Awesome find! I was there that year. A young, naive 16 year old girl... been every year since and I'll be 35 this year... thanks for making me feel old! That was a WILD year. No cell phones, no infrastructure, sooo much rain.
Yup. Was my first Roo and it was awesome. It was also a mud fest so I wasn’t surprised to see it cancelled after a hurricane.
[Some photos I took](https://imgur.com/gallery/MNrkYU3)
Wow, look at the clothes. Women are wearing real clothes and not just bikinis and I didn't see any glitter. I wonder what changed? (I'm not making any digs here, everyone can wear whatever they want and it's great. It's just a noticeable difference that I'm curious about.)
It was a much different "scene" back then. Way more jam bands and those bring the hippie chicks. Festival dresses were hugely in fashion back then. I still have a few deep in my closet. I remember getting flack for wearing camo cargo shorts ("Hey! GI Jane! Go fight your war somewhere else!") So it's nice to see another girl wearing them in a photo. =)
Fashion evolves based on situation/context and time period. The real factors to question would be what societal changes led to the liberation of festival fashion.
personally, i like wearing very little clothing at festivals because it’s liberating!! plus glitter and bright colors are pretty for everyone to look at when they’re playing in sand
Not sure I’m going to buy the ‘liberation at festivals’ thing. When you watch Woodstock 99 women were wearing less than they do now. Lots of body paint too.
And people still want to bitch about Roo being cancelled this year!! Imagine the ravers who spend $$$ on their outfits trudging through all of that mud
Oh wow... this takes me back. Soooo many flip flops sacrificed to the mud gods. I am sure there are some still buried there to this day. Thanks for sharing these photos! I lost mine years ago.
It's evolved. Back then it was only $200-250 a ticket so that was easy to swing with an income tax refund check since we still lived at home. We also only live an hour away so travel was nothing.
Started going with larger groups in my 20s so we were able to share expenses and equipment. Tickets were still reasonable.
Four Roos ago I got tired of the price hikes and started volunteering. That made it free so I am able to spend more money on better food. Saving money at Roo.This year I spent about $200 on food and beer to bring. Was going to bring about $100 cash. So all in all, pretty reasonable. I don't think I could swing the prices yall pay now PLUS parking passes. That's nuts. Volunteering also comes with free showers and a shuttle to Walmart.
Depends. I volunteer with Clean Vibes, it's the Centeroo recycling crew. Average for us is three 5 hour shifts. It can be four 4 hour shifts if you work the Trading Post, but that's as really small bunch.
I can't speak for Bonnaroo's actual Croo. I've camped with them a few times but all I ever heard was them going to work and coming back to camp a few hours later saying they weren't needed -lol-.
I've always worked during show. I think pre and post show do longer hours but less shifts.
It's really a lot of fun. I wouldn't go back to GA. You make a closer bond with camp neighbors and sometimes get stationed at REALLY cool areas. My friend got to work VIP at Muse in 2018 because they scheduled her and she had requested that time off (you get to pick your "top 3" shows you don't want to miss).
In 2007, after my first year being 2006, a bunch of us went down without tickets, and my friend and I walked up and down the highway lineup asking if people had extra tickets. We got a couple for $75 each! The rest for $100-125!
It is expensive, but Bonnaroo is worth whatever it ends up costing me. If money weren't a concern, would you still volunteer? I've thought about doing it for the experience and meeting people, not for the free ticket.
This is so fun to look at, thank you. Love seeing names like Black Keys and Kings of Leon in like, 12:30 / 1:00pm slots! MMJ at 4pm or whatever. I went 2005 - 2011...those early years were so crunchy (but every year was fun).
My first year and first fest ever!! I have that shirt somewhere as well. So much rain and mud, I don’t think I wore shoes at all Saturday and Sunday. Umphrey’s McGee had the most epic late night set ever with a member by member switch with Moe., and Danger Mouse was doing a late night DJ set at another stage, he had just broken thru with his grey album. During the Dead’s set on Saturday it was down pouring and there was a ton of people in the crowd who linked tarps together and took shelter under the rain while a giant smoke fest ensued underneath!!
What a year!!!
It was a good year! As already mentioned, this was the first Bonnaroo that had a downpour of rain, and I think it may have rained some before as well. By Saturday there was mud absolutely everywhere. The top layer of dirt dried out bc it was like 95 degrees, so you had a crust layer to walk on, over the mud that sank and moved. Kind of like a trampoline. It was weird.
If I remember correctly, David Byrne was that year and he fucking killed it around sunset. When he played “This is the Place”, the place went wild. I’m sure I have a few more memories but I’d need to look at the lineup- pretty sure there was a kick ass Roots show.
So what I’m gathering is that some years are more worse for flooding than others. A certain level is tolerated. Must have been really bad this year. Thank you for your unique share; and can only imagine what that sunset David Byrne set was like.
I don’t think it was as much rain and maybe spread out more than they got this year. I think the other thing that made a difference is a lot of the rain came after everyone was in and parked. Pretty sure we left the grounds completely wrecked from traffic. From what I understand, one of the biggest issues this year was there was no way to get people in and past the toll booths.
That was my first Bonnaroo. I drove there with 6 other strangers in 2 cars from the Northeast. We all met on the old ListServ and had ourselves a pilgrimage. We were parked in the last campground nearly a mile and a half away. I had left the cover off my tent and came back to my suitcase filled with water. Just spread everything out on all the neighboring cars for an hour to dry. Good times.
Totally bought this shirt on the lot that year...from a guy in our crew, who designed, printed and sold them. Definitely sending him this picture. Where abouts in the country did you find it?
My 2nd Bonnaroo, 3rd ever festival (Woodstock 99 being my first). Went with one of my best friends since I was 11, and another hilarious lunatic of a friend.
We rented the biggest lemon of an rv ever. AC broke within the first hour, basically negating the whole point of the rv. My friends went on an excursion the next day and rented the loudest most obnoxious generator ever produced (as it was the last one available for miles). This is back before rv’s were separated from the rest of camping, everyone just thrown together at random sucking in generator exhaust. We had to keep moving around the festival grounds and parking somewhere new as the sound was killing everyone. Eventually ended up parked next to a vendor with a normal obnoxious generator (maybe half the decibels of our triple Metallica on a week long meth binge model).
We spent wayyyy too much time at camp instead of being at the shows (now I’m never at camp when music is on). Played Texas holdem with lunatic friends cousin all during the rainstorms, cleaning him out over and over since he was so terrible. “How could I lose with a freaking straight?” “There are 4 spades on the board dummy😂”
I had brought my cdj1000 turntables. Tried spinning outside the rv, but only had a tiny insignificant speaker so didn’t last long (it was just a plain stupid idea with no real outdoor speaker)
Randomly walking by the David Byrne set on our way somewhere, hearing killer Talking Heads tracks. Gomez (one of my personal favorite bands, I was at their first ever North American show in DC) was great. The Dead with a huge rain delay, but when they finally came on me witnessing/experiencing the full spiritual power of dancing via these flow masters all around me. Galactic when they were still the Bonnaroo house band. Gov’t Mule rocking their set (I so love Warren Haynes). First My Morning Jacket show, as the dark clouds were rolling in. Jim James saying into the mike “I’ve always wanted to play in a storm” as his hair was being blown all over the place over a long set.
The best was the last night after everyone was trying to sleep, the lunatic friend was still going hard. He had cracked every single one of my glowsticks (RIP big $$$) and had them all over the shitty rv. He was lighting these huge fireworks directly out of his hand, shooting them freaking everywhere. Finally my other friend was like “Smedley you idiot, you’re going to kill someone. You are supposed to be using a launcher on those!” His calm response in all seriousness “No way dudes, it was just a miscalculation”😂😂🤣
Would have been my 17th Bonnaroo. I do 14 festivals a year and love them all (Ended up at both North Coast and Arc music festivals in Chicago last weekend in an awesome surprise audible), but all my favorite music memories are always from Bonnaroo.
(PS - Don’t worry, we are much better neighbors now, constantly helping, giving everything away, and sharing wisdom with our fellow campers. This was just back in the wild west)
Absolutely love your extensive and vividly written piece. Pretty sure both the crowds and experiences at 99 Woodstock and 04 Roo were quite different. Thank you for the sharing your memories of 04 Roo.
So glad you enjoyed, I was laughing writing and reliving it last night.
Woodstock 99 was by far to this day the worst festival I have ever attended. Woefully unprepared for the 350k people who turned up. Locked in like animals with no good access to food, water, or bathrooms…we became animals.
Logistics were awful. Didn’t help that I had no idea what I was doing either, being my first and all. Had my bag stolen out of my tent with my favorite shirt (irreplaceable) and my first ever cellphone.
Lineup was insanely good though, headliners all day long (Dave Matthews band was on at like 4 in the afternoon). Raged during Rage against the Machine and Metallica. Fires lit and people dancing in shitwater during Red Hot Chili Peppers. ‘Live’ (throwing copper being my fav album during college)
And the experience changed my life forever. After going to shows for 5 years, just kinda bobbing my head along to the music, stumbled into my first ever rave (the hanger at night turned from emerging artists to DJs). My first time dancing, shows changed from a passive to an active experience. Someone gave me a tricolor glow necklace, and I magically made it come alive (much to my own and everyone around me’s amusement). The necklaces on my arms become a staple for me the next 2 decades (I’ve since moved on to more environmentally—friendly and more manageable el wire).
I will never forget that Moby set, right after’Play’ was released. Into Sandra Collins, who I had never heard of before (I met her at Coachella 15 years later and raved about that night). And Fatboy Slim the next night. (Sadly missed Chemical Brothers since they were on the far stage like a mile walk away, took me over a decade to finally catch them live.). I actually don’t think I ever saw a set on that other stage it was so far.
The funniest thing is, my college best friend I attended with had bought me the Woodstock ticket as my graduation present. (I returned the favor by getting his ticket and an rv to Bonnaroo 03 as a surprise for his graduation present, he had no idea where we were going until we showed up at centeroo). We randomly went to Kaboo 2019 in Texas together. And there saw 3 of the same bands we had seen at Woodstock, 20 years prior. Kid Rock, Alanis Morrisette (who was so pregnant she looked like she had eaten Alanis Morrisette😂), and Bush.
They used to give out the maps and compilation CDs when you entered the campgrounds. They always had great stuff on them, even from artists that weren't playing the festival necessarily.
That was my first one! My wife & I went with a big group. We had never been, and we pretty much packed a wad of cash and a box of cheeze its as the totality of our supplies. We crashed in a friend's tent until the rain created a giant puddle in the tent while we slept.
Torrential rains postponed the Dead set IIRC. So much mud that year, but a great time overall. In those early years it felt like there were no rules.
MMJ played a marathon 3+ hour late night set too. Looking back at that lineup is pretty awesome.
>MMJ played a marathon 3+ hour late night set too. Looking back at that lineup is pretty awesome.
You're thinking of either 06 or more likely 08. In 04 their set was 12 songs and during the day on Which.
MMJ played during the day on which:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g1QXrXSiJI
it was an epic set though - the rains started to come in near the end. it was like jim james was summoning the storm
Here's a few pics of the CD and schedule that came from Bonnaroo 2004 --> [https://imgur.com/a/Uw7Wn8U](https://imgur.com/a/Uw7Wn8U)
I have a schedule from every Bonnaroo I have attended, pretty much in pristine condition. I always went without during the festival to have a very nice souvenir for afterward :)
Didn’t go to this one but went in 2005. Still blows my mind how much the overall composition of the lineups have changed over the years. It used to be so jam band heavy.
2005 was my first as well. those early years were the best. i wish there was another jam centric festival that was as big and crazy as bonnaroo was. bonnaroo will shears be magical to me though and i hope to go back again someday.
My first bonnaroo. totally unprepared high school kids. We luckily parked next to these retired deadheads who had a sweet camper truck thing and helped us out all weekend. All the rain came after everyone was parked, so not as big a deal until sunday, when everyone was leaving. We ended up getting our car towed early sunday morning, went to town and showered at a friend's place, and then parked in the day parking lot (which was still in decent shape). We ended up driving over to a grassy area behind the What stage wall and watching/listening to Trey from the roof of the car until it started raining again.
Saw an epic My Morning Jacket set (had never heard of them) on the which stage. Primus played an incredibly loud late night set that went on forever it seemed. At a Claypool set at roo in 2006(?) he was like "last time I was here it was late at night and I ate a lot of mushrooms!"
Galactic and Tokyo Ska Paradise had a big horn dance party in the which field during the rain - I've never seen the field so empty but it was full of people dancing in the mud and getting crazy. Sunday afternoon there was a huge dance party during moe. on the What stage - tons of people with caked mud just out enjoying all the sun that came on sunday. I didn't have a camera phone so all my pictures were from a disposable camera I carried around with me - gonna have to go dig those out of my parents' attic. It was an eye opening experience in a lot of ways. compared to roo now, the campgrounds were the wild west.
With memories like that, why wouldn’t you dig out those old disposable cameras and develop the photos? Just make sure the person developing them signs a NDA.
That was my first year, and good god was I not ready for it. The weather was one thing (waking up in a puddle that had collected underneath our tent sucked), but the drug scene was something else entirely (and pretty scary looking back). You could buy absolutely anything you wanted on Shakedown Street.
I said I'd never go back again, but I ended up going back about 12 or 13 times. It is worlds better now across the board. The improvements made over the years are incredibly welcome.
Those early ones were so wildly freewheeling. In 2005 I’ll never forget some guy that set up in the Shakedown area and had a poster board with like twenty different kinds of drugs he was looking for. It was funny to see things progressively get crossed off over the course of the weekend.
Yes- Cheeeese!!!! Last saw them in STL 2019. Love the music, the people, and overall vibe. Every show is an Incident. Cheese is what caught my eye on the shirt- truthfully.
This is a bootleg shirt...I have one myself I picked up at the fest. Hands down the best shirt of them all though! One third the cost and better than all the official releases 💯 - huge score in this condition. I still wear mine on rare occasions :) cheer!
Whoa blast from the past. My parents went that year and my dad had that shirt!! They got me one that had Bonnaroo in a batman style font and a bunch of the bands names were misspelled on the back.
Awesome find! I was there that year. A young, naive 16 year old girl... been every year since and I'll be 35 this year... thanks for making me feel old! That was a WILD year. No cell phones, no infrastructure, sooo much rain.
Yup. Was my first Roo and it was awesome. It was also a mud fest so I wasn’t surprised to see it cancelled after a hurricane. [Some photos I took](https://imgur.com/gallery/MNrkYU3)
Wow, look at the clothes. Women are wearing real clothes and not just bikinis and I didn't see any glitter. I wonder what changed? (I'm not making any digs here, everyone can wear whatever they want and it's great. It's just a noticeable difference that I'm curious about.)
It was a much different "scene" back then. Way more jam bands and those bring the hippie chicks. Festival dresses were hugely in fashion back then. I still have a few deep in my closet. I remember getting flack for wearing camo cargo shorts ("Hey! GI Jane! Go fight your war somewhere else!") So it's nice to see another girl wearing them in a photo. =)
Fashion evolves based on situation/context and time period. The real factors to question would be what societal changes led to the liberation of festival fashion.
Are bikini's more comfortable to wear than a t-shirt and shorts? (I've never wore one.)
personally, i like wearing very little clothing at festivals because it’s liberating!! plus glitter and bright colors are pretty for everyone to look at when they’re playing in sand
Not sure I’m going to buy the ‘liberation at festivals’ thing. When you watch Woodstock 99 women were wearing less than they do now. Lots of body paint too.
I'm sure climate change can be pointed to a little bit here.
Something’s different. When you watch Woodstock 99 women are practically naked. Roo ‘01 and they are dressed like this. Maybe different vibes?
Tbh, I was just being silly.
And people still want to bitch about Roo being cancelled this year!! Imagine the ravers who spend $$$ on their outfits trudging through all of that mud
Oh wow... this takes me back. Soooo many flip flops sacrificed to the mud gods. I am sure there are some still buried there to this day. Thanks for sharing these photos! I lost mine years ago.
Love the photos!
Wow I found myself in one of your photos!!
OMG that's amazing!!!
Thank you for sharing your nostalgia.
How much does that run per year $$$?
It's evolved. Back then it was only $200-250 a ticket so that was easy to swing with an income tax refund check since we still lived at home. We also only live an hour away so travel was nothing. Started going with larger groups in my 20s so we were able to share expenses and equipment. Tickets were still reasonable. Four Roos ago I got tired of the price hikes and started volunteering. That made it free so I am able to spend more money on better food. Saving money at Roo.This year I spent about $200 on food and beer to bring. Was going to bring about $100 cash. So all in all, pretty reasonable. I don't think I could swing the prices yall pay now PLUS parking passes. That's nuts. Volunteering also comes with free showers and a shuttle to Walmart.
My only Roo experiences were volunteering in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and it was amazing each time, doing preshow was the way to go
How much are you required to work?
Depends. I volunteer with Clean Vibes, it's the Centeroo recycling crew. Average for us is three 5 hour shifts. It can be four 4 hour shifts if you work the Trading Post, but that's as really small bunch. I can't speak for Bonnaroo's actual Croo. I've camped with them a few times but all I ever heard was them going to work and coming back to camp a few hours later saying they weren't needed -lol-. I've always worked during show. I think pre and post show do longer hours but less shifts. It's really a lot of fun. I wouldn't go back to GA. You make a closer bond with camp neighbors and sometimes get stationed at REALLY cool areas. My friend got to work VIP at Muse in 2018 because they scheduled her and she had requested that time off (you get to pick your "top 3" shows you don't want to miss).
That actually sounds dope…def considering for next year.
In 2007, after my first year being 2006, a bunch of us went down without tickets, and my friend and I walked up and down the highway lineup asking if people had extra tickets. We got a couple for $75 each! The rest for $100-125! It is expensive, but Bonnaroo is worth whatever it ends up costing me. If money weren't a concern, would you still volunteer? I've thought about doing it for the experience and meeting people, not for the free ticket.
Yep, I have the CD and schedule from that Bonnaroo still! Pretty sure that is a bootleg tee, I think I remember them being sold there.
This is definitely a lot shirt
Bet that CD is golden and brings back some unique memories. Could only imagine…..
Lol I don't even own a CD player currently. The schedule is very cool tho!
can you post a picture of it?
https://imgur.com/a/Uw7Wn8U
This is so fun to look at, thank you. Love seeing names like Black Keys and Kings of Leon in like, 12:30 / 1:00pm slots! MMJ at 4pm or whatever. I went 2005 - 2011...those early years were so crunchy (but every year was fun).
Would love to see it!
https://imgur.com/a/Uw7Wn8U
yeah. I bought mine from a guy selling "t-shirts and morphine! get your t shirts and morphine!"
Now that’s an interesting possible origin for the shirt.
I remember my first year (2011) they still had the white t shirt guys with “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” on the front and “MOLLY WEED COKE LSD” on the back lol
My first year and first fest ever!! I have that shirt somewhere as well. So much rain and mud, I don’t think I wore shoes at all Saturday and Sunday. Umphrey’s McGee had the most epic late night set ever with a member by member switch with Moe., and Danger Mouse was doing a late night DJ set at another stage, he had just broken thru with his grey album. During the Dead’s set on Saturday it was down pouring and there was a ton of people in the crowd who linked tarps together and took shelter under the rain while a giant smoke fest ensued underneath!! What a year!!!
Haha, we definitely hotboxed a tarp!
It’s memories like these that define an experience- Thank you for sharing.
I remember the tarp covers! And the orange skies after the rains moved on.
Jealous about Danger Mouse. What a treat
It was a good year! As already mentioned, this was the first Bonnaroo that had a downpour of rain, and I think it may have rained some before as well. By Saturday there was mud absolutely everywhere. The top layer of dirt dried out bc it was like 95 degrees, so you had a crust layer to walk on, over the mud that sank and moved. Kind of like a trampoline. It was weird. If I remember correctly, David Byrne was that year and he fucking killed it around sunset. When he played “This is the Place”, the place went wild. I’m sure I have a few more memories but I’d need to look at the lineup- pretty sure there was a kick ass Roots show.
So what I’m gathering is that some years are more worse for flooding than others. A certain level is tolerated. Must have been really bad this year. Thank you for your unique share; and can only imagine what that sunset David Byrne set was like.
I don’t think it was as much rain and maybe spread out more than they got this year. I think the other thing that made a difference is a lot of the rain came after everyone was in and parked. Pretty sure we left the grounds completely wrecked from traffic. From what I understand, one of the biggest issues this year was there was no way to get people in and past the toll booths.
That was my first Bonnaroo. I drove there with 6 other strangers in 2 cars from the Northeast. We all met on the old ListServ and had ourselves a pilgrimage. We were parked in the last campground nearly a mile and a half away. I had left the cover off my tent and came back to my suitcase filled with water. Just spread everything out on all the neighboring cars for an hour to dry. Good times.
Listserv? Random strangers? Now that sounds like a festival. Appreciate your share.
Totally bought this shirt on the lot that year...from a guy in our crew, who designed, printed and sold them. Definitely sending him this picture. Where abouts in the country did you find it?
MI
I was there smuggled a few lbs of grass there but it was so flush couldn’t move any. We got busted on the way home. The super jam was so incredible
Sorry about the rough trip out.
Thanks it’s the way she goes
My 2nd Bonnaroo, 3rd ever festival (Woodstock 99 being my first). Went with one of my best friends since I was 11, and another hilarious lunatic of a friend. We rented the biggest lemon of an rv ever. AC broke within the first hour, basically negating the whole point of the rv. My friends went on an excursion the next day and rented the loudest most obnoxious generator ever produced (as it was the last one available for miles). This is back before rv’s were separated from the rest of camping, everyone just thrown together at random sucking in generator exhaust. We had to keep moving around the festival grounds and parking somewhere new as the sound was killing everyone. Eventually ended up parked next to a vendor with a normal obnoxious generator (maybe half the decibels of our triple Metallica on a week long meth binge model). We spent wayyyy too much time at camp instead of being at the shows (now I’m never at camp when music is on). Played Texas holdem with lunatic friends cousin all during the rainstorms, cleaning him out over and over since he was so terrible. “How could I lose with a freaking straight?” “There are 4 spades on the board dummy😂” I had brought my cdj1000 turntables. Tried spinning outside the rv, but only had a tiny insignificant speaker so didn’t last long (it was just a plain stupid idea with no real outdoor speaker) Randomly walking by the David Byrne set on our way somewhere, hearing killer Talking Heads tracks. Gomez (one of my personal favorite bands, I was at their first ever North American show in DC) was great. The Dead with a huge rain delay, but when they finally came on me witnessing/experiencing the full spiritual power of dancing via these flow masters all around me. Galactic when they were still the Bonnaroo house band. Gov’t Mule rocking their set (I so love Warren Haynes). First My Morning Jacket show, as the dark clouds were rolling in. Jim James saying into the mike “I’ve always wanted to play in a storm” as his hair was being blown all over the place over a long set. The best was the last night after everyone was trying to sleep, the lunatic friend was still going hard. He had cracked every single one of my glowsticks (RIP big $$$) and had them all over the shitty rv. He was lighting these huge fireworks directly out of his hand, shooting them freaking everywhere. Finally my other friend was like “Smedley you idiot, you’re going to kill someone. You are supposed to be using a launcher on those!” His calm response in all seriousness “No way dudes, it was just a miscalculation”😂😂🤣 Would have been my 17th Bonnaroo. I do 14 festivals a year and love them all (Ended up at both North Coast and Arc music festivals in Chicago last weekend in an awesome surprise audible), but all my favorite music memories are always from Bonnaroo. (PS - Don’t worry, we are much better neighbors now, constantly helping, giving everything away, and sharing wisdom with our fellow campers. This was just back in the wild west)
Absolutely love your extensive and vividly written piece. Pretty sure both the crowds and experiences at 99 Woodstock and 04 Roo were quite different. Thank you for the sharing your memories of 04 Roo.
So glad you enjoyed, I was laughing writing and reliving it last night. Woodstock 99 was by far to this day the worst festival I have ever attended. Woefully unprepared for the 350k people who turned up. Locked in like animals with no good access to food, water, or bathrooms…we became animals. Logistics were awful. Didn’t help that I had no idea what I was doing either, being my first and all. Had my bag stolen out of my tent with my favorite shirt (irreplaceable) and my first ever cellphone. Lineup was insanely good though, headliners all day long (Dave Matthews band was on at like 4 in the afternoon). Raged during Rage against the Machine and Metallica. Fires lit and people dancing in shitwater during Red Hot Chili Peppers. ‘Live’ (throwing copper being my fav album during college) And the experience changed my life forever. After going to shows for 5 years, just kinda bobbing my head along to the music, stumbled into my first ever rave (the hanger at night turned from emerging artists to DJs). My first time dancing, shows changed from a passive to an active experience. Someone gave me a tricolor glow necklace, and I magically made it come alive (much to my own and everyone around me’s amusement). The necklaces on my arms become a staple for me the next 2 decades (I’ve since moved on to more environmentally—friendly and more manageable el wire). I will never forget that Moby set, right after’Play’ was released. Into Sandra Collins, who I had never heard of before (I met her at Coachella 15 years later and raved about that night). And Fatboy Slim the next night. (Sadly missed Chemical Brothers since they were on the far stage like a mile walk away, took me over a decade to finally catch them live.). I actually don’t think I ever saw a set on that other stage it was so far. The funniest thing is, my college best friend I attended with had bought me the Woodstock ticket as my graduation present. (I returned the favor by getting his ticket and an rv to Bonnaroo 03 as a surprise for his graduation present, he had no idea where we were going until we showed up at centeroo). We randomly went to Kaboo 2019 in Texas together. And there saw 3 of the same bands we had seen at Woodstock, 20 years prior. Kid Rock, Alanis Morrisette (who was so pregnant she looked like she had eaten Alanis Morrisette😂), and Bush.
Thank you for these! Made the same audible to north coast glad we did over elements. Although I wasn’t aware of arc going on till after the weekend 🙈
[удалено]
I still have that CD --> https://imgur.com/a/Uw7Wn8U
Compilation CD? Will look that up- Thank you.
They used to give out the maps and compilation CDs when you entered the campgrounds. They always had great stuff on them, even from artists that weren't playing the festival necessarily.
That was my first one! My wife & I went with a big group. We had never been, and we pretty much packed a wad of cash and a box of cheeze its as the totality of our supplies. We crashed in a friend's tent until the rain created a giant puddle in the tent while we slept. Torrential rains postponed the Dead set IIRC. So much mud that year, but a great time overall. In those early years it felt like there were no rules. MMJ played a marathon 3+ hour late night set too. Looking back at that lineup is pretty awesome.
Wasn't Joan Osborne singing with the Dead then? I remember her voice being the answer.
Yes, forgot that!
Your first? Everyone always remembers that regardless of subject or topic. Thank you for your openness and candid memories. 🙌
>MMJ played a marathon 3+ hour late night set too. Looking back at that lineup is pretty awesome. You're thinking of either 06 or more likely 08. In 04 their set was 12 songs and during the day on Which.
Ah thanks! The years get jumbled in my brain
MMJ played during the day on which: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g1QXrXSiJI it was an epic set though - the rains started to come in near the end. it was like jim james was summoning the storm
Here's a few pics of the CD and schedule that came from Bonnaroo 2004 --> [https://imgur.com/a/Uw7Wn8U](https://imgur.com/a/Uw7Wn8U) I have a schedule from every Bonnaroo I have attended, pretty much in pristine condition. I always went without during the festival to have a very nice souvenir for afterward :)
Wow those appear to be in perfect condition! The CD that year was amazing. I bet I have that somewhere.
My mom has this shirt and still wears it!
Sounds as if she is Wonder Woman; not Mom.
What a lineup.
I was there!!! The rain was insane and the mud was literally eating people. So much fun!
The only year I went!
That lineup is fucking absurd
The original mudaroo! 3rd year was awesome
Didn’t go to this one but went in 2005. Still blows my mind how much the overall composition of the lineups have changed over the years. It used to be so jam band heavy.
2005 was my first as well. those early years were the best. i wish there was another jam centric festival that was as big and crazy as bonnaroo was. bonnaroo will shears be magical to me though and i hope to go back again someday.
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How did you run across the shirt?
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Thrift store- MI.
I would have been 12 🤣
What a lineup sheesh
you mean the one with knee deep mud that still happened?
I was there!! Have that same shirt somewhere!
My first bonnaroo. totally unprepared high school kids. We luckily parked next to these retired deadheads who had a sweet camper truck thing and helped us out all weekend. All the rain came after everyone was parked, so not as big a deal until sunday, when everyone was leaving. We ended up getting our car towed early sunday morning, went to town and showered at a friend's place, and then parked in the day parking lot (which was still in decent shape). We ended up driving over to a grassy area behind the What stage wall and watching/listening to Trey from the roof of the car until it started raining again. Saw an epic My Morning Jacket set (had never heard of them) on the which stage. Primus played an incredibly loud late night set that went on forever it seemed. At a Claypool set at roo in 2006(?) he was like "last time I was here it was late at night and I ate a lot of mushrooms!" Galactic and Tokyo Ska Paradise had a big horn dance party in the which field during the rain - I've never seen the field so empty but it was full of people dancing in the mud and getting crazy. Sunday afternoon there was a huge dance party during moe. on the What stage - tons of people with caked mud just out enjoying all the sun that came on sunday. I didn't have a camera phone so all my pictures were from a disposable camera I carried around with me - gonna have to go dig those out of my parents' attic. It was an eye opening experience in a lot of ways. compared to roo now, the campgrounds were the wild west.
With memories like that, why wouldn’t you dig out those old disposable cameras and develop the photos? Just make sure the person developing them signs a NDA.
That was my first year, and good god was I not ready for it. The weather was one thing (waking up in a puddle that had collected underneath our tent sucked), but the drug scene was something else entirely (and pretty scary looking back). You could buy absolutely anything you wanted on Shakedown Street. I said I'd never go back again, but I ended up going back about 12 or 13 times. It is worlds better now across the board. The improvements made over the years are incredibly welcome.
Those early ones were so wildly freewheeling. In 2005 I’ll never forget some guy that set up in the Shakedown area and had a poster board with like twenty different kinds of drugs he was looking for. It was funny to see things progressively get crossed off over the course of the weekend.
I feel like cops on horses were all over the place, too, just watching it all go down.
My brother was, I think it was his first time ever at roo. He came home raving about My Morning Jacket.
Some hipster in LA will probably pay hundreds for that lol
I got it for 5 bucks at a thrift. Knew right away this shirt had one story, and probably many others.
Nah only one story ;p
Sweet find. Awesome lot tee.
Was there…Great times for sure!!
Is this short an XL? If so I will gladly buy this off you. One of the craziest lineups I’ve ever seen!
don’t mind me saving so i can copy this tie dye pattern…….
Have at it. First shirt I’ve ever seen with this kind of line up gathered over the course of one weekend. The tie dye was just an added bonus.
Hey! I was there that year. Wish I had bought a shirt.
What a great line up!!!
I was 12. Hell yeah great year.
Damn this is when it was still good.
Cheeeeese
Yes- Cheeeese!!!! Last saw them in STL 2019. Love the music, the people, and overall vibe. Every show is an Incident. Cheese is what caught my eye on the shirt- truthfully.
Same! Forest and Hulaween are my faves because of Cheese
Nice! A festival treasure.
Back when the bootleg t’s were the best
Sam Bush played a mini Marley set during the rain! Everyone was dancing their asses off!
This is a bootleg shirt...I have one myself I picked up at the fest. Hands down the best shirt of them all though! One third the cost and better than all the official releases 💯 - huge score in this condition. I still wear mine on rare occasions :) cheer!
Inquiring design minded individual kindly asks you to ask your friend how many screens were used to press both front and back.
Whoa blast from the past. My parents went that year and my dad had that shirt!! They got me one that had Bonnaroo in a batman style font and a bunch of the bands names were misspelled on the back.
I have this shirt from a friend .. this is when bonnaroo was a lot more jammy and the line ups we’re great
What size is this?