From June 11 through June 14 Manchester was (peacefully) invaded by 80,000 people from all walks of life, yours truly included. This was my first year attending Bonnaroo, and let me tell you, it was everything I expected and more.
Bonnaroo is held on a 700-acre farm in (what feels like) the middle of nowhere, but it’s this reclusiveness that gives Bonnaroo its appeal. With bands like Dave Matthews, Trey Anastasio, Widespread Panic, Mars Volta and the Allman Brothers playing, concert-goers nights are crammed with varying sounds of music.
Smaller indie bands like Modest Mouse, Joss Stone, Jack Johnson, Bela Fleck, Gov’t Mule, Xavier Rudd, and Kings of Leon complement the bigger bands, offering a plethora of choices.
Don’t get me wrong, there is not a schism between “big” and “small” bands because at Bonnaroo, everyone is on an equal playing field. We all dealt with the mud, we all dealt with the scorching heat on Friday, and we all came for one reason: to experience music in a way seldom experienced.
To sum up Bonnaroo in one word, it’s community. My best friend and I camped next to two guys who, until June 11, didn’t know each other, and when we “moved” in, they didn’t know us; but by the morning of the second day, the four of us had become fast friends, grilling, drinking, and borrowing each other’s stuff like we were living on a commune.
From its inception, festival organizers were concerned with one thing: create a place where people from all over the world (we also camped next to Canadians, and people from Japan!) can come to experience music, and celebrate cultural differences. For those of you who haven’t yet experience what Bonnaroo can offer, I suggest you start saving for next year’s festivities.
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