 We continue Nate Barrett's Bonnaroompah tales as Bonnaroo begins with their Thursday morning musical camp site mis-adventures and the band's first polka performance in the Brooer's tent.
And now, Bonnaroo begins... Around seven in the morning (way too early for we poor Bonnaroompahs), Grand Helios descended upon our tents with a hotter-than-hell hammer and beat the crap out of us until we could no longer lay in our tents. Since we were allowed into the camp ground early, most of the performer camping space was still open. So before breakfast (which rocked! The caterers were top notch; I can’t say enough about them!), one of us knuckle heads decided maybe it would be best for the well being of Bonnaroo in general if the polka band had a shadier camp spot. After an unfinished debate on the matter of breaking the set protocols of the camping space assignments, my van was high-jacked and moved to a spot under the shade of one of the few trees on the grounds. Tents were pulled, gear shuffled, and within twenty minutes we were relaxing in the shadows of a sun-battered tree. Ten minutes later, we were asked by a security fellow by the name of Billy what the hell we thought we were doing. After 5 minutes of tall talking, we had him convinced that we needed the shade for our delicate polka gear. Billy said to stay put, and he would see what he could do. After an hour of sitting in the nicest shade I would have all week, we were feeling more and more like it just might have worked. That’s when three folks came to camp sporting better creds (much better) than any of us, and told us they didn’t know who this Billy fella was, and informed us just how far being in a polka band at Bonnaroo will get you. Twenty minutes later, we had shuffled everything back to our original space, and got a round of good-effort applause from the Gypsy Hands. They were at least glad to have us back as neighbors. This time we did manage to arrange our tarps and tents to allow for better shade, but oh, how we missed our moment out of the sun. C'est la vie. Well, we didn’t come to that grand festival to set up camp (not more than three times, anyway), so it was off to the Centeroo to see what we could see. I was amazed that with only an hour left to go before Bonnaroo begins and the general admission ticket holder would be allowed into the festival, there were still coats of paint being thrown on things and grand decorations still being hung in the tents. Amazement was always the case, though, whenever I took a step back and just appreciated the internal workings of the grand machine that is Bonnaroo. As Bonnaroo begins, the place is constantly buzzing with folks behind the scenes, 24 hours a day. It is like a giant ant colony of infrastructure all in place to insure the party never ceases. Golf carts, limos, four wheelers, security staff, stage hands and managers - it is truly a wonder that it all works together at all. Let alone that it works together to be the most amazing 5-day musical party on the planet. After doing some shopping at the official Bonnaroo merchandise tent to buy some t-shirts from last year's festival (we all played last year and decided to finally buy the shirts with our respective band names on them), then some lunch, it was time to suit up for our first performance. With the band in costume (suspenders and shorts for most, authentic lederhosen for Geol, and a fancy festive dress for Rachael), we began to kick our second line style cadence and march out of our camp ground. It was a ritual we would repeat seven more times during the weekend. One of the first things I learned from my Bonnaroompah experience is: everyone loves a parade. A crowd always gathered as we thumped and polka’d our way to the Brooer’s tent - wondering what exactly we were trying to accomplish. When we finally hit the tent, and Phil's snare and my bass drum would fill the muggy, beer-smelling venue, the place would always light up in a cheer. After several of our unique polkas and our drunken version of Dylan’s "Rainy Day Woman" (Everybody Must Get Stoned) that we would perform as we meandered around the cheering, happy crowd in the tent, we would get back in single file and march out. It is always great to be part of the party, and everybody seemed to enjoy it, no matter how wiped out some of the Rooers in the tent looked. Although, I got the general feeling people really didn’t know what the heck just happened when we left...
That's it for Bonnaroo Begins - next up: Nate and the Bonnaroompah gang lead revelers on a magical mystery tour through Bonnaroo, and go to their first show as Bonnaroo revelers.
Return to Knoxville Music Scene from Bonnaroo Begins
Return to Knoxville Business from Bonnaroo Begins
Knoxville Hotel |
Knoxville TN Real Estate |
Attorney Knoxville Tennessee
Knoxville Property |
Knoxville News |
Tennessee Volunteers
Knoxville Jobs |
Shopping Knoxville |
Sitemap
|
