Bonnaroo is over but the party never ends....
As we approached our exit off the interstate, we were mildly disheartened to see cop cars blocking the ramp and signs instructing us to go to the next ramp. We could see cars backed up in the northbound lane for a good 3-5 miles. They sat there with their lights off, not moving. We knew we didn’t want to get in that mess.
As we approached an open off ramp, we asked a cop if he could tell us how to get into the festival grounds while avoiding all that traffic. He told us to follow the little white signs through some back roads, and it would take us to the front entrance. At this point it was well after midnight but we were excited with anticipation of the events to come. We followed the back roads and after about 20 minutes of driving, we had circled the backside of Roo’ and made our way to the main entrance. The cop directing traffic flagged our vehicle to the front of the line and we were in! Good karma was definitely on our side.
I hopped on the Bonnaroo Facebook page and posted directions for others to get in without having to wait in that horrible line of traffic. It definitely helped other festival goers as I was dubbed “traffic angel” on the page later that night.
As we made our way past security check points (after hiding our illegal charcoal) we noticed the field was wet. Not only was it wet, mud pits were swallowing full size cars. Workers sported raingear and talked about the torrential downpours that had been happening on and off throughout the night.
Typically as you arrive at your camping spot, the flaggers pack you in tight and quick. Since a huge mud bog had appeared on the roadway to the spot we were heading, cars were getting stuck and had to pull into a different location. Scott and Kenneth dropped their trucks into 4-wheel drive and easily crept through the mud pit. Luckily we found a nice mud-free spot without neighbors on top of us.
We immediately went to work getting our 2 canopy’s (sitting/cooking area) set up off the back of our trucks. We unloaded the jam-packed vehicles and got our sleeping area set up. I noticed the sky was starting to get a little brighter. It was then I realized it was 6am and the sun was ready to make an appearance. We had literally been setting up all night. Not feeling as tired as we should, Scott and I climbed into Hotel Tacoma (his truck has a camper shell and he created a loft area complete with futon mattress to sleep on). We couldn’t believe the great luck we had of getting into the festival without any wait and having such an ideal spot. I hopped back on the Roo’ Facebook site and the people on the interstate were still sitting there, 6.5 hours after they had turned off their cars to wait. We listened to happy festival goers scream out Bonna-Roo as we drifted off to sleep, the sun rising above us.
We made our way back to our camping spot and started cooking up a dinner of burgers, potatoes, and fresh grilled squash and zucchini. Scott even whipped up one of his amazing peach cobblers. We couldn’t have had a better dinner. After spending the day in the heat of the sun, we walked up to the water troughs that dispense the iciest sulfur filled water you could imagine. In my rain boots and bikini, I had Scott assist in pouring ice cold buckets of rotten egg smelling water over my head as I shampooed and conditioned. By the time my “shower” was over, my body temp had plummeted a good 15 degrees and I smelled like a rotten pomegranate. But, I felt amazing! While it may be weird for some couples to help one another bathe in the middle of a field with stinky water while wearing rain boots, I think Scott secretly enjoyed it.
Rhea and Greg ventured over to our camping spot after the sun had set. I think they were impressed with our setup, especially the window AC unit with 2 dryer vents coming off of it to pump cold air into both Scott and Kenneth’s truck beds. You didn’t expect us to sleep without AC did you? They stuck around for a few games of “slap the bag” and to discuss which artists we planned on seeing over the next few days. We all made it to bed that evening before the sun decided to come up again.
Following last night’s routine, we cooked another great dinner, took frigid showers and headed back into the stage area for more music. We stopped long enough to listen to a little bit Tenacious D. He sounded pretty good, but he looked rough as can be! Not sure if he was camping and bathing in sulfur water like we were, but he sure looked it! I’ll have to admit I didn’t mind leaving Tenacious D and heading to Tori Amos. I had never seen her live and she didn’t disappoint. She is a phenomenal performer, playing the piano like crazy with one hand while holding her microphone with her other. I’m not sure the boys were as excited to watch and listen to Tori as I was, but they let me have my moment and I loved every second. She played almost all songs I knew and I couldn’t get over how beautiful her red hair was! Even in the humidity!
It wouldn’t be a trip to Bonnaroo without listening to Les Claypool, which is exactly what we did next. His trippy music could be the soundtrack to the weekend. A random girl came up to Michelle and asked her if she could lie on her blanket. Michelle, not fond of the idea of a random fairly dirty looking girl laying on her blanket, decided we had enough Les and headed to hear Michael Franti & Spearhead. The sky was black against the lit Ferris wheel that spun around in a mix of bright erratically blinking lights.
The headliner for the night was Kings of Leon. While they are a GREAT radio band, their stage performance was less than stellar. The great thing was their music sounded great, just like on their cd. In between songs, there were often pauses in which one of the guys would just say, “Hey, thanks everyone.” Then they’d go into another song. I was very happy to listen to them, but if I had to pay just to see them again, I’d probably just rather sit on our back deck at home with my Ipod. They played all their hits and I didn’t mind singing along and swaying under the stars to Closer.
There was a mad dash after KOL performed to “Which Stage” to see The Flaming Lips. Scott and I decided to call it a night and break our pattern by being in bed by midnight. Walking back to camp late at night is a treat. One must use the light of the moon to avoid stepping on bodies, tripping on tent posts, and avoiding mud bogs. We were successful at all three.
Saturday! Another warm day greeted us as we popped out from under our cool love nest of a camper shell. I definitely had gotten used to the guys whipping up a delicious breakfast. That morning, we learned using the sulfur water to make orange juice was not a good idea. It turned out tasting like rotten egg juice with a twist of orange. After breakfast, we found a great shaded spot under a large tree to sit and listen to the hypnotic voice of Norah Jones. Song after song she crooned my favorites and I couldn’t have been happier under that shade tree. She performed in a way that had me clinging to each note.
For dinner the boys cooked up steak. We may have been the only group at Bonnaroo out of 80,000 people enjoying a steak dinner. After rinsing the heat off our bodies, we headed back into the festival area for our final night of music. We jumped from Weezer to Jeff Beck to John Prine. My biggest disappointment was missing Jeff Beck play “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Thank God for YouTube!
As the sun was slipping below the horizon, we watched Stevie Wonder take his place at his piano and belt out songs like “Signed Sealed Delivered,” “Superstition,” and “Higher Ground.” I was surprised by how many Stevie songs I knew! He was lively and kept the small group of 80,000 on their feet. As the show came to an end, we settled down on our blanket to wait for Jay-Z to take his spot. We may have dozed off only to jump up with a start an hour later as Jay-Z brought the crowd roaring back to their feet.
He went through all his best songs from “Empire State of Mind,” “Forever Young,” “Big Pimpin,” “99 Problems,” and a ton of others. I’m not even a Jay-Z fan, but the man is an entertainer. Dare I say he was the best “entertainer” of the entire weekend? He talked to the audience and continually thanked them for welcoming him to the big party in the middle of the field. He genuinely seemed appreciative and continued to tell the stage crew to bring all the lights up so he could “see everyone out there.” As his set wrapped up, fireworks were set off from the hill next to the stage. It was the perfect way to end the night.
As the sun came up Sunday morning, we tore down camp. We heard the music we had come to hear. Despite the sweltering heat of the weekend, we escaped any sun burn and heat stroke. We relished our time in the icy sulfur water and sitting under shade trees. This wasn’t the best “music” set we had heard in our times at Bonnaroo, but it was definitely an enjoyable time.
A few fun thoughts on our time at Bonnaroo;
-We were greeted by a life-size cardboard cutout of Larry Bird every time we approached our camp site.
-If you wear a flowy dress, it’s not hard to slip a flask or two past security.
-If you’re a girl and your camping, don’t leave home without your Lady J. (google it)
-The burritos that sold for $10 each were worth it.
-Kenneth once washed his muddy feet off in the wash basin of one of the food vendors. We don’t think they noticed.
-Don’t be in a port-a-potty when a helicopter takes off.
-Don’t set your tent up behind a port-a-potty.
-Helicopters blow up enough wind when they take off that they will knock port-a-potties over.
-Rotten egg smell fades over time, but the memories of Bonnaroo do not.
Until next year…
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