BONNAROOOOO

HELL YEAH.

This weekend was amazing.

I don't even know where to start.

This year Bonnaroo was more about chillin at the campsite and avoiding the heat during the day, and going out later to see the good bands jam well into the morning... so our sleeping patterns were turned around!!! We usually woke up around 11am, chilled and people-watched until 4ish (unless there was someone who we REALLY had to see play) and then went to the venue until 4 or so in the morning... then back to sleep and the cycle repeats. =)

This is me taking a power nap:

THURSDAY:

I painted our flag VERY last minute.. it turned out okay:



My dad and I headed out at midnight... down to the farm in Manchester, TN.

Normally when you first arrive, you have to step out of your car for a quick "search" for illegal stuff and glass bottles and weapons and things, but they did nothing of the sort when we came. They were just like "Hey do you have any glass bottles? okay move along!"

So we were driving to a campsite and then I saw my uncles Wisconsin flag in the RV section and we pulled in next to him and set up camp. It was a pretty sweet set-up! We were right along one of the walkways/roads and so we did TONS of people watching throughout the weekend. We were "out in the 'burbs" as we liked to say.


The music area (Centeroo) wasn't too far either -- we got it figured out by the 2nd day... it was about a 10-15 minute walk, which is not too bad!

We chilled at the campsite the rest of the night on thursday --- since my dad and I didnt arrive until like 1 or 2. We could hear Lez Zeppelin playing all the way from our campsite, which was pretty amazing. They sounded EXACTLY like the real Led Zeppelin!!!

We ended up staying up until maybe 3-4 this night, then we hit it.

FRIDAY
watermelon in the morning... yummy:

Well, I was going to see Stephen Marley and Umphrey's McGee and Tegan and Sara...... but we were too lazy to move at those times in the morning. We were just chillin at base camp.

I'm pretty sure it was raining too...

On our way to the music, we stopped here and added to the yarn art:

and while we are at it, here is another art setup where anyone can add to it... i thought the guitar was cool. Props to whoever did it!


Later on we finally headed out of camp and caught the last song of the Bluegrass Allstars (Luke Bulla, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Edgar Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Bryan Sutton.)

Then at around 5pm we headed to the main stage to see the Raconteurs..... with Jack White.... and damnnnn they were amazing! The sound was superb, the vibe was awesome, and Jack White's voice was music in itself. Definitely worth a Bonnaroo ticket right there!


Then we walked by Willie Nelson... and Rilo Kiley... and we were going to stay for Chris Rock but it was still drizzling so we just went back to camp to eat dinner.

This is me chillin at camp:

I think I went to sleep before the late night shows (I slept at camp during Metallica).....

then at midnight we headed back out to see MY MORNING JACKET! THEY WERE AMAZING, as always! I thought the sound was great! Good set for sure!

Then we saw the famous DJ TIESTO... it was rockin. It was also raining, so we were getting pretty wet. People were going crazy in this tent... a lot of ectasy and acid at this show among the people. ha. This is DJ Tiesto's show:

and then............. my all-time favorite............... THE DISCO BISCUITS!!!!!!! oh my gosh they were so damn good!!!!! They played from 2-4 but they went overtime. It was non-stop JAMMING!!!! Definitely incredible!!! They were telling a funny story about how they got pulled over on the way to bonnaroo right after they lit up a joint of sour diesel (type of herb) and when the cops were going through their tour bus, they came out and said something like "I'm buzzed just from walking in there!" Long story short, they all got tickets for possession but they let them play the "best show of their lives" at the big ROO. Good stuff.

After that we went back to camp and slept. (check out our setup)

SATURDAY

Another day of chillin at the campsite to avoid the heat...


I think this was the day that we started selling "Melted Ice".....

Since we lived right next to a road, we constantly saw people walking back to their camp with ice... half melted just from the walk back.... so my dad and I started yelling "MELTED ICE, 50 CENTS! GET YOUR MELTED ICE HERE!!!" --- cold water, ya knowwww? i dont know why we thought it was funny.

I dont think i mentioned this before, but we had a crazy flagpole... with a lot of decorations and stuff... and some guys thought we were selling acid. HAHA. This is just the top of it... there were many decorations at the bottom...

I got carried away and missed the major show of Mason Jennings, but caught a few songs of his other show at another stage... it was kinda a bummer that I missed most of it, but at least i saw my favorite song by him: Be Here Now.

Then we saw Cat Power..... we didn't really like the show i don't think.

We just walked around.... i heard Ben Folds playing somewhere I think... and I don't know why, but we were pretty tired so we headed back to camp to sleep and eat before the late night shows... (we skipped Jack Johnson)...

This is the mushroom fountain -- where people escape from the heat of the day...

So we hung out, and then left again a little before 10 to see PEARL JAM! Man I forgot that I used to like this band. They were great! They really rocked it! I am pretty sure Eddie was slightly intoxicated though. haha. I really enjoyed this show though -- more than I thought I would! They went a little overtime, which was fine with me!!

After that we headed over to wait for Sigur Ros -- one of the major bands I wanted to see. They were really peaceful and calming, but I think the sound messed up a few times??? If I remember correctly. Still very mellow though.

KANYE WEST HAS AN EGO......

Then we did something I regret --- wait for Kanye West's ass. I don't even listen to him, but we heard there was going to be a cool laser light show or something, so we headed over.

He was supposed to be playing at 2:45 (after he changed his original set) so everyone was waiting.... but he made us wait over an hour and a half! He didn't come on until 4:30!!! Everyone was pissed off, chanting, "ASS - HOLE! ASS -HOLE!" and "BOOOOO!!!!" and "FUCK KANYE!!!" and "KANYE SUCKS, KANYE SUCKS!!"

He changed his set so that it would definitely be dark for his "light show" but halfway through his set, it was MORNING! and it was LIGHT outside! He only played for an hour! bullllllshit.

The next morning the graffiti on the bonnaroo walls proved that bonnaroo people were not very happy with him. (pictures on my myspace)

Read this http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/06/16/kanye-west-rankles-bonnaroo-with-tardy-pre-dawn-set/ --- and any other article about it. They are all over the internet. KANYE ISN'T WELCOME TO BONNAROO ANYMORE!!!
things like this were written alllllll over the place:

anyways

then we headed back since it was already getting light outside.... and since he sucks...

SUNDAY

Another chill day. While we were at our campsite, a random guy had this HUGE blow up monkey (like, the size of me) and he just came up to us, set it in the chair facing us, and kept walking. HAHA. He totally gave it to us! (we asked) so that was pretty cool.

Then not too long after someone was saying "FRUIT! WHO WANTS FRUIT!" so of course that got my attention, and I turned around and I was like I DO!!! So he came over and he said that he is heading back home and thought the fruit would go bad, so he just GAVE it to me! It was a whole bag of fruit! SCORE!!! =)

Finally we headed out to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (I was still hoping Led Zeppelin would show up) but that never happened (wishful thinking)... anyways THIS SHOW WAS AMAZING! Alison has the voice of an angel, and Robert Plant is just FULL of good talent. Definitely another show that is worth the whole b-roo ticket!!!

After this my dad was pretty beat and since it was father's day, wanted to head home. We got in the car to leave and waited in a fully stopped line for like... 2 hours. Just sitting there... they wouldnt open the interstate from bonnaroo for some reason. It was annoying. But finally they opened it and we were off... FAREWELL BONNAROO. I miss it already.

Pictures and edits will come this week.. I cant even believed I remembered this all... (granted a lot of info is missing in my brain - its hard to remember 4 full days! Also the schedule helped me jog my memory)

Overall, the disco biscuits was my favorite show. =)