My first Roo

My review of my first Bonnaroo if anyone cares, had to get some thoughts down so I don't forget. I hope this is in the right area:

I have been to a good amount of festivals, including a few Coachellas which seems to compare the closest to Bonnaroo. This was my first Bonnaroo and I can say that for me, it was one of the greatest times I have ever had. It was probably the fact that I got to see a lot of bands I have always wanted to check out but never been able to (it took me this long to finally be able to catch a Radiohead show) and the weather was also a factor of the greatness. It was just me and a friend who had never been to a festival like this before. I was actually pretty weary of taking him because he is not as enthusiastic as I about these type of events, but he was quickly converted and was talking about coming back next year by the end of Day 1 (Thursday). We left from the DFW area of North Texas at about 5 AM and we pulled into Manchester and got in the traffic line at about 7 PM. We actually got stopped by the cops once in Murfreesboro at around 5:45 PM for "cutting someone off", although I think they were hoping to find stuff in our car as we were obviously headed to Bonnaroo. My friend was honest with them about some legal issues he has had in the past when they asked if we had any previous records, but they insisted on searching our car and after pulling almost everything we had spent so much time packing out of the car, they still didn't find his corn(as yall call it). It felt like a huge weight was lifted and we were kind of amazed. It was pretty crazy at the time, and we were both thinking we were probably in for some bullsh*t. But we prevailed and headed on with our journey, giddier than ever.

There was traffic but it really wasn't that bad, we were in and setting up camp somewhere around 9:30-10 PM. They didn't search our car, just asked if we had any glass, weapons, drugs, etc., we said nope and they snapped on our wristbands and in we went. The bad thing about getting there early was that they were filling up the back of the campsite and worked the traffic forward, it seemed like. We were all the way back by the "private property lake" in Camp Ron Slater. I think it was Pod 10 or 11. In high foot traffic, it took us about 30-35 minutes to get from camp to Centeroo. We had a 10x10 canopy and had created walls out of cheap Walmart sheets and connected them with spring clamps to the canopy. We had a tarp on the ground for our "floor" and we also had a reflective tarp that we would move around depending on where the sun was. We were over-prepared and had a lot of extra food, water, and supplies left over by the end. Our neighbors were super cool and nice, everyone was respectful and didn't blare music till 6 AM, although I really wouldn't have minded it if they did. It was pretty tame for my taste but at least I was able to get a little sleep here and there.

Spent too much money on just ridiculous food like shortbread donut reese's peices buckets, waffle breakfast sandwhiches, ben & jerry's ice cream, cajun burritos, and ungodly hot dog creations that I am pretty sure have taken a year or two off the clock for me.

The lines to get into Centeroo moved quick every time. The only issue we had was my wristband malfunctioned the first day and I had to get a new one. Searches to get in where pretty much non existent. I had a camelback that I carried in each time, and I was easily able to bring in my own beer, whiskey, etc. by just putting it in the bottom of the bag and covering it with a hoody. They never touched my backpack or patted me down, just looked in as I opened it and waived me in. Saved us some cash for sure. I LOVED that they allowed you to bring in your own water.

Thursday shows for us started with Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr(also caught them on the sonic stage, they were exceptional each time). The tent was full and we couldn't see the band at all, but the sound was great and that is really all that mattered to us. In general, it felt like if you weren't very close to a stage, you were not going to be able to physically see the band/act. I don't remember ever being unable to view the band from any spot in a tent at Coachella unless someone really tall was in front of me. Maybe the stages aren't as tall at Roo, i dunno. We also saw Phantogram, Big Gigantic, White Denim, and a tiny bit of MiMosa. All the sets were awesome, Phantogram was probably my favorite because we were really really close and I am in love with Sarah. They did some new songs, which sounded fantastic. They also changed up some of their old tunes, like in "When I'm Small" they did some different guitar parts and things like that for a few of the the other old ones. Pretty great. Big Gigantic was SUPER packed, and no one was really moving a lot, but I was surprised at how much unlike the albums it was. Much more lively and the sax solos were pretty cool.

Friday we caught tune-yards, Two Door Cinema Club (they played a lot of new material, it was ok), and Little Dragon (amazing) but then my buddy was getting a headache because he had gotten a buzz cut before we left for Roo and had forgotten to put sunscreen on his noggin that day like a tard and got burnt. I skipped Feist to get back to camp with him and have some dinner to give him a chance to recoup a little bit, but he didn't get much better. He ended up staying back the rest of the night and missed a lot. I felt bad leavin him but was not going to miss the late night stuff that I always hear is so great about Bonnaroo. So I went back and caught the end of Rod Y Gab & CUBA, Radiohead, Black Star, FlyLo, and Umphrey's McGee. It was probably one of the best times I have ever had in my life and easy to get where I could see well since it was just me. Seeing Radiohead as close as I got was definitely the highlight and their set list was perfect for me. When they played I Might Be Wrong I just about lost it. I was feeling weird by myself, but that quickly went away because everyone was so freaking friendly that it didn't even feel like I was alone. The good ol' buddy really missed out here.

Saturday we saw Das Racist (super lame, but my buddy wanted to see them. Even he was disappointed), SBTRKT (great as usual, but ended 8 minutes early), Mogwai (possibly the best set of the day for me), The Roots, Art vs Science (saw them at both the Solar Stage and the Miller stage thing, these guys were too much fun. I had an absolute blast at each show. Use your flippers to get down!) caught some of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (meh) then cruised around in a psychadelic haze from stage to stage till getting back in to our camp at 4:30 in the morning. We were just floating around meeting as many people as possible this night, partying it up and getting down. GZA was great as well. We walked by Skrillex for a laugh and he had some sort of space ship set up bullshit. It was funny to watch all the goofy e kids and their drugged up antics, but that got old very fast. The rain//mist that night was definitely nice.

Sunday we didn't stay long due to obligations we both had so we packed our gear up, headed into Centeroo one last time for some food and to use up the rest of our beer tickets and then headed out. I was bummed to miss Ben Folds 5. Very bummed. So stupid.

If I go next year, I would like to check out a comedy show or something in the cinema tent maybe. But all in all, I think it was a great time. Met some awesome people from all over the world, partied our asses off and it was a really successful first Bonnaroo in my book. I couldn't get over how there was ALWAYS something going on in Centeroo, no matter what time it was. That really sold me on this.

As far as for the whole Bonnaroo VS Coachella argument, I don't really care. They are both superb in their own ways. I can't speak of previous Bonnaroos though. Coachella does seem to match my personal musical tastes better historically, but if Roo gets more music like they had this year with maybe a little bit more real EDM and no skrillex-type act, then I would be one extremely happy camper.

Till next year!