As a semi-seasoned festival veteran I have to admit that in the last few years I have had no godly interest in attending the festival juggernaut known as Bonnaroo. Perhaps I have turned into a festival snob or perhaps I have turned into an anti-corporate new-age hippie but all I know is that I laughed as hard as the next guy when I heard that AP made the mistake of announcing Led Zeppelin on the bill instead of Lez Zeppelin and that Kanye West and Metallica would be headlining. What’s next? Miley Cyrus at the top of next year’s lineup?

I reluctantly set aside my distaste for the Roo when my good friends here at REAX asked me to cover it. I know this was partially because the ticket was for general camping and not every REAXer could handle it in the trenches but they knew I would be up for the challenge. My cracks about “Bonnaroo line-up sucking this year” quickly turned into, “Oh hell yeah Disco Biscuits, Umphreys McGee and Minus the Bear, Bonnaroo’s going to be awesome!” Nearly four days of music later I can say that minus a few headliners, it really was awesome.

With over 75,000 people in attendance this year the crowd was as eclectic as the line-up. From old-school to new-age hippies, from dirt rockers to pop-lock-and-droppers there was music for the likes of every Bonna-rager on site. Although I myself was a Bonna-rookie the word on the street was that the festival moved more smoothly this year than ever before. I’ve been to enough festivals to know that sorting out the mechanics can be a bitch. Well, the folks at Bonnaroo must be doing something right (besides inviting Kanye West to come out) because getting into the festival, parking and camping ran the smoothest I have ever seen at a festy; so kudos to Bonnaroo for figuring that out after eight years in the game. However, no kudos are to be given for the incredibly poor choice of headliners. As suspected (and as you probably already heard) Kanye West showed up two hours late for his set, did not speak a word to the crowd and acted ouy some form of interpretive dancing that ended with a Prince-esque parody of him throwing himself on the floor in despair. (A little dramatic Kanye don’t ya think?)  A small number of attendees who actually saw the early morning set, many of whom were sucking on lollipop pacifiers and festooned with glow sticks went wild and sang along to every word at the ridiculous performance while the majority of the crowd walked away calling for Kanye's head. They should’ve given Kanye the boot in exchange for some rootin', tootin', beer guzzlin', get-down late-night bluegrass.


The most unfortunate part about the whole episode is that while Mr. West kept the crowd waiting for hours, an abundance of spectacular late-night acts were going on that people missed while waiting for the platinum-selling prima donna to take the stage. This Bonna-rager waited about 30 minutes before she said 'screw this' and walked away from the stage, which was the best decision I made all weekend considering that emcee Chali 2Na from Jurassic 5 surprised the crowd by playing a nearly 2-hour set with … da dada dah … Galactic. Hands down, one of the best shows all weekend. Love, love, love was in the air as the rapper must have thanked the crowd in between every song and expressed infinite amounts of appreciation for his fans: “Thank you for being here with me when you could be watching Kanye, it means the world to me, you guys are my lifeline,” said 2Na.

While daytime acts such as Jack Johnson, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Raconteurs and Gogol Bordello made up for a couple of shitty headliners, the late-night sets definitely stole the show this weekend at the Roo. The Disco Biscuits played about two hours past their scheduled time and ended just as the sun was rising. I’ve seen the Biscuits about a half dozen times now and the Roo set was the best I have witnessed yet. The crowd went nuts when they covered Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” and this gal went nuts during their cover of Men Without Hats' 1980s hit “Safety Dance.” If you should happen to come across a YouTube video of a kaleidoscope-eyed girl River Dancing clad in jeans, goulashes and a bikini top during that song, it is definitely not me. (Sorry, mom.)

All in all my first Bonnaroo experience far surpassed my expectations. When you set aside the corporate bullshit and bad headliners there were some fantastically great tunes, some pretty rad people and a commendable amount of organization. Hopefully the folks in charge have learned a valuable lesson about booking money-hungry superstars to play the Roo. Next year just leave it to the jam bands, bluegrassers, soul-stewers and to the musicians who really want to be there.  Even Metallica mellowed down their set to appeal to a crowd of stoners and fluff-heads, which was a little disappointing but at least they gave some love to the crowd.

Pearl jam followed suit, and it seemed as if these bands knew their place. They knew they were going to have to win over the crowds, and at least they attempted to do so. While the production was less then mediocre, at least they tried to appeal to the masses. After way too much Bonna-raging for the day I had to leave the Pearl Jam set and find some solace in watching Phil Lesh and Friends; the only problem was that, with some of the stages so close in proximity, the music tended to blend together. Pearl Jam and Phil Lesh don’t really mix, if you know what I mean - sitting at Phil and friends I found myself thinking, “Dude, I wish Eddie Vedder would just shut the fuck up.”

So for all the smack I have ever talked about the Roo, I retract most of those statements. The Bonnarro folks have finally locked down the recipe for a pretty damn good festival. Widespread Panic closed out the fest with an incendiary three-hour set that made up for a number of crappy acts. Mostly great bands, copious amounts of organization, and a pretty cool crowd made for a reasonably successful fest. As long as Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment can stray from the ridiculous headliners, I’d definitely tackle the Roo again. Save the theatrics for the MTV Video Awards Kanye, we're all good on egos here.