Bonnaroo: Manchester, Tennessee

6.14.09 My friend Jon came in from LA late last week for Bonnaroo. He gave me a call and said that I could have his laminates for Sunday. I’ve always wanted to see Bonnaroo, so I’m glad to take him up on the offer. I call my friend Jimmy to come along.  We drive down to Manchester, TN late in the afternoon. It’s warm, but still a nice day. We’re expecting lots of traffic since over 70,000 people are expected to attend. Fortunately, we drive straight down I-24 East with no traffic problems at all. We take the Manchester exit, venture off the main road into farmland for about ten minutes, then pull right into a parking area in a field. We do our best to determine some kind of bearings, then head for the stage area.

We pass some unique concession marketing

Passing through the tents a large variety of unusual items on the walk to main stage

 

After walking forty-five minutes through camp sites and vendors, we make it. There are a few bizarre sights to be sure, but it is a surprisingly chilled environment. No real pushing and shoving or attitude, despite there being tens of thousands of people.

Looking over tens of thousands of people facing main stage

Then looking back at thousands more behind us

Not long after our arrival, Snoop Dog launches his set on the main stage. We walk around to the other stages and see Coheed & Cambria, Neko Case, and others, all playing at the same time.

Coheed & Cambria

This Tent stage with Neko Case

With the laminates, we get access to back stage. It’s fun to see some people like Kristen Schaal, who plays Mel on Flight of the Conchords, standing near us sidestage watching Neko Case. The top benefit of having backstage passes, however, is having access to the Port-o-Johns backstage that aren’t sitting in water of unknown origin like the ones in the public area.

There’s a great vibe here. I’m really enjoying myself. Around 8:00 p.m., we head back to the main stage. Tonight’s headliner is Phish. They play well and are obviously a favorite of this kind of crowd. Bruce Springsteen will join them onstage later for a surprise guest appearance, performing “Mustang Sally,” “Bobby Jean,” and “Glory Days.”

We decide it’s time to start heading toward the car. We start walking in generally the right direction. Things look quite a bit different at night. We ask a couple of people who work there who assure us we must be in day parking. It sounds reasonable to us, although there was nothing that said what the names of the parking was.

After one hour and forty-five minutes of walking in the dark through fields and campsites, we finally find the car. It turns out we weren’t in the day parking area after all. We are beat. Fortunately, although we had some times of frustration, we’re in good spirits. Bonnaroo was a great experience. We both want to come back next year.