(photos c/o Elise Nam)
Hello, friends. I have been on hiatus for a few weeks, traveling, working, sleeping it off and being somewhat lazy, but there is much to catch up on. I blame the laziness on the ordeal that was Bonnaroo 2007. But after much sitting and staring, and a week's worth of showers, I am ready to piece it back together.
I missed last year's Bonnaroo due to lack of funds and motivating parties, so I was totally geared up for this year's return. That and the line-up was too good to pass up. Tool. The White Stripes. The Police. The Decemberists. Ben Harper. Gov't Mule. Kings of Leon. The Flaming Lips. I would have paid $100 each to see just the top two in that list, so my justifications were in place.
Ah, and the journey began on a bus from Penn station to Bethesda, Maryland, where I met my partner in crime. We decided to do the drive down to Tennessee the hard way- 12 hours overnight, just the two of us- and, instead of sleeping as much as possible before we headed out, we spent the day shopping for supplies. Target. REI. Wegmans. $200 in the hole...
The highlight? Standing in the supermarket at 11pm- the first leg of our drive- trying to figure out if we would skunk 3 cases of beer by buying them cold. Our physicist on call was unavailable, so we decided to wait on the beer purchase until we got on the road. (If you have to drink Natty Light, you sure as hell don't want to be drinking skunked Natty Light.) We did manage to get the coolest cooler ever (32 cans is no lie!) and a pole that came in very handy.
Despite our car spinning out of control on an entrance ramp- a great way to start the journey- we made it through the night in one piece. Physically, anyway. We did stop in many hickville gas stations trying to find out whether it was legal for them to sell alcohol yet (What time zone are we in? The normal one), whether they had any warm beer we could buy, and if there was any ephedrine available over the counter.Then, of course, there was the meet-up at Walmart, which felt like a biblical trial of the will. Our friends got tangles in the 10 mile line on the interstate leading into Bonnaroo and it took many maneuvers to get them out. Our own line was a mere 3 miles long, and before you could say don't-touch-me-you-fucking-hippy, we were in. We did encounter a few scary hippies on the way in- one offering us a handmade cigarette that was probably dipped in acid, then requesting we give him a cigarette, then showing us his ass cheek, the other shouting "take a fucking shower" to the line as he picked his lunch out of the dread-locked mat of hair on his head.
We got a decent camping spot that was hopping with crickets and before we knew it the tents were up. Our shade solution (a tarp and a pole) was almost a failure, but luckily there was a nice, moderately clean hippie camping next to us that helped us rig something up using his van. He then proceeded to have sex in the van with his miniskirt-donning girlfriend every three hours. Amazingly, it barely rained the entire time we were there. Which means, of course, that it was fucking sweltering and we spent many hours at our campsite wetting ourselves, staying very still and drinking too much to notice that we were baking.
Ok, ok... on to the shows. I am not going to analyze the shows or the music in any kind of serious depth for two reasons. 1. My body was processing many mind altering substances throughout the duration of these shows and I cannot offer any accuracy. 2. Concerts for me are about a feeling, and feelings don't translate into html code very well. However... I will offer some memorable tidbits.
The Kings of Leon were a sweet way to start the festival. The 10 minutes of rain that fell on us as they took the stage was not nearly enough to cool us off in the midday heat, but they rocked me enough to forget about it. They played all my faves (sans Day Old Blues, which I love)- Taper Jean Girl, Charmer, Knocked Up, etc etc- and their energy was kickin. We had to go cool off post-concert, but made it back to catch the end of the Roots show, which was a funky bit of heaven. I've never listened to much of the Roots, but I was highly impressed. Funk, Hip Hop, Rap, Rock... they are somewhere in between it all. Great way to get the blood flowing for... TOOL, oh yes yes. (That and a little chemical substance called Baking Soda, which I paid $40 for...fuckeroooo)
Tool was just awesome. I wish I had a better view of the stage (the lighting was fantastic...at one point the crowd actually "ahhh"-ed the lighting effects) but the music was spectacular to hear. Maynard's voice is a beautiful thing. The bass lines were heart-thumping. The drum kit was massive. The audience moved in simultaneous rock-rhythm convulsions.
Saturday's highlight was definitely the Ben Harper show. Not only is he a great musician to watch and hear, but during the show none other than a mister John Paul Jones took to the stage to play a kick-ass "Dazed and Confused" with Harper. This was by far one of the greatest moments in my musical life. It was amazing. The rest of Saturday got kind of druggy, but I do remember hearing the Police from afar (and realizing Police fans are not as hospitable or friendly as Bonnaroo's standard hippy fare), passing by the Flaming Lips show in a phsychedelic haze and listening to the Mule show from the safety of a self-made cacoon. Drugs are bad.
And tired and worn out as we were by Sunday, I managed to rev it up for the Decemberists, who were great and had a lot of fun with the audience... but I imagine would be better not in 100 degree, cloudless heat. My favorite show of the weekend was, of course, the White Stripes. I stand by my claim that Jack White may just be the last living rockstar. The show was like sitting in Jack's garage (if he has a garage) and watching him mess around on his guitar, stumbling upon occassional brilliance and otherwise just rocking out. They played mostly the goodies from White Blood Cells, De Stijl and Elephant, with some Icky Thump rockness. It was the perfect note to end on.Getting the hell out of there was a pain in the ass all the way through the night until we rolled up in DC around noon the next day, but overall well worth the cash, dirt and exhaustion. Next year? We're taking a plane.
