Image by Lauren Trzaska
Sunrise to sunrise at Bonnaroo 2008
June 12-15, 2008, in Manchester, Tennessee
By Lauren Trzaska
Published: June 16th, 2008 | 10:25pm
Every June, people from all over the country take a road trip to Manchester, Tennessee, for the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. For four days, roughly 80,000 people camp out and watch music from sunup to, well, the next sunup.
Upon hearing this year’s line up for Bonnaroo, my roommate and I decided that we absolutely had to go. I hadn’t been to the fest since 2004 and Val, my roommate, is what they call a “Bonnarookie.” We planned, packed, saved change for gas (a Toyota Yaris can actually take you 900 miles on spare change!) and picked up a third passenger, my boyfriend Andy. Andy was also a Bonnarookie, so I did my best to prepare them. They were told to expect heat, rain, sunburn, dirt, crowds, great music, and the most amazing weekend of the year.
As we drove overnight, south from Philly, we noticed many other cars full of people and camping equipment on the highway. At rest stops and gas stations, people shouted “Bonnaroooooo!” and talked to one another about what they were looking forward to most. As the sun came up we came upon Manchester. We were directed to the line of cars waiting to get into the festival. Having heard horror stories of not getting in for five-plus hours, our two-hour wait seemed easy. We got in and got to setting up camp.
Day One, June 12
The southern heat had already begun to settle in. We relaxed a while then decided to explore the festival grounds. As the sun began to set, the music kicked off. My night started with Back Door Slam. Half of the crowd seemed to know what to expect, while the rest was blown away. I continued on through the spacey set MGMT delivered to a fully packed tent, followed by a western-tinged show from Nicole Atkins and the Sea.
I took a short break for a late dinner before running off to Vampire Weekend. Once again, the tent was absolutely packed and everyone was excited for the show. A good portion of the crowd sang along as loud as they could, feeding the band even more energy. Finally, what better way to cap off the night than with a blistering rock set from Lez Zeppelin, whose tagline is “All Female. All Zeppelin.”
At the end of the set, most people began making their way back to their tents. I was exhausted, so a few hours of sleep sounded exciting to me. The campground was still buzzing with parties, but eventually I was able to sleep through it.
Day Two, June 13
Around 7 a.m., most of us campers began to spill out of our tents, as the sun had turned them into heat boxes. Sheets were laid out on the grass under shade houses and people went back to sleep.
After lunch, I got my day started with southern-style rockers Drive-By Truckers. My excitement built as I knew that Adele and Tegan and Sara were coming next. Adele’s voice was simply beautiful and perfect, just as on her album. During Tegan and Sara's set, Tegan let the crowd know that she was quite impressed by the “state of undress” in the crowd. She had overdressed for the heat. Rounding out my schedule for the night were the Raconteurs, M.I.A., Metallica (how’d they slip into the Bonnaroo lineup?) and My Morning Jacket. I always love seeing MMJ, even when it’s raining cats and dogs, although most of the crowd welcomed the cool water after a day of blistering heat and sun.
Day Three, June 14
As Saturday began, I finally got a grasp on the names and layout of the stages. This Tent was between the Other Tent and Which Stage, while That Tent was across Centeroo, near What Stage. Got it? I had some frantic running from stage to stage to catch all the bands I wanted to see. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings had the crowd swinging while Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet created a mellow feeling of bluegrass mixed with Eastern sounds.
Gogol Bordello stirred the crowd into a frenzy as they ran back and forth across the stage and even into the crowd. Next up was Cat Power, luckily in the shade of a tent rather than under the sun. She danced back and forth across the stage while her band played mellow blues tunes that perfectly accompany her soulful voice. Spotted side stage: Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam! Following Cat Power was Dweezil Zappa with his touring act, Zappa Plays Zappa. Zappa hardly went without a smile on his face as he watched the crowd dance to his music and wildly cheer on him and his band.
Almost every festival attendee made their way to the main stage (What Stage) for Jack Johnson and Pearl Jam. Johnson played his mellow surf classics and even had Vedder join him for “Constellations.” The crowd swelled to epic sizes as we all waited for Pearl Jam to take the stage. They were slotted for two hours, but most fans knew they would play beyond that. We were all pleasantly surprised when the band pulled out rare songs and played with more energy than most had ever seen from them. Vedder was humbled by the turnout and reaction of the crowd. Later on, folks backstage estimated that 40,000-50,000 people had watched the band.
With all the excitement going around, a large part of the crowd decided to go watch Sigur Rós. The sounds this band makes with its slew of instruments is something far beyond my imagination, but I love it. Still buzzing from the energy of this amazing day of music, I decided to try to stay up for Kanye West’s late-night set, slated for 2:45 a.m.. The crowd poured back into the main stage, but after four delays were announced, half of the crowd, including myself, decided we were just too tired to continue waiting.
Day Four, June 15
On Sunday I managed to take in Ladytron, Jakob Dylan (still amazingly cute), Aimee Mann, and Robert Plant with Alison Krauss. It was a much more relaxed day of music, much appreciated by all of us. I had a photo pass for the whole duration of the festival and photographed most of the bands I had watched. My festival highlight came when I found myself photographing rock legend Robert Plant and looked to the side to see my personal photography hero, Danny Clinch, standing right next to me!
Exhausted, dirty, tired, hungry, and completely ecstatic about the experience, we all piled back into the car for our ride home.
Issue #35
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