Bonnaroo is Legendary.

The forecast called for rain on all four days of the festival. On the first night, we made it to Bowling Green, Kentucky to stay in a hotel before the rain began. It thunderstormed Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, we headed out to Manchester, Tennessee to wait in an expected two-three hour line of cars. However, the wait ended up as eight hours! Allison and I sat in her car until I had to pee. Then, I got out of her car and into the bushes (as did many other patient Bonnaroo goers). We had packed two coolers with gatorades and hummus and cheese sticks, so we were set not to starve. (I also packed glow bracelets-extremely necessary for Crystal Castles and MGMT). When we finally made it to the site and set up our tent, it was around nine p.m. and we had missed Murs. After settling in, we set off to venture the farm (with the two guys camping beside us). We probably were (sadly) the farthest away from the stages than any other campsite. Walking to "Centeroo," where all the stages are, took around 35 minutes. But it wasn't a boring walk. There were food vendors and clothing tents and drunken men wearing full body thongs and yards of portapotties along the way. We proceeded through the rain and the mud, to reach the "Silent Disco" tent, where one wears headphones to hear the music and dance around. The Hood Internet was Dj-ing, so I was pretty pumped to hear what they had to offer live. Allison wanted to hang out in the tent for the rest of the night, so I accepted the cold rain and continued my musical night with Tobacco. It was a good thing I brought two flashlights, one for each of us, because the grass around our campsite reached to my knees.
Friday and Saturday are like big fun blurs in my mind.
Supposedly the turnout this year was a 15% increase from last year- meaning that the crowds were SWAMPED. I didn't mind there being so many people, but I did get irritated when couples would start grinding on my back.
On Friday, Animal Collective played with a huuuuge crowd. I tried to avoid the onslaught of the sun by asking people around me for a drink from their camelbacks here and there. And I mean, I'm a dance machine, so it was a very unwise decision for me to forget to bring more water. After Animal Collective was finished, most people, including me, pushed up front to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This was the sickest show I've seen to date. The ever-impressive Karen O. dropped it like she just downed some Mountain Dew Throwback. They played a lot of songs from It's Blitz! and I was invited to go up on this guy's shoulders to get an AWESOME view of the stage and the crowd. After the show was over, I hauled away through the ankle high mud back to find Allison. Extremely satisfied, A and I walked to the main stage to see the Beastie Boys from afar. Although we weren't right up in the crowds, it was a very magical time indeed! The Pens won during Intergalactic and we lived it up, screaming that PITTSBURGH WON. I think every single drunk man passed out on the lawn was intrigued by my news- that Pittsburghers are WORLD CHAMPIONS. We walked back to the tent, merrily yelling with other Pens fans. Allison called it a night while I returned to the stages, still wearing my P hat. I met up with the guy who let me on his shoulders, Mark, and his friend, Sarat to get down to Crystal Castles. Oh yeah, they're both from Pittsburgh, so Mark was shirtless, but wearing the Pittsburgh flag as a cape - certainly, the way to get on stage for Girl Talk. Crystal Castles set off my night of chaotic dancing. They worked their electronic magic and the girl fell back into the crowd while still singing/screaming. In order to get on stage for Girl Talk among the some 75k people watching, we had to get to the other side of the stage. That part was easy. Then we had to push through the VIP crowd who got first dibs to go on. I squeezed through, but ended up stuck between the gate and the floor before the stage. I kept my eyes on the staff and hopped the gate, landing on some girl who didn't mind. But because there were already too many people on stage, I remained on the stairs leading up to the stage. I saw the camera man staring at me and after about fifteen minutes, was able to convince him to tell a staff member that I lost my VIP card. Thus, I was able to get on stage with Girl Talk. I reimbursed the camera man with a kiss on the cheek and bounced that with the crowd on stage. I think Girl Talk would have wanted that anyway, being that it was a night for Pittsburgh! and I was representing.


(the music doesn't work on blogger, I guess)

On Saturday, A and I chilled back to see a little of Elvis Perkins and then to see Bon Iver. I had to go up to the side to see Justin Vernon with my own eyes for a few favorite songs. I wanted to get up front for Of Montreal so I wouldn't have to shove my way to see The Decemberists, who followed, so after Bon Iver, I was absorbed back into the crowds. I guess Drew Barrymore is dating Justin Long because they were both on the sides, feet away from me, waiting for Of Montreal to go on stage. It was a strange combination of die hard fans and people who were listening to Of Montreal for the first time. As expected, the singer amused the crowd with his crazy voice and it also helped that there were bizarre mythical animals running around. Fortunately to her wee structure, Allison was able to squeeze her way up front with me to see The Decemberists. Of course, Colin worked his magic on his fans, and the crowd watched the performance calmly, singing along with him. They started the show by playing their most recent album, The Hazards of Love, in its entirety. There are two women singers on this album, one of whom is part of My Brightest Diamond - who I'm not really into - but I was able to understand why they chose her, because seeing all of them perform together seemed very symbiotic. After they walked off stage, the crowd asked for more, and the band came back on to (thankfully) play some of their older songs! With full band intact, The Decemberists played many of my favorites over their set time and ended right when I became completely exhausted and hungry. I ran through the fountain, clothed and then A and I went to sit on the lawn to hear a little Bruce Springsteen, as she had promised to see for her dad (and for every male who for some reason would give their left nut to see him). After a little Bruce, A and I went back to the tent so I could change out of my drenched clothes. We then went to meet up/drink up with Mark and Sarat. This was probably the most hilarious time of my weekend. [Insert non-sober activities and conversations here] Running late to see Yeasayer, Mark and I pretended to relay with a bottle until we were yelled at and then somehow we were at the stage and I found my glow in the dark headband around my neck. Mark drank a little too much and ended up feeling sick, not a state helped by MGMT, so he headed back while I stayed behind determined to dance to Time to Pretend. The crowd was insane and I was not able to salvage my flashlight which I dropped somewhere. I still got down and was able to make it back to the tent without being able to see.
Sunday, somehow, I had the energy to get up and A and I went to see Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. We mostly just sat under a tree and made fun of the passerbyers.
(green man!)

We roamed the shops afterwards and then walked over to see Andrew Bird. The sun was incredibly strong, so Allison headed back to the tent to pack up. I stuck around and watched Andrew play his violin and xylophone and guitar with ease. I also had this guy tell me that he would wear my dress if he were a girl (actually not the first time I heard this from a man while wearing that dress). Lindsey also popped up during the show to sway a little and then to disappear a few times - a frequent occurrence during the whole weekend. Before Andrew Bird even ended, I was sure that I was going to plop very shortly and pass out. So, I savored my last hour at Bonnaroo, looking at the music maniacs while dragging my feet to the tent. The evening and night were spent on the road going back to Bowling Green and back to the same hotel we stayed in on the way to get there. I merrily passed out (clean after four days of not showering) before eleven in my queen sized bed.

I can't wait to go back for next year's festival! This year had probably one of the best line ups I could ever wish for and I still wasn't able to see everyone, so I wouldn't care if I next year only a few of my favorite bands came. It's weird listening to music now off of my laptop, where is the bass and why isn't it blasting into my ear drums?!