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June 20, 2007
Bonnaroo Epilogue
Reflecting on the Bonnaroo experience after returning to "normal" life, I've come to appreciate it more than I did while I was slogging across the fields, covered in sweat and dust, and wracked with the searing pain of chafed skin. I'll admit to envying those official bloggers from various local and national news organizations whose job it was to go, and who had press passes; but the triumph here is that a decent accounting can be undertaken even outside those parameters, if I do say so myself.
Regrets? I have a few. I missed seeing The Roots, The Decemberists, lifelong favorite Ralph Stanley, Ween, Gogol Bordello, Hot Tuna, Galactic, Ornette Coleman (who evidently collapsed and had to be hospitalized), Clutch, the jazz, the comedy (especially David Cross; I did wander by when Lewis Black was introducing Gov't Mule, but didn't catch his act proper), and a host of other things. It simply couldn't all be done; but even with that, I made choices. Oh, and even though former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones hopped around from stage to stage and sat in with all kinds of bands, I managed to miss his every appearance. Dang! Other groups, like, apparently, The Hold Steady, I had no idea that I should have tried out, until after I got home and started reading other blogs.
Still, there were the little moments, like when we strolled past a tent that was completely empty save a large, shirtless, sleeping man, and an equally large rubber mallet, and began discussing the probability that this man was, in fact, Thor. We decided that Thor had come to Bonnaroo to gather his strength and wait for the right moment to launch a counterattack against the monotheism that has held the day for the past few centuries. He doesn't seem to have made such a move, even though he'd have had quite the army of hedonistic, neo-pagan warriors at his side.
I don't know if I'll go back to Bonnaroo. It may have been a one-time affair. Full media privileges would, I'm sure, factor into such a decision. (My editor here says that the festival never responded to his requests to obtain a pass this year. Maybe there was some mix-up; I mean, who wouldn't include the award-winning Pulse?) Another factor would be the future artist lineup, over which there was much speculation at our campsite. Will Bonnaroo continue toward harder-edged rock, return to full-on hippiedom, or cash in with pop acts?
I do hope that my chronicling has sufficiently illuminated the event so that you who haven't been now have a better idea of what it's all about. As with most (but certainly not all) things, I recommend trying it once.
[Thanks for your continued patience as I gather and edit my small collection of video footage and photos. They'll be along as soon as possible.]
Bonnaroo 2007 | By pulseblogger | 11:45 PM
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