Our great Bonnaroo 2007 adventure began on Thursday, June 14th with a huge back up on Highway 24 heading into Manchester, Tennessee. The new exit directly into the Bonnaroo music festival site entrance off the interstate was backed up 17 miles, we chose to drive our 1987 Dodge conversion van past that exit into Manchester and take the back way into the site which worked like a charm last year. Unfortunately we were not as lucky this year. We made a quick stop at the local Wal-Mart, where I was forced to forgo my 5-year boycott of the discount retailer in a vain search for a low-slung beach chair and more ice for our coolers. Our son’s girl friend Anna called us “hippie-crits” for shopping at Wal-Mart before attending Bonnaroo. Our secret back entrance into Bonnaroo is not so secret anymore…an hour and forty-five minute back up on the back country road ensues which is only broken up by waving at the locals sitting out on their lawns watching the parade of hippies going by, young boys getting out of their vehicles to pee in the woods and my favorite sign of the day “Sparajuana for the Hempless” I thought the creator of the sign should be rewarded for creativity alone!

We finally make it to the gates of Bonnaroo after a cursory search of our van nicknamed “Joe” we are directed to the RV parking section which is located past the main venue Centeroo, then another wait ensues while we wait for our RV parking escort to direct us to our parking space. An hour or so later, we finally make it to our parking space and set up our camping space. We are about a fifteen-minute walk from the main venues. After steaks on the grill, we set off to check out Centeroo and hear some music. Upon entering the main gates, my 57-year-old husband loudly declares himself “the oldest person here.” The kids, especially the girls seem eager to congratulate him and make him feel like he’s bridging the generational divide by attending this huge outdoor musical festival and as we make our way into the main entrance wading into what feels like tens of thousands of dirty, happy, young kids, someone yells “I love Bonnaroo” and the crowd roars back “YEAH!” This will happen over and over again over the next four days. This is a happy, joyful crowd of about 80,00 or so, for the most part orderly, respectful and happy to be here.

We end the night at one of the smaller musical venues, the Troo Music Lounge, the band has the crowd on its feet rocking, an older man with shoulder length hair taps Alan on the shoulder and says, “What are you doing here you old fart?” Alan says, “Same thing as you are.” Turns out he thought at 53 he would be the oldest guy at the festival, at 57 Alan reigns supreme at least for now.

On Friday, June 15^th the music heats up, as does the weather. Our musical highlights for the day included South Carolina blues guitarist James ‘Blood’ Ulmer and Manu Chao Radio Bemba Sound System a Latin inspired rock band that got the crowd on its feet, singing the words to their Spanish songs and dancing the Samba and other Latin themed dances. The Brazilian Girls preceded Manu Chao and they were an awesome group from NYC, one of their songs included Sexy Ass Hole, the lead singer sang one song with a big silver disc on her back. We managed to get up at 1AM for the String Cheese Incident but missed a great jam session with Ben Harper and John Paul Jones and I’m still kicking myself over that! On our way out of the gate at 3:30AM we ran into a man that was so messed up we at first thought he was deformed because he was walking like he was in a limbo contest.I warned Alan to stay away from him for fear that if he fell he would take all of us down with him, kind of like the domino effect. Anyway he wound up engaging Alan in conversation about how it had taken him 52 years to get this drunk…how nice! Why is it that drunk and drugged people feel compelled to engage in conversation about how messed up they are, I guess they need to validate their experience?

On Saturday, June 16^th we took the 45 minute long hot walk to our son’s camp site at the far end of the Bonnaroo’s 530 acre site. I felt like I walked the entire 500 acres in that 45 minutes. It must have been 100 degrees, blazing sun, and lots of dust. You don’t want to be in a tent in an open field in the summer in that heat, trust me, it’s unbearable. After that quick visit I was eternally grateful for the comforts of “Joe” and our much more conveniently located campsite. We enjoyed the band Old Crowe Medicine Show a blue-grass country band, our experience was enhanced by the patch of shade we were sitting under which was a life saver. We tried to sit through one of my son’s favorite artists Russian native Regina Spektor but the blazing hot sun drove us back into the air conditioning for a much-needed break before too long. Check her out though I really love her voice and her unique style. After a shower and a rest, we came back for the last half of Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals set and I’ll admit it, I’m in love with Ben Harper. If Ben Harper decides to leave his beautiful actress wife Laura Dern and take up with an older groupie, I’m outta here! Ben Harper is an incredible musician. Alan and I were both knocked out by this young man’s talent, passion and intensity. His musical range is astounding. He sang and played blues, rock, and reggae equally well. We were having an incredible time when John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame came on stage to jam with him on “Dazed and Confused” that was literally life changing. Then Ziggy Marley came on stage to jam with Ben Harper on the Bob Marley classic “Get Up Stand Up”, which got the crowd on its feet. It was an amazing experience. You can’t really describe being in a crowd this size when great artists are at one and great music happens and you feel a part of it, the excitement, the joy, the magic. It’s moving, joyful and amazing. We took the next hour to reposition ourselves for The Police to take the stage and we had great visibility for the show. The Police apparently had some difficulty at the start of their tour and actually apologized to some of their audiences for mistakes they made and some of the roughness of their sets. No apologies were needed for the Bonnaroo performance, it was amazing. The only complaint I had was it was too short. They were scheduled to perform from 9-11:30PM and they quit at 10:30 and I was pissed. The excellence of the sound and the clarity and purity of Sting’s voice, the excellence of the artistry of both Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers and the amazing sound that these three gentlemen produce all on their own is quite simply astounding. To hear Sting’s voice soar out over that huge crowd on that clear summer night was an unforgettable experience. I literally have tears in my eyes thinking about it. I do wish Sting had been a bit more engaging he seemed to be too polished and too isolated from his audience but it was still an incredible event to be part of. I started my career in radio in 1978, when The Police were really beginning to peak as a band and Roxanne and some of their other early hits were beginning to get airplay so their music to me is very visceral for a variety of reasons and this was a landmark concert and it was so great to see all three of the band members in wonderful shape, both physically and mentally. During the encore Sting whipped off his shirt and Stewart Copeland referenced a joke he made in the Bonnaroo program, ”I told my Police buddies that we can loosen up and let our hair down at Bonnaroo. All of our other shows are going to be super-slick Police style but this will be the jam-band version. I will encourage Sting to take his clothes off and dance among you.” So…when Sting and Copeland and Summers returned for their encore, Copeland joked that Sting would take off his clothes and dance among you, well he didn’t strip down completely but he did whip off his shirt and he is an impressive specimen of a man for a guy in his 50’s, must be all that yoga and Tantric sex with Trudie Styler! Even the young kids went wild for the old guy! Later on that evening we rocked out to Gov’t Mule and Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, that was a jamming moment and boy can those country boys rock out!

On Sunday, June 17^th, Father’s Day, we enjoyed 17 year old, Sonya Kitchell, she reminds Alan of Joni Mitchell and she reminds me of Bonnie Raitt, this girl has a warm bluesy voice, an incredibly talented young lady. The best surprise of the day for Alan was T Bone Burnett he wanted to leave after the first song in the set but I urged him to give the guy a chance and after the second song got a little funky he was hooked. Another example of a funky, rocking old guy with rocking old guys backing him up. They also had a young kid on stage scratching records, their set included rock, soul and funk and it was great. White Stripes, Wilco and Wide Spread Panic rounded out the night.

By the end of the night our feet hurt, the dust was so thick we couldn’t see to walk, we were nearly out of food, out of liquor and our backs were killing us it was time to come home! But, we were reminded that there is no generation gap when it comes to love of great music and the kinship of live music. I love how music brings people together and how it soothes the soul. I love Bonnnaroo!