Love for Bonnaroo
Bonnaroo. A gathering of people, freed from the confines and the worries of modern society and adult life. Freed from their clothing and their deadlines and their daily routine. Surrounded by music and art and good food and more music. It's primitive and simple and peaceful. We forget about worries like what people will think of us, what we need to do to get ahead, to improve ourselves based on the standards of others, how unclean and dangerous things can be, and we let the music take us over.
To say I had an amazing time at my second Bonnaroo wouldn't scratch the surface. To say I danced with complete abandon and loved freely the strangers dancing around me wouldn't express the freedom and peace that I felt. To say that I drank screwdrivers at 10 in the morning, purchased from a from a girl with a cooler and a folding table at the side of the road sounds a little debaucherous, and I can't explain to a person who wasn't there why it was beautiful.
The music was even better this year than last. The top five shows I saw were (in chronological order):
Andrew Bird
Oysterhead
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Rusted Root
Matisyahu
I also saw, or at least heard:
Devandra Banhart
Bright Eyes
Nickel Creek
Death Cab for Cutie
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (with surprise guest Stevie Nicks)
My Morning Jacket
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah
Blues Traveler
Beck
The Mystery Masquerade Jam Band
Refugee Allstars of Sierra Leone
Phil Lesh and Friends
They were all good. Some were amazing. My least favorite shows were probably Beck or Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah. They're both great musicians, but I couldn't get near enough to see them, and was too far back to really be part of those shows. For several of the larger shows, I just sat back on my blanket and listened, and that was wonderful. During the Radiohead show, we didn't even try to get into the main stage area. It seemed to be most people's first choice, but I'm not crazy about them, so Darren, Hannah, Ray, and I sat on a blanket at the next stage over where we could still hear the music, without having to be part of the mob.
In addition to the music, there was a comedy tent where we saw some questionable stand-up and totally missed Lewis Black. And there was a movie tent where we retreated when we were a little burnt out on Sunday night and saw one of the crap Star Wars movies. And there was a Masquerade Ball at 2am on Saturday night (Sunday morning), which was very awesome (they had a very good mystery band in masks, and I still have no idea who they were), though I didn't last more than an hour into it.
It was wonderful hanging out with Darren and Hannah, and also with Charlotte and Preston and my mom and her buddies. I really wish I'd gotten to see more of E and Shane because the few moments we did spend together were a lot of fun ... but regrets don't really belong in Bonnaroo memories ... only in the plans for the next Bonnarro.
I took a bunch of pictures that I would like to share before I get into my rant about the only bad thing about Bonnaroo:
The bad part about Bonnaroo is that people get so stoned, so relaxed, and so free that they forget about their love and connection with the earth. In short, they throw their garbage everywhere. The Bonnaroo staff goes to amazing lengths, putting recycling and composing and trash bins every 50 feet, using biodegradable cups and forks and plates at the vending stands, reminding people to throw things away and recycle, and STILL people throw junk everywhere. Most people at Bonnaroo come across as hippies, yet their environmental awareness is lacking. I just wish they could remember to throw things away. It makes me sad to see the amount of waste at the end of it all.
But I guess that's what happens when you put 80,000 people together anywhere.
To say I had an amazing time at my second Bonnaroo wouldn't scratch the surface. To say I danced with complete abandon and loved freely the strangers dancing around me wouldn't express the freedom and peace that I felt. To say that I drank screwdrivers at 10 in the morning, purchased from a from a girl with a cooler and a folding table at the side of the road sounds a little debaucherous, and I can't explain to a person who wasn't there why it was beautiful.
The music was even better this year than last. The top five shows I saw were (in chronological order):
Andrew Bird
Oysterhead
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Rusted Root
Matisyahu
I also saw, or at least heard:
Devandra Banhart
Bright Eyes
Nickel Creek
Death Cab for Cutie
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (with surprise guest Stevie Nicks)
My Morning Jacket
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah
Blues Traveler
Beck
The Mystery Masquerade Jam Band
Refugee Allstars of Sierra Leone
Phil Lesh and Friends
They were all good. Some were amazing. My least favorite shows were probably Beck or Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah. They're both great musicians, but I couldn't get near enough to see them, and was too far back to really be part of those shows. For several of the larger shows, I just sat back on my blanket and listened, and that was wonderful. During the Radiohead show, we didn't even try to get into the main stage area. It seemed to be most people's first choice, but I'm not crazy about them, so Darren, Hannah, Ray, and I sat on a blanket at the next stage over where we could still hear the music, without having to be part of the mob.
In addition to the music, there was a comedy tent where we saw some questionable stand-up and totally missed Lewis Black. And there was a movie tent where we retreated when we were a little burnt out on Sunday night and saw one of the crap Star Wars movies. And there was a Masquerade Ball at 2am on Saturday night (Sunday morning), which was very awesome (they had a very good mystery band in masks, and I still have no idea who they were), though I didn't last more than an hour into it.
It was wonderful hanging out with Darren and Hannah, and also with Charlotte and Preston and my mom and her buddies. I really wish I'd gotten to see more of E and Shane because the few moments we did spend together were a lot of fun ... but regrets don't really belong in Bonnaroo memories ... only in the plans for the next Bonnarro.
I took a bunch of pictures that I would like to share before I get into my rant about the only bad thing about Bonnaroo:
The bad part about Bonnaroo is that people get so stoned, so relaxed, and so free that they forget about their love and connection with the earth. In short, they throw their garbage everywhere. The Bonnaroo staff goes to amazing lengths, putting recycling and composing and trash bins every 50 feet, using biodegradable cups and forks and plates at the vending stands, reminding people to throw things away and recycle, and STILL people throw junk everywhere. Most people at Bonnaroo come across as hippies, yet their environmental awareness is lacking. I just wish they could remember to throw things away. It makes me sad to see the amount of waste at the end of it all.
But I guess that's what happens when you put 80,000 people together anywhere.