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June 27, 2002
Bonnaroo.
Update 6/3/2003: Hooray, I got my car fixed! Still have an extra, though... (Who doesn't?) See you all there next week! Update 5/29/2003: Since people still seem to be stumbling in here looking for info on this year's Bonnaroo, I figured this would be as good a place as any to post this. I have two tickets to this year's Tennessee festival and a car that I don't think I trust to head to Tennessee. If anyone will be heading through the Kansas City area, I'd love a ride to the show. I can even provide the spare ticket at a steep discount or possibly free in exchange for the ride. My travel plans are flexible, so if anyone is interested please email me and we can work something out. I haven't really had many takers on this offer, so it looks like I might just have a spare to sell. If interested in just buying the ticket at face value email me as well. And on to last year...
Now I'm certainly not as hard-core into this scene as many are. I try to catch the Steve Kimock Band whenever they're within a day's drive, and I trade music, though not as much as I'd like to. So this seemed like a perfect opportunity to catch all the big guys while camping out for a weekend with a lot of friendly folks who enjoyed the music. I didn't find out until later that they did absolutely no advertising for this festival. They did an initial offering of tickets on the festival's website for the people that really wanted to go, then they were expecting to sell the rest through Ticketmaster. The initial offering of 50,000 sold out in about ten days at $100 a ticket. Several weeks later, they released another 15,000 or so which sold out almost instantly. They had a charity auction later, and the final tally on tickets sold came out to 70,000. So then the day came. Last Thursday, I packed up my car and headed out to the festival. It took me about eight hours to get from Kansas City to close to the festival. At almost exactly 9:00PM, I hit traffic at exit 89 on southbound I-24. The exit for the festival was exit 111, so I figured there was no way this could possibly be concert traffic. The plan was that I was going to bypass the concert and drive another thirty miles south to a rest area on northbound I-24. There I would rendezvous with a couple who came up from Texas and Alabama and we'd head in to the show together. We had it timed just about perfectly. They called me from the rest area about ten minutes before I hit the traffic at exit 89. I told them I got held up in some road construction, but I'd probably get to them by 10:00 or so.
Later in the festival, I ran into a guy who said that he was caught in the same traffic jam as the rest of us. He told me that one of the state troopers pulled up along side him on the shoulder and asked him how long he'd been stopped. He told the trooper that he'd been there for about three hours. "You can drink a lot of beers in three hours!" "No sir, I'm driving." "Hell, you're not driving, you're parked. Have a beer." Now I'm certainly not going to advocate drinking and driving, but the trooper did have a point. This was not driving. The car was in park about 95% of the time, and when you did have to move, it was one or two car lengths at a time. So basically the interstate turned into a parking lot/party. This is also illustrative of the fact that the cops in Tennessee are very, very cool. I stopped checking in with my friend from Texas at about 2:00AM. I finally punched through the traffic at about 7:00 AM. It took me ten hours to go the thirty miles from exit 89 to exit 111. I was scared out of my mind that I was going to be in for the same wait once I found my friends and headed into the show from the south, but the northbound traffic wasn't backed up at all, and we were in and setting up our campsite by around 9:00 AM. The music started at about three o'clock, but it took us a while to get set up, eat, and relax a bit.  The campsites were all in groups, with a group named after a TV show, and individual sites named after characters. We were in Camp Kramer, next to Camp Kostanza. I wish we had been in Camp Barakus, but those are just the breaks sometimes. They parked cars fairly close together side-by-side, but there was plenty of room (about forty feet) behind the cars to set up camp. Helicopters were circling the area almost the entire time, and I'm sure there are aerial photos of the entire grounds, but I haven't been able to find one yet. I can't quite describe how huge it was, but we were way in the back, and it was a bit of a walk out to the stage. It's a good thing we managed to hook up before the show, or we never would have found each other, probably even with cell phones.
His current band is called "Les Claypool's Flying Frog Brigade". They sounded somewhat Primus-like at times, but more mellow at times. Les tried to do a crowd participation type of deal at one point, but I never quite made out what it was we were supposed to be chanting. My brain still wasn't working. It's always tough when you go for the crowd participation and it never materializes. I've seen it happen before, and if the artist doesn't back out quickly, it can get rather ugly. This got medium-ugly... It just fell flat, but he didn't get angry. I went to a They Might Be Giants concert once where John Flansburgh tried to get everybody to dance in a conga line. When the crowd didn't go along with it, he got noticeably agitated and started chanting, "Everybody Conga... I'm not fucking kidding... Everybody Conga... I'm not fucking kidding..." That was ugly. This wasn't that bad, but kind of sad nonetheless. Especially since Les had said that he was trying to get the chant going for the deceased bassist from the band Morphine. Where was I again? Oh yeah... Les's band finished up... From there, we headed over to Gov't Mule. They were pretty good, but it was during their first set that I realized that the reason my brain wasn't working right was because I had been awake for over thirty-six hours and badly needed sleep. I felt like a wuss, but told my friends that I just wasn't going to make it (they had slept at the rest area while I was stuck in traffic), and went to sleep. I was hoping to wake up for one of the late night shows, but I was surprised to wake up over twelve hours later at around 8:00 AM. Everything was wet because I had forgotten to put the rain flap on my tent, and dew had seeped in and dampened everything. I was saddened to discover that my camera had been dampened as well, so I didn't get any pictures the rest of the time.
After Ben Harper's set, we wandered over into one of the tents to catch the Lil' Rascals Brass Band. They're from New Orleans and I really enjoyed their show. I'm sure the shade from the tent helped, but they could play, and it was a fun show to watch. It was cool to hear funk without a bass. They used a tuba. It kicked ass. After that show, we wandered back to the main stage where String Cheese Incident was playing. I only get this idea from various message boards I read about Bonnaroo, but it seems that there is a bit of animosity towards String Cheese fans, especially among Widespread Panic fans. Personally, I don't get it. I did see a couple people walking away from the SCI show pointing at their Widespread Panic shirts, and that seemed a bit uncalled for to me. String Cheese was nice, but the songs never really seemed to go anywhere. Admittedly, we didn't stay for the whole show, and that statement may not seem to make sense in the context of a genre of music known for fifteen to thirty minute songs. Other bands (I use Steve Kimock as a reference point) seem to go off on jams that go through several different styles, different chord progressions, and usually build up and release tension in the solos. SCI seemed to kind of just noodle around a melody, and not necessarily build to anything. They seemed to be technically good players, but it was a bit light for my tastes.
We wandered over to the secondary outdoor stage and caught the hip-hop group Jurassic 5. They were cool. I like some rap, mainly early 90's Snoop and Dre and the like. These guys were a lot of fun to watch, and I guess they fit in with the jam band scene because some of their lyrics were freestyle. (Am I allowed to talk like this?) I certainly wouldn't know which were improvised and which were written in the song, but it was all fun, it had the crowd dancing, and the hula-hoop girls looked great hula-hooping to it. After Jurassic 5, we caught a couple sets of Panic. They seemed good enough, but eight hours in the 90 degree heat had gotten to me, and I once again retired earlier than I would have liked to.
So I went to bed during Panic on Saturday night and woke up on Sunday morning. We made it out back to the stage during Ween's set, but didn't really watch them. We headed to the smaller outdoor stage to catch Bela Fleck and Edger Meyer. Bela Fleck plays banjo and Edger Meyer plays upright bass. They were absolutely amazing. They played mostly classical-sounding stuff, Meyer was using a bow on his bass most of the time, and it was all really good. About twenty minutes into their set, we got some much welcomed rain. A few people grabbed their stuff and ran for cover, but most (us included) stayed and cooled off a bit. It felt great and really got our energy level up. The rain caused the band's monitors to go out, so they figured out some songs they could play without having to hear each other very well, and they worked well. After Bela's set was over, we headed out to the main stage. The second-to-last show of the weekend was Phil Lesh and Friends w/ Very Special Guest Bob Weir. I'm sure that's the closest I'll ever get to seeing a real Grateful Dead show. I don't know much of the Dead's music, but the guy I was with knew some and said they were playing a lot of old Dead favorites. The thing that amazed me is that they absolutely never stopped playing. Of course, most of the bands play songs that can go on for a long, long time, but these guys just never stopped. One song transitioned into the next, and they only stopped for a set break and at the end before their encore. I really liked almost all of it, but the encore did start to get a bit tiresome for my tastes. Again, that was probably just my heat-sapped energy level. After that show, we went back to the campsite briefly. I think we made some food and smoked some cigarettes, and mainly just relaxed a bit so we would be able to catch the last show of the night.
Before Trey's encore, he came onto stage and spent probably ten minutes babbling about how cool the show was, how friendly everybody was, and how flattered he was that so many people came out. He was right, there were a hell of a lot of people out there. I guess the final ticket sales were around 70,000. There's no telling how many people somehow snuck into the show. I've seen estimates of crowd size anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000. If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably in the neighborhood of 80,000.
The promoters, Superfly Productions, did an excellent job with the logistics. Security was present but friendly, there were adequate washing facilities, there were rarely lines for the restrooms, they provided ice, port-a-potties, and kept the trash cans emptied very well. The port-a-potties started to fill up on the last day, but I almost think that was just a bit of incentive to get the hell out, as we were supposed to. Monday, we packed up and got in line to head out. After waiting in line for about an hour, we were told that one of the neighbors was taking money to let cars drive over her property onto some back roads to get out around the traffic. We decided that three hours of our time was worth the ten bucks she was charging and took her up on it. It was a pleasant drive home. But boy did I need a shower by the time I got there...
I do regret missing Del McCoury, Drums and Tuba, Galactic, Particle, Col. Bruce Hampton and the Code Talkers, Keller Williams, and I would have liked to catch at least one late night snow. The locals didn't seem to mind us too much. I listened to a Manchester talk radio station on my way in to and out of the show, and they were just having people call in to talk about Bonnaroo, both locals and festival attenders. The festival goers all thanked the people of the town for letting them have the festival, and the locals all thanked the concert goers for coming to town and spending money. I heard many, many people invite the show back next year. I think it'll probably happen. The only snag all weekend was the traffic on the way in. They had a plan to deal with that, but it was just a bit bigger than they thought it would be, and they'll know better next year. A couple extra state troopers and they could have kept through traffic flowing and gotten the Bonnarooers in in a more orderly manner. I think I could even handle going back next year. Seeing as my camera was busted, I stole some pictures from Matt Veino and Andre Markarian. Hope you guys don't mind. Posted by Ryan Olson at June 27, 2002 10:19 PMComments
Hi I had tix for the show but the day I was leaving my wifes grandmother died and I had to stay in town for the funeral. Such is life. Have you found aerial pics yet? I have a bunch from my friend who I was supposed to go with, he was rubbing it in. I already have tix for this year and just praying nothing happens.- Posted by: Dan Kelly on March 6, 2003 01:11 PMYou are a tool. Your comments about Bonnaroo were absurd. You obviously don't know enough about music, and I bet you had a stiff neck the whole time. Experience music for yourself not because someone told you it was good. Sorry. Posted by: Someone who knows on April 3, 2003 10:12 AMWow, my very first troll! I've finally hit the big time. Thanks for stopping by! Posted by: Ryan Olson on April 3, 2003 10:50 AMhello i stumbled upon your site today and im very pleased to hear that you are starting to to explore new and great types of music but you have no idea what you are talking about. i feel that the music is open to every one and i think that everyone should be lucky enough to experience it but before you start writing page long articles about music and a scene (Which you obviously know nothing about) you should probably actually listen to and understand the music that you are talking about. sorry, i dont mean to be a downer. keep enjoying the music and fostering a great scene. Posted by: kyle on April 7, 2003 06:40 PM. Posted by: kyle on April 7, 2003 06:44 PMyour,very honest.I thought you account was great.there are some jam bands that are not in the jam band scene.ajents of good roots(a horrribly recorded but legendary live band),sonic youth(who idolized the beat poets the dead hung out with and who have been trying for years to get on the same bill as the dead,unfortunately close mindedness about how the punk rock scene is so much different than the hippie scene has prevented these inovators of a new sound doing their own thing (doing your own thing is much of the idealism of the greatful dead)from getting together and uniting different forms of sound.Janes adiction inprovises (jams),they are completely themselves.so do the beastie boys,ween,the velvet underground,flaming lips,beck,and so many others who are not considered "JAM BANDS"I am so glad to see that a new open minded ness has come over the jam band scene enough to have bands like the dead,james brown,neil young,the flaming lips,mix master mike, sonic youth,and other true legendary sounds.if your ever wondering why certain things are illegal,or why our freedoms are being thertened more and more.is because we have no strong centralized sub-culture (this countrys only real culture always being brushed under the rug).it's all splitered and fragmented into clicks,the rave click,the punk rock click,the jam band click,the rap click,ect,each equally beautiful but petty in their own right.I'm a musician into everything and threw the years it's painful to watch each click talk badly about the other.no wonder cops have so much control over us.this years bonnaroo line up is a big suprise to me and I think it is going in a good direction.we must all come together before it's too late.the clock is ticking.Ken Kesey (the most amazing person I've ever read of (chronicled in "the electric cool aid acid test" by tom wolfe.which is where the greatful dead basically came from starting it all and all other forms of subculture hence forth)Kesey said you cant blame the president for the state of affairs of a country.it's the poets fault.The govmnt dostnt have any vision to begin with but the poet does,so he needs to heat it up let the sparks fly till it catches hold."We oficially have a 40 year expireation date on this planet right now (rain forests gone=life on earth gone).so dont waiste time with immitations. Posted by: nowhere on April 8, 2003 03:43 PMHey Ryan, thanks for your writeup on the '02 Bonnaroo event. I am going this year and am looking for postings just like yours...ones that detail the entire scene...heat, music, parking-lot expressways, free ice, music, etc., etc. I am new to the grassroots scene (I'm going this year mostly for the bluegrass but am learning about this whole "other" wonderful world of music). Man, hope to meet up with some tolorant folks at the camp who were once new to it also. ;-) Thanks, I thought your write up was helpful. Take care man. Posted by: Festival03Goer on April 10, 2003 11:53 AMI think that you told an accurate portrayal of Bonnaroo from someone who hasn't experienced many live shows, festivals or jam band gatherings. Bonnaroo, to me, was like the Woodstock of my generation. I cannot, to this day, believe how smoothly everything went, with only a few MINOR negatives, and the music...ahhhh, the MUSIC!!! That's what it's all about, and it looks like this year is going to be another knockout. I hope you continue to go to see live music and shows, and hopefully expand your musical tastes. I certainly hope so... I have two tickets and as long as my car holds up between now and then I'll be heading out again. I love this year's lineup, and can't wait for June to come. Since last year's festival, I've seen several of the bands that I ended up sleeping through last year. For a while last week, Jambase had the times and locations of this year's Bonnaroo acts listed with a link to a grid over at the Bonnaroo website. I can't seem to find it now, but if I remember right one night was Medeski Martin & Wood Midnight to 4:00AM followed by Particle from 4:00AM to 6:00AM. Drool... I'd better remember to sleep in that morning... Hope to see you there! Posted by: Ryan Olson on April 28, 2003 06:17 AMHey thanks for the write-up, this is exactly what I was looking for =) good details, good insight, bravo ! See ya in NE this summer? Unfortunately no... I'm only going to be able to make Tennessee this year. I can hardly afford that trip, but I'll figure out some way to come up with the money. Have fun up there, though! Posted by: Ryan Olson on April 29, 2003 12:10 PMHey ryan, nice write up. It's what I was looking for, I know the bands but was more curious about the driving, wash, etc. Don't pay mind the mud slingers; they just think they are a little bit better then the rest of us ;-) Maybe I'll seeya this year, just look for the tent under the "Free Old Dirty Bastard" flag. Posted by: markus on May 6, 2003 02:37 AMDude: Happened upon your comments when researching for my trip to Manchester, TN and Bonnaroo '03. Thanks for taking the time to let people hear your thoughts and opinions. Can't wait until June 13-15. Good friend Amy and I are driving in from Oklahoma to enjoy good company and great music. See you in a month!!! Posted by: mike on May 14, 2003 11:32 AMThanks for the write-up. I got most of the details I needed. Quick question: How much was the ice? Was it in bags? I'll be under the "BIP CREW II: Ship of Fools" Flag. Posted by: Pony on May 28, 2003 10:02 PMThanks for your Bonnaroo account.. was fun to read. As for the mudslinger.. *Someone Who Knows* He sure does deserve to hear good music, gotta give him that.. his knowledge of the music scene is sooo impressive. Hahahahaha... what a freakin' dumb ass! Bonnaroo doesn't have room for his elitist attitude and would be better served without people like him. He's probably just upset because he hit on so many girls while he was there and didn't get anywhere with any of them... it's hard for him.. he still sleeps with his sister ya know. Peace all, see you at Bonnaroo '03!!! Woohoo! *THE REAL BIP 2 CREW* Posted by: BIP on May 28, 2003 11:49 PMIce was in bags, but at this point I can't remember how much it was. I seem to remember it fluctuating over the course of the festival... I think it was more the second time I bought it and less the third. If I remember right, it seemed to be something like 4 bags for $10. A bit steep, but better than having warm beer. Hope to see you guys out there... Posted by: Ryan Olson on May 29, 2003 07:30 AMThorough, if not a bit tame, write up. However, you missed the three best performances of the entire weekend: Widespread Friday night, and Moe and Galactic on Saturday night. Moe ended and the sun was coming up, coolest show I have ever seen. For future reference, you should ration your energy during the day in order to make the night shows, that's when it gets crazy. Also, if you can, rent, borrow or steal a motorhome, it is worth every single penny. Traffic is not as bad if you wait until Friday morning to approach. You were stuck cause the gates didnt even open until 2:am. Im headed to Bonnaroo NE this year, but TN was da bomb. Good luck. Posted by: Steve on May 30, 2003 02:23 PMsometimes I see spectacles of blue and white, with dragons of fire creeping through a plastic jungle. I turn. I see. I weep. Posted by: sal on May 30, 2003 03:24 PMDid anybody see on Saturday then that guy who was carrying around the spider monkey? Did anybody see it attack the girl for her Doritos? There was this huge crowd around her, and everybody was standing there like, "what the hell am I seeing?". I was tripping at the time really hard, so I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was real or not. But I think it was. It was like: Personally, I would just rather sit with my lemonade and dwell about the fact that sometimes I really can't understand why in tarnation all of those people who walk back and forth seem to only be thinking of how many times they have witnessed in the past three or four days a situation where the only semblence of reasonable intervention would be a case involving the joining of one hand to the lever of another instrument providing the necessary balance between joining a frond with a branch of sweet nectary honeysickle. Amen. Posted by: Vance Steinhoff on June 3, 2003 09:48 AMI'm a local and last year there was TONS of people here that you couldn't even get around our "small" town. But this year the traffic should move faster because they've made a new exit and it's easier to get in and out.They'll probably let you in sooner than they did last year because they know how many people they're expecting.The local people didnt mind the noise and distractions and they appreciate that u didnt make any disturbences.This year the music is gonna be great and you need to come and check it out.....ask any questions if u need any details about Manchester. Posted by: Kaitlyn on June 3, 2003 05:55 PMHey! I liked your overview. I'm from the Bonnaroo area and I just wanted to say that not all Tennessee police are cool. So be careful. Actuallly, the onlt time they are cool is when Bonnaroo is in town. Posted by: dorothy on June 3, 2003 08:40 PMWell, I hope we inconvenience your town as little as possible this year. I hear they have a second entrance gate this year, so I don't think we'll have nearly the traffic jam that we had last year. Can any Manchester locals recommend a good place to eat in town? Posted by: Ryan Olson on June 4, 2003 07:39 AMWe look forward to the excitement!! We get so little here!!!! We are known for our 5 exits and all kinds of restaurants from Davy Crocketts (kinda like Ruby Tuesdays); O'charleys; Cracker Barrel and all the fast food joints you can handle - but there's also some local "cuisine" that you just can't beat - try J & G Restaurant on Hwy 55 toward town; Oak Restaurant between exit 110 and 111 on Interstate Drive; Jiffy Burger - best burgers in town on Highway 41 in the middle of the strip; Rafael's just off exit 114; Floyd's - over by Cracker Barrell exit 111; I need to remember to print this out before I head out next Wednesday... Posted by: Ryan Olson on June 5, 2003 01:06 PMDo you think I should quit my job to go to Bonaroo this year? help... Posted by: JahLee on June 9, 2003 01:40 PMWell funny you should mention that... I made the mistake of signing up for some training next Monday. I can't get out of it without having my department charged for the training so I'm going to end up coming back early on Sunday, missing moe and The Dead. Suck. I guess it all depends on how badly you need the job and how easily it could be replaced. I don't trust myself to be able to replace this job easily, so I'll show up for the training when I need to be here. To make a long story short, I wouldn't really advise anybody to quit their job, but I also can't in good conscience advise anybody to miss this weekend if they have a chance to go. (Did I mention I have an extra ticket anywhere?) On the other hand, it is supposed to rain all weekend. But there is something to be said for seeing music in the rain. I have no answers for you... Posted by: Ryan Olson on June 9, 2003 01:54 PMWhat the hell is Gimpy Soft? Posted by: El Duderino on June 9, 2003 02:38 PMThanks for the comments. If anyone reads this, please follow the directions on the Bon. site. It will be a great time, lets get in first. thnks Posted by: freak on June 9, 2003 08:21 PMThanks for the comments. If anyone reads this, please follow the directions on the Bon. site. It will be a great time, lets get in first. thnks Posted by: freak on June 9, 2003 08:22 PMThanks for providing this most informative report on last year's Bonnaroo! I really wanted to go (I am a big WSP fan), but my stepfather was diagnosed with cancer, and I didn't want to make any plans for attending any shows until we knew more about his condition. Fortunately, he beat the cancer (for the second time, Woo-hoo!), but by that point, tickets were all gone :( Regardless, we have our tickets for this year's show. We're planning on heading out around 11:00 PM from Jacksonville. That should get us safely through Atlanta before the morning rush, and to the campsite before the traffic gets too bad. I hope we don't relive your traffic experience! We should be able then to spend a lazy Thursday, getting the camp set up, then relaxing til the action starts on Friday. I am hopeful that Neil Young joins WSP on stage for Mr. Soul. It probably won't happen, but...I've got my fingers crossed! Posted by: RobertD on June 10, 2003 11:54 AMHey Ryan, glad you enjoyed yourself, last year was magical. I'm leaving wednsday night so I can get there by thursday early morning to avoid some of those awful lines. I only waited in line 2 hours last year by getting in at 8:00am. Yeah this year is going to blow us away! hey man...nice account of bonnaroo. don't let people's comments be a downer. just get into it and enjoy it for what it is to you, and the rest will come if your love of it and the people is genuine. i went last year and was absolutely blown away by it all, and am leaving tomm afternoon to do it all again. hope you make it. have fun. leaving in t-minus 4 hours, its 5AM and i can't sleep, this is going be awesome, I even see they put up another stage by the Arcade, check the Bonn. site for details. ~markus "Free ODB" Posted by: markus on June 11, 2003 04:09 AMYup... I woke up in time for work today even though I'm not going. I want to get back to sleep so I'll be able to drive all night tonight, but I can't get back to sleep. See you all out there in about 24 hours... Posted by: Ryan Olson on June 11, 2003 06:48 AMThanks for the comments on last years show. We are finishing our packing this morning and should be on the road in an hour or so...well.. after we head to wal-mart for all the things that we have forgotten to buy. Its going to rain..rain..rain, but I am still pumped to be going. According to newspapers in Memphis they have lots more entrances this year and are using the inside lanes on the hwy for fest traffic only so that should make it a lot faster. Hope you sold your tic. We are stuck with one too. Cindy Posted by: cindy on June 12, 2003 06:53 AMI'm at work right now in Nashville... I'm leaving early out of here to get there tonight, but I'm so antsy I can get no work done... I plan on going through Murfreesboro to Woodbury and down Highway 53. Hoping to avoid some of the out of town traffic -- I doubt folks traveling from further away will use that highway. I could be wrong. Gotta go to Lowes and get another tarp, it looks like.. Rain. That's ok, at least it will cool things down a bit. Jen Posted by: Jen Tippens on June 12, 2003 12:45 PMI wish that I could have went to Bonnaroo in Tenn. because me and a few friends were planning on hitting the road and traveling from Illinois to New York to go to Bonnaroo NE. it would have been great, but hey things happen. I hope that all of you who were at Bonnaroo in Tenn. had a rad time. I would like to see more pictures of the last show. Peace!! Posted by: andrea on June 19, 2003 04:01 PMI wish that I could have went to Bonnaroo in Tenn. because me and a few friends were planning on hitting the road and traveling from Illinois to New York to go to Bonnaroo NE. it would have been great, but hey things happen. I hope that all of you who were at Bonnaroo in Tenn. had a rad time. I would like to see more pictures of the last show. Peace!! Posted by: andrea on June 19, 2003 04:02 PMI wish that I could have went to Bonnaroo in Tenn. because me and a few friends were planning on hitting the road and traveling from Illinois to New York to go to Bonnaroo NE. it would have been great, but hey things happen. I hope that all of you who were at Bonnaroo in Tenn. had a rad time. I would like to see more pictures of the last show. Peace!! Posted by: andrea on June 19, 2003 04:03 PMi went to bonnaroo 2003 and it was the best festival EVER! we were lucky enough to be driving behind some hippies who "just happened" to have fence cutters in the car and so after they cut a car sized chunk out of the fence we proceeded to follow them all the way to the front stage! we saw james brown, niel young , the dead, etc... from the roofs or our cars , it was awesome! take water ....... Posted by: indy on January 21, 2004 07:25 AMBonnaroo 04 music list out on Friday. Everybody spread the word and maybe tickets will sell out even quicker this year. Three years and still the best festival ever! Hope to see all my friends and family there. Posted by: Ashley on February 11, 2004 03:00 PMTickets on sale in the morning. If you wait until closer to the show you will have to pay a $20 surcharge. Posted by: Dave on February 20, 2004 10:20 PMalright!...after reading what everybody's got to say about Bonnaroo, I'm pumped up, I just bought some tickets saturday. First time I've ever been to anything of this size. Can't wait to party with like-minded people. Hope this year is as cool as the past two. I enjoyed the comments and hope to see ya'll there... Posted by: Cody on February 25, 2004 12:03 AM Cant wait CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF THEY WILL ALLOW INSTRUMENTS INTO THE CAMPING AREA FOR FREE JAMS???? Cant wait CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF THEY WILL ALLOW INSTRUMENTS INTO THE CAMPING AREA FOR FREE JAMS???? any comments on ticket prices this year? i'm afraid bonnaroo is going more and more commercial... Posted by: em on March 24, 2004 11:06 PMjudt ordered my ticket, its going to be the first time for me, i know im bringing my drum for sure, i cant wait Posted by: Noel on April 6, 2004 12:04 PMHey, I live here in Manchester and have attended every festival we have had so far. I live about 5 minutes from the site and it took me 6 hours last year to get from my house to the field. It is awesome though and I love it when all you guys come to town!!!!! I went the last couple of years with my husband and now we are divorced and I will be going alone this year. Hope to meet alot of new people this year to hang out with there!!! Look me up when you get to town!!!! Posted by: Tammy Cline on May 7, 2004 10:30 AMYou gotta post more pictures man Posted by: jay on May 7, 2004 08:41 PMI cant wait for bonnaroo this year im flying in all the way from italy to go. i have never been before but i know i will love it. so if you are having doubts about going just use me as an excuse (i read this ones guys post and he is flying all the way from italy to go) well i would be really helpfull if some one that has allready been post a pack list of good things to take that will make life good. well hope to see you all there peace love and music Posted by: chris on May 25, 2004 08:03 PMwell- its about that time again, this week in fact, for the 12 hour standstill called bonnaroo!!! woo hoo im so excited however living in middle tennessee does have its advantages, the out of town traffic really sucks... oh well- see you at the show :) Posted by: Meeegs on June 7, 2004 01:34 PMOh shiznat it's here already! See all you guys in a couple of days! Posted by: Pokes on June 7, 2004 02:34 PMOh shiznat it's here already! See all you guys in a couple of days! Posted by: Pokes on June 7, 2004 02:35 PMI cant wait, Its 3 days away and i cant sleep allready. See everyone on the road , headin' out from Havre de Grace Maryland. OOOHHH YEAAAH Posted by: gary on June 8, 2004 09:38 PMok...its gonna be my first time next year...i cant wait...im already excited..im gonna save up and get a VIP pass..me and some buddies..oh yes..PARTY!!! but yeah later..hope to see yall alllllll next year! Posted by: Rachel on April 7, 2005 12:01 PMPost a comment
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Well, so last weekend was the 
As I said, I then hit traffic. I have never seen anything like that. I called my friend from Texas about every hour or so, and he asked me what mile marker I was at. I told him, and he told me that that's what I said an hour ago. Well, that was in fact true, I just hadn't moved in the last hour. By about 2:00AM, people were out of their cars, people had set up grills in the beds of their trucks and were selling food, coolers were in the middle of the road and people were getting to drinking. 
We finally did head out, and the 
Saturday morning, we did our best to wash up a bit in the sulphurous well water they were providing. It certainly was better than nothing, and I thank them for that. We finally made it out to catch Saturday's music during Ben Harper's set. He played acoustic guitar, I believe solo. He may have had a backup band, but after seeing so many bands over the weekend, they kind of run together a bit. He was pretty good, but didn't blow me away entirely.
We wandered back to the tent to catch a bit of the 
Just a quick word about that heat, while I'm thinking about it. It was hot. It was very hot. Two of the four stages were outdoors, and (though this was not a pretty sight) I wasn't wearing a shirt for most of the event. I did have the sense to put on sunblock, but I still got a bit of a sunburn. It never got painful, but it is peeling right now. Sun really saps your energy. We carried around backpacks with water, but there's really only so much sun you can take before you end up drained of all your energy. 
The last show was Trey Anastasio from Phish. He was very, very good, and I really want to find a copy of his set from the show. He apparently played some Phish favorites, but again, I don't know my Phish. They were good songs, though. He played two sets. We were sitting deeper into the crowd than for any of the other shows, and I spent a lot of time during the show wandering around trying to find my group after leaving to either get beer or use the bathroom. But it was cool. I danced with some lovely hippy ladies, and even talked with a couple. 
Of those 80,000 people, with five days at the festival in 90+ degree heat, rampant beer consumption, rampant, um... substance consumption, and a general party atmosphere, the final tally was 19 hospitalizations. I guess nine of those were overdoses of some sort, and ten cases of dehydration. No deaths, no riots, no vandalism. I must also make a point of how clean the grounds actually were. People were taking care of their own trash, most were taking care of the small amount of trash that was left on the ground, and the site was absolutely pristine. No broken glass, no beer cans everywhere, no plastic cups everywhere. It was amazing. I've seen worse messes in most small clubs after a show. 
I guess that's about it. I have to quickly mention the old-school arcade they had set up (Q-Bert, Pac-Man, Gauntlet, Smash TV, Donkey Kong, Missile Command, Galaga, NFL Blitz, among many, many more, all working original machines), the food (a foot-long corn dog and greasy curly fries were excellent on saturday night), the playground they set up (adult-sized... Slides, climbing forts, and a big swing set), but it was all a bit too much. There was so much music you couldn't even take all that in. We spent a bit of time in the arcade, but never made it to the playground. 