Fall arrives tonight and with the end of summer I thought it be a great time to review the experience of Bonnaroo this summer. The Boudin Man and Old Man River attended 2014 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival held on June 12 through 15. This was Old Man River's first time attending and The Boudin Man’s 12th year. We arrived on Wednesday night and set our tents up while listening to Michael Dominici on the Kitchen Sink Show. We were joined Thursday morning by fellow DJ and veteran Bonnaroo performer Quickie Mart arriving with his 3 dancers in tow and the NOLA scene was set at our campsite. The festival was founded by a group of former Tulane students and has quite a NOLA feel and vibe but it is no Jazz Fest. There was a 24 radio station on site that made us feel quite at home and allowed us to find out about some stealth late night shows that were not announced or publicized beforehand. The amount of music we would hear in the next four daze would be overwhelming. The sets at Bonnaroo were short usually less than an hour allowing you to see many acts. Old Man River continuously moved from stage to stage for 4 days rarely staying at one stage more than about 15 minutes. For the acts listed below I stayed for much longer than a few minutes.
Day 1 Thursday only had the small stages open and one of my first things to do was The Silent Disco of which I was a virgin. I was indoctrinated quickly by DJ Quickie Mart as he threw down a bit of everything from NOLA bounce to Fess to Johnny Cash. Silent disco was held under a tent that felt like a roller skating rink and everyone was wearing headphones (neat concept) I would return many more times and the Roo was on!
Here are Old Man River's Top moments of Bonnaroo
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (That Tent) Saturday midnite
King Kahn & the Shrines (That Tent) Saturday
Vintage Trouble (Which Stage) Friday
Bobby Womack (Other Tent) this was one of his last performances /Saturday
Phosphorescent (This Tent) Saturday
Dr Dog (Which Stage) Friday
Manny Fresh set with Mystikal (Sonic Stage) Saturday morn 2am set
DJ Quickie Mart (Silent Disco) Thursday
DJ Jonathon Tobin ( Silent Disco) Saturday late nite
Master Musicians (That Tent) Friday
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (That Tent) Friday
A Tribe Called Red (That Tent) Friday
La Santa Cecilia (That Tent) Friday
Wild Child (Sonic Stage) Sunday
Danny Brown (Other Tent) Friday
Amos Lee (Ths Tent) Sunday
Fitz & the Tantrums (Which Stage) Sunday
Boudin Man's Top Bonnaroo moments!
D.J. Manny Fresh with Mystikal (Red Bull / Sonic Stage)
King Khan and the Shrines (That Stage Saturday)1
Jonathan Toubin (Silent Disco Saturday Night)
Jonathan Toubin (Silent Disco Sunday Night)
Quickie Mart (Kalliope Stage Saturday Night)
Bobby Womack (The Other Tent Saturday
Jack White (What Stage Saturday Night)
Elton John (What Stage Sunday Night)
Quickie Mart Snake and Jakes Christmas Lounge
Thanks to Bonnaroo for having us and we can't wait for next year.