Tao’s 2 Cents

Well, I bought my ticket for this year’s Bonnaroo music festival for the exorbitant price of $277. It’s a lot, but it’s such a crazy unique time that I feel like it’s worth. Plus, I’m also at a place in my life where I actually have some disposable income.

The last Bonnaroo I went to was in 2001, might have been 2000. The whole thing is a blur, probably partly Bonnaroo’s fault. Back then the tickets were $140 and I thought that was insane too. In fact, I thought it was so ridiculous I hatched a scheme with several other people to sneak in. Hell, I figured they’d make plenty of money off of me just buying food, water, and merchandise. The other people bailed out on the plan altogether so I went for it all by my lonesome.

It was a total adrenaline rush and I made, although I did get some scratches bumbling through the woods in the dark, not to mention stripping down to cross a creek that ended up only being like 2 inches deep but I couldn’t tell in the dark. I also got shocked by an electric fence and got a few more scratches when some people helped to pull me over the main fence around the festival.

I don’t feel bad about it mainly because of the stunning show of karma at the end of the festival. When a couple friends I met up with inside took me outside to drop me off at where I left my car, it wasn’t there anymore. The guy that lived on the other side of the street told me that the guy that lived on the side I parked my car was a dick and had towed it. He also told me he wouldn’t have towed me. Doh!

So, guess how much I ended up having to pay to get my car back? Yep, you guessed it $140. Me and Bonnaroo are square now.

Anyway, like usual they’ve got a good lineup. I’m really looking forward to Jack Johnson, Ozomatli, The Coup, Iron & Wine, Willie Nelson, Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Folds, Pearl Jam(they were my first concert), Drive-by Truckers, Kanye West, and several other less known bands. I’m sure I’ll discover some new ones too. The worst part about big music festivals is that two of the bands you really want to see are always playing at the same time on different stages.

The setting of Bonnaroo is pretty amazing too. I can’t imagine it’s changed too much. They set up streets and it’s just tents as far as you can see. People put up flags on tall posts and that’s about the closest thing you’ll get to an address. “Yeah, we’re in between the peace flag and the giant rainbow fish kite.”

It’s also like a demilitarized zone for drugs. The cops are just there to make sure nothing violent happens. Most of the people are pretty chill though. I figure this one concert brings so much income to the tiny city that it pays for their entire yearly salaries in just one weekend.

Those are just some of my thoughts on the concert. If you’re planning on going too then let me know and maybe we can meet up or even possibly car pool.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 10:31 am and is filed under Music, Culture, Peace, Media. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.