BONNAROO 2010

I am officially home from Bonnaroo and am both sad and happy to be back. As much as I love Bonnaroo, it feels nice to be back to regular showers and my nice and comfy bed.

After a 15 hour drive and a night at the Knight’s Inn, my best friend Jennie and I finally made it into Bonnaroo’s 700-acre field, wrist bands and all. Once we got over our initial excitement and basked in our last few minutes of AC for the next four days, we pulled into our spot and set up camp.

• we made it! •

• the site •

Impressive, right?

After settling in, we headed to the festival grounds to listen to some music.

• Bonnaroo art in the making •

• Fanfarlo •

Fanfarlo was the first band we saw and they were GREAT! A perfect opener for Bonnaroo. They were followed by Here We Go Magic who were not as good live as I hoped they’d be, so after hearing a few of their songs we went back to our tent to fire up the grill and relax for a bit.

Later that night we caught some of Neon Indian, Mayer Hawthorne and the xx, but we were so wiped from all the driving and the heat so we called it a night early and went to bed. But you better believe we were up and at ‘em the next morning!

• grilling away •

• cheeseburgers •

Once our bellies were full and our outfits were festival ready, we went back into centeroo to catch some of day two’s music. First up was Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros followed by a bit of Umphrey’s McGee who sounded dreadful, Damian Marley & Nas and some She & Him.

• day 2 excitement •

• even though it rained the night before, it was still boiling hot the next day. this probably seemed like a great idea to this guy at the time, but i cannot even imagine what it felt like to be walking around covered in mud in over 100 degree weather •

• waiting for Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros •

• Where’s Waldo? •

• Damian Marley & Nas •

Damien Marley & Nas were so fun! “Count Your Blessings” is my favorite song off their new album which I highly recommend picking up.

• sitting at She & Him •

She & Him was packed to the brim and rightfully so – Zooey Deschanel’s voice is even more beautiful live. Her sound is so timeless, she goes with Frank Sinatra just as well as the indie voices we hear today.

At this point it was so hot that you could have fried an egg on my body, so we went back to our campsite for some r&r before the evening shows. I must say, never underestimate the power of a good nap; once I got a few zz’s in I was more than ready for round two of day two.

The evening schedule was definitely one to look forward to – we kicked it off with some Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers (by far one of the best shows at Bonnaroo), Michael Franti & Spearhead, Kings of Leon and then the Flaming Lips playing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

Each show was incredible. I haven’t seen Kings of Leon live since they first started. It’s so weird seeing them go from a venue filled with about 150 people, to being the main stage act at a four day music festival. Go KOL! They played just about everything that I wanted to hear as well as some new songs and…brace yourself…they covered “Where is My Mind” by the Pixies. I nearly died and went to heaven right there.

Deciding who to see after Kings of Leon was a tough tough call. Daryl Hall with Chromeo, the Black Keys and the Flaming Lips were all playing at the same time, but I had to go with the Lips. I mean, how could I turn down watching/listening to Wayne Coyne go nuts playing Dark Side of the Moon? Once I felt comfortable with my decision, I got pretty excited about seeing the Lips play…after all, I hadn’t seen them since I was at Coachella back in 2004.

The Flaming Lips show was divided into two segments – they started off playing some of their greatest hits, then took about a 15 minute break, and then came back and played the full Pink Floyd album. Dark Side of the Moon was in a word, epic. While I know that it probably doesn’t hold a candle to hearing Pink Floyd play the album, I have to admit that I was completely blown away. Between jamming out to “Money” and listening to a blaring organ playing “Us and Them” while watching a weird video/light show, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my second day at Bonnaroo.

• Flaming Lips show •

The next day we could hardly sleep in because of the heat (it was 88º by 9:30am), so we headed to the festival grounds earlier than expected and listened to some of Baaba Maal which was well worth it.

Then we walked around for a bit before heading over to the main stage to see Jimmy Cliff.

• Jimmy Cliff •

Jimmy Cliff was definitely one of my favorite shows at Bonnaroo. Maybe it’s because the crowd was really into it, or maybe because I grew up listening to and loving the album The Harder They Come, but whatever it was I was dancing around the entire time. He started off the set with “You Can Get it if You Really Want” which is an automatic hit, and then played some of my other favorites like “Many Rivers To Cross” and “I Can See Clearly.” How he was wearing leather in scorching hot weather is beyond me, but props to him!

Next we listened to some Dead Weather before heading over to Jeff Beck. While I love me some Jack White, I had to go and check out Jeff Beck because I mean…it’s Jeff Beck!

At that point we’d been sizzling under the sun for hours so we went back to the tent to “cool off” as best we could. When I say sizzling under the sun, I really mean sizzling. Between the 100% humidity and the 110º weather, there were definitely points that I felt like I was going to melt. Saturday was a scorcher and Sunday was even worse and it was in this boiling heat that my camera melted into an oblivion. I’m lucky that I was able to recover my memory card, but I’m beyond disappointed about my lack of photos from the rest of the festival.

All in all I had a great time this year and can’t wait for the other music festivals coming up this summer.

• sad that it’s over, but see you next year, Bonnaroo? •