Me Me Monday 2-4

4. and Bonnaroo...

It was a couple of years ago when last I went to Bonnaroo... but I had a blast and would love to go back someday. Seriously.

Of course, I'm not 18 anymore, so the likelihood of me actually camping 2 miles away in that enormous campgrounds in the middle of just pre-Summer June and walking everywhere just to go listen to a sh**-ton of great and varied music are slim and none...

and Slim left town.

Unless I really do something to get back into shape, at least.

Okay, okay... more than just a LITTLE something... a LOT of something.

We ended up camped about 1.5 miles from the actual Bonnaroo grounds... and we were closer than a LOT of people. So anytime we wanted to get up and go see a band, we had to hike that distance just to get to the very large Bonnaroo area. They had 3 major stages, 3 lesser stages, and several covered tents - all of them had music or some form of entertainment going on, along with other tents full of other activities - comedians, manufacturer's reps trying to sell you stuff, food sellers, video games, movie showings... yeah, it was a HUGE festival thing. Highly recommended if you like live music. And if you can get an RV and RV parking pass? Yeah, THAT'S the way to do it.

Having discovered the cost of renting an RV, and looking at that 3-plus dollar a gallon gas prices these days, however? Ummm... yeah, I'll pass for this year until maybe I get a raise (ha ha) and can afford that extra EXTRA cost to go that route.

Unless one of you feels bighearted and wants to rent out an RV to me... CHEAP. I promise to take good care of it and clean it when we're done.

In any event, the event got "just a bit" marred by the MONSOON that swept in Saturday evening. They had to push the Dead back until the wee hours of the morning, due to the lightning and wind that came to Tennessee... and stayed... and then stayed some more.

The campgrounds became one giant mudpit. I am NOT exaggerating when I say that I had to slog through foot deep mud and muddy water for large parts of the 1.5 mile hike from where we parked/camped to the grounds to go see the Dead play (at around 2am Sunday morning). Hell, even the festival ground were slogged full of water - I managed to find a dry-ish patch that wasn't a foot deep puddle of water - to see 'em throw down.

Can I simply say that Warren Haynes really did add a lot of punch to the Dead's sound that year? A totally different flavor and, well, I liked it. Yes, it wasn't Jerry Garcia, but it was nice. I can appreciate talented musicians of all flavors - I'm not a music snob. But I digress (again).

Speaking of music... just as I got back to the Honda Element for some well deserved rest, I heard Primus start up... and I heard Rush's YYZ being thrown down... and I mean THROWN DOWN. Primus was flat out wailing the ever-living sh1t out of it and, I must say, my respect for them as a band grew three sizes larger in that single moment. They nailed it. With a jackhammer. Was never a huge Primus fan (for reasons other than their music) but, they made their first step at converting me in that singular moment, as I stood in the brisk night air, slushy sounds of my footsteps as I stepped out of the Element to get a better listen... the night sky glowing ephemerally with the lights from the festival grounds faintly pulsing as Primus YYZ'ed me.

Yeah, it was good.
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