Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by bluevelvet on Jul 17, 2006 21:52:50 GMT -5
What did you learn from Bonnaroo that will make the next one a better experience?
For me, it was my first, so I learned many things that I know will make my next one better. Hopefully some of you that have been to many, will have even more useful things:
1. Take a shade tent of some kind. The time between when the sun came up and it was too hot to be in the tent, and the time we went down to Centeroo was the worst for us because we had no shade. 2. Gold Bond!! MY boyfriend REALLY could have used some of that stuff. 3. Check out some of the smaller stages. I discounted many bands that I had never heard of (Grace Potter, Cat Power, and many others) and now I have heard the live shows and regretted not seeing them. 4. Even if you tan easily and don't burn, always use 50 sunscreen !! I fried my back the first day because I NEVER burn and didn't put anything on my back. Duh. 5. You cannot bring too much water. We bought 2 cases for 5 of us and almost ran out.
Apart from those, we did pretty well. We came well equipped with everything we needed so overall I don't feel like too much of a noob
Always zip up the entire tent so the Giant Tennessee Spiders can't get in.
That's a good one, but sometimes very hard to remember to do.
I learned that handi-wipes are a must in centeroo, especially late-night. I had them on me, luckily, on Saturday night, and they came in very handy for wiping the seat down at the port-a-potties, and for toliet paper. I saw that a couple people didn't have them and shat all over the seat. I didn't bring them on Friday night, but Saturday, the Bonnaroo spirit moved me to bring them. They saved me.
1. WEAR A HAT! I applied sunscreen just about every hour. I didn't burn but I still got sun poisoning and my head and face swelled on Sunday.
2. See as many bands as possible. Like bluevelvet said, I'm disappointed I didn't see some sets I originally had planned on seeing but ended up not for whatever reason.
3. Bring more than granola bars! Next year I'm bringing a small grill and cooking some of my own food. I loved the falafel and burritos Centeroo sold, but I think I'd like to make my own breakfast.
4. Socialize more! I went with one other friend and since it was our first Roo we stuck together most of the time. We both had a wonderful time and got along great, but I'd like to have met more people.
Post by bluevelvet on Jul 18, 2006 10:01:42 GMT -5
suspendedzen said:
Always zip up the entire tent so the Giant Tennessee Spiders can't get in.
Learn something new every year...
Haha yeah I am deathly afraid of spiders and while we were putting up our tent a HUGE one climbed over the top of it. We had half the people around us trying to kill it because I was freaking out So I am always very careful to keep my tent spider free.
I also forgot the hat one. I NEVER wear hats, but on a whim I bought a $6 fishing hat at Walmart the week before, just in case. Best $6 I've ever spent. I wore it all weekend.
Post by rastaradam on Jul 18, 2006 15:06:19 GMT -5
1- Rent an RV 2- Bring a girlfriend...or at least a girl who's friendly 3- Don't wait till Saturday till ya whoop it up. 4- Wear my jester hat more, that was fun. 5- Mingle, mingle, mingle
I brought way too much food. The granola bars we brought melted, and we had a million cans of pringles left to take home. We also brought too much water, if you can imagine that.
And yes, the camelback was a lifesaver. I couldn't imagine going without it. Not only did it make carrying (and drinking) water much easier, it had enough room for us to carry extra bottles, toilet paper, cameras, sunscreen, etc. I must say that this coupled with cargo shorts made gearing up a breeze (8 pockets yo!)
One thing I would highly reccomend would be these small little mini-fans we brought. The bottom of the fan has a large clip on it, so you could just clip it on your belt loop and go. It also has a light at the top of it, and with the switch of a button it goes from fan to flashlight. Fan by day, light by night. Got them at Wal-Mart for like 2 bucks, and we only had to change the batteries ONCE throughout the entire weekend.
I had this shafe stick stuff that worked better than the Goldbond..thats coming with me next year. The hat and 50 SPF was a huge help too. Next year i am bring baby wipes and a cooler for food and drinks.
Post by paranoidbot on Jul 18, 2006 23:01:10 GMT -5
We brought 2 cases of Red Bull and almost ran out. Definitely needed to even out with the alcohol or I would sleep through too many sets.
As soon as the lineup gets announced in Jan/Feb start checking out every single name on the list. That helped me to find several acts to check out I never would have heard about. (Andrew Bird, Grace Potter).
Camelbacks
We brought a small helium tank and a bunch of mylar animal baloons with VERY long string to find our camp. Everyone around was also very happy to use them to find home when drunk or otherwise. Only one popped and we had others to replace it.
In '05 I was hatless and suffered. This year I had nice fishing type floppy hat and wore it all weekend. Lifesaver.
More wet wipes than you think you could ever need. Because you find more ways than you expect.
I have never chafed so I don't get the Gold Bond thing.
And I would always have a shade tent for daytime down time. Which we always offer to our neighbors as well so they don't fry.
Get there a whole lot earlier. My group could have all benefitted from more than two hours of sleep before things got started on Friday. Because we arrived around 3am friday morning I ended up passing out during Disco Biscuits, where someone was kind enough to write "wake me up when its over" on my knee in sharpee.
Bring a hat: I bought a rediculous looking black and white camo-esque wide rimmed hat from a gas station for $4, it was a lifesaver.
Paranoidbot, were you the one with the dolphin and some other animal baloon in pod 6 by any chance?
Post by hootymcboob on Jul 19, 2006 16:39:30 GMT -5
Three things I learned...
1. Dont bring any sunglasses you actually intend to bring home. We had a pile of dead sunglasses as numerous as the amount of people at our site by sunday night.
2. Bring a sleeping bag, not just a sheet. Everyone told me about how hot it would be during the day(which it was), but no one mentioned that it gets bloody cold at night in Tennessee.
3. If you dont own a camelpack, buy a camelpack. you can't beat easy access to water during the day, and a large vessel to mix drinks in to accompany you to centeroo at night.
Post by behindbrownneyes on Jul 19, 2006 18:51:03 GMT -5
HAND SANITIZER !!! I can't tell you how many times my friend and I used it while going in and out of the porta-potties. It was a lifesaver the whole weekend.
Like many have said... I usually never wear a hat, but my Dad at the last minute gave me a Pistons hat to take. It helped my fair-skin so much the whole weekend.
I wish I would have socialized more, we got to know a couple new people and our neighbors of course, but we pretty much hung out with each other the whole time.
Don't party too hard the wednesday or thursday before it actually starts, I wore myself out Friday and missed a lot of shows Saturday because I was so wore out.
TAKE MORE NAPS THROUGHOUT THE DAY!!! I made the mistake of walking around and hanging out in the hot Tennessee sun (and I'm from MICHIGAN, definitely not used to that hot of weather) nearly all day and was completly exhausted and wanted to catch the late late shows, but was too tired and ended up going to bed around 1.
All I can say is that my life is pretty plain I like watchin' the puddles gather rain And all I can do is just pour some tea for two And speak my point of view But it's not sane, It's not sane
I just want some one to say to me I'll always be there when you wake
Dude, if you thought it was hot then, you'd surely melt now. It was 101 today w/ a heat index of 107. And, it's actually more humid here than it is in Manchester. I was one of the few attendees who was actually traveling to COOLER weather.
Post by bluevelvet on Jul 19, 2006 19:12:08 GMT -5
Yeah definitely be thankful Bonnaroo is not held in July or August. The past few days, even at 6:30am when I leave for work it feels like you are walking into an oven. Gotta love the TN summers
Thanks for all the good advice. I saw lots of people with the camelbacks, but had read on the Bonnaroo website that full ones were not allowed into Centeroo, so I didn't buy one...... Guess they don't always stick to their own rules Where do you get those anyway?
Next year I think well brinhg more than a 24 pack of water. We had so much beer it was rediculous, but the water went real quick because it was so damn hot.
Post by crazykittensmile on Jul 19, 2006 21:30:00 GMT -5
dmbfanintn said:
taraanne81 said:
This year I learned...
And hide my pipe better when entering centeroo.
Did they take your Glass Tara????
luckily it was a little $10 p.o.s. metal piece we bought just to use for the weekend, but it sucked nonetheless! the guy didn't even say anything, just palmed it and waved her through
hootymcboob said:
2. Bring a sleeping bag, not just a sheet. Everyone told me about how hot it would be during the day(which it was), but no one mentioned that it gets bloody cold at night in Tennessee.
i sooooo agree with this, i was shivering the first night! luckily a fellow inforooster had a spare big fluffy warm blanket he let me borrow for the rest of the weekend. but i'll definitely be bringing a sleeping bag next year and some extra blankets for people that only bring sheets
bluevelvet said:
I saw lots of people with the camelbacks, but had read on the Bonnaroo website that full ones were not allowed into Centeroo, so I didn't buy one...... Guess they don't always stick to their own rules Where do you get those anyway?
you can find them at most biking or sporting goods or camp supplies stores, i got mine at REI, they have a nice selection and no, they really didn't care if your camelbak was full of water, i would've been in trouble without it for sure.
I got my camelback at Wal-Mart; generic kind. My best friend bought a smaller version of the real deal (and paid more), and she ended up wishing all weekend that she'd gotten one like mine. Not only did it hold more water, but it had tons more room for storage. It's one of the few outdoor products Wal-Mart sells that I would actually recommend over the pricier stuff.
I got my camelback at Wal-Mart; generic kind. My best friend bought a smaller version of the real deal (and paid more), and she ended up wishing all weekend that she'd gotten one like mine. Not only did it hold more water, but it had tons more room for storage. It's one of the few outdoor products Wal-Mart sells that I would actually recommend over the pricier stuff.
Thanks! I will check them out I don't care what anyone says but I love Walmart!! I got our sleepings bags there for $17 each - the only time I will probably use them is Bonnaroo so it's not like I need the harcore 40 below ones.
Post by hootymcboob on Jul 20, 2006 13:37:08 GMT -5
moonsky409 said:
Dude, if you thought it was hot then, you'd surely melt now. It was 101 today w/ a heat index of 107. And, it's actually more humid here than it is in Manchester. I was one of the few attendees who was actually traveling to COOLER weather.
Coming from a climate where it is regularly -50 or colder in the winter, your June heat was still a big shock to my system and I'd probably die if bonnaroo were in July.
luckily it was a little $10 p.o.s. metal piece we bought just to use for the weekend, but it sucked nonetheless! the guy didn't even say anything, just palmed it and waved her through
BOO!!!
Hopefully it didn't have any goodies in it at the time!
luckily it was a little $10 p.o.s. metal piece we bought just to use for the weekend, but it sucked nonetheless! the guy didn't even say anything, just palmed it and waved her through
BOO!!!
Hopefully it didn't have any goodies in it at the time!
yeah IRONICALLY the goodies were in a more obvious place (and plentiful) so LUCKILY he only searched that one random pocket! (I had getten lazy I guess cause no one had looked in the pockets of my camelbak at all in the days before that) I ended up buying the same pipe again (as did a couple other people I think) cause it was the cheapest they sold so I didn't feel bad leaving it in TN - didn't think it was a good idea bringing it on the plane
Post by poopzilla33 on Jul 21, 2006 12:39:41 GMT -5
everything was perfect for me. thursday i burnt like crazy, but after an hour it went away and turned into a tan. i had enough cliff bars, sandwhiches, and food in centeroo to make me happy, i brought just enough water and had just enough money
