Being my second Bonnaroo experience, I had an idea of what to expect for the 4 day music festival. Last years festival was incredible with performances by Cat Power, Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, Beck, Sonic Youth, and of course Radiohead.Going into this year's Bonnaroo, I was a little concerned that the lineup was not as strong. Tool and The Police were headlining and I didn't have any interest in catching their shows. After four days and over 10 memorable performances, I take back any hesitancies I had towards the lineup. It was amazing. Along for the ride with me was my girlfriend Lindsey and my best friend Jess. Neither of them had been to Bonnaroo before.
Wednesday, June 13th
Two days after Jess and I flew in to Tampa from PA, we packed up the tiny but spacious Yarris untill there was barely enough room to seat 3, grabbed the Google maps, and headed off to Manchester Tennessee. I took most of the driving up and we made it at the Best Western at 3 in the morning. You could tell we were in Tennessee by the way the hotel manager said, "Y'all goin' to Bon-e-roooo??."Thurday, June 14th
We left the hotel around 11 that morning and stopped at a Wal-mart to see if I could fix my video camera I brought to document the trip. It was fruitless though. Didn't get to use it the rest of the trip. We stopped at a gas station right outside Manchester and sa
w our first drug bust. I asked one of the police officers how to get to Bonnaroo from here and he asked why I was going to the "dope festival". We found the line for Bonnaroo around 12:30 and proceeded to wait for the next 3 hours watching Fargo and Raising Arizona, while bootleggers tried to sell t-shirts and posters.When we finally made it in to Bonnaroo, we had the most laid back car search. All they did was ask if we had any drugs, explosives, or glass and we were on our way. We got a nice camping spot about a 25 minute walk from Centeroo (the main area where all the concerts are) and set up the tent, canopy, and cooking supplies. I even remembered to bring Flamingos and Christmas lights.
After we set up camp, we checked out the sights in Centeroo. While we were inside, Jess went off to see one of her bands, Apollo Sunshine while Lindsey and I caught the tail end of Mute Math. They played a few songs I've heard before and they sounded pretty good live. Afterwards, we walked back to camp to sleep, only to find that the air mattress had a leak.
Friday, June 15th (my 20th Birthday)
One of the benefits of having a birthday during Bonnaroo is that Bonnaroo tickets make a perfect early birthday gift. This was my second time celebrating my birthday at Bonnaroo. We started out the morning by waking up sweating in the Tennessee head at 8:30 and had an egg and bacon breakfast that took forever to cook. I hit my head on the trunk of the Yarri, leaving a nice little bump on my forehead which Jess is so kindly pointing out.RX Bandits
Caught part of the RX Bandits show with Lindsey and Jess. Lindsey grew up listening to these guys and had seen them at Warped Tour. She was surprised by how good they still were. I enjoyed the reggae, ska, pop-punk rock; but I was worried for the lead singer who was shirtless and apparently forgot to apply sunscreen that morning. He was turning a nice shade of salmon by the time we left. Did I mention that it was like an oven around noonish?Lewis Black
Last year I had tried to see Mr. Black at the Comedy Tent, but gave up after seeing the impressive line that snaked back and forth for 
what seemed like forever. This year Lindsey and I were determined to catch him perform. We got in line right before the first show started and waited for the next 3 hours to be first in line for his second show. We managed to take shifts where one would wait in line in 100 degree heat, while the other got food and drinks. It ended up working out and we even managed to sneak Jess in at the last minute. We got the best seats too! The show was awesome. Lewis Black made a ton of jokes about anticipation and how nothing ever lives up to how we anticipate it. (How true). He had 3 other comedians who were really funny as well. It was definitely one of the best shows at Bonnaroo. Being in an air-conditioned tent didn't hurt either.
Afterwards we parted ways with Jess. She went to see The Brazilian Girls and Lilly Allen while we headed off to a grassy hill to see The Roots perform the main stage. It was fun hearing them perform "Roxanne."Later we headed back to the campsite and got the prints and artwork together to try and sell on Shakedown street (the main road through the camping area where all the unlicensed vendors sell everything imaginable). By the time we got to Shakedown and set up a spot, it was already dark and no one could see the artwork. The only people that were interested were drunk people heading to the Tool show or the Clutch show and yelling, "hey sweet Jimi Hendrix!" It got old real quick and we didn't sell zip that night.
Saturday, June 16th
This was the day to look forward to. All the main bands we wanted to see were playing on Saturday. A few were overlapping, such as The Flaming Lips and Girl Talk, which sucked to have to decide between. Our first pick of the day was Dr. Dog.
Dr. Dog
Although they may have the most misleading name in music (I 
originally thought they were a jam band from the name), they sounded really good live. I fell in love with their single "My Old Ways" right before Bonnaroo and really enjoyed their "Beatlesesque" harmonies. They played a pretty good set from what I heard. Lindsey and I had to skip out half way through though, to make it to see Regina Spektor. Didn't get to hear them play "My Old Ways." Oh well.http://youtube.com/watch?v=IXs30YS6tmQ
Regina Spektor
The first time I saw Regina was way back in 2005 after her Soviet Kitsch album came out and she was opening for The Killers of all people. I went solely to see her and was disappointed when we got there late and only caught her last two songs and were so far back that she was a little speck on the stage. This time we got there early enough to for nearly front row seats on the side. Her performance reminded me why I originally fell in love with her music. She was so friendly and endearing during her performance. It felt as if she was playing an intimate one on one show for everyone there. Her music sounded perfect live as well.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7zlxValrprQ
Lindsey and I left a little early during Regina's performance because the heat and the crowd
was really starting to get overwhelming. We headed off to the Movie tent where Bill Plymton, a famous independent animator, was showing some of his short animations and answering questions from the crowd. He answered my question about "recommendations for beginning animators" and informed me that he was "surprised that there were animators in the audience and to keep the animations short, cheap, and funny." I got to meet him and get a dvd signed which was pretty awesome.While Jess was busy rockin' out to Ween, Lindsey and I grabbed some delicious but expensive 5 dollar lemonades and grabbed some sweet spots in the front row at the end of the Damien Rice show to see Franz Ferdinand.
Franz Ferdinand
Apparently this was the only festival that The Franz was playing this year, so that was kinda exciting. Getting front row spots was nice too because they put on a really energized set that hard to beat. This was another band whose music transitioned perfectly from album to in concert. Every song got the audience dancing and singing along. They even played a few unreleased tracks which was nice. We even got to see Regina dancing in the VIP section and she waved back at us! :)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pus46fJI0nw
We then proceeded to wait for the next 4 hours to see the Flaming Lips. Jess somehow managed to find us soon after Franz Ferdinand ended. I decided it would be awesome to wear our costumes we brought, so I raced back to the campsite (more like walked briskly), changed into my Superman costume, grabbed Lindsey's Wonder Woman and Jess's Ladybug costume and hurried back to the stage. We sat there listening as The Police played on the main stage and as they set up everything on the Flaming Lips stage. Apparently, we didn't miss much by skipping out on the Police show.
The Flaming Lips
An hour or so before the actual set, the Lips launched into War Pigs as a sound check. We knew then that we were in for something special musically and visually. What an amazing show. I've been a fan of the Lips for the last couple years and really wanted to see them live. They always get rave reviews for their performances, mostly for the theatrics, and Wayne Coyne's antics. Seeing them in the front row is the way to watch the Flaming Lips live.
There is so much going on, its really easy to miss something. On either side of the stage were a collection of lucky fans dressed up as Aliens on one side and Santa Clauses on the other. Two huge cannons launched confetti over the audience. Giant balloons and random helium filled objects bouced over the audience. The hardest thing to miss and one of the biggest spectacles was the life-sized UFO that lowered onto the stage, unloading all the band members except for Wayne. He was encapsulated in a giant plastic bubble at the top of the UFO. Here's a video of Wayne making his way down the UFO and hoisted into the audience by stage-hands dressed as superheroes:After his crowd surf in a giant bubble, he made it back on stage to perform such classics as "Do You Realize?" and "the Yeah Yeah Yeah Song." At one point, laser-pointers were distributed to the audienc
e and then pointed at Wayne as he held as large mirror. As great as the Lips songs sound on the albums, hearing them live is another reality all together. Wayne Coyne has an amazing grasp on how to interweave the auditory and the visual. He spent hours before the show making sure every little detail was taken care of. Catchy songs turned into epics. Every member of the audience realized that morning that they had witnessed something special.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ8BjWTxrN0
After the Lips finished their set, we somehow managed to stagger back to the tent and catch a few hours of sleep for the last day at Bonnaroo.
We woke up early again thanks to the Tennessee heat and our deflated air mattress. Had a nice egg and bacon breakfast. Jess went out to catch a few bands while Linds and I finalized our plans. I went out to try and sell some artwork for one last time and Linds hung back to start packing.
I was really hoping to sell something that last day, because I was already out about $180 for the supplies for everything, not to mention all the time spent. After about 3 hours in the heat on the side of the road on Shakedown Street, I walked away with all but 2 originals sold and 5 or six prints sold. I was content with breaking even. I tried my hardest to help sell Lindsey's prints, but it really wasn't the right crowd. They were all hippies who could only recognize the classic rock stars. Plus the dust and dirt made it really hard to see the prints. It was a good learning experience though.After giving up trying to sell any more pieces, we headed to Centeroo and try to catch Demetri Martin with Flight of the Concords. By the time we got there, there was no chance of seeing them with the huge never-ending line. We caught Martha Wainwright (sis of Rufus Wainwright) instead . She was fun, but you could tell that she was nervous because all the times she had to restart songs.
Feist
Lindsey and I were really excited about seeing Ms. Feist. Having only discovered her in the last few months, we weren't the biggest fans there, but still loved her music. It was really nice finding out she sounds just as good live as she did on her albums. We left a little early to catch the last show of Bonnaroo.
The White Stripes
Since we didn't wait for four hours to get a front row spot, we were stuck in the nose bleed section where the stage wasn't visible. Seeing the Stripes live was definitely something I was looking forward all weekend. I have to say that they were the disappointment for me for the weekend. The songs seemed way more sloppy than the album versions and it seemed like Jack White was trying to rush through them.
We left early and walked one last time around Centeroo and got on the ferris wheel to see Bonnaroo from above. Lindsey underestimated her fear of heights and got scared about 5 seconds into leaving the ground. We still managed to get a good picture and video.
We got back to camp to leave, but we were stuck till the next morning because the surrounding campers didn't leave.
Overall, I had the most amazing time with the my favorite people. Bonnaroo 2007 was even better in my opinion than last year. I hope next year can live up to the hype.
bonnaroo 2007
