Bonnaroo 2011

********THE ROO CREW 2011********

 So sorry the pictures are not coming as quickly as we would have liked. Lost the camera, 2nd time, damn it! No more drinking and using the camera. My fault. I don't remember where I put it. So the pictures will be uploaded as soon as we can get some of Shaheen's up on the computer. Now we decide, do we get another camera or are we just doomed. That will be the achieles heel of our trip, the camera. I guess this is just another lesson on materialism.

Other than that, this trip is already amazing. Amber and I arrived with Cuz at Bonnaroo on Thursday June 9th evening around seven o'clock. Just imagine arriving to a 750 acre flat farm, with 100,000 people, all in tents and RV's and the temp is about 80 degrees, not too humid but still more than California. The three of us walked with all of our luggage (Cuz carrying his 50 lbs. bag) about a mile and a half to our campground. There, we were so stoaked to meet up with Shaheen and her two friends Meghan and Jena, who already had the camp set up. They drove down so they set up a sweet EZ-up, and had an ice chest. Without both of these items the festival camping would have been impossible. We were never at camp besides in the morning and....well just the morning. We on average went to bed at 3am and woke up at 7am, to the glorious swelter of the Tennessee sun. But without that EZ-up and the ice chest we would have had no where to relocate for more sleeping, eating and drinking. Thanks to Shaheen, Jena and Meghan for making such a kick-ass camp!

Bonnaroo is probably one of the most amazing and postive places that Amber and I have ever been too (besides Reggae on the River/Reggae Rising). First, where in the world can you see such an ecletic variety of music? Robert Plant to Eminem to Florence & the Machiene to Mumford & Son's to String Cheese Incident? Then on top of that add 100,000 diverse fans who all want to let loose in their own hippy-in-2011 way! Craziness, yet in a weird way it seemed normal and ideal. Throughout the weekend I continuosly asked myself how I could live like this for the rest of my life. Thier is nothing better in the world than listening to live music with the one's you love in the sun. Also just seeing everyone else doing the exact same thing creates an energy that is mindboggling and really authentic.

The Centeroo is where all the music took place. It consisted of 5 main stages (What,Which, This, That, and The Other), a 40 foot waterslide, a sports bar, a mushroom water fountain (life saving), tons of food booths, artwork, a beer garden (also life saving), a carnival, and last but not least more dust than I can explain. The heat added another element, at least 90 degrees each day with 40% humidity. But the Centeroo is where we lived. Each day Amber and I would bring a change of clothes for the night and we would "concert jump" for 12-13 hours each day. Our camp was so far from the Centeroo, and it was so hot, we decided to make the trek as little as possible. So the days would start with some BBQing at the camp (and eating the bomb food Jena made), a little drinking with the neighbors, and then the trek into Centeroo. As soon as we got to Centeroo we took a rinse in the water mushroom.

The music was the best part, don't get me wrong!! When we arrived our energy shot through the roof as soon as we heard Anthony B on the first day. Here is a recap of who we saw in order. Friday: Anthony B, Matt& Kim, Atmosphere, Florence + the Machiene, My Morning Jacket, Lil Wayne and Pretty Lights. Saturday: Black Uhuru, Alison Krauss & The Union Station, Mumford & Son's, The Black Keys, Eminem, Girl Talk. Sunday: Iron &  Wine, Robert Plant & the Band of Joy, and then finished at the Sport's Bar for the NBA Finals game. I think that's right. Also waiting for other shows we saw/heard Bassnectar, Cold War Kids and String Cheese Incident. SO sad to have missed Buffalo Springfield, Wiz Kalifa andThe Strokes, but you have to make sacrifices for the music that you love. Cuz spent all day at the main What stage from 2 pm until 1am on Saturday, holding it down so that we could get a sweet spot for Eminem. Not to brag, but with all of the people and all of the shows that we saw we were suprisingly close to the stage for most of the acts. We had to stand for an hour and a half in one square foot, with hundreds of people surrounding us, through a small lightning and thunder storm - the only rain of the festival - to see Eminem. We were so close to the stage and his concert was the most incredible live rap show I have ever seen in my life, it was all worth it. He lit up the stage with his prescence. On Friday after My Morning Jacket ended at 11pm we had to wait until 1:30 for Lil' Wayne, so Amber and I found a comfy spot by the sound booth near the front of the stage and slept until about 1am as the crowd filled in around us. We woke up surrounded by people, just as the DJ started to jam. It was perfect a little nap before his 2 hour set and another one of our favorite acts, Pretty Lights. Pretty Lights is my favorite live DJ, picture 16 screens with the craziest lights and colors you have ever seen-CRAZY!!!! Our big suprises were Robert Plant and Atmosphere. They both put on such good quality shows with conscious and positive lyrics. Mumford & Sons and Florence + The Machiene were also a couple of our favorites. The music at this festival is so unique because of the variety of tempos, instruments, beats, and lyrics. I mean, there is some kind of music for every person at this festival. And four days of it, I think I have found my new idea of an afterlife.

We are going to Bonnaroo again, and next time we are bringing even a bigger crew. This festival changed our lives and we know we will be back. Thanks for all the people who put it on and for our awesome friends who came with us, you know who you are. Also I could not have been happier to spend it with my lady. For a festival with 100,000 people it really was not that overwhelming, next year though an air-conditioned RV sounds good, and I never thought that I would say that in my life.

So no word can really explain this place, you just have to go to Bonnaroo to experience it yourself. This was a great kick-off to our adventures. I will put up some more pictures soon. Take care and LIVE THE ROO!