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Post by wbennettjr on Jun 19, 2006 21:02:19 GMT -5
OK It was also my first Bonnaroo and a lot of things went well - basically the things I had some control over, as well as a little good luck. And even though these things were true:
1. We cruised right in at around 6:00 AM on Thursday and had a short wait at the gate before we were allowed in:
2. We ended up in a very close parking area, which made it that much easier to lug our stuff to camping only;
3. We got a great spot in camping only right along the back fence, maybe 50 feet in from the street, had all the room we needed for our two tents;
4. There turned out to be space for our van right across from our camp and the dudes who were there were quite nice about letting us in (we did offer to go to the store for them);
5. We were able to drive out of the grounds and back in on Saturday morning for a much needed reality break especially from all of the heat;
6. The music that we were able to sit and enjoy was excellent, especially World Party, Oysterhead and Grace Potter.
OK so all of the above went well. What was the problem, then?
1. The heat. 2. The crowds. 3. The never-ending noise.
I drove all night Wednesday and desperately needed some catchup sleep on Thursday afternoon. Even with the heat I was so tired that I was resting comfortably, if not actually sleeping, until the guy on the edge of the campling area, maybe 30 or 40 feet from me, kept hollering, over and over: "Ice-cold sunglasses, fiiiive dollars." That is some sort of code for ecstasy, which I only know because I also overheard his conversations with prospective customers. He kept this up for hours on end, making me wonder if he even had any intention of seeing any shows. So the guy paid a couple hundred bucks so he could come in and deal? Anyway, I couldn't sleep through that. So I had to go into centeroo just because why stay stuck in my tent if I can't rest? Well, nothing was happening in Centerroo til SEVEN OFUKKINGCLOCK, and it was, oh, noon when they let us in. OK so let's see, how can we kill seven hours in the 90 degree heat til there is some music to listen to? Oh, of course, all of that 'reasonably priced' food and merchandise. I guess $2.50 for a bottle of water, $3.00 for a bottle of soda, $4.00 for a slice of pizza is reasonable to some people, just not to me. So now I was seriously sulking and there had been no music at all yet.
I tried to make it, I really did. Was sitting in This Tent for I-Nine and they weren't awful, they just weren't that good. But the real problem was that I was seriously crashing by now. Nothing I could do about it, so I went back to the tent. I laid there the rest of the night til my wife joined me and we went to sleep around 11:00. This would be a theme for the weekend, that I had nowhere near enough energy to enjoy any of the late night music that I was so geared up for before the event. Oh and I need to make clear that gate security was oppressive. Some people are telling different stories but they do not know the truth, which is that any time on Thursday that I tried to get in, the wait was incredible because they were patting everybody down. I snuck in the out-path once just to see if I could, because there was no other way I was waiting AGAIN to be patted down AGAIN.
So I did get a decent night's sleep and woke up on Friday knowing a lot more than I did before. For one thing, I soaked a shirt in cold water and tied it around my head and kept it there; that made a huge difference. For another, I stayed the fukk out of Centeroo except to buy the occasional drink; that cut down on my irritation at the prices and the crowds. I settled in and enjoyed World Party, then swung over to What Stage for Steel Pulse, Oysterhad and Tom Petty. This stay-in-one-place strategy succeeded in conserving my energy, and our spot in front of the guest grandstand was low-traffic, which also helped me to find my chill zone.
Then came the Petty show. See, he was the ONLY act at the time, so EVERYFUKKIBBODY was there. So much for low-traffic. Let's just say that 3/4 of the people were there, so 'only' 60 THOUSAND people - imagine that if you will - were milling about in undemarcated open space, all of whom evidently thought it was the most important thing they could do to go from whereever they were to SOMEWHERE ELSE, becauce for the two or so hours Petty played. the human motion was NON-STOP. Our quiet little corner turned into a fukking merry-go-round, our blanket was routinely trampled, and we were jostled and bustled and hassled so much that I actually started feeling claustorphobic. The experience wore me out or stressed me out so much that we fled the scene as "American Girl" was still being played, because I correctly anticipated that was the last song. We jetted staight back to camp and crawled into bed.
Still, Friday was a semi-successful day.
Satirday morning; HELLO!!!! How about a What Stage sound check at SEVEN AM! I Syit you not, and it was fukking LOUD! I swore it was some as shole playing his amped up radio but no, it was the event itself bouncing us out of bed. All I could think of was the poor suckers who went to bed even later than we did. Anyway this set a bad tone for the day. We ventured over to That Tent once again, because Grace Potter was opening things up and she is amazing, and she was again this time. So now I am doing OK for myself, and then I make a bad decision. We get a chance to move more to the center of the area for Steel Train, so we do. Well, it was a lot hotter in there than at the edge and far less breezy, and I began to lose energy. I wanted to sit there anyway but my wife wanted to move around, so just before Rusted Root came on we started walking. What little energy I had was slipping away quickly in All That Heat, and she agreed to go back to camp. She then went back inside for a while, as i sat and read a magazine and just tried to de-stress. We went back for Radiohead and this time we were going to be smart about it, we hung WAY back, probably 200 feet from the back fence. Did that cut down on foot traffic? Nope. Incredibly, and I really can't explain this, but once again for the entire set people were in constant motion. Wouldn't you think they'd get settled and just enjoy the music? Doesn't that make some sense? Anyway that's not at all what actually happened.
So after Radiohead - only the third act I saw on Saturday - we went to bed. Within a couple of hours we were up again because between the screams and yells of amped up revelers we weren't getting any rest. I asked my wife is she minded if we left right then, she agreed, and we broke camp and were off the grounds by 3 AM. Made it to Chattanooga before getting a room for the night. Made it back to PA by 10 PM Sunday. Watched the Heat defeat the Mavs, got a good night's sleep, unpacked and washed out the van today, feeling almost normal again.
Looking back, the elements were there to have a fantastic time, but the heat was real bad, and I just didn't have the stamina to cope with it real well; the noise was relentless (something I could have perhaps anticipated but did not); the hassles were endless - $3.50 for a bag of ice?!?!?! That's in any way, shape or form "reasonable"??? - security was just stupid, even the yellowshirts were shaking their heads about it - there was way just way way way too much human motion, and the logistics seemed to encourage more of it, not less - no clear paths in the music venues, food and drink stands strategically placed within easy walking distance of any place you tried to sit - meaning that people were always doing just that - and the fact that people seemed to have the absolute determination to be as loud as possible at any hour. I never got caught up on my sleep and since I was determined to have a clean and sober 'roo - mission accomplished, by the way - I didn't seem to get the lift from caffeine that I would have wished for, and thus crashing was what I mainly did.
Now, math time: If I can't stay awake for the late night stuff, there goes 25% of the music I can catch. And with 3, 4 or 5 acts going on at the same time, there goes another 50% to 75%, meaning in a perfect world I might be able to catch a quarter of the scheduled acts. So now the $185 ticket (plus surcharges) takes on new meaning, not to mention the $10/hour that it takes in gas to drive the 11 or so hours each way, not to mention the massive amounts of money it takes to buy anything at all there, and I spent probably $500 or more for the trip (not counting all the camping gear I bought, which is fine because I will use them again). So that's my Bonnaroo math.
I am NOT down on music fests. We had a fine time at Mountain Jam and All Good sounds sane; no overlapping sets, for one thing, plus I expect the mountain to be cooler than damm Manchester was. What I think I learned was that (a) the damm "Bonnaroo vibe" has NO meaning to me, and it definitely was not worth the hassle, and (b) I cannot deal with crowds that enormous.
Imagine if I had been in BFE or my car was inextractable or I had tried to go for my Saturday drive an hour later than I did, when they weren't letting people out...I'd have had an indescribably bad experience, instead of the merely irritating experience I had. Even with all the good luck I had, it was still not worth it.
The bottom line for me was, I went there to enjoy the music, and with a few exceptions, it was not possible for me to enjoy the music. That was a sad shame. I'm sure many people had a grand time and will not relate to my experience, but some will, I am sure.
I will give some other, smaller fests a try and leave mega-events like this to the young and amped up partiers who seem to get off on all of the things that bugged the syit out of me.
May my space be taken up by somebody who will enjoy themselves.
Post by wbennettjr on Jun 19, 2006 21:15:41 GMT -5
Let's not turn this into 'can't really blame them' and so forth, I am simply reporting my experience and why I won't go back. It's not about blame, it's about how it went for me.
yeah sounds like you got screwed for campin near shakedown and the stages, we had no problems being a little bit away from all that...but I can relate to the not having the energy to enjoy the late night...Friday night I made it until 4 am for Umphreys/Disco Biscuits, but I missed the superjam alltogether due to exhaustion, and I left Sunday afternoon unable to imagine spending another day in the heat!
Well, you could have showed up on Tuesday morning, and then complained about them not having music on Tuesday and Wednesday, but that's completely unrelated to Bonnaroo. Everybody knew that there was no music on Thursday until 7. It's not their fault you chose to get there early.
Post by wbennettjr on Jun 19, 2006 21:28:09 GMT -5
You just don't get it, do you? Of course I knew what the story was, the point I was making was that 7 hours was a long time to kill in all that heat. Does it change anything to 'note' that that's how they set it up? Just move on to some other thread, you have nothing to contribute to this one.
Just for a question: was '05 the first year they put any bands on Thursday night? I was there in 2005 and I seem to remember vets saying that previously there wasn't a lineup before. But I'm not sure.
I was in VIP and can verify the early What Stage soundchecks... but usually it startled me a bit and then I went back into my stupor. Sucks it didn't work out for you man. Thanks for the story though.
I was in BFE and I can verify the early soundcheck. It was heard across the entire farm, and truly was ridiculous. I think they should have at least waited until around 9, when it's too hot to sleep anyway, instead of during the time when it's still cool enough to rest comfortably.
We were probably some of the loud people. Boy, you REALLY would have had a rough time last night. If all the things you listed drove you mad, than the intense rain and even more intense crowd would have really put you over the edge!
Did it rain Sunday night? Was Sunday day hotter than the other days?
Sunday was the coolest day of all...but it rained during Phil. I can't believe you took the time to write out such a long list of complaints. Bummer dude.
Yes it reads like a complaint but the only purpose is to give lurkers a well-rounded expression of what it was like. Seems there are plenty of 'this or that wasn't so cool, but i still had an amazing time!' and I'm happy for all those who did, but in fairness to those who may suffer from some of the things that got to me, better to know beforehand what they might be in for.
Please do not take any of my report as a condemnation of Bonnaroo or rooers. Nothing of the sort. Just one person's experience.
By the way, my wife handled most of these things much better than I did.
Post by thefussydutchman on Jun 20, 2006 0:12:24 GMT -5
Man it started coming down hard during phil's second set andf there seemed to be people going back and forth between centeroo and the camping area the whole show, but the heat was just about the same. That being said it really wasn't that hot this year, 05' was fricking hot and in 04 the damn camp grounds flooded. This year seemed to be one of the best weekends of weather ever for a Bonnaroo. The night time weather was absolutley perfect.
"We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, movie gods, and rock stars. But we wont, and we're slowly learning that fact & we're very, very pissed off......."
I just think you and Bonnaroo just don't mix. My group and I were in Camp Shooter McGavin for the second time this year, which is the FIRST camp directly in front of What Stage. When we got to our camp before noon on Thursday, I took a long nap until about 5 PM with no problem at all. I never had any problem taking a nap. The only thing that ever bothered me was how hot it was. Yeah, it sucks to wake up covered in sweat. Yeah, it sucks to walk around in the heat. Yeah, you are tired as FUCK by the time the late night sets come by if you catch about 5-6 shows during the day AND the main act (On Friday I caught...Andrew Bird, Devendra Banhart, Ben Folds, Oysterhead, Death Cab, Tom Petty, AND My Morning Jacket). But, man, that's Bonnaroo for ya. I felt like crawling into a bed and going into a coma after how tired I was after everything was over, but it was worth all of it.
I just think you and Bonnaroo just don't mix. My group and I were in Camp Shooter McGavin for the second time this year, which is the FIRST camp directly in front of What Stage. When we got to our camp before noon on Thursday, I took a long nap until about 5 PM with no problem at all. I never had any problem taking a nap. The only thing that ever bothered me was how hot it was. Yeah, it sucks to wake up covered in sweat. Yeah, it sucks to walk around in the heat. Yeah, you are tired as FUCK by the time the late night sets come by if you catch about 5-6 shows during the day AND the main act (On Friday I caught...Andrew Bird, Devendra Banhart, Ben Folds, Oysterhead, Death Cab, Tom Petty, AND My Morning Jacket). But, man, that's Bonnaroo for ya. I felt like crawling into a bed and going into a coma after how tired I was after everything was over, but it was worth all of it.
I was in the same camp and maybe I'd have slept if the x man wasn't a few feet away making all that noise. I agree the night weather was perfect and I agree that the sheer size of the fest became an issue for me.
A serious issue that I never saw coming. Hell, I used to live/work in NYC - those subways? Handled them without blinking. Never could have anticipated how freaked I'd be by the constant motion of human bodies at Bonnaroo.
As I said, my only expectation was that I'd enjoy some great music. With a few exceptions, that turned out to be impossible, or was overshadowed by the other stuff.
I kept musing all weekend that Bonnaroo is like an endurance sport. You'll bottom out, but then catch your second (and third... and 5th) wind. I enjoy the sheer insanity of the whole thing, but I can see how you might not. Oh well. Enjoy your smaller fests, but I'll be back at 'roo as long as they keep throwing it.
I am 46 and that had a lot to do with my experience. I don't have the endurance I had when I was younger, especially for dealing with heat and for trying to sleep through noise. Perhaps the biggest thing I learned was how much it bothered me to be in a sea of constantly moving people, no matter where I tried to sit. The stress of that interfered with my ability to simply enjoy the music.
Friday was a decent day. I wish they had all been that decent. I am by no means down on Bonnaroo or the idea of large festivals, I just learned some things about my own endurance.
well touche anal-one. Of course you are going to take your gratuitous swipe...nevertheless, my experience was real and valid and worth reporting for the information of others. I am nowhere close to the only one who has posted that they are not going back, and I readily admit that things which bothered me were no problem at all for many others (my wife included)...but if you feel tghe need to bleed your negative energy, by all means carry on...
Why not just get a hotel next time, wb? Your complaints pretty much stem from camping in the middle of a giant party (duh), in the middle of a hot TN summer (another duh)... you could go home to the air conditioning, get a good night sleep and jam in as much music as possible.
Post by wbennettjr on Jun 20, 2006 10:22:48 GMT -5
I have been thinking to myself, how can I do this a better way? Staying in a nearby hotel did cross my mind, because even 5 decent hours of sleep would keep me going. It also occurs to me that I could take an extra day off from work, sleep Wednesday night in Chattanooga and drive the last hour and change Thursday morning. I would need to learn more about day parking for starters, but also the expense would start to add up if I didn't have my own camp.
Most of what I learned I could only have learned by doing it; for example, a key part of my plan was to be close to centeroo - well, that meant lots more noise. It seems obvious now, but really with all the reading I did, I never saw it mentioned. My great camping location, along a fence, near the road, well, that was a high traffic area. Made it tough to get any sleep at all.
So, if I had a little more rest on Thursday, if I had been better prepared for the energy-sucking nature of the heat, if I could have found a way to cope with all the constant human motion, my experience would have been entirely different. I keep referring back to Friday, the one good day that I had (until the madness of the Petty show, which seems to have been topped by the madness of the Radiohead show). Would I be able to make certain adjustments next year and thus have 3 or 4 good days instead of 1? That is something I am definitely mulling. There was too much good music that I ended up missing, and it makes me sad because that was the whole reason I was looking forward to this to begin with.
So, despite the heading of this thread, yes I am going to be thinking about what adjustments I could possibly make, to make me think of going to another one.