At some point a friend (and concert enthusiast) told me about her annual trip to a magical music festival on a giant farm in the dusty summer heat of Tennessee. This year I stopped wondering about it and made the trek out there with her.
The 4-day music fest is
Bonnaroo (the South's rival to California's Coachella) and this year's lineup hooked me: Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish, Bon Iver, Feist, Ben Folds Five, The Avett Brothers, Foster the People, Rodrigo y Gabriella, Punch Brothers, The Roots, Dispatch, The Shins, Young the Giant, The Temper Trap, Fitz & the Tantrums, Two Door Cinema Club, etc (and by 'etc' I mean Alice Cooper, The Beach Boys, Skrillex, Kenny Rogers, Flogging Molly, ?uestlove, Ludacris, Childish Gambino and
hundreds of others.)
So we signed up to volunteer pre-fest (3 long days of setting up the venue before the music starts, earning you a free ticket) and road tripped ourselves out there. On the way out we broke up the driving a bit with a stop in Louisville, KY to see some of L's family.
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| Bourbon at the Jim Beam distillery tour in KY |
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| Black fungus (tree bark) eats sugars released during fermentation |
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| A day at the races |
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| The Slugger |
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| On to the main event |
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| Hard at work for the Access Team (this was a 3-man job, yes it was) |
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| Welcome campers! |
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| Clock tower |
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| Friendly neighborhood Gumby |
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| Drum art |
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| Bobbleheads |
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| One of five large stages |
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| The Avett Brothers on the What Stage |
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| Local color |
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| Body paint |
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| Judah Friedlander |
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| Sunset beyond the masses |
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| Phish |
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| Bonnaroo'nicorn love |
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| Hula hoops |
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| Radiohead. Unforgettable. |
