Bonna-Fuckin-Roo

I went to Bonnaroo this past weekend. ((Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.)) Check it. www.bonnaroo.com

35 - Hours in a car.
26 - Watched bands/artists perform.
8 - Cases of beer (on my own).
6 - Hours of sleep.
5 - Meals consumed.
3 - Bottles of SPF 85.
2 - Toes broken.
1 - Lost pair of sunglasses.

All in five and a half days.
I had the time of my life.

[Note: when given the opportunity, don't miss the chance to see Pearl Jam, Metallica, Jack Johnson, O.A.R., The Ranconteurs, Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road, Jakob Dylan, Zappa Plays Zappa, Ben Folds, BB King, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, MGMT, Lez Zeppelin, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Stephen Marley, Les Claypool, Phil Lesh & Friends, Ozomatli, Gogol Bordello, Againt Me!, Ghostland Observatory, Sigur Ros, Israel Vibration, Aimee Mann, Broken Social Scene, or Jake Shimabukuro perform. They're all worth it. They're not all my style, but they were all phenomenal.]

Since we all know I'm a big fan of countdowns, I would like to take this opportunity to count down my top ten favorite moments at Bonnaroo this year. In no particular order.

1.) Watching a very drunk (but still performing well) Eddie Vedder belt out a cover of The Who's "Love, Reign O'er Me" and shedding a tear while doing so. Eddie Vedder, not me. Though I almost did as well.

2.) Sitting on my very tall friend's shoulders singing "The Unforgiven" in perfect unison with James Hetfield.

3.) Swaying with 80,000 other hippies during Jack Johnson's "Constellations" with special guest co-singer, Eddie Vedder.

4.) Learning that Kanye West threw a hissy fit because he wasn't going on when he wanted to. And knowing that he probably forgot it was a hippie fest, and no one gives a damn about him or his prima donna tendencies.

5.) Winning seven games of beer pong in a row against a bunch of college kids who insisted they were masters at it and were going to "school" my friends and I.

6.) Waiting on line on the side of the highway for five hours in the blazing sun drinking Yuengling from a can (SO GLAD I found it and didn't have to settle for Bud Light) and mingling with the other cars and making friends with people from all over the country.

7.) Meeting O.A.R. and Les Claypool. Accidentally. And getting them to autograph a few things each.

8.) Giving my friends lessons on music history and explaining the impact that BB King had on the entire music industry, as well as Levon Helm, Les Claypool and Robert Plant. Telling them how Metallica really opened my eyes to a lot of new music, and explaining how Jake Shimabukuro makes me want to fall in love every single day. Telling them stories of how I always said I was going to marry Eddie Vedder, even though every girl said that in the 90's. Trying to verbalize just how important it was that these musical legends were there, especially BB King at 82 years old, and how unimportant it was that My Morning Jacket, Kanye West, and Death Cab for Cutie even showed up.

9.) Actually having them understand what I was trying to say.

10.) Not being able to take the smile off my face the entire weekend. Sun burn, mud-covered and all.


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Only 359 days until Bonnaroo 2009. See you kids there.