Bonnaroo 2013 Notes
Friday 2013
-got to bonnaroo late. About 7pm tonight. Trying to find Brennan in this jungle. Right by my car I saw two lesbian girls
having sex. Were ok attractive. Good way to start off bonnaroo.
-overheard a girl. Just blurted out at a guy. "what's that documentary called?"
-breathing in the smell of
marijuana. Waiting for Paul McCarthy to
come on. Brennan just put together a two
pointed chair, so prepared. First hot
dogs, Gatorade, now a two legged chair.
Crazy. Still no sign of
molly. The watch continues.
-a little high. Group with multicolored neon gallons that are
glowing. Moving them around
pleasingly. Warmly.
-Paul McCarthy's still got it. I mean literally, he's still got it. Using a guitar from the 60's and from the
original recording.
-1027pm, we're all puppets now
-its still early in bonnaroo, hard to
gage what is going on. People are still
so exuberant, tolerant, optimistic, we haven't recked anything yet. The smell in the air(besides the weed), is
palpable. Its a kind of careful,
precarious, carelessness/abandon. The
feeling that anything is possible, that there are hurdles, but it doesn't
matter, nothing matters. All that
matters is that we're here. Out
collective energy, you can't see it, but it will produce the wave we can
ride. Our energy will carry us through. We're not thinking or planning, that would
dull our energy. Our energy will solve
all those vague problems, the idea that we're on the right side of history. Everything will somehow work out, I will
somehow find Molly in this crowd of over 50,000. We'll see how far the wave takes us to
shore. It may be years, but will find
out if it crested to soon, or not at all.
-Brennan just shouted "just got
paid"
-crowd getting anxious for zz
top. Chanting. Getting bit rowdy.
-little kid of all about 6 is getting
down in his light up shoes. He's braking
out the break dancing moves.
-just saw some guy with a bacon
strips t-shirt covered head to toe in glitter.
-don't zz stop
-just overheard two hipsters talking
about Toms shoes and what they wanted to do that was just like it. Then the guys was like, "whoa, you
realize I'm wearing Toms shows right now."
-at pretty lights. Really tired.
The lights and lasers are so intense.
The guy right next to me on my right is juggling these really intense
light circles that keep changing. Its
right in my peripheral line and killing me kindly. They are nit gloves with lights at the finger
tips. Another person asked to see
them. The guy to my right said he's
triping so hard, he 'needs' them. He's
on the edge. Where does that leave me?
Disorientation at bonnaroo. Strange
smells, weed and strong expresso.
-crazy flags and idols on
sticks. Buzzlightyear, the grim reaper,
blue angle jet, eagles, dinosaurs. What
does it all mean in the lights? Doesn't
matter march on.
-giant Parachute, like the one we use
to have in grade school gym. People
using it the same way, just high. No
games, just the thrill of having a parachute.
-psychedelic Christmas light up barn
that beckons all that walk by. Strange
dj/edm/line dancing inside. What is this
place. Lots of hot blond girls. What can this place not produce and I'm
mostly sober.
Saturday
-went to sleep last night with the
sun roof open. It wad quite cool last night
and sleeping in the car wasn't a bad idea.
It was quite nice actually. But,
woke up this morning sweating like a dog in a Chinese restaurant. I was covered in sweat. Might have a sun burn too. A weird place the energy of bonnaroo. People with little sleep and little food
willed on by the sense of shared energy.
The idea that at least for two more days, the world and its rules don't
matter. We get a break, an escape if you
will. And that's why the energy of
bonnaroo will never collectively leave this farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Its an escape. Bonnaroo is like all the other
youth/enlightenment events. Instead of
harnessing their energy and spirit to change the world people are disenchanted
with, we are trying to escape it. Much
like the 60s youth counter-culture, much like every youth movement. Only, the energy and attitudes here
(bonnaroo) seem different. There're not
any of the lofty expectations, we don't have illusions that we are going to
change the world or the way it operates.
Occupy wall street tried that.
Maybe the energy from that protest is gone. Or maybe it goes back much farther. Maybe the 60s era counter-culture
failed. Maybe we are still recovering
from their collapse. Maybe the cycle
hasn't been replenished yet, their failure was so drastic. Or maybe our protest was more nuanced, not just fighting the explicit evil Vietnam
war, maybe ours was/is about socio-economic class and socio-economic mobility
and fairness in the US. We weren't
concerned with trying to find peace and enlightenment, or at least we realized
you can't buy it for 5 to 10 dollars a hit.
whatever it is, the result is the same.
In the end its about escapism, trying to escape society instead of
changing it. The 60s counter-culture
ended up trying to escape from their society.
But escape to where? Escape to a
fictitious world of drugs. That's what
drugs became to them a venue for escape, not a tool to achieve a goal. They became the goal to many. We can escape, but never for long
enough. Whatever the reasons, no one is
seeking change at bonnaroo, just escape.
And that's ok, because it was never our goal to change, or at least its
not our goal now. All that matters is
that we are here and our energy will carry us through the weekend. And maybe a few of us will have one of those
fleeting moments of crippling self doubt, that age so necessary for true honest
clairvoyance. If only, if only.
-1127am, beautiful day out. Very cool breeze outside. Outside cooler than my car. People just relaxing. Laying on my back, looking up at the sun roof
of my car, blue sky, black guys (nothing racial meant by that, just describing
the settings) playing a really intense game of football. Tired, but happy.
-watching the light play off the
ceiling of my car. What am I doing with
my life? Why am I doing this trip, what
do I want to accomplish? All these notes
I'm taking. The sense that 'i've seen
it'. Looking back on past experiences,
it seems so arbitrary. But they did
shape me, and make me who am I am.
Whether that is good I don't know.
I could relax and get a lot done.
Important things. Are the experiences
really all that crucial? No matter how
long you've lived your life, it seems like a minute.
-trying to find people in a crowd
sucks
-saw a guy wearing a 'rum ham' shirt
in the run dmc style.
-just saw a girl with painted
boobs. They were huge. Purple, yellow, and green.
-weird happenings in front of
me. Older white woman with a young
Philippian boy. Sex slave? Can you still buy people? In certain parts of the world probably
yes. The little Philippian boy is
holding an onion in the hot smelting sun.
Strange happenings. That onion
must be disgusting. Why?
-some people have a poll sign that is
lined with neon lights with a picture of cookie monster on the top, surrounded
by lights.
-still no sign of molly. The watch continues. Running on pure chance. The ecstasy of expectation.
-right next to the grim reaper on a
poll guy.
-shit. The two guys in front of me are doing crystal
-love people. The girl next to me just asked me to smile
more. Great happenings at bonnaroo.
-when I got back to my car at the end
of last night night (Saturday night) the lights were on and the battery in the
car was pretty much dead. I don't know
what happened. The alarm was on too I
think. When I woke up the next morning people
next to me offered to help me jump start my car. People so friendly and nice. Talked with them afterwards. Pretty incredible people who live in st.
Louis. Wonderful happenings at bonnaroo.
-there is a giant stuffed panda
surfing the crowd. Incredible. Pandamonium at bonnaroo.
-just met two girls that went to mtsu
and are both actors in new york. Living
in new York and acting. Cool. One according to the old guy Philip, is a
classic 1950s beauty.
-guy just clensed up and fainted next
to me.
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