This blog at the Nashville Scene's website is a funny and apt conversation about the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival that inevitably happens this time of year. People discuss and debate the attendees, the culture, the music, the scene, why they wouldn't miss it for the world, why they've never gone, why they'll never go again.
This year's Bonnaroo is my fourth--third as an employee of AC Entertainment. For those three years I've been fortunate to have a certain upgraded experience at the festival. Not VIP by any means, just a tad more cushy than general admission campers. I don't have to walk as far to the stages and vendors, and I have free access to showers. It's nice, but it's still camping out in the elements and walking what seems like miles and miles a day until my hips and back ache. Every year I swear I'm going to train for the grueling physical experience, but I don't do anything other than try to figure out how I'm going to stay hydrated and avoid sunburn for three days.
The reason I love Bonnaroo and look forward to it every year is the astounding amount and variety of music delivered in four days' time on a handful of stages. The line-up never fails to include artists I love (this year: Neko Case, Tift Merritt, Bon Iver, The Decemberists, Andrew Bird, The SteelDrivers), ones I like but have never seen (Robyn Hitchcock, Band of Horses, Okkervil River, of Montreal), and ones I'm curious about (Phoenix, Vieux Farka Toure, St. Vincent).
I'll be lucky to see most of these bands because, truth be told, it's impossible to see everything you want. That's a dealbreaker for a lot of music fans--to pay the dough, get to the place and then have to choose against seeing bands you want to see. Forget it, they say. I'll see these bands one by one in other venues. Air-conditioned, indoor venues. Over the years, I've accepted that some amount of disappointment as well as surprise is part of the experience. Sometimes, the band I really wanted to see (Iron & Wine, 2008) takes the stage and I'm not feeling it at all. So I go see something else (Levon Helm). That's the way it goes. Weather, hunger, energy are all factors that affect my attention span and willingness to stand for an hour or more, elbow to elbow with strangers, jockeying for a good vantage point while the crew prepares the stage for the next band.
This year I expect some hits and misses, and when we all get back, we'll compare notes. I know there will be things I regret having missed. But that's the way it goes.
I bet you don't regret seeing Levon Helm! I love Iron and Wine too but when I saw Levon at the Theatre, I can honestly say it was LIFE CHANGING!
I definitely don't regret seeing Levon for the second time during his Bonnaroo set last year. Got to hear my favorites again, and when all the middle-aged guys around me were muttering, "'The Weight'...I wonder if he's gonna play 'The Weight'," I already knew that the band would close the show with it and couldn't wait to see these guys totally lose their minds. :)
This year I opted to relive David Byrne's show, which I just saw a few months ago at the Tennessee Theatre. Great songs, great dancers, amazing energy. Again, I was surrounded by really big fans who knew the words. So fun! So sometimes it's OK to go with the familiar. "Once in a Lifetime" is my absolute favorite.