Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo, man. I can't even talk about it. What an awesome experience. We went to Bonnaroo back in '03. My first festival. It literally changed my life. For the first time, I knew there were other people out there like me, people who would accept who I am no matter how strange or unusual or different, or completely ordinary. For the first time, I felt like part of a community. I wasn't alone anymore. Now take that experience, add the combined knowledge of two subsequent festivals (Coventry in '04 and AllGood in '05), throw in a kick-ass camp setup, and top it all off with some of the greatest music ever, and you have Bonnaroo '06.

We left on Thursday morning. Made a trip to Wal-Mart, one to Home Depot, two farmer's markets, and away we were. It took about 8 hours one way. Last time, we were in traffic for fifteen hours waiting to get in. No lie. This year, there was about 100 yards worth of traffic at the exit. They had traffic diverted to another exit to split the flow, but we stayed on the Interstate to the exit on the directions and we were right in the gate. I think from the time we hit the line to the time we were parked at our campsite was about 45 minutes. We immediately set up camp, since we were setting up for four people and had to get space for two tents. The people parked next to us were camping with friends elsewhere, so it worked out. Andy and Mike didn't show up until after midnight, but we had their tent all ready for them. We had a canopy this year, 9' x 12' and screened in on all sides. Chris built a collapsible frame for the grill we got from our neighbor, in fact he was finishing it at Bonnaroo after we got the campsite set up, and we rented a two-burner stove from the base marina. We also rented a couple of camp chairs and a 178-quart cooler, which took up almost the entire backseat of my car, but easily fit food for four people for four days. More than enough, actually. We had two guys camping behind us who had never been to a festival before, and didn't realize they were stuck there until the end, so they had no tent and no food beyond a box of Pop-Tarts and a few bags of chips. They, and two others camping next to us, became part of our Bonnaroo family for the weekend, and there was food, shade and good times for everyone. Chris and I went into Centeroo (the main festival grounds) to look around until Andy and Mike got there. They had a Ferris Wheel almost as big as the one at Navy Pier in Chicago. You could see most of the camping grounds from the top, but I bet it looked a lot better in the daytime. After we got back to our camp, Andy called and told us where he was, and we could see the information balloon from where we were, so we started in that direction. After tramping through a field of knee-high wet grass, tearing down a fence, crossing a road, and cutting through a cow pasture, we finally got to their car and grabbed all their stuff. We didn't sleep that night, just stayed up with our old friends and our new friends, battling the cold and catching up on everything. The sunrise was beautiful.

We saw Oysterhead on Friday. Les Claypool on bass, Trey Anastasio on guitar, and Stuart Copland on drums. OH. MY. GOD. Anyone who's a fan of Primus, Phish or The Police would love this band. They played a great set. Nothing out of the ordinary, but rock-solid. The pinnacle of the show came at the end, and it was one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen (and maybe some of those with me). We had left our spot near the sound board to go sit by the bleachers in the back of the field. The band launched into their last song, a blazing version of "There Ain't No Cure for Suicide". As we were watching, this chick came running past us towards the guys wearing the yellow Safety shirts at the gate, followed by a guy who obviously knew her. She was yelling, "Help me!" and latched on to the nearest Safety guy. It looked at first like she was running from the guy following her, but he and the guy she was holding on to started to pry her off. She freaked, started yelling and grabbing at this guy's walkie-talkie mike on his shoulder. Once they got her off and on the ground, she immediately starting grooving out to the music. She was sitting with her friend behind her, and another guy had knelt down to make sure she was okay. She was obviously tripping on something, probably acid. I've never seen shrooms do that to anyone, they're more of a body trip. Anyway, everything looked fine until the Medical team showed up. One guy bent down to talk to her, and she turned to talk to him, and from that angle I could see her lips moving, saying, "Save me, save me, save me," over and over. They grabbed a stretcher out of their truck, brought it over, and that's when she flipped the fuck out. The music had been steadily building, and they were jamming, rising to a peak intensity that was so loud and with so much energy that while all this was happening not twenty feet in front of me, I couldn't hear a thing, just watch in mingled horror and sympathy as they physically picked her up, thrashing and screaming, and strapped her down on this stretcher. When the music stopped, I could hear her screaming, "Damon!! Damon!! Help meeee!!" As empathic as I am, I was almost in tears. Imagine, if you will, having a good trip suddenly take a turn for the worse. If you've never done it, you can't really imagine, and if you have, you know exacly what I mean. Now, in addition to being totally unable to control your trip, you're suddenly totally unable to control even yourself, as someone takes over and straps you down for you don't even know what purpose. It was necessary, but heartbreaking at the same time. I wonder how much she was on.

Tom Petty played Friday night, with Umphrey's McGhee and the Disco Biscuits playing the late-night show. We decided to skip Petty and take a nap for the late show, but Chris was the only one who made it. The rest of us crashed until the next morning. I heard both were great shows. They were both taped, and they're already up on the torrent lists, so I'll get to hear them soon.

Saturday was more or less a down day for all of us. It was USA vs. Italy in the World Cup soccer game, which they were showing in the cinema tent, and everyone was excited and getting wasted drunk in preperation. Chris got a little too drunk, and after having an outrageously good time at our camp, he passed out on the grass. When we couldn't wake him up, Andy and Mike decided to go ahead to the game, and I stayed with him. He hadn't slept by now in two days, so even though we couldn't get him into the tent, I figured it was good for him. They came back soon after, saying the line for the cinema tent was wrapped three times around, and there was no way they were getting in. Turned out to be a 1- 1 tie. I read a little of my book, they napped, and Chris woke up around 5, in time to see Modeski, Martin & Wood, which was the only show he wanted to see that day until the Superjam late-night show. He went by himself and said they played a great set. We walked down to Centeroo to try and catch a little of the Radiohead show later that night, and I got to hear Paranoid Android. That's all I really wanted. I had found some really good mushrooms earlier that day, and planned to take them for the Superjam, but I should have known better and paced myself. I haven't done shrooms in almost two years, and that first time was in my home, with one of my best friends. I'm not good with crowds in the first place, but after that first experience I thought I would be okay. I had an eighth, and I ate the whole bag before we left the campsite. I started feeling the effects right before we got through the entrance line into Centeroo, and as soon as we got to the show and sat down, I started sinking into the ground so fast I sicked up the rest. That's the best part about organics, though...your body is equipped not only with warning signals to let you know when you've had enough, but also with ways to get rid of anything it doesn't want. I had to get Chris to walk me back to camp, because I couldn't handle all the people and I was freezing. I just crawled into my sleeping bag and watched the back of my eyelids for a while. It was fun. I missed a rockin' show, though. Some people were pissed that there wasn't actually a Superjam. Usually the Superjam is just all the musicians at the festival on one stage, anyone who feels like it can show up, and you never know who's going to be there. This year, the Benevento Russo Duo played with Trey and Mike from Phish, and Phil Lesh guested on a few songs. Trey, Mike and the Duo are going on tour, and we're going to see them in Atlanta next month for my birthday, so now I'm definitely looking forward to that a lot more than I was.

We had spent the whole weekend waiting for Sunday. A lot of people left after Saturday night, the ones who had come to see Radiohead, but there were still probably 60,000+ people at the main stage on Sunday. We walked down to the main stage gate before it was open, and when it opened we walked around the sound board and right to the rail. There we stayed for the entire day. We sat through the first band, The Codetalkers. Eh. After that, the day got much better. First up was Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. I always love seeing them. They were at Bonnaroo '03, before I really knew who they were, and I got to see them a year and a half ago in Burris Hall at VT with Andy. They always play a great show, and this one was no different. They had a few new songs, and it was cool because I usually enjoy the songs I know more than the ones I don't, but I loved it all! After that, moe. came on stage and rocked out. I saw them last year in Atlanta and wasn't really impressed, but Chris went back and saw them there a few months ago, and said they had really pulled their sound together. He was so right! They were tighter, better jamming, with so much energy. They're going places, no doubt. It was a great show. Last, but certainly not least, we saw Phil & Friends. Everyone was so hyped up about this show, because like the Superjam, you never know who's going to show up and play. For those who don't know, Phil Lesh was the bass player for the Grateful Dead, and after Jerry died, he started Phil & Friends, a rotating group of great musicians who play incredible music. Mostly Dead tunes, but that night they also broke out with "All Along the Watchtower", "Gimme Shelter" and "Midnight Hour". There were no guests for this show, but in the current incarnation he has John Scofield on guitar and Joan Osbourne singing. Anyone remember "What if God was One of Us"? Trust me, she's grown up since then. She's GOOD. What an AMAZING show this was! They opened second set with "Shakedown Street", only my favorite Dead song ever. I couldn't have asked for a better end to the festival.

And that's it. We left late Monday morning, had lunch with Mike and Andy just outside of Chattanooga, and headed back to reality. We haven't even unpacked yet, just brought everything inside. In two weeks it'll be my birthday, a week and a half after that we'll be seeing the show in Atlanta, and two weeks after that we'll be out of here. I can't wait!