Bonnaroo 2008: The Best, the Busts, the Breakouts, the Backlash & all the Buzz
A few weeks ago, Consequence of Sound’s Matt Friedman traveled to Manchester, Tennessee for another exciting edition of Bonnaroo. Aside from the live, on site coverage he provided, Matt also wanted to share a more in depth summary of his thoughts and experiences. And when I say “in depth,” I mean it. Below is a project nearly a month in the making, consisting of everything from set reviews to end-of-festival awards. If you ever wanted to get a real taste of what was Bonnaroo 2008, then you’ve come to the right place.
Without further a do, here is Matt Friedman’s story…
- Alex Young
Well, it has been more than a few days now, since I returned from my first Bonnaroo experience. I’m still exhausted, but I can say that I’ve gotten most of the grime off me and I feel fairly clean, although if I look hard enough I can still find some of the Tennessee dirt underneath my right big toe nail. One thing I can tell you about my experience is that it has been a long time since I appreciated air-conditioning and window shades this much. I would say that it helped me appreciate quiet and to a point, it did, but I often have to sleep with earplugs anyway. I live in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia and there has been construction outside my bedroom window for about four years. Then again, even at its worst, this noise doesn’t compare to the clamor at the Bonnaroo campsite at 4:30 a.m. on a normal night/morning or 8:30 in the morning after Kanye West’s performance (or lack thereof.)
Before I left for Tennessee, we set the goal of having the most thorough coverage of Bonnaroo on the net. After I returned, I figured if in order to accomplish this it was going to take an extra couple of days it would be worth it. Of course, having to cover another festival (the Popped! Festival) in the middle made it even more difficult to get this out in an ideal time. After spending countless hours working, I believe I finally accomplished our goal.
I think the best way for you to read this – if you want to try to get through all of this – is to bookmark it and do not even try to get through it all in one sitting. Ideally, it would be great if we were a print publication and you could bring this into the bathroom or bedroom – or you could put a bookmark in it and read it at another time. We’re not. We are a website and it makes things like this difficult.
In order to help guide your way through all of the material or if you just want to read bits and pieces, this is how I organized the piece:
1. Consequence of Sound’s Recap: Our Top 20, Awards & More
First, I have a short rundown of some fun things and little tidbits of information. This is how it is broken up:
- CoS’ Top 20 Performances of Bonnaroo 2008
- Consequence of Sound’s Bonnaroo Awards
- Most Disappointing Performances
- Things I Did Not Like About the ‘Roo
- Bands I Missed that I Still Want to See
- YouTube
2. Gator Tails, Mud Cakes & Pearl Jams
Next, I have the main chunk of coverage. This is a basic journal, detailing my reporting of the festival itself, including comprehensive reviews of every artist I saw. Keep in mind that I did my best to cover as many as absolutely possible. There are a lot of them.
Here you will also find a playlist, chronicling my experiences at Bonnaroo. I did my best to collect a bootlegged track from each artist covered in my journal. When possible, I used a song recorded at this year’s Bonnaroo.
3. Kanye Fest: Blow in the Dark
Then, like everyone else, I give my take on what happened Saturday night with the main stage delay. I think I actually have some information that has yet to be reported, so check that out if you are interested.
4. Bonnaroo v. Coachella
As a now veteran of the two music festivals that I hear most often claimed to be the best in the United States, I give you a short rundown of what I think is better and why. Like the rest of the article, I try to be as objective as possible.
5. Diana’s article “Everything But the Music: Thoughts from a Bonnaroo Newbie”.
An article describing the many wonderful things to do at Bonnaroo besides checking out musicians.
6. Interviews with the Artists, Live from Bonnaroo
As always, we love to hear from you. Please feel free to share your thoughts – whether you would like to share your experiences from Bonnaroo (and how they were similar or different from mine) or you want to express yourself about something else. If you have any questions, please let me know. Enjoy!
If this still is not enough Bonnaroo for you, check out the rest of our 2008 Bonnaroo coverage here: CoS at Bonnaroo
I never expected this much coverage, so thanks for it. This is really great.