Breaking Up with Bonnaroo

This is my 2nd 'Roo and likely my last for many of the same reasons.

Lines--Lines were crazy going in on Thursday as well. I agree more entrances are needed.

Bathrooms-I went in '08 and don't remember having these problems with the bathrooms in Centeroo. There seemed to be fewer porta potties this year, I guess to make them fit under the shade, but more are definitely needed.

Shade--Definitely more need for shade. "There Tent" was nice and I didn't even know about it until Saturday.

Audio--I was EXTREMELY disappointed in the audio, especially for "Which Stage." I was so looking forward to watching Buffalo Springfield and could barely hear it. That was my first time even seeing Neil Young and was highly anticipating this set. Also, the sound at the beginning of MMJ was a mess, but they seemed to get that fixed after a minute or so.

Dust--I did see once maybe twice the water truck spraying down the roads. This was still not enough.

Scheduling--No real issues with scheduling for me besides having Eminem and Lil Wayne scheduled in the first place.

Overall, I enjoyed it this year. But I don't think I want to go through it all again with the heat and dust and long lines.

I thought most lines ranged from tolerable to unacceptable. Waiting for food is one thing, waiting for water because their water stations are consistently running low or broken is not ok.

The state of the bathrooms was slightly better because of the shade, that much was appreciated by me. The lines were ridiculous though. The mens urinals should have been placed outside the sheltered area to ease congestion inside. In almost every port-o-potty area there was one entrance that you could just walk in, and indeed that's what I did almost every time, essentially cutting in line.

More shade would be nice. I understand that it's a huge field and you will be in the sun a lot so this isn't that big of a gripe for me.

the audio was kind of skewed. I also left Buffalo Springfield because I couldn't hear it.

The dust levels were unacceptable. This is probably problem number one for me. I saw one road one time that looked damp. I never saw the trucks laying down water. My chest feels like I just smoked a carton of filterless cigarettes.

I agree that the scheduling was ridiculous. Everybody's tastes are different, but for me this year's schedule was defined by 2 and 3 way conflicts and long dead spaces.

Safety is something that is important to me, since it's fairly easy to look out for your fellow human being. The organizers seem to be weighing safety issues against profits. The dust was one thing. Another little thing I noticed was the way they covered the big mud river between the What area and the rest of Centeroo. This ~4-6 foot wide runoff area that turns to mud fairly quickly has been there every year I've been there, so this shouldn't have been a surprise to the organizers. The way they tried to remedy this problem this year was to place several skids on top. Skids are not made to be walkways for thousands of people! One was missing a whole plank and many of them had spaces big enough to step into. Falling through an empty spot like that and onto slick mud underneath is a sure way to cause injury.

I actually understand making people empty liquids on their way into centeroo. Whatever. The festival exists to make money and I get that. The problem is that getting water in there is a giant pain and there is nowhere inside to get ice. Luckily I only went through one check where they made me empty my water, and the dude was at least nice enough to let me keep the ice in it.

One thing that really seemed to define the organizers greed was an exit situation. On my way back to my camp in pod 1 I notice all of the cars from there moving past what was an exit in 2010 (the one right next to main medical). I asked one of the guards if it wasn't an exit anymore and he said it was for vendors and VIP only. Giving VIPs special privileges is understandable; directly inconveniencing all other patrons to do so is not. They had all of these cars jammed up driving right past what was a completely free exit out of the festival. I think they realized that this wasn't working because by the time I got to that point at about midnight they had opened it up. Prior to getting there I spent 2 hours in my car inside pod 1.

I don't think I'll be going back. Like traffic jams in metropolitan areas, I think there are just some problems that are unavoidable when you have so many people in one place, and I don't see them lowering the admission cap enough to make that much of a difference.

The annual reply that people can't have their own opinion. Face it. bonnaroo is and has been getting worse and worse. The crowds get younger and the music is what attracts them along with the fact they think they will party like it's spring break. The security gets more intrusive every year causing lines which suck. I can go on and on but won't.

I cherish the great times I had at the Roo but their twilight has passed. All good things come to an end.

Just imagine how pissed you guys would be if you had gone during Bonnaroo's golden years.

This was my first Bonnaroo. and I agree, the sound was Terrible at the which stage. OCMS wazs way too quiet and didnt get loud enough till they were almost done, and the on tap lounge was blaring! Eminem was not loud enough, but then again, I was at the Side bar outside the arch watching it. heard most of it. However, when Robert plant was on, you could not hear a thing.

At what point in that reply did he say that you couldn't have an opinion?

For those complaining about the sound at the Which Stage, where you up front? It was plenty loud there, they don't have nearly the same number of speakers or extra stacks in the back like at the What Stage. If they turn it up the people in front go deaf, if they had extra speakers in the back the sound completely bleeds over This Tent

I was halfway back in the field and could barely hear it. Don't tell me the Which stage doesn't get loud, cause I heard SCI from This Tent while I was walking to get water, they were blasting that shut. And sound bleed didn't matter for Buffalo Springfield because they were unopposed.

I go to smaller fests like Bisco and Vibes to really let loose and get fucking inebriated beyond belief.

I go to big fests like roo for the music only. Sure I'm not Captain Sobriety while I'm there, but as far as I'm concerned, the dtf and searches REALLY aren't a big deal.

While I don't know if I'm going to "divorce" Bonnaroo, I do have a lot of constructive criticism after this go-round.

1. The audio is a huge issue. The Which Stage was the single biggest source of frustration from the whole weekend. For Mumford, Lil Wayne, Buffalo Springfield and Iron & Wine, I was in a constant state of movement trying to get to a place where I could really hear it. By "really hear it" I mean I shouldn't be able to have a conversation where we talk with our inside voices during the show. If you were right or left of the stage or behind the tree line (in other words "not all up in it") then you don't get a proper show. I like to see a lot of bands but to get a worthy spot to take in all of the show properly, you have to have a level of commitment where you severely sacrifice the other shows you want to see. On another note, the Other Tent is almost worthless. If you don't arrive to the show a half hour early and you are outside of the structure, you don't have a clue what the hell is going on in there. Bottom line, Bonnaroo has to do a better job matching time slots and stages to the artists while better outfitting the viewing area to be pleasant for all watching/listening on all stages.

2. The lines sucked. Centeroo is huge and I think there were only 2 places for General Admission to go in. They can fix that.

As someone who didn't get to go this year, I'll gladly take Bonnaroo back from anyone who wants to break up with her. All the complaints I'm reading here sound very typical, legit gripes, but ones that come up every year. Just get caught up on your sleep, have a few good meals and you'll be looking forward to next year.

Oh no! You mean they brought 80,000 music-loving lunatics to the middle of nowhere, and things didn't go smoothly? People complain about the same things every year.

Yeah, it's hot in June. The only time it's not hot is when it's raining, and people would whine about the mud then. Weather was way better than last year, and Sunday was beautiful.

The bathroom lines are always gonna be an issue. Would you rather them put 80,000 porta potties in Centeroo though? Atleast they were cleaner than last year, and the ones to the left of What Stage never had a line.

The only legitimate complaint is the audio. Specifically, the Which Stage sound. Mumford & Sons and Buffalo Springfield were pretty bad. Sunday Superjam could have been better as well. But you can't have 130 bands having perfect audio, can you? Bonnaroo staff does the best they can in the hour they have to set up, and sometimes things don't work out.

If you had a bad time this year, I'm very sorry. But this festival is one of a kind, and there will be 80,000 nuts ready to tough it out again next year!

Perfect sound? No but I expected them to at least mic all the instruments when the show started 45 minutes late because of an inordinately long sound check.

Word. What was the point of the pretty tarps there? It sure wasn't shade because they provided none.