Monday, June 14, 2010

Bonnaroo Update: Part 1

I survived Bonnaroo Music Festival! 90-plus degree temps, very few trees for shade, tent camping, nasty camp showers, and nothing but port-a-potties for 4 days (okay, so we did sneak out a few times to use the public bathrooms at a nearby Wal-Mart ... you know you're roughin' it when Wal-Mart bathrooms seem fancy!).

The crappy conditions were all worth it though. My friend/co-worker Shara, her boyfriend Tyler, and my boyfriend Paul took in lots of awesome bands though we didn't quite make it to everything we wanted to see.

The music fest is held in the tiny town of Manchester, Tennessee, but it draws about 80,000 people. Showers cost $7 for the general population, but we were staying in the special V.I.P. guest camping area so ours were free (thank god!). Lots of folks chose to forgo showers and rinse off under this mushroom, which spews out soapy water (for some reason, it wasn't turned on yet in this picture):

Huge bobbleheads of the festival's founders were located throughout Centeroo, the music and vending area:

When we arrived on Thursday, Shara and I headed over to the media tent for a free press dinner. They had veggie burgers! And we each got two free cups of Sweetwater 4:20:

Later that night, we took in an awesome electronica show with Afrojack and Dieselboy, and we rode this ferris wheel:

On Friday, we saw my favorite comedian Margaret Cho in the comedy tent:

We missed Conan O'Brian's show because it had a limited number of seats, and we didn't make it to the line in time for tickets. But I did get a glimpse of Conan introducing the Tenacious D show:

I caught a few minutes of Tenacious D (love Jack Black!). They opened with "Pick of Destiny":

And then I hopped over to the Tori Amos show. Tori Amos is my all-time favorite musician. I've loved, loved, loved her for years. I own all of her albums and quite a few bootlegs. I even own the first album she recorded with Y Kant Tori Read! Her performance was absolutely magical!

Though I mostly ate sandwiches and canned goods at my campsite, I ended up springing for an overpriced veggie burrito on Friday night:

This thing was $10! Festival food is always ridiculously over-priced. It was okay. Just rice, black beans, tomatoes, jalapenos, and corn. It could have used some salsa or guac, but they didn't have that.

I'll post more from the festival tomorrow!

13 comments:

radioactivegan said...

I'm so jealous that you got to go! I've always heard the festival is amazing fun, both the performances and the people there. so jealous.

miss v said...

sounds like a blast! a couple of the music fests have gotten too big for me, but i would have totally done it with VIP passes. too bad you missed conan!

(i agree - that burrito needs salsa or guac, BAD. why would they not have salsa?)

Eric said...

Hah I'm glad you made it back alive! Wasn't sure what the outcome would be when I saw the giant mushroom that spews out soapy water :D

Sarah S. said...

Tori!!!! *swoon*

Amey said...

wow - what a an adventure. I'm not sure I could handle all that crowd and chaos... but then, Margaret Cho and Tori Amos and Conan and Jack Black - that's awesome!! I read in the paper that Stevie Wonder performed there, and thought of you. I'm a Stevie fan, through and through. We even named our dog after him. !!

Trinity (of haiku tofu) said...

my best friend is obsessed with Bonnaroo and has been trying to get me to go with her for years. I love music, but I'd probably spend all my time under that little mushroom trying to stay cool. did you see any good hula hoopers?

Erin said...

Looks like a great time. But, how can they justify selling a burrito without salsa?!? Unbelievable.

Dianne said...

Ooh cool my friend Amanda is at Bonaroo! I never knew what it was until this year, haha. Have fun!

Leslie Richman said...

Cool On Your Issslannnnd, ma'am!!! I love Tori.
Looks like a great time!

Vegan In The VI said...

I'm glad you had a nice time. Being in 90 degree heat is not my bag.

J said...

I almost fell over when I saw the picture of Tori Amos. I haven't been able to see her in concert for a few years now and it's really sad to me. (I have her Y Kant Tori Read album, too.) But I guess that's what CDs and MP3s are for!

kelli said...

TORI!!! wish i was there. she's my fave too.=)

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