The Rest of Roo...in pictures

Since Bonnaroo is old news, I'll forgo the day by day blabber and get to the good stuff...photos! (Videos for Rothbury, I promise!)
Some of these photos are from a friend (and photo major) who was also at Roo. His name is Brandon Tobin and you can check him out at BrandonTobin.com :)

Welcome to Manchester, TN...home of Bonnaroo (and not much else).

Some of the local color, keeping us entertained while sitting in miles of traffic

Signs that we were nearing the end of the traffic...

Thoughts on BB King: BB KING ROCKED THE HOUSE

Before he went on stage to play, the Mayor of Manchester and the Mayor of Coffee County (the county that Manchester is in) presented BB with the key to the city. After thanking them graciously, the 82 year-old musician took a seat in the center of the main stage. He made a comment about how he was too old and tired to stand and play. When some musicians sit to perform a show, they lose the energy and attention of the audience. Not BB King. He had more stage presence and energy while sitting than some bands ever have thrashing around stage.

During the breaks in the songs, he'd introduce a member of his band, making sure that everyone applauded for them. Then he'd tell some sort of story or make a comment about his songs. I don't exactly know how to put it, but BB is just cool. His voice, deep and worn from years of music, was steady and calming. It was like the voice of a grandfather, down to earth, but filled with wisdom. And his face, (though he looked the size of a garden gnome from where I sat) projected on the TV screens on either side of the stage, was filled with wrinkles and lines, like a roadmap or a timeline of his years.

I could go on, but I won't bore you. I'll just say that if you ever have the chance to see BB King in concert, do it, it's worth every penny.

During one of our favorite activities--rejoicing in the cold goodness of the fountain--we discovered a parrot, just chilling in the fountain. There's no dogs allowed, but apparently parrots are okay.


This is my horrible view at LUPE FIASCO. Though they only gave him a 45 minute set (pathetic!) he made every minute count...Most memorably, he began his song "Daydreamin'" with some incredible vocals and then burst into the song (at which point, the crowd went nuts).

I know, all of the show photos look the same, but this is Talib Kweli, another fantastic hip-hop artist that went on after Lupe. It was really disappointing to see the crowd thin out for Talib...Kanye West was supposed to be performing on another stage a few minutes later, so most left to see him instead. I proudly stuck around for Talib, but the show wasn't the same. Talib rushed through his set...He rapped through his songs way too fast and had few positive "pump up" things to say to the crowd. You can't blame the guy--he's Talib Kweli--he deserves an audience. I will say that one of his most popular songs "Get By" was outstanding, and those still in the crowd were clearly hyped about it.

As you may have heard, Kanye West was a let-down. He was set to perform at 2:45 AM on Sunday. I arrived from the Talib show to see an angry crowd and a note across the big screen saying that Kanye's show had been delayed until 3:30. As 3:30 came and went, the crowd grew more and more hostile, expletives were shouted and the crowd began booing. Perhaps to keep the crowd happy, smoke was released, clouding out the starry Tennessee sky and giving the crowd hope that Kanye was soon to come...no such luck. By 4:30, I was thinking of the tent and how I would be awakened by the heat of my tent at 6 AM. I was tired...no I was exhausted...and I figured Kanye was a no show. Our group headed back to the tent. Just as we had exited Centeroo, we heard him. There was no turning back though. "Kanye will be at Lollapalooza" I told myself. Apparently everyone else had the same idea because, from what I heard from others, Kanye's crowd was tiny. I had also heard that he gave a weak performance, not even bothering to apologize or even engage with his fans.

By the next day, graffiti phrases had appeared all along the borders of Centeroo. F*$# Kanye, and other hateful phrases had been created by Kanye's former fans. It felt fitting that just the night before, Chris Rock had made a joke about Kanye's enormous ego.

Anyways, that's it for Bonnaroo. Look forward to some pre-Rothbury posts and some day-by-day coverage of the festival (photo, video, etc.). I'm pumped.

Bonnaroo Day 1.5: Wednesday Night/Thursday

Ah, Bonnaroo, Bonnaroo...where to start....

I guess I'll begin by saying that this year's Bonnaroo was my first major music festival. I've been to the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and Warped Tour a few times but that's about it. So this was my "test run" before Rothbury and Lollapalooza. Those of you with more festival experience will have to bear with me here...

I was lucky enough to go with a group of people in a Minivan...and luckier still that one of the guys in our group volunteered to drive for 8 hours through the night.

At sunrise we stopped to stock up the cooler with $300 worth of food and camping supplies (way way too much for the record). We drove another few hours to Manchester, Tenn. As we neared the area, traffic began getting thicker and thicker along the highway. We soon discovered that it was backed up over 17 miles...and I had to go to the bathroom. I'll spare you those details however.

Finally, two or so hours of bumper to bumper traffic later, we were inside the campgrounds. We hit the ground running in the thick of the Tennessee heat and began setting up camp. Oh, a bit of tent advice: make sure your tent works BEFORE arriving. A group of my friends ended up with a makeshift tarp-and-stick style shelter after realizing that all of the tent's poles were broken. Sounds okay? Try it in the rain.

In the refugee-like campsite, space is extremely limited. We ended up having plenty of space, but rumors were spreading about girls literally beating each other up over camp space. I'll chalk it up to the heat.

There weren't many shows to be seen on the first day when we arrived (Thursday) but we headed down to the main festival area, Centeroo, to check it out anyway. The border of Centeroo is made of plywood walls which is basically a graffiti free-for-all. The walls become more and more decorated as the weekend wears on.

We checked out some of the stages (whoever named the stages "Which", "What", "This", "That "and "The Other" is a sadistic, chaos inducing jerk) and watched people at the Silent Disco. The Silent Disco, for those who don't know, is a dance/club style tent where all participants wear noise canceling headphones--including the DJ. Its quite a sight to see--everyone dancing to the same music that no one else can hear. Actually, my biggest Bonnaroo regret is not participating.

We saw the Centeroo market, which is essentially hippie venders selling various hemp-made clothes, tie-dye t-shirts and organic goods.

We then left, hoping to get some sleep in before Bonnaroo kicked into high gear.