Waiting in line for nine hours and nearly running out of gas in my car? Check.
No rain, 90-plus degree temperatures and persistent sunshine for four days? Check.
Constant dehydration? Check.
Less than four hours of sleep in a tent for three straight nights? Check.
Wait a minute, that sounds like a checklist for an awful experience on a road trip, right?
Not at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. These nuisances fall by the wayside when you have the kind of experience I have had for the last two years on a farm in the middle of rural Tennessee.
There are very few places on Earth where I would be willing to dress up in only a diaper and Mardi Gras beads to attend a Flaming Lips concert with five of my best friends, let alone not be completley laughed at for doing so.
And really, stories like that one form the appeal of a festival like Bonnaroo, for better or worse. It is easy to take a look at the music lineup with artists like Jay-Z, Dave Matthews Band, Conan O’Brien, Kings of Leon and the Flaming Lips or watch live video of the concerts at home and understand why people go through all the hassle to attend every year.
But the best aspect of the festival has almost nothing to do with the music, and that is remarkable considering I have seen two of the best concerts of my life at Bonnaroo — The Decemberists in 2009 and The National this year.
It is the people I have met at the festival, who are some of the most open and genuinely nice individuals I have ever encountered, that make Bonnaroo so special.
My camping neighbors made us hot dogs one day. A girl gave me some orange juice when she saw that I looked dehydrated during the LCD Soundsystem show at 3 a.m. A complete stranger hugged me after standing next to me during The National’s set. The list is endless, really.
The Bonnaroo atmosphere is very much like a state fair. Booths of exotic and delicious food often tempted me into trying their delicacies. People dressed up in everything from a full-on Native American outfit — with rainbow colors for the head dress — to shorts made of only old Batman comic strips.
And, of course, there is the music.
Indie buzz band Local Natives replicated every song off their debut album, “Gorilla Manor,” to perfection, engaging the crowd and proving that awesomely bad mustaches have no bearing on the quality of a band’s live show, even in the sweltering Tennessee heat.
The Flaming Lips put on the most insanely giddy show I have ever experienced, complete with two tons of confetti, hundreds of balloons, a bear mascot, a midnight start time, naked dancers on stage and the Lips’ own psychadelic take on the classic Pink Floyd album, “Dark Side of the Moon.”
The Dead Weather — guitar virtuoso Jack White’s newest side project — rocked the crowd at the main stage with their own version of crunchy blues rock n’ roll and a rousing introduction from comedian Conan O’Brien.
LCD Soundsystem’s metronomic dance music and triumphant swagger coalesced into a late night set for the ages as thousands of sweaty hipsters packed tightly into the tent to witness what could be the band’s last Bonnaroo set ever.
So, absolutely, the music remains a sizeable part of the experience. But, I might not put up with all the extracurricular hassles like money, heat or lack of sleep if it weren’t for the amazing atmosphere that the attendees of the festival create.
If you attend Bonnaroo, you will likely return from the festival with more sunburns than cash. Still, I doubt you will regret any of it.
The time of my life? For a second year in a row? Check.
—-Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected].