Anyone Know about the Bonnaru Fesitival in TN, June 16-18?

[thePurplePrincess]

Just wondering if a fellow burner, would like this particular music festival. It looks great on the website! Thought I'd ask people, who I trust their opion.

Thanks!

[RingO'Fire]

Hey Purple Princess,

I've gone to Bonnaroo twice now, in 2003 and 2004. I've had a blast both times.

I'm planning on going back again this year too, but I'm not going to drink as much alcohol as in year's past. I only live about an hour's drive from the event, which definately helps. (kinda like all the reno burners who get to live so close to Bman).

If you decide to come out this way, give me a PM shout. If you do decide to go to Bonnaroo, we must meet up and the first round is on me!

Here's a post I made to the "Youthful Indiscretions" thread upon returning from the 2004 event.

I'm back y'all!

Bonnaroo was pretty awesome, but also pretty miserable at times (maybe a little like BM?). While I was there I saw: Govt Mule, Dave Matthews (with Trey Anastasio), Robert Randolph & the Family Band (they totally rocked the house!), Primus (rocked the house!), Calexico, Ani Defranco, etc. etc. I missed The Dead (it was raining and I didn't want to get soaked), plus, I already have tickets to see them in Atlanta in August (a week before Bman!). I also missed David Byrne and Trey's band - they were both Sunday night and after three and a half days of sweltering in a giant mud hole, I was ready to go home. Fortunately, the Festival is only about an hour's drive from my house!

Thursday and Friday, the first two days, were the best for me. Although it was hot in the daytime (upper 80's w/ approx. 90% relative humidity), the "scene" was still relatively chill. I met a bunch of new friends too. Saturday, I met up with a friend of Kelliy's (Kelliy here on eplaya, from Panama City Beach (PCB)) named Andrea and her friend Tracy from Oregon. We hung out and ate fungus together at the Govt Mule show. Later, the sky turned dark purple on the horizon and I started freaking out a little as it got closer and closer. As I looked around me, I thought, "Man, there are way more people out here than there is shelter to cover them all. I definately want to be one of the 'dry people.'" It was all I could do to control myself and not run for cover while Tracy was shopping for tapestries.

I told the girls I did not want to get soaking wet, but Andrea said she didn't care if she got wet or not. I definately did care, but I also wanted to keep hanging out with the two cool women. I found some empty plastic bags and wrapped up my digital camera, cell phone, and wallet and put them back in my fanny pack. I so wanted to prepare for the rapidly approaching storm by seeking shelter; I was so antsy that I wanted to crawl out of my skin, but I just kept breathing deep and thinking how, no matter what, everything was going to be cool.

Just as the first few raindrops starting falling, I guess the girls realized that they didn't want to get soaked either and we made a mad 50-yard dash for the nearest tent. Turned out...it was a bar tent! Score! We just waited out the storm there for the next hour and a half or so and smoked out all our neighbors standing around us. It was actually a really pleasant experience, tripping and puffing in the dry tent during the massive dumping thunderstorm, watching all the wet miserable/indifferent/ecstatic people scampering about in the rain. Later that night, it started raining again. I just hung out at our camp with all my buddies, drinking under our giant (dry!) shelter.

I made our shelter for about $200. I wanted to give my Bman shelter a trial run. I zip-tied four 16' x 20' silver tarps together and supported them with nine 1&1/4 inch PVC pipes (total footprint = about 40' x 50'). I made three rows of three support poles each, all tied together in a row. I drilled and set two eyebolts near the top of each pole, with the two bolts about two inches apart vertically, oriented parallel, but "pointing" in opposite directions. I guyed out all eight outside poles (but not the middle pole) to rebar stakes and covered the ends of the stakes with water bottles. I secured the tarp to the stakes with bungees.

In the daytime, we'd roll up the sides (that otherwise flopped down on the ground) for air flow and then clamp them with spring clamps. We put all of our tents under the tarp and still had room for a giant "living room." We were so comfortable compared to our sweltering and/or wet neighbors. The shelter held up really well to the wind and rain too. I'm still going to have to modify it for the higher winds at BM though with more support poles, better drainage, more rebar stakes, and better rigging. Next year, I think I'll just build a dome for BM.

After all the rain, most of the footpaths turned into ooey gooey swishey mud. In places, it was ankle deep. There were all of these (sorry, but this is just the way I feel) stoopid hippie dumbasses running around barefoot on the gravel roads and in the mud and even in the porta-potties! (gross!). You could tell too, that these were mostly people who normally didn't run around barefooted. There were also literally thousands of sunburned hippie dumbasses running around too.

There was pretty much every psychoactive substance on sale - in the broad open daylight - that you can imagine. It was a total buyers' market for all that stuff. Some of my campmates just got totally obliterated the whole time we were there too. It's a wonder that they made it to any of the concerts at all. Unfortunately, two people died, probably from ODs (sad, but not really all that surprising - considering all of the completely wasted people who were there).

Memorable quotes:

My buddy Nappy Tim: "Man, I'm way too fucked up to even be seen in public!"

Cary from Asheville (upon waking up): "Dude, my mouth tastes like fifty different kinds of ass!"

I have to admit though, for me, the best part of the whole thing was meeting, hanging out, and partying with all of the cool people that I met while I was there. Overall, I had a great time.

It's good to be back here on the eplaya with all y'all though!

[thePurplePrincess]

Thanks for the reply, I was hoping it would be something at least some burnrers had been to. I'll problably buy my ticket this weekend. We're driving from MN, but it should only take about 16 hours. We should definetly get together, except I don't know where anything is or camping, ect... We should come up with a plan. And you can get the first round, if I can get the rest. Haha... Here's my e-mail [email protected], e-mail me closer to June, as I don't always get to make it to the e-playa postings to check myne.

See Ya,
The Purple Princess

[Samsa Lila]

OK, So Ive never actually attended "The Roo" , but Ive had countless friends who have gone and Im really into this music festival scene as a whole, so hearing from the experienced, I would say
Bonnaroo is extremely over crowded in a much smaller area than Burning Man. Big difference in comfort. I would think even BM would be a thousand times more comfortable than the Roo. I ahve been to Burning Man, but I will NEVEr go to Bonnaroo, just because, i feel there are MUCH better musicfestivals out there going on that are just as interesting, if not more interesting, and much more comfortable.

Grass roots type festivals like HIgh Sierra Music Festival in NorCal, one that has been going on since 1991, these days this festival is providing jsut as much musical diversity, but much smaller acts. The acts though, are very eclectic and ahead of the times....the nightlife at High Sierra is incredible and I know would live up to anyting the Roo had going on , if not be even MORE chock full of entertainment and dancing celebration.

The thing that you know about festivals out west is, everyone is going to PARTICPATE more in the festival and the feeling.....Out in CA. At festivals like Earthdance Laytonville, Joshua Tree, Baja Bash, Hornings Hideout fests, there is an element of celebration which gets more involved than I think they do at Roo. Roo is such mayhem and sludge to walk thru and craziness, you cant escape. You can really see the underbelly of the scene at Roo, i was told. I prefer to be around more Conscious people, more creative. Its nice that High Sierra has brought in some Burner types to light up our world there so nicely.....and now I have finally felt a part of Balck Rock City. Its fun to watch people go from one even tto another. I think they have a very cool connection going on right now.

I highly suggest if you want a more enriching Burn Vibe experience that is as much candy for the ears as BM is candy for the eyes, Try High Sierra. www.highsierramusic.com The late nites and fire troupes are lovely every year more intense!!! There are 80 bands, 5 stages of music, and more than one chance to see almost every artist. One of my favorites being Hamsa Lila, who I was also lucky enough to see perform on the playa last summer, too!! Its not just a bunch of noodly hippie bands (which I personally like in moderation) there a lot of different types of music. Les Claypool's sets have been wonderfully strange, Sound Tribe Sector 9 has been transcending under the stars....lots of future driven funk, bastard bluegrass, world afro beats, and some undescribable goodies...

Roo is just toooooo many schwillballz, too commercialized, too hard to get around, too rainy, just tooo much hassle for me to ever even WANT to check out.....with all the other great festivals in the country to choose from, I dunno, unless size matters......

HSMF norcal
Wakarusa Kansas
10 Thousand Lakes Minnesota
Earthdance NorCal
moe.down NY
jamcruise at sea