bonnaroo recap...

Here's the low-down on Bonnaroo 2008*:
I came.
I saw.
I cheated myself out of some good shows.
I enjoyed all the shows but one.

*scroll to the end to hear a playlist of Bonnaroo artists


A few highlights:

THURSDAY: arrived ~noon CST; set up camp in general camping, surrounded by cool neighbors from Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia & Massachusetts. General camping is even more crowded this year because the early bird gets the better location (nearest the entrance) but is allotted much less acreage than those late arrivers who must camp in East Bumblefuck. Get a lovely farmer's tan while assembling the sleeping tent, shower tent, and screened patio; attempt to assemble the hammock but thanks to the neighbor's primo mota, promptly pass out on my air mattress around 4pm. Subsequently miss the first planned show, Newton Faulkner. (Damn!) Wake up a few hours later and need a beer. Cannot find a bottle opener anywhere; realize I've left mine at home. Since glass is not allowed in general camping, nobody around me has one, either. Curse my dumb luck and the cooler full of Sam Adams. Stumble into Centeroo. Promptly head to the Broo'ers Festival tent to sample microbrews before catching Vampire Weekend. Good show. Crawl back to camp ~2am.
WEATHER: hot, sunny, slightly breezy; burn factor: arms & nose crispy

FRIDAY (early): first full day onsite; wake up ~7am jonesin' for coffee and cramping like a vice. (Damn PMS!) Have a splitting headache from sleeping in the L.L.Bean EZ-Bake Oven tent (sure, it's got side panels for ventilation, but those things are NOT designed for sweltering Tennessee summer heat.) Move like molasses through the morning routine, finally arriving in Centeroo just as the first show was concluding. Hear the Drive-By Truckers playing my favorite ("Lookout Mountain") for an encore as I make my way into the thick of things. By the time I get to the tent where Jose Gonzalez is playing, I realize I've misjudged the time; his show has just ended. I mosey over to the queue for the Comedy Tent where Janeane Garafolo is scheduled. Too damn hot. Need caffeine & Midol or stronger painkillers. Try to locate friends in media camping who might share either; no luck. The rest of the afternoon is a blur until 4pm when I stake my place under This Tent to see The Swell Season. Some chick sitting beside me has an Analytical Statistics or Economics textbook open and is actually studying. She is, I conclude, the only person at Bonnaroo not stoned, drunk, or otherwise wasted.
WEATHER: really damn sunny; tolerably humid; skin sizzle factor: moderate

FRIDAY (afternoon): Glen Hansard takes the stage at 4:15. He starts the show with one song then invites random audience members onstage to recite poetry while he strums on guitar. No sign of Marketa Irglova. Two poems later, he continues. Plays a few songs from the film Once before stopping mid-song to complain about the noise from other performers. He asks, "Is there another fuckin' band playin' right now? Yeah? Shit." He realizes he's being drowned out by Les Claypool on one stage and the band !!! on another. I notice my camera's rechargable batteries are low. This is a problem, as I have a perfect spot less than 50' from the stage and don't want to leave. Snap a few pics before the batteries die. [During this show I have my first of two Bonnaroo musical moments: one is the personal moment where you feel the performer is singing only to you and the other fans disappear. The second is the group moment when you're at one with 100,000 other wasted fans while a headline act performs on the main stage and everyone sings together. The first moment comes when Marketa croons "If You Want Me" while Glen beams with pride from her piano bench - it moves me to tears! The second moment comes on Saturday nite.] I hear Glen sing about "ten million pounds of sludge from New York and New Jersey" and it takes a moment to process that I'm hearing an Irish guy covering The Pixies. He performs my favorite song by The Frames ("Fitzcarraldo") with Marketa then covers Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic." I have chills in 90-degree heat. I suspect I have just experienced the best performance of Bonnaroo 2008.
WEATHER: increasingly cloudy; skin sizzle factor: mild; cramps: ohdeargodineeddrugs

FRIDAY (nite): Second musical mistake: I miss The Raconteurs' set because I'm watching the last half of Rilo Kiley. Apparently Jack White & Co. put on one helluva show; Rilo Kiley was okay. Catch a few minutes of Willie Nelson (just to say I saw him) then head back to camp for grub & shuteye before the headline shows. Get very lost trying to find campsite. Find tent just before torrential deluge begins. Decide to skip Metallica due to a slight fear of electrocution and pronounced apathy. Chill for awhile in camp while rains fall hard, fast, and sideways. Plan to hit My Morning Jacket but opt to stay dry. Listen to their new tunes from the comfort of my slightly leaky tent. Drift off as they play "Gideon"... Hear neighbors ingesting massive quantities of substances before seeing the SuperJam then DJ Tiesto. Been there, done that. Would rather sleep. [Note to self: sue the makers of Midol for not making it strong enough.]
WEATHER: somebody needs to build a ark; everything is soaked

SATURDAY (early): Cell phone battery nearly gone; retreat to car (aaaah, A/C!) to recharge. Catch up on text messages; friends from media camping tell me I can stay there now...where it's dry and shady and swank. Lucky bastards are right behind one of the main stages! En route, manage to catch Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings on stage. Damn, that woman has energy. Three observations: 1. She obviously isn't cramping; 2. She moves like Tina Turner and sings like Aretha on Red Bull. Wow! 3. Her band is wearing 3-piece suits in this heat! Insane!
WEATHER: sunny but less humid, still muddy in places; skin sizzle factor: ouch!

SATURDAY (mid-late afternoon): Reach the media/guest VIP camping area. It's Shangri-La over there with lots of room, private showers, and hot guys from Queens who share all kinds of things. Damn, I miss hearing New York accents. They fire up the grill. We down Grey Goose shots while waiting on lunch. (Glass is not so verboten over there; I actually forget about my cooler full of beer.) I feel 150% better. Things get hazy for awhile. I plan to catch part of Cat Power and The Avett Brothers, who both play from 4:30-6pm. The hospitable neighbors distract me; I make it to B.B. King around 5:45. Next up is Iron & Wine, and I will not miss this show. My photographer friend joins me briefly before taking off to shoot Levon Helm. I stay for the duration; apparently this was mistake #3. Judging by crowd chatter, Helm's show is off the hook. Determined not to miss any remaining fabulous acts, I retreat back to my camp to change clothes. Jack Johnson is coming up next, so I change quickly and head back to the media camping area.
WEATHER: not bad; cramps gone - must be the Grey Goose ;)

SATURDAY (evening): I hear Jack Johnson from the comfort of VIP camping. Should have gotten to the show earlier to see Jack duet with Eddie Vedder, but miss it due to long lines getting back into Centeroo. (This is another perk of staying in VIP camping - no long lines and relatively little security scrutiny of your bag upon entrance.) Hang out w/the guys before heading over to Pearl Jam. We make our way through the throng of nearly 100,000 fans. Bought more camera batteries before the show; hope to get plenty of pics. The guys share their goods during the show and I forget to take more than a half dozen shots. The show is amazing. Brian has a near orgasm when Pearl Jam does an extended version of "Love, Reign O'er Me." I feel likewise when Eddie does "Crazy Mary" but the encore of Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" leaves the crowd breathless. The show runs late; they exit well after 1am. Brian and I lose Mike, Luciano & Chris in the crowd. We hear Phil Lesh while stumbling back to camp to wait for the late-nite shows. Kanye West rescheduled his act from 8:15pm to 2:45am. I miss seeing Sigur Ros and Ghostland Observatory because we are spent from Pearl Jam. Around 3am, we head over to the main stage again. We are crammed in sardine-style fairly close to the stage. There is no room to move anywhere. The massive jumbotron first announces a delayed start time of 3:15, then another delay until 3:30. The crowd is angst-ridden by then. When he still hadn't appeared by 4am, the crowd turns ugly. Glow sticks and full bottles of water are hurled toward the stage. Loud chants of "WTF?" and "Kanye sucks" continue. Kanye finally appears at 4:25. It is beyond disappointing. The crowd has come down from their collective high and is not pleased. As dawn begins to break near 5am, I maneuver through the thinning throng and return to my camp to change clothes. At this point, I have been up for 22hrs and can no longer feel my feet. I am tired and pissy for having wasted nearly 3 hours of my life on a "performer" I don't even like. I learn while standing in line for breakfast that I have missed an unannounced Galactic show that brought da noise and da funk while I stood motionless in Kanye's crowd. Damn it! Musical mistake #4! Instead of grabbing fresh clothes and returning to VIP camping, I pass out in my quickly warming tent as the sun rises. Sleep is not possible because some lucky chick a few tents away is being orally pleased, based on her ecstatic moans. This adds insult to injury. Not only am I miserable, but I get an audio reminder. There goes my theory that nobody ever gets laid at Bonnaroo because they're too tired, too dirty, or too high to function. I try to sleep, but this is impossible when aroused and alone...
WEATHER: whothehellcaresI'mnotgettingany; it's hot & I'm exhausted

SUNDAY (early): Two hours of fitful sleep later, I emerge from my sauna and head for my solar shower tent. It feels good to be clean; must try to relieve aching head. Today is the last day and I have much to see & do. Try to break down camp. Today's shows are non-stop and I want to get packed before night falls. I will sleep in my own bed in my air-conditioned house tonight if I have to take prisoners to make it happen!
WEATHER: really fucking hot; sporadic breeze; it's gonna be a scorcher

SUNDAY (afternoon): Hit the Which Stage for Orchestra Baobab - very talented, funky-eclectic band from Senegal. Crowd is larger than expected. I grab coffee instead of beer and stroll over to Jakob Dylan. He is good but mellower than what I need. I listen to Susan Tedeschi for a bit, then check out Bombadil while Fil takes more pics. I hear Robert Randolph playing but decide to check out Ladytron instead. I am impressed by what I hear; stay for several songs while applying much SPF70. Move over to Aimee Mann's show. There are no shady spots available so I stand, skin a-sizzlin', for a few songs. Too hot. Realize I've missed the rest of Robert Randolph's set. Damn! Another mistake. (Apparently he lead the crowd in a "Kanye sucks!" chant. That would've been something to behold.) While waiting for Solomon Burke, I meet a musician from New Haven who has filmed & recorded many of the weekend's sets. I give him my info; he promises to send DVDs. There is hope yet that I can enjoy some of these missed shows. Solomon Burke starts. The crowds are smaller now, as many folks have already hit the road. I get a great spot up close and some pics. He takes requests - via text message! - and keeps the crowd entertained. I stay for several songs but the heat calls for cold beer, so I head back to the Broo'ers Festival to use up my remaining tickets. Alas, many vendors are gone and I settle for an Abita Amber while waiting on Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. My energy is gone and two more shows remain. I enjoy a bit of RP/AK but remember that I haven't taken any pics of the hot neighbors from NY. Get over to the VIP camping area but they're elsewhere. Get a few pics of the Which Stage (mere yards from camp) before Death Cab for Cutie starts. Stay for half their show before calling it quits. Meet up w/the girls from Charlotte who have camped behind me and we take a few pics. We bid Bonnaroo adieu and head back to camp to finish the load-up & leave. Finish breaking down my campsite, hoping to leave during Widespread Panic's set. Many others have the same idea. I get stuck in traffic on the farm - it takes 90 minutes to travel the 1.2 miles to the highway. I have a blown headlight. I am ravenously hungry, but the only sustenance I have left is a cooler full of Sam Adams (but still no bottle opener), two bottles of water and a handful of dried cranberry & cashew trail mix. I am soooo ready to be home! What I don't realize at the time is that I am also really freakin' broke, to the tune of $401.72 overdrawn thanks to manic, pre-Bonnaroo shopping sprees and snowballing overdraft charges. Apparently in my pre-trip frenzy, I forgot to transfer funds into checking. Holy hell...

# # #

All in all, not a bad year. Bonnaroo '07 had a better lineup, but this year had other perks. I will be back next year. Hopefully my long-distance friends who battled floods in the Midwest and broken bones in New England can make it. Bonnaroo is like a giant family reunion, with hundreds of concerts and performances serving as its soundtrack. It requires a helluva lot of prep work to do it right, but it is always worth the effort. The people you meet are always incredible. The shows are always amazing. The Bonnaroo experience simply cannot be replicated.

Here, enjoy some tunes from Bonnaroo '08 artists: