8:45pm but neither Mike or I were big fans and besides, Derek Trucks
& Co were playing an hour longer than they should have. They came
out for an encore to a fanatic crowd and played “Take a Load Off
Annie.”
We went back to the campsite listening to Widespread Panic and the crowd
reactions in the distance. Some of our neighbors sat in the intersection
as cars began to take early leave of the festival. They wished everyone
equal amounts of “Happy Bonnaroo” and “Have
a safe trip home!” and “See you next year” and, of
course, “Kanye Sucks!”
Monday
7:30am
Everyone’s least favorite day of Bonnaroo. Because of our schedule
and shade situation, we were able to pack-up leisurely. After a hearty
breakfast, we broke camp. The kid who lost his keys had left the day
before to try and resolve the situation. His friends who had stayed
behind - found the keys, got the truck started and started driving it
home to him – as a surprise. Mike and I made the short trip to
Atlanta where we stayed at the Red Roof Inn. After
showers and dinner we were supposed to go the infamous Buckhead
district but ended up falling asleep watching "My Name is Earl."
The
next day we would make it back to Sarasota in just 6.5 hours, where
my beautiful wife rushed to greet me with a hug and promptly showed
me where she was keeping a “large” spider hostage under
a box-top for two days.
It’s good to be home.
• My Bonnaroo homepage
• My 2007
experience
•
The official Bonnaroo
site
