I’ve been home from Bonnaroo for over a week now and finally getting around to recap’ing the trip. The short version is, it was awesome, for the long version, continue reading.
Bonnaroo!
Last year, we left Wednesday night and got into Bonnaroo around 10:00 PM Wednesday. While it was great to not have to wait in line we ended up way in the back and had to walk about 20 minutes each time we went to Centeroo and back. This year we were determined to get a better spot and after some research we decided we would leave Atlanta around 8:00 AM Thursday morning. We hit the road and reached the line to get into Bonnaroo at about 11:00 AM; we were ten miles out from the gate. We started to curse our plan after sitting in line for about two hours and not making much progress, but we had invested too much time to try something else. After four and a half hours we reached the gate and ended up in Pod 10, about a 2 minute walk from Centeroo. The wait had been worth it.
What Stage
After setting up camp we went in for some shows. Sometime close to midnight we were in That Tent watching Zac Brown Band when it began to storm…bad. We all packed in under the tent and I thought how nice and dry my poncho must have been back at camp. The lightning and thunder, along with Zac and crew playing The Devil Went Down to Georgia, made for a great show. Towards the end of the show we received an ominous text message from someone who had already made it back to camp, “Tent city in shambles.” When we got back we found that our truck tent had collapsed and was dumping water directly into one of our sleeping tents. We propped everything up as best we could and went to bed. Fortunately my truck bed stayed dry and I had a relatively good night of sleep.
The Other Tent
Friday we crawled out of bed one by one and made breakfast: eggs, English muffins, and bacon. At this point I realized I had forgotten my stereo, which is typically first on my list of things not to forget. This turned out not as bad as originally thought as we spent less time hanging out at camp this year than in previous. We took this time to fortify our truck tent. A little after noon we went into Centeroo to see Gomez and later wondered around to see Kaki King, Galactic, and Bela Fleck. Somehow I managed to miss Al Green, but I did get to see a bit Cold Souls at the Cinema Tent. I’ll refrain from reviewing the movie until I’ve watched it again, but it just didn’t do it for me then. Later that night we saw Beastie Boys, one of my favorite groups growing up and definitely one of my favorite shows for the weekend, David Byrne, Phish, and Public Enemy. I’ve since listened to some tracks from Girl Talk and Pretty Lights, two electronic groups I missed Friday night, and I’m really disappointed I missed them. They’re just the kind of show that is perfect for late-night Bonnaroo. Oh well, maybe they’ll be back next year.
Does not, in fact, taste like corn.
Saturday morning started off much like Friday, except we could tell it was going to be a good bit hotter than the previous day. We skipped the breakfast and went straight for the cold drinks and junk food. Saturday was also round 2 for Eric vs. the Solar Powered Cell-phone Charger. It consisted mainly of Eric leaving his phone plugged into the charger for an hour, checking it, playing with the buttons, connection, rinse, repeat; a match that went at least 2 more rounds that weekend. Ilo and the Coral Reefer Allstars started at noon Saturday, a band I wouldn’t have gone to see except they announced Jimmy Buffet would be joining them. Buffet put on a great show as usual. I forget who we saw after Buffet, but we ended up at Bon Iver, Gov’t Mule, and Elvis Costello later in the afternoon. We listened to Gov’t Mule from the Broo’ers Festival where we tried beers from Pisgah Brewing Company, People’s Brewing Company, Starr Hill Brewery, and my favorites from SweetWater and Terrapin. Saturday night we saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Nine Inch Nails, Ben Harper, and a bit of moe. and MGMT. It was an incredible night, much better than 2008 when we waited until 5:00 AM Sunday morning to see Kanye West. After the shows I went to the Cinema Tent again to cool off and was treated to another showing of Cold Souls; I could not get away from this movie.
Nine Inch Nails
Sunday we all woke up with grand illusions of sticking around to see Snoop Dogg that evening. Unfortunately we were all hot, exhausted, and ready to go home. I went into Centeroo to check things out and there was definitely a different mood about the place. Everyone seemed hot, exhausted, and ready to go home. I went back to camp and we put it to a vote; “go home” won, so we packed up and hit the road. I didn’t get to see A.A. Bondy, Brett Dennen, or Snoop, but I did get to go home and take a shower. I think I made the right decision.
Some other thoughts regarding the weekend that don’t lend themselves to paragraph form:
- This was the first year the festival used drink cups made from corn-based plastic; pretty cool.
- Anheuser Busch doesn’t belong anywhere near the Broo’ers Festival.
- Max Weinberg’s son, Jay Weinberg, is an incredible drummer and only 18 years old.
- There were not enough late-night shows Saturday night. I ran out of steam too early Friday, but was up late Saturday, and ran out of things to do.
- Somehow we spent less time hanging out this year. Previous years we would spent a good bit of time at camp or catching some shade in Centeroo, but this year we were definitely moving around more. I haven’t figured out why yet, because I don’t think we were rushing to shows, but something changed this year.
- Last year’s weather was better, but this year’s wasn’t as bad as years prior to 2008.
All in all it was a great Bonnaroo and it lived up to its purpose: an escape from work, chores, yard work and the like. Of course I missed Rhonda and my dogs, but there’s something enjoyable about just letting loose, being dirty, not caring what time it is, eating crappy, drinking beer too early in the day, and listening to some great music. I can’t wait for next year’s Bonnaroo!
Photos are here.
