Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Ok I have a good one. Not quite as awesome as winning tickets or knowing anyone at Superfly. And before this I had little to no concert experiences much less a festival. Back in 2005 my friends Brandon and Joe were talking bout going to Bonnaroo. Joe was unfamiliar with it, as was I. Brandon had been the year before. They both had about 200-250 bucks each or something like that and I was completely broke. Well on Thursday night Brandon told us that it would be best if we left that night. I didn't want to because I was completely broke and my mom said she'd give me like 100 bucks to take the next day. I pretty much told her that I was going with or without help so she decided to help. However Brandon told us that the festival had already started that day. You see I was unfamiliar with Bonnaroo and thought it started on Friday. So he conviced me to head out that night. Promising me that between him and Joe that I'd be taken care of. Joe's sister loaned me 30 bucks out of her piggy bank to take with me. Joe and Brandon "rented" a truck off of Joe's neighbor. They paid him like 100 bucks or something to let them borrow it. WELL, this truck probably wasn't even worth buying for 100 dollars. Let me explain the condition of this thing. It was multi colored from all the rust. There was a huge crack down the front window of the thing. One of the side window was completely gone. One of the most hilarious things about this truck was that we had no key for and they had to start it by putting the wires together that stuck out of where the key should've gone. Anyways we set off on our journey traveling through WV. You see we're from KY. We had NO food hardly at all. And the truck gave us a many number of problems on our way. At one point I saw sparks flying from underneath the truck and was wondering if I had made a huge mistake. The truck stopped working at one point and Brandon and Joe got out to look at it. I thought we were going to be stranded there on the side of the road but they got it working thankfully. We continued onwards and made it to Kingsport, WV. Here we stopped at a gas station, and filled the truck up completely. After this the truck would not start. So here we were at this gas station, we just put a good amount of money in this truck, and it wouldn't start. We then started dipping into our change that we had to start calling all of our families to see if anyone could help us out. We wasted a little bit of money doing this because we were stuck there for a good 3 hours. Luckily Joe's aunt was like a town away from us. Very lucky indeed. She picked us up and took us to the closest greyhound station. We blew the majority of our money on bus tickets, after my grandparents refused to help me out. We got on the bus and it was a long bus ride. We had little money to get into this thing, no money to eat with afterwards, and no way to get home. The bus ride was an interesting one. I talked to this old guy who after telling him I was going to Bonnaroo told me he had been to a few hippie fests before. This guy was quite the character. I forget his real name but I'll never forget that he said his friends called him "Blackjack". He shows Joe and I a picture of his topless wife, who was not too attractive. I tried to be polite though so I said nothing but good things. The look on Joe's face when he "flashed" us that pic was priceless. Anyways we got to this Bonnaroo thing finally and we really didn't even have enough money to pay for a way in. So we seriously thought about sneaking in. We scouted a spot and after sitting around a while considering this we decided to just look for tickets. We bought wristbands with the some of the remaining bit of money we had and made it in. Soon after we got in we spent the last bit of our dough on some neat snacks.... After this we bumped into our friend from high school immediately, Jeff. It was incredible! Miles from home and bumped into him right away. And he had locked his keys in his car, and had to call his parents to come down and help him. Anyways we walked around with him for a bit. After getting shaken down by what I now believe to be fake undercover cops we continued to get lost with Jeff for numerous hours. You see we had our belongings but no camping supplies. So after meeting up with some old hippies we decided we could trust them with out stuff and finally found centeroo. On our way to Dave Matthews band we had another miraculous run-in. It was Brandon's dad who had showed up to make sure we had a way back home! We enjoyed an incredible Dave Matthews show and went on to the Mars Volta afterwards where I ran into my other friends from high school Mike and CJ. I probably should've went with them at this point because they probably could've taken care of me. You see because of lack of money and our situation we had to leave for home on Sat. night with Brandon's dad. My first Bonnaroo experience and probably the least fun I ever had at Bonnaroo, but we did finally make it there and I've been back ever since!
Post by nature boy on Sept 23, 2010 8:41:30 GMT -5
Well it was early Spring of 2002 and I was living in Manchester... driving home from work early on morning (working night shift) I noticed a hand painted sign on the farm's fence (for reference it was close to the day parking/toll booth entrance). It said something about a music festival coming in the summer... I'm not sure, but I don't think the sign said Bonnaroo anywhere on it. Some time later I began to hear rumblings of something called Bonnaroo coming to Manchester from friends. I put two and two together and figured out the fest was going to be down the street... bought tickets for $120 (ah, those were the days) and had the time of my life. Been every year since
Post by pondo ROCKS on Sept 23, 2010 9:07:38 GMT -5
So how did the great Pondo get to this thing called Bonnaroo....
Well, first off, let me start by saying that My buddy Jacob and I have been doing the traveling to shows thing since before 1999 (We did go to Woodstock 99 and that was a story that is amazing and quite horrible as well! Greyhound can Kiss my A$$!) I had always heard about Bonnaroo some good things (Great music) some bad press (Ricky Skaggs bus hitting someone) and had always heard it was either the greatest music fest around or a rehashed hippie festival for people who hate that Garcia is dead (depending on which day or whom I was talking to)
Jacob and myself had always worked to get autographs, pictures, handshakes and free signed cd's from various bands (too many to count). Number one rule...always carry a sharpie!
So, back to the Woodstock 99 thing for a moment, Jacob dressed up as a psychedelic cowboy and we got on the official Woodstock 99 DVD. So, when the decision came that it was time for us to go to Bonnaroo for the first time, it was my turn to wear an outfit of sorts. I came up with the horns and the clock (Obviously from Flavor Flav but as my buddy Barry says "Now they have a life of their own...all about Pondo!") and decided as long as I/we were on the DVD, I would continue the tradition of wearing the outfit...
3 years and many hugs, handshakes, hi-fives, waves, free drink offers, free dr*g offers and so many other opportunities (Hi ya Monkey Monkey!) of great times/importance that I am so glad I did. The many people I have met and hung out with has more than made up any discomfort the horns bring up at all.
I am faced with a weird situation. No DVD this year....but I am still going to don the horns and the clock since I wanna meet 100 inforoo people (old friends and new ones too!) and I wanna have people be part of the Pondo Army (looking to give out stickers or bracelets or something...not sure what yet!!!)
Pondo ended up at Bonnaroo because of my good buddy/life-long musical pal Jacob and now, Bonnaroo has become a paradise that I call my home away from home.
Providing an outlet and a voice for music lovers to unite under the common theme of music for all. Join The Pondo Army to show your allegiance to musical freedom! Fighting for no censorship of the arts & music education in schools, The Pondo Army will triumph! The Pondo Army Movement
Follow me on twitter@Pondoknowsbest
Post by bonnarichert on Sept 23, 2010 9:19:25 GMT -5
I had met My G/F in early june 2005 at friends house..we started dating and so on. After like 3 days of going out she tells me she is going on vacation in like a week and would like me to come. I asked her where WE going and she said BONNAROO....bonnaroo WTF is that??? She explains to me what it was annd I say ......HELL YEAH ima down so now its time to get off from work 3 day before we leave not so easy..or should I say impossible...so after emmptying the bank account and quitting my job we where on the way.(at the time I was scared that this was a big mistake I had just met this girl, just quit my job and just emtyed my account) boy was I wrong we had the best time I ever had in my life no joke.. came home got a better job...she is now the mother of my child ....and BONNAROO...well bonnaroo is a special place I purposed to her at ROO2010....she said yes mabey we will get married at next yrs ROO!
I had friends trying to get me to go since '05, but I always refused because of an aversion to hippies and port-os. I creamed my pants when I saw the '07 lineup and was all for it, but those same friends bitched out that year. Finally went in '08, and had a blast. Have been each year since, and intend to continue that until Lady Gaga headlines.
Post by mattseven on Sept 23, 2010 12:26:02 GMT -5
I was having lunch with coworkers in the winter of '09. They casually brought up Roo. I asked questions and was convinced I should go. So I borrowed a tent and went solo because nobody else I knew was going. Had a great time.
That's when I became a Born Again Roostian. Now my religious convictions compel me to attend every year.
a good friend of mine, you might know her as mayonaise, has been for three or four years, always had a great time, but with my jobs and family i was never able to go...this year, my wife wanted to take a cruise, so i said you take a cruise, i'm going to bonnaroo...then the line-up dropped and i saw that dave matthews was headlining and "dark side" was being performed, that sealed the deal...i almost didnt make it though, my wifes grandfather passed the week of roo and she had to fly out to the funeral instead of watching the kids, so i stuck around until she came back and finally made it to the farm about 330 friday, parked next to the toll booths, and hiked it across the farm to pod 1(not fun)...found mayonaise and proceeded to have one of the best weekends ever...hope to see all of you guys again next year!!
finally made it to the farm about 330 friday, parked next to the toll booths, and hiked it across the farm to pod 1(not fun)...found mayonaise and proceeded to have one of the best weekends ever...hope to see all of you guys again next year!!
Ouch that's a schlep! Glad you made it to the beauty of Pod 1 though! Sorry about your loss.
Thanks...yeah i definitely got my workout out in that day, definitely used a taxi whenever i could after that...i enjoyed the seclusion of pod 1 very much, plus we were along the tree line so we got like 30 minutes more shade than anyone else...that and a bunch of free tee shirts when the guys selling them got busted and tossed their stuff under our cars!!
On another board I go to, there is a poster from Tullahoma who kept mentioning a huge and awesome music festival in Tennessee. I didn't have the money or mental trigger to go in 2009. But I had a few temporary jobs late 2009 and early 2010, got some money saved up. I was working at a place early in 2010, but got shown the door again in March. So that very day I lost that full time job, I bought a ticket to Roo. By then the lineup was already released, and was looking forward to it - but losing my full time job was enough motivation to do something for myself rather than just be a slave to working.
In '09, I was researching to see the Decemberists. I found out they were playing in Tennessee, in a place called Manchester. After more research, I shit myself due to the lineup. After some persuasion, I got the idea rejected by my dad. My girlfriend's dad, however bought a bunch of tickets for their family and I got invited. We went Friday and Saturday. I went all four days this year. Amazing experience.
My trip to Bonnaroo was a long time in the making. I first heard about Bonnaroo shortly after it happened in 2004, when I was reading an article about in either Spin or Rolling Stone (can't remember which one). I remember thinking "that looks like fun", but I didn't pay that much attention to it, because at the time, my taste in music wasn't that in line with the lineup; I loved Bob Dylan, and I liked My Morning Jacket and Dave Matthews Band, but the rest of the bands I either hadn't heard of, or was indifferent to, so I soon forgot about it.
In late May / early June 2005, a good friend of mine told me that she was going to Bonnaroo in a couple weeks. I looked it up online and I remembered it was the same festival I'd read about last year. I loved Modest Mouse, and I liked Jurassic 5, Jack Johnson, My Morning Jacket, Dave Matthews Band, and The Allman Brothers Band (who I'd just started listening to a couple months earlier). That year piqued my interest, but it wasn't enough to get me to pay hundreds of dollars and travel across the country to check it out, especially as it was just a couple weeks away and I didn't have a summer job lined up yet.
2006 was a turning point - it's when my tastes started getting far more eclectic and when Bonnaroo's tastes started getting more mainstream, and we kind of met in the middle. The same friend who went in 2005 told me she was going again this year. I asked her who was playing; as soon as she started listing off bands, I jumped out of my seat. "RADIOHEAD?! I fucking love Radiohead! Oh man, I'm so jealous!" I checked out the rest of the lineup and it only made me more jealous: Beck, Cypress Hill, Sonic Youth, Elvis Costello, Matisyahu and others. I would have gone that year too, except I was going to be out of the country during Bonnaroo. That was the year that I made the resolution that I had to get down there as soon as possible.
2007 rolls around, and even though the lineup wasn't as good as it was in 2006, I saw that my favorite band (The White Stripes) and another band that was in my top five at the time (Franz Ferdinand) were both playing, along with The Roots and many others. I so desperately wanted to go, but I couldn't afford it that year, as I was busy working like a dog to pay off some major repairs to my car after my accident.
In 2008, I was a little disappointed with the lineup at first, because there were no 'wow factor' names for me like there had been the last two years. But I told myself I'd wanted to go for too long, and that there was still enough music on the lineup to keep me entertained, so I went ahead and bought a ticket anyway. I had no idea what I was getting into, how I was getting down there, or that the cost of the ticket would only be a fraction of the total cost of the trip. But I went down anyway, met up with my friend and his crew who were coming down from Chicago, had the time of my life and never looked back.
^ As you said you liked MMJ by the point of 2004, did you catch the amazin' late night set? I didn't get into them until Evil Urges was posted in full on their myspace site. An old friend had burned me a copy of It Still Moves back in maybe 2004/05, but it didn't really grab my attention at the time. After Evil Urges came out I was sold though and their 'Roo set in '08 I am still pissed to this day that I was too schwasted to stay after they took a short intermission. Blew my mind what I caught though!
Post by theshining on Sept 26, 2010 17:57:36 GMT -5
I had heard about Roo for the first time in 2004 and was immediately interested as I had always wanted to go to a weekend long festival. I had planned on going to the 2005 edition after investigating the early years of the festival but I was convince to go to the relaunch of Lolla (it was alright, certainly no Roo, ) as my fiancee at the time and I were both huge fans of the Pixies.
Year after year plans were hatched to go and year after year they fell apart for one good reason or another. It sucks, especially now that I have been a couple of times, to know I missed farm sets from Pearl Jam, Radiohead, MMJ, Tool, etc.
Finally, in 2009 during the Superbowl my best friend and I started chatting about rumors we had heard for that year including Phish doing 2 shows. When the line-up dropped there was one "wow" band after another for us and we pounced on tickets. What a great experience that first time was in 2009 from top to bottom (everything that could go our way did) with NIN, Byrne, Phish, Mars Volta, Janelle Monae, and Delta Spirit blowing me away.
This year was great again and a different experience all together from 2009. I realize now that there aren't many good reasons to not go to Bonnaroo, I intend on going every year from now on unless some kind of life altering occurrence keeps me away.
^ As you said you liked MMJ by the point of 2004, did you catch the amazin' late night set? I didn't get into them until Evil Urges was posted in full on their myspace site. An old friend had burned me a copy of It Still Moves back in maybe 2004/05, but it didn't really grab my attention at the time. After Evil Urges came out I was sold though and their 'Roo set in '08 I am still pissed to this day that I was too schwasted to stay after they took a short intermission. Blew my mind what I caught though!
I caught about an hour and fifteen minutes of it, and perhaps my biggest Bonnaroo regret ever is not staying for the whole thing. One of my best friends from high school clued me into them around late 2003 / early 2004. He played me It Still Moves and I thought it was good, maybe nothing incredible but definitely solid - but nothing I'd just put on at home. I decided to check them out for 20 minutes at the start of late night, and I was so impressed I stayed for an hour. Then I left to check out MSTRKRFT, Superjam and Tiesto. As I was walking through Centeroo at the end of the night, I was surprised to see that My Morning Jacket was still playing, even though their set was supposed to end about half an hour earlier. So I hung out and watched the last 15-20 minutes, and realized what a mistake I made by leaving early.
Post by ilovefestys on Sept 26, 2010 20:56:44 GMT -5
back in 2002 I came across jambase.com and saw an advertisement for this new festival bonnaroo and realized that it was practically in my backyard only 2 1/2 drive from atlanta, I liked all the bands and had not seen any of them live, so I convinced my friend to go with me got my parents permission ( still would have gone if they didn't give me permission) I was 17 and had the time of my life, came back the next year and the next and have been to all 9 bonnaroos its a yearly tradition for me and a sacred place but unfortunately im getting burnt out on shows and it wasn't until the midnights on friday where I felt bonnaroo was even happening for me this past year. I'm worried 2011 might be my last year because its not as exciting to me anymore and that scares the living crap out of me.
Post by scissorbaby on Sept 27, 2010 10:15:47 GMT -5
about a year ago one of my friends told me about bonnaroo. I thought it sounded amazing, as did one of our other friends, so we all decided that we should go. We realized that bonnaroo was going to start the day of our high school graduation, and that it was only a week after my birthday. So, my friend's parents bought our tickets(as a present to their daughter, and me for graduating/turning 18). I got a job in February and started saving money from the trip, and my mom decided to go last minute. On thursday we graduated, then immediately left for the 12 hour drive to Bonnaroo. On the way home we were discussing going next year (:
For years we had gone to a few shows a year, as many as we could afford. We've never lived in an area where it was less than 2 hours (if not much more) to get to a show. We had heard about Bonnaroo but we had a baby and I thought we were too old, too square, festivals were for kids, etc.
Then in April 2006 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 38 years old and had a 5 year old son and a 16 month old daughter. The same day I was diagnosed I won an Ipod which was with me for every treatment, nearly a full year. I was pretty fucking sure I was going to die.
I couldn't plan anything for ages because of treatment and then some wicked side effects that came after treatment. But I started looking at Bonnaroo and decided that I didn't really care anymore if I was too old or too fat, or too square. I wanted to go. I didn't really care who was playing, I like some of everything.
We didn't have any gear, didn't have a clue what we were doing. We hadn't camped in years and it certainly wasn't Tennessee in JUNE!
So we made it to our first 'Roo in 2008 and it might sound like overkill but it was a life changing experience. There was a community of people who just didn't give a shit who you were or what you thought of yourself, we were all here for the same thing, the joy of music.
I was completely hooked. I was ready to buy my ticket for 2009 the while I was still on the farm. My hubby had the distinct post Roo bummer going on and wasn't too ready to go until he saw the 2009 line up. Then he was in. 2010 tickets were purchased as soon as they went on sale and one of the 2011 tickets is already taken care of (I came in 2nd in the fake beard contest).
I'm now nearly 5 years since my diagnosis and I'm planning to hang around for a while more. We'll be on the farm this June and we're taking the kids (now 9 and 5 3/4) to their first multi day festival in a couple of weeks. My birthday is Saturday and I'll be 43 years old and can't wait until June 9th
For years we had gone to a few shows a year, as many as we could afford. We've never lived in an area where it was less than 2 hours (if not much more) to get to a show. We had heard about Bonnaroo but we had a baby and I thought we were too old, too square, festivals were for kids, etc.
Then in April 2006 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 38 years old and had a 5 year old son and a 16 month old daughter. The same day I was diagnosed I won an Ipod which was with me for every treatment, nearly a full year. I was pretty quacking sure I was going to die.
I couldn't plan anything for ages because of treatment and then some wicked side effects that came after treatment. But I started looking at Bonnaroo and decided that I didn't really care anymore if I was too old or too fat, or too square. I wanted to go. I didn't really care who was playing, I like some of everything.
We didn't have any gear, didn't have a clue what we were doing. We hadn't camped in years and it certainly wasn't Tennessee in JUNE!
So we made it to our first 'Roo in 2008 and it might sound like overkill but it was a life changing experience. There was a community of people who just didn't give a Leno who you were or what you thought of yourself, we were all here for the same thing, the joy of music.
I was completely hooked. I was ready to buy my ticket for 2009 the while I was still on the farm. My hubby had the distinct post Roo bummer going on and wasn't too ready to go until he saw the 2009 line up. Then he was in. 2010 tickets were purchased as soon as they went on sale and one of the 2011 tickets is already taken care of (I came in 2nd in the fake beard contest).
I'm now nearly 5 years since my diagnosis and I'm planning to hang around for a while more. We'll be on the farm this June and we're taking the kids (now 9 and 5 3/4) to their first multi day festival in a couple of weeks. My birthday is Saturday and I'll be 43 years old and can't wait until June 9th
Post by tommyboy7328 on Sept 28, 2010 14:09:40 GMT -5
Well, the year was 2008 and the day was hot as hell......I had already been longing to go to Bonnaroo for quite a while but never made it for one reason or another. My best friend, Terry (cuppy) of then 18 years had been 4 times already but he was a single guy who already went to concerts all over the eastern half of the country and i am a married guy with 5 kids who did well to go see 4 or 5 shows a year within 100 miles of the house. I wanted so bad to go that year but was sure i wasn't going to go yet again cause i didn't have the $. Terry and i were working the Monday before the Roo and i had just told Him that i had about a %5 chance of going, although i was sure i wasn't. Just then (yes, literally, just then) My wife calls and tells me she got me a ticket and she insisted that i needed the vacation. Well i had no trouble being packed and ready and without sleep we took to the road ( a wopping 1 hour drive) at 4:30am on Thursday. The rest is history!! I have not missed since nor will i ever again. I love my family at my first home and i love my family and home #2, on the farm. I am sick, i know cause the Roo is on my minds at least a few hours everyday or , maybe hour. It's my Utopia and i can not wait till i am there again.
I remember being 11 years old and seeing the local news broadcasting about how little Manchester, TN in Coffee County was going to have a rock festival. Every year afterwards I would watch the news every night during that special weekend, and when it became extremely popular I would watch the programs ran by MTV and other music channels about Roo every time it was ran. At age 15, my family and I drove through Roo traffic on the way home from vacation, and I remember seeing people walking down the interstate. My dad was telling me how he hoped to never see the day I attended that "event", while my mother told him when I was adult I could make that decision and she hoped I would attend (she was majorly into concerts in her early days and brought me along without knowing to a Guns N' Roses show haha). My mother was who introduced the idea for me to go to Roo 10, because she had seen the list of bands and wanted me to see them young...All I got to say is thank God for a mother who loves music and understands the meaning of being young and living/loving life.
My friend Katya was going with a group to the inaugural 2002 Bonnaroo, and invited me with about one week notice. I unfortunately had to decline, because it was not enough notice to get off work that weekend and the trip interfered with the start of my summer classes. I heard such good things about the first one that I made sure it was on my radar in 2003. A handful of acts that most piqued my interest were: Neil Young, probably my biggest draw The Dead, even though I wasn't so much into listening to "all that hippie shit" back then I still thought they'd be interesting to see Flaming Lips, who had always been a good time since they first won me over at Lollapalooza 1994 James Brown, another legend I don't know if I'd have seen under different circumstances Liz Phair, whom I hadn't seen and for whom I harbored much residual adolescent lust Sonic Youth, because I was surprised seeing them had managed to escape me throughout high school I knew it was coming & wasn't taking summer classes that year, so it was a go and I got my tickets.
Katya's caravan's departure didn't mesh with other of our schedules. The Wednesday before, Beck was playing Chicago and a small minority of the intended group were going. I left Madison with our friend Deidre and we picked up Sandy, our third, in Chicago on the way down. We drove through the night down to Tennessee straight from the Beck show.
We weren't sure what we were getting into - we never did catch up with our larger group before we got inside. The three of us rolled with the punches. Six hours in line got us parked out in BFE near Pete Rose Way. Our supplies were pretty much a borrowed tent, a cooler too small for our needs, exactly one lawn chair, scant provisions, a small charcoal grill for some reason - which was a mistake, and not much else. Thankfully, the other people we knew had prime real estate much closer to Centeroo. We spent a lot of time at their site rather than make all those round trips to our humble BFE abode.
Thursday then had two stages with a handful of bands each, and the power went out briefly at one of them. Other Tent heavily featured tribute/cover acts that year. I believe my first-ever Bonnaroo schedule conflict was Mr. Brownstone, a GNR tribute band, playing opposite FLips. I wound up over-consuming on the fungi before the Lips set, probably qualified as a "heroic dose" that night; I distinctly recall hurling into a three-day porto while they sang "Happy Birthday" in the background. Fun times. Speaking of Happy Birthday... James Brown had his background singers sing it to him during his set. I later learned his birthday was actually in May and felt duped. Still, the hardest working man in show business put on a good set, albeit poorly attended in competition with SuperJam. Probably my favorite discovery of the weekend was the Polyphonic Spree, whose debut wasn't released until a few weeks later. I didn't know who they were going into that Roo, read in the guidebook it was Tripping Daisy frontman Tim DeLaughter's new project and had to check it out out of curiosity. They hit like a wall of sound and made me a Spreetard.
As much fun as I had, that weekend beat the crap out of me - as one's rookie Roo probably should. We decided it was too hot for grilling and wound up tossing most of that food, which wound up being a bit costly. Half our tent flooded during some of the downpour. The aforementioned FLips incident took a lot out of me by Sunday. Did not bring a hat & ran out of sunscreen... the burn was quite bad, especially around the ears. I somehow wound up with - literally - a blister on top of a blister on my pinky toe. Found that out Sunday, when the first one burst and I noticed I still had another quacking blister underneath the broken one. We left Sunday night and didn't get far on account of more storms. I dozed off in the back seat on the way out & woke up still in the backseat, but alone, in a hotel parking lot. It was the first of only two lifetime instances I woke up wondering which state I was in. When you're asking yourself that question, you know you're having a good time.
That weekend kicked my ass like no other in my life. Despite some of the setbacks, when all was said and done... it wasn't a question of whether I was going to go back, but how I was going to do it better the following year. It's been seven years now, and I just keep getting better and better at it... and intend to do so for years to come.
When it comes to be the time that I can't... my last will and testament contains the phrase "Cremate me and spread my ashes at Bonnaroo."
Post by tommyboy7328 on Sept 30, 2010 7:28:01 GMT -5
Kdogg that is a great story and i am glad to see that i am not the only one with the cremation plans with my ashes on the farm. I told my wife that was what i wanted after my first Roo in '08.
For years we had gone to a few shows a year, as many as we could afford. We've never lived in an area where it was less than 2 hours (if not much more) to get to a show. We had heard about Bonnaroo but we had a baby and I thought we were too old, too square, festivals were for kids, etc.
Then in April 2006 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 38 years old and had a 5 year old son and a 16 month old daughter. The same day I was diagnosed I won an Ipod which was with me for every treatment, nearly a full year. I was pretty quacking sure I was going to die.
I couldn't plan anything for ages because of treatment and then some wicked side effects that came after treatment. But I started looking at Bonnaroo and decided that I didn't really care anymore if I was too old or too fat, or too square. I wanted to go. I didn't really care who was playing, I like some of everything.
We didn't have any gear, didn't have a clue what we were doing. We hadn't camped in years and it certainly wasn't Tennessee in JUNE!
So we made it to our first 'Roo in 2008 and it might sound like overkill but it was a life changing experience. There was a community of people who just didn't give a Leno who you were or what you thought of yourself, we were all here for the same thing, the joy of music.
I was completely hooked. I was ready to buy my ticket for 2009 the while I was still on the farm. My hubby had the distinct post Roo bummer going on and wasn't too ready to go until he saw the 2009 line up. Then he was in. 2010 tickets were purchased as soon as they went on sale and one of the 2011 tickets is already taken care of (I came in 2nd in the fake beard contest).
I'm now nearly 5 years since my diagnosis and I'm planning to hang around for a while more. We'll be on the farm this June and we're taking the kids (now 9 and 5 3/4) to their first multi day festival in a couple of weeks. My birthday is Saturday and I'll be 43 years old and can't wait until June 9th
This is why I love Bonnaroo...this story proves, without a shadow of a doubt, that the power of music and good vibes makes the world a much better place!
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For Christmas in 2006 my brother-in-law decided to get his guitarist-obsessed friend a band DVD of someone new. He and my sister (alieblue) did some research and found My Morning Jacket. Though the friend ended up not really into them, alieblue and Karl fell in love. My sister did some more research and saw that they had played at this festival in Tennessee. They decided that they would go for their anniversary in 2007 and invited the non-MMJ-loving friend and me to come along.
At first, I wasn't into it. I don't like to camp. I get clausterphobic in crowds. I don't like being dirty. But I knew I'd regret it if I stayed home and would be jealous of my sister if she had a good time. As much as I hate camping, I hate being jealous of Alison even more. Ha!
So I went. And it changed me. I'm still not into camping other than at music festivals, but my clausterphobia is SOOOO much better and even when it does flare up, I know how to manage it. And I don't care so much about being dirty. I'm definitely a better person for having been to Bonnaroo three times.
Post by flymordecai on Oct 2, 2010 21:01:20 GMT -5
A friend showed me the 2006 line up. Pretty much knew I had to go to Bonnaroo eventually. A couple of friends went in 07, their stories reaffirmed that I needed to go. 2008 line up was stacked with bands I loved, my main draw being Sigur Ros. I was disappointed with the headliners but realized that wasn't a big deal at all.
Senior year of high school ended, went in 2008 with fellow noobs and a few 07 "vets". I saw every single band I wanted to see, don't know how I managed to do that. I still remember thinking to myself "I'm coming back next year" during Broken Social Scene's show on Sunday.
4 days of bonnaroo make the other 361 so much easier to deal with.
Post by colnolforbin202 on Oct 3, 2010 11:23:09 GMT -5
my best friend from rochester an di had decide 09 was our year, balls to the wall we are going to do the roo. two weeks before the shw i have my ticket ready and he is coming to pick me up in dc and drive us out there. he backs out. something life came up and roo was not possible for himime now. i posted an ad on c'list looking for a ide share and found fourteeen cats split between two rv's willing to let me ride and cam p in their sit for gas and food split. complete strangers. i didnt knwo a soul there. they also had tix to phish the wed. in knoxville and the 18th in pitt. so we ended up on tour. we go to shows all the time. rooo introduced me to my scond family and i am forever grateful, and i got to see the most spectacular event ever. i am going this year though regrettably missed last. lets bring back sci!
i found out about roo while i was planning my move to nashville back in 07. it was all i could talk about, seriously it was ridiculous how obsessed i was. once i found inforoo and all the kind, helpful rooster i was in heaven b/c none of my friends or family could stand me. i had been in nashville about two weeks and was leaving for roo on wed. when my dad came and told me that my mother had passed away. i immediately went back to texas to take care of things at home. when 08 rolled around i was torn as to if i should attempt roo again. after many talks with my family i decided that my mom would much rather me be celebrating her life with one thing we both loved and shared, music, than mourning the fact that she isn't here. words can't begin to describe the feeling of being on the farm and feeling like my mom is there with me. the moment i stepped into centeroo tears came to my eyes. bonnaroo lands on that anniversary every year and it's the only place i want to be. my reason for going to roo started as a love for music and has turned into so much more.
I'm a bit late on this thread, but I'm drunk and must share (Yay, drunk replies!):
First heard of Roo in June 2005, like, two days before the festival started and couldn't go. In February 2006, I sat down at a computer in the main library on campus to check the morning news headlines as I normally did and saw "Radiohead to Headline Bonnaroo". I was a sheltered kid and being WAY over adult age at the time, I decided to make an intense change and not miss Bonnaroo 2006. Radiohead had gotten me through those awkward teenage years that were expounded by lots of funerals. The next weekend, I waited at my computer until tix went on sale (they did 15 minutes early) and bought two for around $250 (they were roughly $125 a piece that year). My life has never been the same since and I'm GRATEFUL. ROO FO'EVAH!