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!!
We live about 15 minutes away from the farm. When we moved here, the local slogan for Bonnaroo week is to avoid Manchester at all costs (due to traffic and large crowds). I looked up the lineup in 2006 and decided I was missing out for too long. Our first year was 2007, we bought tickets and had a great time even with all of the dust. We have had the option to work the event selling beer, so we decide to buy or work based on how much we want to see. That first year we watched most of the groups from the back (since we were in our late 20's and in the "old" crowd). The Tool show was amazing and the Police were good although it was a much shorter set that most people expected. With over an hour to kill, we were walking past the Which stage and heard the opening to "War Pigs". We immediately ran over and saw the Flaming Lips sound check about an hour before their show, which was also great. We have been to every 'roo since.
2009 was the best one that we attended. Beasties, Springsteen, Buffett and NIN all in the same weekend!
The best part each year is driving home, taking a shower and sleeping in our own bed every night. Looking forward to a great time again this year.
Post by c234567892 on Feb 17, 2011 15:27:21 GMT -5
2006 was my first year and looking back on it I honestly don't know how we got through it so well. We had no shade, a tent that was too small so one person had to sleep in the car, 1 case of water, and clothes. But we had such a blast and never realized we were missing anything. We met some of the most amazing people, saw some amazing bands, and experienced an amazing thing. I'll never miss another Bonnaroo.
Post by flymordecai on Feb 17, 2011 20:14:16 GMT -5
I read the lineup in 06 and wanted to go then. After high school I went in 08 with a few other noobs and friends who had gone in 07. The info I picked up from here combined with our friends being vets made for a pretty easy time. Plenty of shade and chairs, way too much food and clothes. I saw every show I intended to see that year and then some, but I didn't stay out much for late nights. Looking back at the lineup now, I want to smack myself for not doing research on more bands before leaving. But all in all it was perfect. Some 08 sets are still just as vivid as 09/10 sets (Sigur Ros, Iron&Wine, Broken Social Scene). The sense of wonder in 08 has faded but every year since has been just as fun, if not more so.
edit: I just remembered how underwhelming the bug-fountain was in 08. Only disappointing thing all weekend.
edit edit: last year, with all my experience, was the first year I missed some shows due to the heat
Post by smearedlipstick on Mar 14, 2011 4:21:00 GMT -5
Dust-a-roo 07 was my first festival ever, went with a group of 6 1st-timers who were soooo unprepared it was embarrassing. We waited in line for half a day then hiked it into Tent only and the tiny spot our tent barely fit into was surrounded with unhappy neighbors. We never even noticed our surroundings or the helpful balloons in the sky to navigate our way back to camp, all of us dove head first into the festival and our findings on shake down. Waking up in the baking ass tent that I magically found by myself after losing everyone in the awesome-ness. I step out side to find 2 out of the 5 friends passed out in broken lawn chairs and a deflated air matress..naked. Along with that, someoone decided to drop a runny, crack-head shit right outside the entry into our tent and it had already cooked into a biscuit when I nearly stepped in it. I ended up paying a guy with a yummy treat to clean it up...it was disgusting and hilarious at the same time. That year along the road trip we stopped into Nashville and picked up a marriage license, another friend had received a license to wed online prior to the festival. The two friends I found naked that morning I witnessed get married at the happiest place on earth and for their reception we layed peacefully in front of Ziggy Marley and shared stories of our experience thus so far. Exhausted, dirty, and possibly over-heating couldn't have been one of the best days Ive ever had.
Expecting 08 to be just as amazing, It was complete opposite. Dont sell droogs inside centeroo...when you get caught, its not fun! Grown up and above the influence I am hoping that this year will be the best year..though 07 is going to be incredibly hard to beat...and for the bonnaroo bomber that year, if youre reading this.,..your efforts to make for a 'shitty' day failed. And that was very un-roo-er of you.
Early February 2008 I was at IHOP at 2 in the morning with a few friends, one of them said "Pearl Jam and Metallica are headlining Bonnaroo." I said, "Whats Bonnaroo?" He said, "Like Woodstock, but in Tennessee." I said, "I'm going."
The next day, I called my mom to beg for a ticket. She bought me and my sister tickets.
We got a hotel room south of Manchester on I 24, got in line about 6:00am thursday morning, got to camp about 12:30. I was very unprepared. In a list format: Not enough water No water bottle No backpack No Shade Nothing to sit in or on once inside centeroo Didn't remember where I parked (thus spent 2 hours each night stumbling around the camp sites, lost as hell, hitting the panic button on my key chain to find my van) Broke my ankle friday night Left Sunday morning (kinda had to, my ankle was killing me)
In 2010, I went by myself, and did better, but here were my mistakes: Still no shade Still no chair or blanket Didn't take enough bottled water into centeroo Didn't have any energy for Late Night, missed FLIPS and Jay Z becuase of this My feet were killing me when it was over
Going this year, this is what I plan to do differently Taking an EZ Up, gonna rig some tarps and a few battery powered fans to block the sun and circulate air Taking a bigger cooler, gonna buy atleast 24 liters of water (preferably 1 liter bottles), gonna freeze half the water Gonna buy Dr Scholls inserts for my shoes Gonna take a case of power bars, and a case of energy drinks Gonna get their earlier in hopes of parking closer Gonna get my mom to sew a blanket to a tarp, and carry that around to sit on. Gonna take a misting bottle Gonna buy a cot to sleep on
First was in '08. I went with three others, two of whom I've been blessed to know since high school. So the group was great.
Left Wednesday around midnight, got there Thursday afternoon. Spent most of the first day just meeting our neighbors. Great people, great conversation and the scope of where everybody was from just blew my mind. It went from Georgia to somebody from Madeira which was an island off the coast of Portugal. First image inside Centeroo. A ten foot white rabbit, I Leno you not. Totally awestruck thinking I'm in Wonderland. Turned out she was a busker, she was employed by the farm to basically walk around 'Roo on stilts. Roamed around centeroo, totally thinking "Why didn't i come to this place earlier!" Finished it off with an amazing show of the Felice Brothers.
Friday. Bought bunk portebellos, only the second time i've ever done them. So a noob in identifying them and was bummed. saw Les Claypool make music with a saw. cheered me up. We went back to the camp, drank some liquor and taking beer bongs like it was quackin college obviously forgetting how often we kept hydrated. Big Mistake come back to haunt me. We still managed to get it together and I enjoyed my first Roo late night. quackin blast. The evening went from Chris Rock- METALLICA!-My Morning Jacket started raining because the skies wept at the beauty-Tiesto-Superjam which was Gogol Bordello/Les Claypool playing Tom Waits songs.
Saturday-Big Mistake combined with heat exhaustion and rain had me sick the entire day. I think I pretty much slept all day, did manage to catch some of MIA and caught half of Pearl Jam's set. Missed all of late night. Pissed I missed Sigur Ros late night. The lost day, sucked.
Sunday-All better, we checked out glass alley and shakedown. Met a really cool missionary selling tibetan incense, great talk about the world. Bought incense. Bought some lucy and along with the talk and seeing Robert Randolph's Revival, was definitely feeling the good vibes of the universe. While takin a break walkin, enjoyed Orchestra Baobob, one of my favorite daytime sets ever.We saw a kickass drum circle (15-20ppl) form at the drum shop near the Fountain. Breezed through a bunch of shows, we show up at Cinema tent hopin to see Gonzo: Life of Hunter S. Thompson. Someone stole the film, can you believe that Leno. beat at that point, stuck around to watch Charlie Bartlett (Very good movie). Finished it up with Death Cab for Cutie, surprisingly awesome. Left and couldn't believe how amazing the place was. Now makin my third trip. Bonnarooooo
Last Edit: Mar 19, 2011 4:19:24 GMT -5 by Jury - Back to Top
Basically me and 2 friends (my roo crew) decided to go last minute in 2008. We were so underprepared... no shade, old crappy tent (which was flooded, so we spent friday sleeping in puddles) and even our beer selections were poor for the weather.
Otherwise a great time though, and we were MUCH more prepared in 2009.
2005 was my first year. I had never been to a festival before and had actually never been to a big concert. Drove 5 hours from Auburn to wait in line for 2 hours. The anticipation was killing me! I was 20 years old, going with my 21-year-old boyfriend who was a noob like me. We had read up on everything we needed to bring, so we were pretty prepared for being noobs. Every single day was more of an eye-opening experience. I really didn't care for camping and was a sorority girl who hated being dirty and sweaty. Had to get over that really fast! We had never heard of Bonnaroo before and just kind of stumbled on it when trying to figure out a Summer trip.
The moment I knew I was hooked was when we stood in one spot for 12 hours straight at the What stage waiting to see Dave Matthews Band. We got to see Alison Krauss and Allman Brothers while waiting. We also made it to the 3rd row. Looking back on how many people were behind us was a very humbling experience. I had the time of my life, even though I was starving, dehydrated, and seriously in need of a chair, shower, and bed.
Then came Saturday when we saw Widespread Panic. I had always been a fan but had never seen them live. That night I got to dip into some major corn thanks to a wook in overalls. : ) We left Sunday due to me having class to get back to, but I knew I was hooked. We've gone to a festival every year since then except for 2006. This will be out 4th Bonnaroo together! Can't freaking wait!