Bonnaroo 2013

I'm at my tenth Bonnaroo. I'm sitting under a flatbed truck, charging my phone from the beer stand's generator (with permission--thanks, guys!) and thinking about how much things have changed since my first Bonnaroo in 2004. Back then, I still lived in Maine, and Iattended every live show that came through the Bangor area, but they were few. So I regularly traveled two+ hours to Portland or about five to Boston to see live music. In the summer I went to outdoor shows in Old Orchard Beach or Hartford.

By 2004, I had been to Woodstock '99 and to several Phish festivals, but Bonnaroo was a new world. It's changed the way I live my life. It's still special to see all these nationally-touring bands in one place, but my life is more Bonnaroo-like now. A big part of that is living  in the city, but it took me a while to shift the way I thought about living in the city, and to change my lifestyle accordingly.

Concert festivals bring together many of the things I love: live music, camping, great food, and creative people. This festival has always encouraged creativity from everyone, whether we're on stage or not. I think it's influenced me to live a fuller creative life, and to help other people cultivate creativity. 

The festival has changed so much in ten years. In 2004, the focus was more on bluegrass, roots rock, and gospel, with some underground hip hop thrown in. The jam band scene was fragmented, with Phish having recently "retired". This festival was a home for a community of stranded Phishheads and Deadheads looking for the kind of connections they found while following those bands. And we were in a rough, confusing place politically as well.

Bonnaroo became a home for many people, including me. It changed the musical landscape, while the music industry fell apart and tried to rebuild. I believe it's a better time for music now. It's definitely better for me personally: I see live music almost every night, and I can be five feet from musicians as talented as anyone at Bonnaroo without having to push or shove or fight to stand my ground to be five feet from the stage. I live in a great music city, and I'm proud to call lots of great musicians my friends.

Bonnaroo is now a cool place to be, in a way that it wasn't ten years ago. It's become a status symbol, sponsored by multiple corporations. But at its core is still the pure love of live music in all its forms. It's still a community, and although I feel more at the fringe of this community now (maybe I'll write more about that later), I'm still glad to be here. Here in the shade, with the breeze blowing and my iPhone plugged into a noisy generator, I'm grateful.