The first thing I did when I got home was kissed my shower and my toilet.
I kinda regret that now. Ew.
I got to the Bonnarro festival last Friday at around 12. I followed the directions all the way down to the town of Manchester, TN. After that the directions just read "follow signs to festival".
There were no signs for the festival. I'm not kidding. Nothing. I was driving around Manchester for a while and I see NOTHING. Now granted the festival started the day before but still! So I pull into a gas station and find the attendant inside.
"Hi. This sounds like a stupid question, but I'm looking for the Bonnaroo festival. Do you know where I might find it?"
blank stare
"The what?"
"The Bonnaroo festival. It's a music festival. Umm... in this town. With 80,000 people"
"Oh that. I saw some traffic going this-a-way yesterday"
So after some trial and error I find the place. And there's a little handmade sign taped to a stop sign with an arrow to point the way. So that's helpful.
I get into the site and I park about 6 thousand miles away from the actual grounds. Partly because I want as much privacy as I can get (I'll be sleeping in my CAR for godsakes!) and also because I can't get any closer because there's a SEA of cars, RVs and tents that goes as far as I can see in any direction. I must have been the last person to arrive. No kidding. Nobody came in behind me during the next three days. I took some pictures but the camera on my phone sucks so they don't do it justice. Just go to bonnaroo.com and look at the Aerial Photography section under "photos" if you want to get an idea.
So I basically just lock all my stuff in my car and run to the site. I run through a mile of mud, port-a potties, a ZILLION Grateful Dead and Bob Marley t shirts, and drug dealers who offer me anything under the sun. (Opium? Really? Where are we?) and finally make it to "Centeroo" where all the stages are.
The first act I saw was Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, who I LOVED. In fact I made time to see them 2 more times. That afternoon I also saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a bit of Grizzly Bear, half of TV on the Radio's set and then I died of heat exhaustion.
That's not true. but I almost did. I was stupidly dressed in jeans, a button down shirt, and boots. And it was hot as FUCK. My clothes were soaked through with sweat and stuck to my body. I looked like an idiot. Everyone else there- and I mean EVERYONE- were dressed exactly the same: tye die t shirt (most, like I said, featuring either the Grateful Dead or Bob Marley), goofy hippie hat of some sort, and sandals. Oh and most sandals were made of hemp. The ONLY other acceptable way to dress was for girls to simply wear bikinis and guys to go shirtless with just shorts. I noticed that whenever there were a group of 3 or more guys without a girl present they were ALWAYS all shirtless. Guys love to hang out shirtless together. What is that?
So I actually went and changed (in my car, thank you very much) into a non tye die t shirt, shorts, and sneakers and went back to watch Lucinda Williams (who looks like hell but was great), Al Green, (amazing- although I watched his entire set on line to get water. The water there was free-you just had to wait in line for an hour to get it), the Beastie Boys (who did their Beastie Boy thing. which is fine), David Byrne (who was great), Phoenix (also great) and then Public Enemy. Yes, Public Enemy. With Favor Flav and all that. Kicking it 1989 style. Don't Believe the Hype.
And by then it was 2AM and I was beat.
Did I tell you that I went by myself?
Well, my friend Levee was working there. She was running a booth and she actually convinced me to come down. And my friend Robin was there with her husband. But I BARELY saw them. There were 80,000 people there after all. And I was there to see music. That's it.
So I went back to my car, tacked up blankets over my windows, put down my back seat and slept there. Like an animal.
I actually did sleep, though. Surprisingly. And when I work up and walked to the porta-potties the next morning there was a HUGE line for the wash stations set up next door. So I stood there in the mud with my toothbrush like an idiot. And then when I got up to the "sink" (which was really a washtub with a faucet) I really did share the faucet with a girl shaving her armpits. No kidding.
Walk through more mud-lots more mud- to get to Centeroo. Now there are bodies starting to litter the way. People just passed out at their campsites or just on the grass by the mud road. And I'm offered more drugs. Mostly "Deadhead bumps".
I've said this before but I'm constantly amazed at how eager people are to turn themselves into stereotypes. "Hey look! I'm the tye die Grateful Dead hippie in my tye die and Cat In the Hat crazy hat!"
ok. but you look like EVERYONE else here. I get it. It's about belonging to a community. I just think it's weird. And for community that is supposed to be made up of "free spirits" it looks awfully conformist. AND-Jerry Garcia died when most of these people were 5 years old!!!
I'm not trying to pick on the neo-hippies. If you go to a metal show everyone is gonna look the same. If you go to a rap show everyone is gonna look the same. I just find it funny. And Bonnaroo is a place where you CAN see rap, and metal, and country, and everything in between. I was just shocked how everyone looked like they were extras from Ang Lee's Woodstock movie.
Saturday started off with Alejandro Escovedo. Michael DeCasper introduced me to Alejandro and so his set made me think of Michael. And he was fantastic. Alejandro has been around FOREVER and he told a story about when he was in his old band, The Nuns ("God were we terrible", he remembered) opening for the Sex Pistols, and then recommending the Hotel Chelsea to Sid and Nancy when they got to NY. ("And we all remember how that ended"). He was great. One of the best shows of the festival. Then I saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals again, The Heartless Bastards, some of Robyn Hitchcock and then some of Allen Toussaint, from New Orleans. Followed by Rodrigo Y Gabriela (who are astonishing), Jenny Lewis and then Elvis Costello. Elvis popped up to sing "Carpetbaggers" with Jenny Lewis and then he started his own show solo before being joined by Jenny's band. Watching a whole field of people sing along with "Watching the Detectives" and Elvis' cover of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" was a highlight. Definitely.
Then was Bruce.
Bruce is obviously the main reason I went. He was playing on the main stage, where the Beastie Boys played the night before. And the crowd for the Beastie Boys was so huge that I felt like I was a mile away. AND there were 4 other stages operating at the same time the Beastie Boys were playing. I wandered over to David Byrne and he was playing to 10,000 or so people. All the other stages were packed too.
Well when Bruce played they closed down all the other stages. So there were 80,000 people in the same field at the same time. It was incredible. I pushed my way all to the front, of course. I came too far not to. And I know my review of Bruce's show is biased, but read any blog, any review from the festival. Entertainment Weekly's was my favorite: "If you played Bonnaroo and you're NOT Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band I have bad news for you- as good as you were, Bruce was better." It was one of the best shows I've ever seen him do. And I've seen a LOT.
But enough of that. After Bruce was Nine Inch Nails. After listening to the hope and faith in Bruce's songs I just couldn't make the emotional u-turn to NIN. I checked out MGMT for a while and liked them a lot.
Then I went back to my car, tacked up my blankets again, and slept like an animal again.
The next morning I found a porta potty that didn't make me wretch and thought that I really needed to re-evaluate my standards in life. But seriously- after 3 days in the sun with 80,000 drunk, high college kids those porta potties were revolting. To say the least.
The walk to Centaroo looked like a civil war battlefield. Bodies were strewn EVERYWHERE. You wouldn't believe the positions that people were passed out in. Everywhere. And Centaroo wasn't much better. Evidently a lot of people never made it back to their campsites. People were just laying everywhere-the grass, the mud. Everywhere.
It was Sunday morning (well noonish) and the music was quieter now. it seemed as if it were singer/songwriter time since that's all I saw. I really liked AA Bondy and Ted Leo. But then I wandered over to the country tent and made my second great discovery-The Lovell Sisters. 3 sisters (18,19 and 23!) who played fiddle, mandolin, dobro and various other instruments. And these girls could PLAY! They had their own little hoedown going on. They did their own songs, a Johnny Cash cover, a hillbilly version of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", and a Jimi Hendrix cover on fiddle. And their stage presence was even better. All three were adorable and totally assured onstage. "Dance, hippies!" Rebecca, the youngest, yelled at one point. "Don't you do your little hippie dance? Lemme see ya!"
After them was Robert Earl Keene, who is one of the best songwriters of all time. And then ANOTHER great discovery- Todd Snider. If you can see this guy live go NOW. Really funny, completely offbeat, and a great songwriter. The guy told a 10 minute story about being on the JV football team in high school that was hysterically funny. ("...then they told me that we could maybe win the district! I didn't even know that I was PART of a district never mind that the fucker was up for grabs!") Great.
He was followed by Merle Haggard. Yes, Mere Haggard. I was about 30 feet from him. Amazing.
In between those sets I caught some of Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg and Andrew Bird. Andrew Bird was really interesting. I wanna see him again.
But by then I couldn't stand any more. the sun was blazing. Everything hurt. I couldn't imagine going into another porta potty again under ANY circumstances. I couldn't bear to stand in line for water again. I couldn't imagine waiting in horrid traffic to leave later, so I split. I missed Band of Horses, who I wanted to see, and Neko Case, who I REALLY wanted to see. But I had had enough. Unlike most people there I was still on my feet. But barely.
It was still great. I still missed some acts I wanted to see. Wilco played at the same time as Elvis Costello so I missed them. I wish I could have stayed for more of MGMT. I didn't see the African tent at ALL. I didn't even know it was there until too late.
Next year....
And that was Bonnaroo
I kinda regret that now. Ew.
I got to the Bonnarro festival last Friday at around 12. I followed the directions all the way down to the town of Manchester, TN. After that the directions just read "follow signs to festival".
There were no signs for the festival. I'm not kidding. Nothing. I was driving around Manchester for a while and I see NOTHING. Now granted the festival started the day before but still! So I pull into a gas station and find the attendant inside.
"Hi. This sounds like a stupid question, but I'm looking for the Bonnaroo festival. Do you know where I might find it?"
blank stare
"The what?"
"The Bonnaroo festival. It's a music festival. Umm... in this town. With 80,000 people"
"Oh that. I saw some traffic going this-a-way yesterday"
So after some trial and error I find the place. And there's a little handmade sign taped to a stop sign with an arrow to point the way. So that's helpful.
I get into the site and I park about 6 thousand miles away from the actual grounds. Partly because I want as much privacy as I can get (I'll be sleeping in my CAR for godsakes!) and also because I can't get any closer because there's a SEA of cars, RVs and tents that goes as far as I can see in any direction. I must have been the last person to arrive. No kidding. Nobody came in behind me during the next three days. I took some pictures but the camera on my phone sucks so they don't do it justice. Just go to bonnaroo.com and look at the Aerial Photography section under "photos" if you want to get an idea.
So I basically just lock all my stuff in my car and run to the site. I run through a mile of mud, port-a potties, a ZILLION Grateful Dead and Bob Marley t shirts, and drug dealers who offer me anything under the sun. (Opium? Really? Where are we?) and finally make it to "Centeroo" where all the stages are.
The first act I saw was Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, who I LOVED. In fact I made time to see them 2 more times. That afternoon I also saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a bit of Grizzly Bear, half of TV on the Radio's set and then I died of heat exhaustion.
That's not true. but I almost did. I was stupidly dressed in jeans, a button down shirt, and boots. And it was hot as FUCK. My clothes were soaked through with sweat and stuck to my body. I looked like an idiot. Everyone else there- and I mean EVERYONE- were dressed exactly the same: tye die t shirt (most, like I said, featuring either the Grateful Dead or Bob Marley), goofy hippie hat of some sort, and sandals. Oh and most sandals were made of hemp. The ONLY other acceptable way to dress was for girls to simply wear bikinis and guys to go shirtless with just shorts. I noticed that whenever there were a group of 3 or more guys without a girl present they were ALWAYS all shirtless. Guys love to hang out shirtless together. What is that?
So I actually went and changed (in my car, thank you very much) into a non tye die t shirt, shorts, and sneakers and went back to watch Lucinda Williams (who looks like hell but was great), Al Green, (amazing- although I watched his entire set on line to get water. The water there was free-you just had to wait in line for an hour to get it), the Beastie Boys (who did their Beastie Boy thing. which is fine), David Byrne (who was great), Phoenix (also great) and then Public Enemy. Yes, Public Enemy. With Favor Flav and all that. Kicking it 1989 style. Don't Believe the Hype.
And by then it was 2AM and I was beat.
Did I tell you that I went by myself?
Well, my friend Levee was working there. She was running a booth and she actually convinced me to come down. And my friend Robin was there with her husband. But I BARELY saw them. There were 80,000 people there after all. And I was there to see music. That's it.
So I went back to my car, tacked up blankets over my windows, put down my back seat and slept there. Like an animal.
I actually did sleep, though. Surprisingly. And when I work up and walked to the porta-potties the next morning there was a HUGE line for the wash stations set up next door. So I stood there in the mud with my toothbrush like an idiot. And then when I got up to the "sink" (which was really a washtub with a faucet) I really did share the faucet with a girl shaving her armpits. No kidding.
Walk through more mud-lots more mud- to get to Centeroo. Now there are bodies starting to litter the way. People just passed out at their campsites or just on the grass by the mud road. And I'm offered more drugs. Mostly "Deadhead bumps".
I've said this before but I'm constantly amazed at how eager people are to turn themselves into stereotypes. "Hey look! I'm the tye die Grateful Dead hippie in my tye die and Cat In the Hat crazy hat!"
ok. but you look like EVERYONE else here. I get it. It's about belonging to a community. I just think it's weird. And for community that is supposed to be made up of "free spirits" it looks awfully conformist. AND-Jerry Garcia died when most of these people were 5 years old!!!
I'm not trying to pick on the neo-hippies. If you go to a metal show everyone is gonna look the same. If you go to a rap show everyone is gonna look the same. I just find it funny. And Bonnaroo is a place where you CAN see rap, and metal, and country, and everything in between. I was just shocked how everyone looked like they were extras from Ang Lee's Woodstock movie.
Saturday started off with Alejandro Escovedo. Michael DeCasper introduced me to Alejandro and so his set made me think of Michael. And he was fantastic. Alejandro has been around FOREVER and he told a story about when he was in his old band, The Nuns ("God were we terrible", he remembered) opening for the Sex Pistols, and then recommending the Hotel Chelsea to Sid and Nancy when they got to NY. ("And we all remember how that ended"). He was great. One of the best shows of the festival. Then I saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals again, The Heartless Bastards, some of Robyn Hitchcock and then some of Allen Toussaint, from New Orleans. Followed by Rodrigo Y Gabriela (who are astonishing), Jenny Lewis and then Elvis Costello. Elvis popped up to sing "Carpetbaggers" with Jenny Lewis and then he started his own show solo before being joined by Jenny's band. Watching a whole field of people sing along with "Watching the Detectives" and Elvis' cover of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" was a highlight. Definitely.
Then was Bruce.
Bruce is obviously the main reason I went. He was playing on the main stage, where the Beastie Boys played the night before. And the crowd for the Beastie Boys was so huge that I felt like I was a mile away. AND there were 4 other stages operating at the same time the Beastie Boys were playing. I wandered over to David Byrne and he was playing to 10,000 or so people. All the other stages were packed too.
Well when Bruce played they closed down all the other stages. So there were 80,000 people in the same field at the same time. It was incredible. I pushed my way all to the front, of course. I came too far not to. And I know my review of Bruce's show is biased, but read any blog, any review from the festival. Entertainment Weekly's was my favorite: "If you played Bonnaroo and you're NOT Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band I have bad news for you- as good as you were, Bruce was better." It was one of the best shows I've ever seen him do. And I've seen a LOT.
But enough of that. After Bruce was Nine Inch Nails. After listening to the hope and faith in Bruce's songs I just couldn't make the emotional u-turn to NIN. I checked out MGMT for a while and liked them a lot.
Then I went back to my car, tacked up my blankets again, and slept like an animal again.
The next morning I found a porta potty that didn't make me wretch and thought that I really needed to re-evaluate my standards in life. But seriously- after 3 days in the sun with 80,000 drunk, high college kids those porta potties were revolting. To say the least.
The walk to Centaroo looked like a civil war battlefield. Bodies were strewn EVERYWHERE. You wouldn't believe the positions that people were passed out in. Everywhere. And Centaroo wasn't much better. Evidently a lot of people never made it back to their campsites. People were just laying everywhere-the grass, the mud. Everywhere.
It was Sunday morning (well noonish) and the music was quieter now. it seemed as if it were singer/songwriter time since that's all I saw. I really liked AA Bondy and Ted Leo. But then I wandered over to the country tent and made my second great discovery-The Lovell Sisters. 3 sisters (18,19 and 23!) who played fiddle, mandolin, dobro and various other instruments. And these girls could PLAY! They had their own little hoedown going on. They did their own songs, a Johnny Cash cover, a hillbilly version of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", and a Jimi Hendrix cover on fiddle. And their stage presence was even better. All three were adorable and totally assured onstage. "Dance, hippies!" Rebecca, the youngest, yelled at one point. "Don't you do your little hippie dance? Lemme see ya!"
After them was Robert Earl Keene, who is one of the best songwriters of all time. And then ANOTHER great discovery- Todd Snider. If you can see this guy live go NOW. Really funny, completely offbeat, and a great songwriter. The guy told a 10 minute story about being on the JV football team in high school that was hysterically funny. ("...then they told me that we could maybe win the district! I didn't even know that I was PART of a district never mind that the fucker was up for grabs!") Great.
He was followed by Merle Haggard. Yes, Mere Haggard. I was about 30 feet from him. Amazing.
In between those sets I caught some of Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg and Andrew Bird. Andrew Bird was really interesting. I wanna see him again.
But by then I couldn't stand any more. the sun was blazing. Everything hurt. I couldn't imagine going into another porta potty again under ANY circumstances. I couldn't bear to stand in line for water again. I couldn't imagine waiting in horrid traffic to leave later, so I split. I missed Band of Horses, who I wanted to see, and Neko Case, who I REALLY wanted to see. But I had had enough. Unlike most people there I was still on my feet. But barely.
It was still great. I still missed some acts I wanted to see. Wilco played at the same time as Elvis Costello so I missed them. I wish I could have stayed for more of MGMT. I didn't see the African tent at ALL. I didn't even know it was there until too late.
Next year....
And that was Bonnaroo
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