Bonnaroo 2007!

This year I attended my first real music festival. Most of my companions and I were seriously under prepared for the intensity of heat coupled with no shade, and few facilities that had any sort of clean water. Despite these issues, we all had an incredible time.

The drive from NYC to Manchester, Tennessee took about 18 hours on the way down due to a few extra stops for food and gas. Fortunately, we were cruising in the Tiny Whales' van, which was more than comfortable for the 6 passengers. Having driven across the country in a mere 5 days last summer, I was prepared for a long ride, but the lack of scenery along our particular route was a bit disappointing. Finally, we arrived at the event fields and were shuttled into a parking pattern along with thousands of other cars and vans hoping to score a good site to set up camp for the next few days. Once we had established a camp or "home base" our group set out to explore the music area of the festival which at night was very disorienting.

Over the next few days, I saw a number of my favorite bands perform.
Some highlights from the festival included:
Being part of the massive crowd for The Police's set.

Watching people tripping on all sorts of crazy drugs, Wayne Coyne (of The Flaming Lips) appearing for his performance from the top of a giant spaceship and encapsulated within his now-trademark bubble.

Finally watching DJ Shadow make his incredible music live in a hoping DJ tent.

Seeing The White Stripes perform for the first time in two years. They showed us all that the new material is killer on the live stage.

To be continued.