This is a MEGA post about Bonnaroo 2010. You won't hurt my feeling if you don't read it all, it's more for the 80-year-old Starr sitting on her front porch swing trying to remember all the wild things she did in her 20's. It's for the memories and the details I know won't remain in my head throughout the course of my life. Who knows, maybe one day my grandkids will even think I was sorta cool for going.
The STATS.
The STATS.
Attendance: Just over 75,000
Performers: 178 different acts
Brutal, brutal weather: Heat index over 100 degrees all four days
Deaths: 1 -- a 29-year-old man from heatstroke; his body temperature reached 108 degrees
Show me the money: Bonnaroo contributes more than $18 million to the local economy
ATM Fee: $3 ($5 at other festivals like Mile High or Lollapalooza)
Pizza: $5
Beer: $6
Shower: $7
Drinking Water: Free
Most Frequent Performer: 8 times -- Funk band Galactic
Trash: 489 tons; 130 tons of it can be recycled.
Petty Crime: 70 pre-festival arrests (mostly pot possession and underage drinking); more than 200 arrests during the fest (drug related and disorderly conduct)
(taken from Spin Magazine)
The OUTFITS.
Dressing for Bonnaroo is tough. On one hand you want to be as stylish as ever, doting all your latest purchases and trendy outfits throughout the weekend, but on the other hand you want your outfits to be comfortable, functional, and practical so that your not completely defeated by the sweaty mess brought on by the heat. My resolution for that conundrum was all in the shape! In my three years of attending Bonnaroo I've found if you eliminate elastic from your outfits you'll be living breezy. I packed lots of open dresses that allowed for maximum amounts of free flowing air. The heart romper was an exception (made for fashion) which ended up being okay because of the breeze allowed by the cutout in the back.
The PEOPLE.
The costumes you're likely to casually pass at Bonnaroo are insane. With so many different types of music featured (country, rap, rock, indie), you see a wide range of people sporting some of the wildest outfits you'll ever see in one place! I was too scared to actually go up and request photos since my blog is so unofficial in comparison to big fashion sites, so I settled with the photos I could get from a distance instead. In addition to all these photos, I saw a man in a sumo suit, a group of men in headdresses, several topless women with paint on their tits, and the list could go on and on and on and on. It's people-watching heaven, I tell you!
The CAMPING.
We thought we were so clever when we arrived at 5:30 in the morning on Thursday before the gates were 'supposed' to open at 7 but it ended up being a not-so-clever idea. When we got our sleepy faces there we were HIGHLY disappointed with where they parked us. We were planning on hiking our stuff up to a very-close-to-Centeroo-camping-only site anyway, but the place they parked us was so ridiculously far from that! As soon as we got there, we grabbed an arm (and back) full and started walking up to camp. It was so muddy that my rainboots were getting eaten by swamps, and the horse cops weren't helping the situation. They wanted us off the road and into the mud, yelling some nonsense about safety. When we got to the exit of our shit camp, their were cops on horses telling us we couldn't exit until around 8!! Needless to say, we hated the cops on horses! We were tired and grumpy and not up for their orders. It was two and half hours they were telling us we had to stand there with a load of stuff in our arms because we couldn't set anything down in the mud. Our first few hours were miserable. They ended up setting us free at 7:15, but we were so scared all the camping only sites were gone! To make sure we got a spot, my team of friends sent me on a marathon run with a tent, a shade tent, and two tarps while they brought the heavier stuff behind me. There ended up being a ton of camping only sites still available, and we pretty much had first pick of where we wanted to be. We ended up at the corner of E. 1st Street & 3rd Avenue. We weren't exactly sure how we were going to muster up the energy to make a second trip back to the car especially after a night of no sleep and a morning of no food, so we took a break for a bit before making the dreaded trip. When we got back to the car and realized we were going to need to make two more trips, I started scheming a way around it. I suggested that we take our car up to the camping only site (where no cars are), drop our stuff off in the grass, and have Jared go find another parking spot nearby. Jared was a little skeptical but tried it anyway, and IT WORKED! We saved ourselves a couple hours worth of misery in the sun, and we got all our stuff to the campsite in a timely fashion. We were lucky to have met up with our friends Paige, Micheal, Kendall, and Brian before setting up our campsite. It was nice having them as our camp neighbors!
The FOOD.
Ahhh, the food. We usually take a ton of food with us to cook at our campsite, but then we never get around to cooking it! If your really far away from Centeroo, you don't ever want to cook. It takes so much to walk a couple miles back to camp just for a meal that you usually give in and settle for festival food. Well this year we were lucky! Our campsite was so close to Centeroo that we actually got too cook at least one if not two meals per day. We had marinated chicken and beef with peppers and potatoes, beenie weenies, eggs, bacon, sausage, and burgers! For some reason I was completely happy with cooking most of the meals, so other than the chicken and beef, I did all the cooking! When I wasn't preparing my meals back at camp I was eating a yummy slice of pizza from Spicy Pie's! Just about everyone in my group was obsessed with their pizza, and it was only $5 for a monster slice! As for the drinking, I was a sucker for the sweet iced tea at the Greek place. I drank so much sweet tea while I was there, and each cup would only take me a few minutes to devour. I skipped out on the Wonder Waffles though. I'm all about eating shitty on vacation, but the restroom conditions were far from pleasant; I was not about to take on one of those icecream waffles!
The FRIENDS.
The friends are just about the most important thing you could pack for Bonnaroo! Think about it, what fun would a festival be without anyone to share it with? Not everybody wants to see the same shows and sometimes you have to go off by yourself, but for the most part your with at least one person most of the time. My buddy was Cody. We spent one afternoon leaning up against a wall, listening to Beth Ditto in the shade. Anna was also around a lot, but I think she was the bravest about going to see a show by herself. She waited in line the see Conan for three and a half hours by herself! She said she made some friends while she was waiting and had a great time at the show. Nobody else in our group was up for waiting, but we were fortunate enough to hear the entire show from our camp! Jake bought those rad shades from a vendor for $5 and wore them to the soccer match; I think he had some hillbillies confused by the U.S.A. glasses and Mexico jersey. Cody and I walked by the soccer screen on our way to ride the ferris wheel, and we were both blown away by how many people were there. It was as packed as any show I'd seen! It was fun getting to camp near all our friends, and I think we made some of the best memories while were sitting around in the shade back at camp. There was Jared, Amy, Anna, Cody, Jake, Michael, Paige, Scott, Kendall, and Brian. Good times.
The NIGHT.
On our long walks back to camp last year we would constantly pass someone shining a green pointer laser on the ground, only it wasn't your average laser light. It had multiple different settings and would create the most dazzling green designs on the ground, and it always seemed to catch the attention of anyone walking near it. Cody looked for one online before we left, but the prices were a little too intense for a laser. On day 2 he found one from a vendor for half the price they were charging online! When we were resting at dusk on Friday night Cody shined the laser on the shade tent, and I took a picture. I wasn't expecting such a long exposure, but after sitting with the camera on the laser for about 30 seconds we were amazed with what we got (top photo on the right). Needless to say, we went bananas with the laser and the camera after that!
The PLACE.
Centeroo is such a creative place to spend your time while your at Bonnaroo. I saw tons of people creating masterpieces with spray paint on the walls, and my favorite was walking up on people who were playing into the art piece without even knowing it. Check out the guy getting his leg chopped off by the shark! The recycling centers were pretty impressive too. Bonnaroo was even offering two free 2011 passes to the campers that recycled the most plastic from their sites! I imagine an incentive of the caliber probably brought in a lot more plastic than usual. There are tons of different tents set up in Centeroo, and you could literally spend the whole time at those places! You could make a drum, screen print t-shirts, charge your phone, get your hair styled, or even take goofy pictures like these and post them to your facebook. It was fun sending a little hello to all my facebook friends while I was away.
Also, I guess I forgot to mention, Cody lost his car keys!!! It was going to cost $200 to get another one made on spot, and Cody was beginning to freak a little. Just before we took this photo we casually walked by a post office in Centeroo. We got his dad to overnight a key, and within a matter of hours it was there. Cody's other key eventually showed up at the lost and found on Sunday evening, but it was a comfort having that extra key his dad sent in. But seriously, WOOHOO for Bonnaroo having a post office.
The MUSIC!!!
The reason for the festival season. Before you leave for Bonnaroo you always know exactly which shows your going to see. You may have a list of twenty something shows with some favorites overlapping, but you've got it all figured out of when you need to leave one show to get to the next. In my three years of going to Bonnaroo, I don't think I've ever seen all the shows on my list! Most of the time you miss shows because you're hot, and sometimes you miss them because your sleepy. Often times I opted to stay in the shade at our campsite rather than battling for a drop of shade in Centeroo. That's how I missed Stevie Wonder. I'm so ashamed I have to say that, but it's true. I heard almost all of his songs from my campsite and could even see the big screens by standing on an ice chest by my tent, but I didn't actually go to see him perform; I was just too tired! The same thing happened with The XX. It was a late night show on Thursday night that I couldn't possibly stay awake for. I think the most regrettable nap I took was during The Black Keys. I heard the first couple songs then fell asleep on a blanket near the right of the stage; the sad part is I slept hard! Anna woke me up on the second to last song, and I was literally like "I missed it??? I just missed The Black Keys???".... it was awful. I tried to make it to LCD Soundsystem shortly after that, but I just ended up laying on the grass half asleep anyway. Yet another bummer on the second night.
So other than the shows I was barely awake for, I also got to see Here We Go Magic, Neon Indian, The Gossip, She & Him, Tenacious D, The Steve Martin Band (banjo champion!), The Flaming Lips, The National, Kings Of Leon (from my campsite; they covered The Pixies 'Where Is My Mind'!!!), The Dead Weather, Jay Z, Dan Deacon, GWAR, Regina Spektor, Ween, and Phoenix.
Rather than writing about them all I thought I'd recap my three favorites: She & Him, The Dead Weather, and Dan Deacon. I think I need to warn you that the videos aren't perfect, but the most important part is that the sound is decent.
SHE & HIM
The third spot goes to She & Him. It was the hardest I've ever fought to get into a tent, and it's one of the few times I've ever scooted closer as other people were coming out. I embraced the stinky, sweaty people all around me, held my video camera up high in the air, and did what I needed to do to record the moment. Zooey looked precious in her little white dress, but I thought she was kind of crazy for pairing it with leggings. I think she underestimated the heat on her trip from the air condition, and she kept making comments about how hot she was on stage. It wasn't long before her hair was soaking wet with sweat. M Ward was tucked out of my view by the curtain most of the time, but I was able to get a good look at him every time he had to sing in the microphone. He's a stallion, and they both sounded fantastic. I couldn't help but notice the cute little back up singers on the side too. You think Zooey dressed them?
She & Him-Bonnaroo 2010-Lingering Still from Starr Crow on Vimeo.
THE DEAD WEATHER
This band wasn't high up on my list before leaving, but man, did I come back a believer. While I expected my top guy/girl duo to have gone to Zooey D. and M. Ward, I severely underestimated the power of The Dead Weather. Alison Mosshart was a stone fox, and her sultry stage performance alone was enough to draw me in. She made me want to trade in all my girlie dresses for a head-to-toe black ensemble with some saucy animal print thrown in. I've always had incredible respect for Jack White and his skills, and I'm certain he will eventually be the biggest legend of our generation (if he's not already); I mean, who else can say they've worked with Loretta Lynn? He looked like a young Mark Bolan (aka T Rex) with his big top hat and pasty white skin, and I couldn't help but fantasize him just like I did T Rex in Born To Boogie. I particularly love this video because Conan did the introduction!
Conan Introduces The Dead Weather-Bonnaroo 2010 from Starr Crow on Vimeo.
DAN DEACON
This was, hands downs, the best show I saw at Bonnaroo. I guess I'm a little bias on this vote since I've been a huge fan of Dan Deacon's for years now, but, wow, this man really knows how to play a show. He has the ability to make everything so interactive. If he says take five steps back, the crowd listens. If he says so mock some crazy noise coming from an instrument, the crowd listens. It's almost a spiritual experience having everyone on the same page for a small moment! This video isn't the best on the web, but it's by far the best video I got. 10 minutes of holding my arm up in the middle of all this dancing!
Dan Deacon-Bonnaroo 2010-Of The Mountains from Starr Crow on Vimeo.
There are more videos on my Vimeo account if your interested in checking them out.
The SOUVINER (for me).
On the first day at Bonnaroo we took a stroll down Shakedown Alley to check out all the vendors and their goods. For the first time ever I spotted a vintage vendor on the main alley!!! He had several pairs of good-looking moccasins and lots of old swimsuits, sunglasses, and dresses. I ordered a pair of round sunnies from Nasty Gal before I left, but unfortunately they didn't arrive in time (and still aren't here!!), so I settled for a pair from the vintage vendor to hold me over until I got home. While I was there I couldn't pass up this anchor swimsuit either.
The reason for the festival season. Before you leave for Bonnaroo you always know exactly which shows your going to see. You may have a list of twenty something shows with some favorites overlapping, but you've got it all figured out of when you need to leave one show to get to the next. In my three years of going to Bonnaroo, I don't think I've ever seen all the shows on my list! Most of the time you miss shows because you're hot, and sometimes you miss them because your sleepy. Often times I opted to stay in the shade at our campsite rather than battling for a drop of shade in Centeroo. That's how I missed Stevie Wonder. I'm so ashamed I have to say that, but it's true. I heard almost all of his songs from my campsite and could even see the big screens by standing on an ice chest by my tent, but I didn't actually go to see him perform; I was just too tired! The same thing happened with The XX. It was a late night show on Thursday night that I couldn't possibly stay awake for. I think the most regrettable nap I took was during The Black Keys. I heard the first couple songs then fell asleep on a blanket near the right of the stage; the sad part is I slept hard! Anna woke me up on the second to last song, and I was literally like "I missed it??? I just missed The Black Keys???".... it was awful. I tried to make it to LCD Soundsystem shortly after that, but I just ended up laying on the grass half asleep anyway. Yet another bummer on the second night.
So other than the shows I was barely awake for, I also got to see Here We Go Magic, Neon Indian, The Gossip, She & Him, Tenacious D, The Steve Martin Band (banjo champion!), The Flaming Lips, The National, Kings Of Leon (from my campsite; they covered The Pixies 'Where Is My Mind'!!!), The Dead Weather, Jay Z, Dan Deacon, GWAR, Regina Spektor, Ween, and Phoenix.
Rather than writing about them all I thought I'd recap my three favorites: She & Him, The Dead Weather, and Dan Deacon. I think I need to warn you that the videos aren't perfect, but the most important part is that the sound is decent.
SHE & HIM
The third spot goes to She & Him. It was the hardest I've ever fought to get into a tent, and it's one of the few times I've ever scooted closer as other people were coming out. I embraced the stinky, sweaty people all around me, held my video camera up high in the air, and did what I needed to do to record the moment. Zooey looked precious in her little white dress, but I thought she was kind of crazy for pairing it with leggings. I think she underestimated the heat on her trip from the air condition, and she kept making comments about how hot she was on stage. It wasn't long before her hair was soaking wet with sweat. M Ward was tucked out of my view by the curtain most of the time, but I was able to get a good look at him every time he had to sing in the microphone. He's a stallion, and they both sounded fantastic. I couldn't help but notice the cute little back up singers on the side too. You think Zooey dressed them?
She & Him-Bonnaroo 2010-Lingering Still from Starr Crow on Vimeo.
THE DEAD WEATHER
This band wasn't high up on my list before leaving, but man, did I come back a believer. While I expected my top guy/girl duo to have gone to Zooey D. and M. Ward, I severely underestimated the power of The Dead Weather. Alison Mosshart was a stone fox, and her sultry stage performance alone was enough to draw me in. She made me want to trade in all my girlie dresses for a head-to-toe black ensemble with some saucy animal print thrown in. I've always had incredible respect for Jack White and his skills, and I'm certain he will eventually be the biggest legend of our generation (if he's not already); I mean, who else can say they've worked with Loretta Lynn? He looked like a young Mark Bolan (aka T Rex) with his big top hat and pasty white skin, and I couldn't help but fantasize him just like I did T Rex in Born To Boogie. I particularly love this video because Conan did the introduction!
Conan Introduces The Dead Weather-Bonnaroo 2010 from Starr Crow on Vimeo.
DAN DEACON
This was, hands downs, the best show I saw at Bonnaroo. I guess I'm a little bias on this vote since I've been a huge fan of Dan Deacon's for years now, but, wow, this man really knows how to play a show. He has the ability to make everything so interactive. If he says take five steps back, the crowd listens. If he says so mock some crazy noise coming from an instrument, the crowd listens. It's almost a spiritual experience having everyone on the same page for a small moment! This video isn't the best on the web, but it's by far the best video I got. 10 minutes of holding my arm up in the middle of all this dancing!
Dan Deacon-Bonnaroo 2010-Of The Mountains from Starr Crow on Vimeo.
There are more videos on my Vimeo account if your interested in checking them out.
The SOUVINER (for me).
On the first day at Bonnaroo we took a stroll down Shakedown Alley to check out all the vendors and their goods. For the first time ever I spotted a vintage vendor on the main alley!!! He had several pairs of good-looking moccasins and lots of old swimsuits, sunglasses, and dresses. I ordered a pair of round sunnies from Nasty Gal before I left, but unfortunately they didn't arrive in time (and still aren't here!!), so I settled for a pair from the vintage vendor to hold me over until I got home. While I was there I couldn't pass up this anchor swimsuit either.
The GOODBYE.
The goodbye is always bittersweet. So many immeasurable memories made in just four days. So many bands. So many laughs. So many moments. But, ugh, I need a shower! This photo was taken as I was walking towards the car to leave. Could the goodbye sky have been any sweeter?
The SOUVENIR (for you).
Did you guys think I forgot you while I was gone? Not a chance! I don't normally care about all the Bonnaroo gear, but I stopped in my tracks when I spotted this tote in the corner of my right eye. The design is so clever, and I thought it was the perfect souvenir for one of my lucky friends. So, easy as pie, all you have to do is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post (don't forget to leave your email address if you don't have a blog). International entries are cool too. I'll draw for a winner next Thursday night.
Did you guys think I forgot you while I was gone? Not a chance! I don't normally care about all the Bonnaroo gear, but I stopped in my tracks when I spotted this tote in the corner of my right eye. The design is so clever, and I thought it was the perfect souvenir for one of my lucky friends. So, easy as pie, all you have to do is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post (don't forget to leave your email address if you don't have a blog). International entries are cool too. I'll draw for a winner next Thursday night.
