Since this will be my second trip to Bonnaroo, I decided to repost my original blog that was on my myspace a year ago. Last year was such an amazing experience and I hope this year is just as amazing.
original posted July 1st 2006:
Bonnaroo was the most amazing event of my life. 12 hour drive down. Passed through Dollywood on our way to our camping site. Has to be the weirdest stretch of road I have ever seen in my life. Every store and attraction screamed "tourist trap" We spent the night at a nice national park camping ground and slept under the stars after eating green beans from the can with a side of spaghettios.
The next morning, (my 19th birthday!) we left for Bonnaroo. it took us two hours plus the time we spent in line on the shoulder of the road with all the others waiting to get in. We went through the
security search and then got to our site. We made friends with our neighbors who were awesome. the one kids dad owns a restaurant, so they had lots of pots and pans and tons of extra food like red bulls and danishes. We ate like kings the first night. Steak and hamburgers and ramen noodles(courtesy of us)Saw Mat Costa that night. He was ok, but I was so excited about the next day of shows, that it was hard for me to get excited about him. Plus I didn't know any of his songs.
Next day, woke up at 6 (went to bed at 1) bc Tennessee heat is almost unbearable and it was worse inside a tent. Washed my hair/brushed teeth in the sink at a wash station. I was turning into a dirty hippie right before my eyes...After hanging out at the tent, we went to the different shows. First up was Devendra Banhart, who was amazing and is one of my favorite artists. I was so close to the stage too.
After the show, I met up with this girl Chantal, who I had origially met through a myspace message board about Bonnaroo birthdays. We had corresponed a few times prior to Bonnaroo and agreed to meet at some point at Bonnaroo.
Chantal came all the way from California and celebrated her birthday on the 16th, where mine was on the 15th. We headed off to see Bright Eyes together.
Next up was Bright Eyes. We good seats and saw an awesome performance. Connor wore this tight hoodie and tight jeans, when it was like 100 degrees outside. I was sweating profusely.
After that, Chantal and I left and went to see Cat Power who was performing on another stage right afterward. She was so animated and fun. Her songs were so inspiring too.
After that, I went to meet up with my group again so we could go see Tom Petty. After no one showed up, I headed with Chantal back to my tent to grab a shirt. We ended up getting lost, giving up, and going back to her tent. We crashed there out of exhaustion and I slept there for a few hours. Then I attempted to find my way back to my site in the dark. It didn't work too well and I got so lost and didn't get back till an hour later.
Went to the Clap Your Hands show the next day. Clap your hands was pretty good. not as good as the previous day, but still pretty good. I dont think their stuff really works live compared to in the studio.
Beck was next and he put on quite the show. He had marionettes, a guy that did freaky dancing, rapping guys in grizzly bear costumes. He even did a cover of Radiohead's "Creep" and Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize?"
Which was pretty awesome, except the fact that he left like 30 minutes early. But he's the rock star.
After Beck's show, I snaked my way in through the crowd so I could get the best seat possible for my heros, Radiohead. I ended up waiting over an hour and a half standing between Beck's show and Radiohead's show. There was this big guy next to me with his one friend and this guy and girl couple next to them. The girl was on a real bad trip from some prescription med she took. Her eyes were shut, she was sweating profusely, and she was mumbling about wanting to sit down or leave (we had to stand for an hour). She wasn't looking good... After she started to cry, her boyfriend (husband? date?) decided that the standing was too much for her and took her to get some medical assistance. (meaning no radiohead for him) After passing the time with fellow fans, Radiohead took the stage.Photobucket - Video and Image HostingRadiohead had to be the best show I've ever seen. Hands down. Thom Yorke was amazing. They played through every favorite song of mine and even a bunch of new ones. It was the highlight of Bonnaroo for me. I was singing as loud as I could the whole time. :)
After the massive crowd left, I went and changed into my superman costume to get ready for the masquerade ball that was coming up. I didn't take any pics of myself in the costume, but I'm still trying to find someone who took some pics...
update:here's the costume below
I missed out on the Dresden Dolls show bc I had to get in line for the the masquerade ball. A costume was required and there was limited seating as well as a "mystery band!" I heard so many rumours flying around, everyone from the flaming lips to the red hot chill peppers were mentioned. When I finally got in, I was disappointed to find out the band were wearing costumes as well! which really sucked bc they played an hour and a half set without revealing who they were. The song was terrible! I say terrible, bc all they did was play one continuous song where everyone does whatever the hell they want. It was in pure "jam band" fashion. I was seriously disappointed. But oh well. I ended up getting back to camp around 4 that night. I went to the Comedy tent first thing that day to stand in line and try and get a seat for the "Upright Citizen Brigade" comedy group. After an hour of waiting, I finally get in. The citizen brigade does this whole act as "Bonnaroo safety." They informed us that the injury that they are seeing most at the medical tents are a case of "torn taint." A potentially life threating, concert ruining condition. To prevent it, they showed us the exercise to stretch and work out the taint so its nice and limber.The rest of the act was equally hilarious.
Matisyahu up next. He was ok. I've just recently started to appreciate his work. I couldn't stay for his whole set, because I feel that once you hear about 8 songs, that's all you need. His heretic Jew posse was quite amusing.Next up was Sonic Youth; another band I have recently started listening to. They were quite good with the layering of fuzzed out guitars and simple lyrics. Made me really want to go out and by a Sonic Youth record and hear more :)
Afterwards, I met up with Chantal and her friend again and we hung out the rest of the afternoon and toured "Shakedown Street" which is where all the bootlegged items are sold. We had nothing to do for the rest of the night, no shows or anything.
It then began the first actual rainfall of Bonnaroo. It was a torrential downpour and I was caught off guard. Of course...I got lost once again. But all the tents had taken down their flags and balloons they used as markers, plus, we had already dismantled the tent, so finding my site became a terrifying experience. I must have walked the same road at least ten times, looking for something familiar. When I got to the van (somehow), I was soaked to the bone and very disorriented. We left after I got back and eventually made it home safely.
more pics of Bonnaroo 2006
