Man has the time flown by. I haven't posted forever, and I left yaw with a whack-ass blog design. Sorry 'bout that . Anyway here's the rundown of the past three weeks for me (cause I know you care so much).
A. June 9-14 I was away on a road trip to Bonnaroo 2004, the annual music festival that I have attended since it's inaugural year in 2002. It was a great trip in which my friends and I managed to coordinate a six state summit, ending in Manchester, Tennessee at Bonnaroo. Regan and Kim came from Houston, Texas. Sanders made his way to Nashville from Los Angeles. Harness and April followed Jenn and I down from Louisville, along with April's friend Citara? Seetara? Sit.... whatever, and her boyfriend, and his big ass Bronco. Also, Jenn's bro' Emory came in from New Mexico to attend the 'Roo. We met at the house of Rev. and Mrs. Sanders, on the west end of Nashville. Somehow we managed to all stay together for several hundred miles all the way into the gates of Bonnaroo, and to our campsite. Well, all that is except for Citara's boyfriend (I cant remember his name to save my life, but it was something short like, Buck , or Lou).
Anyway, we got all the way to the toll booths where they check your ticket and give you your wristbands and junket. I was in the lead of our five car train, and was sitting 8-10 car lengths from a toll booth. Thats when "Buck" comes up to my window with some bad news:
Buck: "Well, I guess this is where I'm screwed."Me: "Screwed?"
B: "Yeah , screwed."
M: "Screwed?"
B: "Man, I don't have a ticket."
M: "You don't have a ticket?"
B: "Nah man"
M: "Screwed!"
That was pretty much a bad judgment on his part I thought. I'll remind you that there is neither a Will Call booth or ticket counter at Bonnaroo. All tickets sold are mailed in advance to the attendee. After that you are at the mercy of the scalpers. At that point there wasn't much we could do about it. So "Buck" and Citara unhitched from the Bonnaroo express and drove into Manchester in search of a ticket. Nothing was seen or heard from the pair until they showed up on a sweltering Saturday with a trash bag full of water balloons. So I'm glad it worked out for them to get in.
Bonnaroo this year was a bit extreme. The weather made it more of a challenge. Tennessee in June is pretty damn hot. It was in the 90's and dry the first day. We had a small monsoon on the second, and the third day the humidity set in and the mud in the concert area was up to your ankles. Bonnaroo is also getting noticeably bigger, more corporate, and less about the music. It almost has to be done to support the infrastructure of the festival it's 90,000+ attendees. The first year was large but conspicuously understated. Hippies on blankets selling burritos was more prevalent than tents full of funnel cakes and samples of energy drinks. 2002 had people proudly displaying buds from the west coast the size of your forearm, while 2004 offered glassy eyed urchins pushin' nose candy and various forms MDMA. More stages, up from 4 the first year, to 5 the second, now 7+, made it even harder to see all the bands you wanted to. It seemed that in 2002 and 2003 people were glad to have found Bonnaroo, and appreciated it's freedom and vibe. 2004 brought with it a sense of entitlement. With ticket prices increased, ( Jenn and I paid $165.00 each), more diverse acts pulled from well outside the jam band scene (eg. Maroon 5), and the increase in number of participants, people now want all the bang for their buck, and Superfly/AC Entertainment is willing to shell it out. The cost they will see, is the loss of respect for the festival, and the scene which created it.
Don't get me wrong here, I did have a great time. We had a phat campsite with a large shade tent and a small courtyard for cooking and stretching in the morning. I know I laughed harder than I have in a long time. Having a campsite full of buddies made the weather bearable, and we NEVER ran out of beer.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. The guy camped next to us set up a 14' trampoline. The great part wasn't that there was a 14' tramp next to us. The great part was watching them set it up.
2. Regan brought all the water a Gatorade we could drink.
3. Praxis. Caught this band during their late night set. It was dark, electronic, and the was a guitar being properly shredded in the foreground. AMAZING.
4. Gary's Dashiki Rickshaw Service
5. Bonnaroo dirt
6. "Man, wait 'till people ask me about this (Bonnaroo). I'll just tell them "Go to your toilet, take a shit, and stick your foot in it."
7. Painted boobies
8. Government Mule
9. Grilled peppers for breakfast
10. WILCO
Thats about all for Bonnaroo, I've got more to post later on other matters, as well as a few cool links I've come across, but that will be later, so, LATER.
Good story. But how about a little contrast on the site? This orange background/white text is damn near impossible to read. It's making my eyes bleed.
Posted by: Korf | July 03, 2004 at 05:57 PM
Oops, amendments made. Sorry Emory.
Posted by: djbeermug | June 29, 2004 at 04:25 PM
How could you leave walking a mile in a big ass MONSOON off the list of highlights?
Also (again) there was one more person in our group. My brother Emory joined us all the way from New Mexico.
Posted by: J | June 29, 2004 at 02:05 PM
His name was Stu, not Buck. And was that a train or a piano? I can't remember.
Posted by: Regan | June 25, 2004 at 03:53 PM
Great writeup! Funny that I heard about it from you before J.
Posted by: Dylan Greene | June 25, 2004 at 12:05 PM