side effect

we're 150 miles from the 'roo, at a gas station, & I get back into the
car-and smell pot.

its the gift of bonnaroo that just keeps on givin.

the end of the 'roo

bonnaroo 08 is over. hope is excited to get home & take a shower, & I
(sam) am depressed to the point of tears that the 'roo greatness must
end.

over the past 4 days, we've seen over 40 shows, watched the sun rise
with 80,000 other people, breathed enough 2nd hand smoke to develop
lung cancer before 30, met rock stars, didn't shower-and listened to
some absolutely amazing music!

i'll update the blog with a review of all the banda we saw. there
were some new faves (tiesto, ladytron, lupe fiasco), some great
rockers (rilo kiley, metallica, the raconteurs), & some better left
forgotten (the sword). overall, I am completely overwhelmed by the
fact that now I can say i've seen robert plant, bb king, pearl jam,
adele, death cab, & jack white live.

let the happy an sad tears come.

rockin out of the 'roo-
S

it's official

the 'roo is smelly. after 4 days of intense heat, rain, fog, and oh
yeah, 80,000 people, the 'roo has a funk. everything smells-cars,
venues, booths, camelbaks, people-we've got the funk.

but death cab is today. and a funky disco group called ladytron that I
want to check out. so, we're partying on-even as the smelly kids.

an open letter to kanye west

dear kanye,

showing up 2 hours late to your show is rude. never apologizing, or
even talking to the audience, is an unforgivable offense here in the
south. your momma needs to slap you upside yo head.

not honored that you even showed up for the 'roo greatness,
Sam

the 'roo dictionary

'not so much green!'

'roo saying/expression

definition: what you say when you enter a vacant (green sign)
port-a-potty, only to find it occupied & in use. usually accompanies
flailing hand motions & humiliation.

S

skin cancer, party of one...

and yes, i did wear sunscreen

i can die a very happy girl now

drive by truckers

adele

the raconteurs

rilo kiley

chris rock

metallica

my morning jacket

and finally, up til 4am dancin to the best techno spinning ever, tiesto
ahhhh......
Sam

to JDH

the camelbak is of the Lord. you are awesome.

ps-drive by truckers was better than expected.

lessons from day #1

in no particular order, & all typed on my cel phone's tiny keys, so no
comments on spelling:

1. don't complain about being hot-everyone's hot. and sweaty. and
already smelly. but there is great music, & an occasional breeze, so
just enjoy what you paid $ ( or won tickets) for.
2. make sure to check in & see which artists are signing autographs @
the sonic village-newton faulkner is my hero.
3. the silent disco is flippin' sweet-words can't describe it. go as
often as you can
4. make friends w/ your camping neighbors-you will need them to help
you with your tent, and they will appreciate homemade cookies.

all for now-off to find shade before drive-by truckers

Sam

the first act

we made it to the roo just in time to almost kill each other over setting up our tent, grab some water, and head over to 'that tent' to see newton faulkner.

in one word: amazing

i've been a faulkner fan since i heard him on the bridge-his 'hand built by robots' cd is a great blend of rock, folk, even a little reggae mixed in. as we found out tonight, faulkner not only writes his own stuff, but is a one-man band-and does a great job at keeping the audience entertained the whole time.

check out his finale show below-it was topped only by the fact that i got to meet him after the show, get his autograph, and a picture!!

oh-and the roo in general has been awesome-completely huge, overwhelming in everything to do, and filled with people-totally great!

more pics and such to come soon-

Sam

addition to the 'roo rules #1

when checking in as a guest, ALWAYS bring your camera-cause you never know when your check-in line will be right next to the artist's check-in line.

i'm still kicking myself.
S

on the road to the 'roo!

oh yeah-bonnaroo or bust!!

so far, the only problems we've encountered is me (Sam) ripping my nose stud out at 5:35am, and hope's printer not cooperating in printing off a schedule for us.

luckily, we're off to a land of worry-free music greatness-ahhhhhhh!!!

Sam

What Does One Really Need at the 'Roo?

Hi all... Hope here, attempting to document the necessities (well, Sam and Hope's necessities) for our trip to Bonnaroo, since I'm not sure what else to write about...

So what does one need to take with them to the 'Roo?

After a brainstorming session Monday night, here are our must-haves to make this adventure what we all hope will be a fun life-long memory!

Random Necessities

- inflatable flamingoes (or in a pinch, the kind you stick in your yard- for ambiance, of course!)

- a giant beach umbrella (for shade)

- a tent for two

- 2 tarpaulins- one for underneath the tent and the other for above

- rope (just seems like a multifunctional item that can always be put to good use... I'm sure MacGyver would approve.)

- poles (for tarp/canopy)

- luggage lock (for locking our tent, of course!  we don't want any visitors- friendly or non!)

- battery powered lantern

- sunscreen (SPF 100 for Sam and SPF 15 for Hope)

- bug spray

- rain jacket

- toilet paper

- shower things

- white shoe polish for writing "Bonnaroo or Bust!" and other messages on the car windows

- a cooler

- an electric hot water kettle aka "hot pot" (for Hope's coffee and for hot foods such as mac n cheese and ramen noodles)

Foodstuffs

- bread

- peanut butter

- jelly

- trail mix

- chips and salsa

- goldfish crackers

- fruit cups, apples, bananas, blueberries

- nutri-grain bars

- easy macaroni and cheese

- ramen noodles

- coffee (or else Hope will be a withdrawn, unhappy 'Roo camper, and nobody should have to experience that!)

- cookie dough that needs no refrigeration (clearly this is the list of 2 single females!)

- crystal light drink powders (orange, lemonade, strawberry-kiwi)

- beer (some to enjoy ourselves and some to bribe others should we need help getting our tent and tarpaulin up... kudos to Chris Harper for the tip!)

- various and sundry other liquor that Sam is bringing

Hopefully we'll have what we need, and if not, we'll just have to beg or barter once we get there... which could make for another interesting post.

we have no idea what we've gotten ourselves into

this is the 'roo scene from last year. those teeny, tiny, infintisimal dots are actually people.

this is either the best, or worst, idea i've ever had. either way, i can't wait!

How it all began

welcome to the world of all things bonnaroo! this blog will serve as a repository of everything we see, hear, do, smell, and participate in during bonnaroo 2008. to start the fun, here's a brief history of why 2 girls named hope and sam are going to the 'roo, as we call it-and why you should care:

bonnaroo is well known as the best of all concerts to go to because, well, it's not just 1 concert. dozens of bands, comedians, singers, anyone cool and famous get together for 4 days in the middle-of-nowhere tennessee to rock and roll, woodstock-style. pearl jam will be there, right next to bb king and kanye west. allison krauss will be playing on one stage, while death cab for cutie is on another (hardest decision to make!!). basically, imagine everything great about music, add 80,000 people peaceably living together in tents, and you have the 'roo.

or, at least that's what we've been told. we've never gone. but always wanted to-just haven't wanted to pay hundreds of dollars for the experience (we may be post-college, but haven't met our sugar daddies-yet).

enter the bridge at 105.5, a radio station in charleston that truly does play quality music-how else would i know the greatness of newton faulkner or missy higgins? the bridge had a contest to win 2 free special-access tickets to bonnaroo, and so i drove over to the habitat resale store in mt. pleasant, entered my name, and voila-5 days later i'm jumping around like a bloomin' imbecile, screaming at the top of my lungs that 'i'm going to the ROOOOOOO!!!'. they replayed it on the radio for future personal humiliation.

so, that's the story. my best friend, hope, was of course my choice to accompany me-we do well on road trips, are semi-similiar in our musical tastes, and she can keep a good eye on me when i lose all sense of what's the 'right' thing to do. or, at least she has so far :-)

continue to check the blog, especially once thursday hits-we'll be updating with posts, pictures, and reviews of the acts we see. we want this blog to be as real of a roo experience as it can be without being there, so will do our best to update alot. feel free to comment, but please keep things respectful-there are young 'roo lovers readin this also.

in the meantime, here's a question for you:

what would be your top 3 groups to see at the 'roo? check out www.bonnaroo.com for a full listing of all bands playing!

Sam