For many college students, summer is a time filled with freedom, love, bright colors, trips to the beach and concerts upon concerts. This summer, the ’05 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival delivered all those things and more.
This June, I was able to take part in the unique experience that is Bonnaroo. In 2002, Rolling Stone called Bonnaroo “the most ambitious festival of the year.” In 2003, the same publication named it “the American rock festival to end all festivals.”
For some it was heaven on earth, while for others it was an annoyingly humid camping trip filled with frightening hippies. It is very possible that Bonnaroo is the epitome of everything rock and roll has ever wanted to be.
Bonnaroo, which loosely means “Good Road” in French, was successful in its attempt to remove from its attendees all sense of time, responsibility, inhibitions and all other restrictions. It also supplied almost too many fantastic bands.
All this cost $150, and there was also the chance to go on a cross-country road trip. If that is not the summer vacation dream-come-true for an adolescent today, then what is?
In its fourth year, Bonnaroo Music Festival, located in a 700-acre field in Manchester, Tenn., sold about 90,000 tickets. Crowds at the most popular shows stretched further than anyone’s eyes could have possibly seen, and almost every person present literally slept in the mud for three or four nights in a row.
Headlining the show were The Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio, Jack Johnson, The Allman Brothers Band, the Black Crowes, Modest Mouse and about 60 others.
The festival’s official press release says it is “hailed among critics and fans for its near-flawless logistics, peaceful vibe, and progressive lineup.” The release describes it physically as featuring eight music stages and a 100-acre “entertainment village” filled with hundreds of art and food vendors, stages, tents and displays. The press release went on to say that Bonnaroo “takes on the microcosmic economy and infrastructure of a small city.”
Stages and tents were named “this tent,” “which stage” and “that stage,” and were obviously designed to confuse the many dancing young people tripping on acid, high on dope or blasted on anything and everything else you can imagine.
Every story you’ve ever heard about hippies or Amsterdam manifested themselves joyously and freely everywhere. Rain and heat didn’t stop anyone from having the time of their lives. Campers, tents and Volkswagens stretched on for miles surrounding the “entertainment village.”
With Woodstock as its model and a new generation of music lovers as its attendees, Bonnaroo was and will continue to be for many a haven for drugs, sex, rock n’ roll and no overwhelming evidence of any enforced rules. It was probably the only way to start a summer filled with concerts.
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