The Beautiful Blur: Bonnaroo 2008

I'm calling it the "Beautiful Blur"...for more than one reason. Some of you will understand, some may not.

It is really hard to write about an experience like this...at least it is hard for me. It was such a unique experience that trying to write about it pales in comparison of living it. It was hands down the most wonderful thing I have done in my entire life. I could possibly give up my worldly possessions and live the Bonnaroo life forever.

So here is my account:

Day one:

We stayed in The Knights Inn motel in a city somewhere outside of Manchester. It was crummy, the sheets were dirty, but four hours of much needed sleep won out over cleanliness, I suppose it was a way to prep for four days sans shower. We drive into Manchester rapidly enough and are greeted by the longest line I have ever seen on an interstate in the opposite lane of traffic. We take an exit and get in line.

I heard that the wait was brutal, two or three hours, and I was hopeful that it would only take two. Four! It took four hours to go 15 miles. I ate homemade beef jerky, listened to Bonnaroo radio, applied more sunblock, traded places with my husband Dallas and let him nap while I drove...er, I mean, sat in traffic. My saviors during the wait were a group of young shaggy blonde haired frisbee players who a several cars up. I kept my eye on them and when their frisbee game ceased and the sprinted up the road to get back in their van, I knew it was time to start moving an few inches. They played frisbee a while, ran back to the van, moved a few inches, jumped out of the van, then played more frisbee. That lasted about 3 1/2 hours until there was no more grass for them to play on. Then I got a bit grumpy...until I finally saw ext 114. It was closed. I woke up Dallas and we waited about another 30 minutes to get to exit 112. Finally we were at the gates.

We get up to the guy who is supposed to check out the truck. We get out of the car and he glances in the truck bed, opens the cooler and says, "ya'll look OK, I trust ya", pretty funny huh? A few people in front of us were guzzling down Red Stripes since they don't allow bottle beer. They looked so yummy. I love Red Stripe. I should have gotten out to help them finish those tasty beverages.

So we are finally IN Bonnaroo. We are in line for about another hour waiting to get to out designated camp site. Damn, there was a lot to look at in line...little did I know I wasn't seeing anything yet! We get to our area and I jump out in full force to claim as much land for ourselves as possible...but first things first, I pop open a can of beer for each of us. We get our shade tent and regular tent up with lightning speed and help our neighbors put up there's as well. There is more than enough room for us all.

Thursday's shows are not the best and for good reason. We spend the night looking around wide eyed and acclimating ourselves to the Roo lifestyle, which isn't too hard. Virtually no rules, a utopian community at its finest. The entire time I was there the only altercation I witnessed was a man on acid who was battling a garbage can that had been accused of breaking his leg. He had to be controlled by security, who by the way are pretty lax and probably partaking in the same holy relics as the Rooers.

I did see some shows Thursday that were noteworthy but we never really sat down and listed to a whole set that night. We mainly scoped out which tent was where, which becomes a feat in itself when the tents and stages are named, That, This, The Other, Which, and What. I believe the shows we listened to on Thurs were as follows: MGMT, The Battles, Lez Zepplin, and Dark Star Orchestra. I remember walking by The Battles stage and being pretty impressed. I missed Vampire Weekend which I was looking forward to but it was just impossible to see everything. Actually, I may have seen them and just not know who I was seeing or where I was. There was just entirely too much to take in that night to be sure what I was saw. Oh, and the weather was to die for Friday night. There was such a nice breeze and none of the nighttime humidity you feel in Louisiana in June.

Getting back to camp and going to sleep was nice since those four hours at The Knights Inn were all we had since Tuesday night. I was loving the air mattress we brought!

OK, I'm going to have to continue this another time. Maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday recollections (those are way better).