Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by th3int3rn3t on Jun 15, 2010 13:48:21 GMT -5
^^ agreed, it was awesome.
and as far as taking water into centeroo goes.... i took in a full camelpak, and 2 bottles every day, with various liquids in each. and they never took them from me. i had no problems bringing in whatever i wanted, even in the mornings when they were more strict
Two weeks before the fest my wife broke her foot. She thought it would be OK with crutches but the terrain did her in. Friday afternoon she went over to the med tent and they hooked her up with a scooter. $200 for the weekend! But she was able to get around and didn't miss any shows. The ADA staff were consistently friendly and helpful and we had a great time! She could've been a real b*tch about it because it totally sucked but we made the best of it! It was the best of times, it was the worst of times but overall it was a hell of a time!
Post by anicwilliams on Jun 15, 2010 13:59:24 GMT -5
I have been to roo 3 years (07,08, and 10) and this was by far the worst! We got there super early and had to wait in line for almost 8 hours then we were camped in like the farthest field possible. Just seemed that they didn't even try to organize this year. Then because I didn't have pockets, I was putting money into my husbands back pack and the mounties rode up and harassed us for like 10 minutes because they thought we were doing something suspicious. (We really weren't!) Plus the cops on ATVs were way too pushy and rude, one almost backed into us and didn't even seem to care. Our neighbors totally ran over our entire camp on their way out Sunday night while we were at DMB, so we didn't even have a tent to stay in and have to drive home that night. All in all I was really disappointed in roo this year. It just isn't the festival it used to be.
This was my 3rd year in a row. I wound up having almost no money the whole time cause I locked my purse in my friend's car and I couldn't find her all weekend. I thought it would be horrible, but after spending the weekend with hardly any money I grew an appreciation for the less obvious attractions of Roo. I caught a handful of shows but mostly spent my time wandering the vast campground, meeting like-minded souls.
I realized this year that Bonnaroo is only what you make of it and what your expectations are. If you go with the attitude of "Whatever happens happens," rather than just wanting to party or see spectacular shows that disappoint you, I promise you'll have fun. Even if something bad happened, I just shrugged it off, knowing it would work out and it did.
My one complaint is that it seemed there were more robberies this year, (possibly due to the new crowd, particularly the younger kids). I also saw more babies and pregnant women (what are they thinking???)
I didn't go this year but I kinda have to laugh - in a way - because so far what I am reading are the same old complaints that come out every year after Bonnaroo
This is only one of at least a half a dozen threads already started that are the same old bullsh!t complaints about a good time. I'm surprised I didn't see whaaaaambulances racing all over the campgrounds.
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
Post by yfoogsittam on Jun 15, 2010 16:21:52 GMT -5
first roo and had a blast. no complaints, other than heat (its june in tn, what can you expect?), but just a few notes from my experience:
cops/security: when we got close to manchester, a girl in our group got pulled over for "following too closely" and the cop asked to search her car (she let them). He found a grinder, but just said to get rid of it, and didn't write her a ticket. upon entry, others in our group just got asked if they had glass and that was it. We had to get out of our cars, but it wasn't bad at all, and at that point it felt good to get up and stretch. they just opened a couple bags and coolers and looked under seats and said we were good. going into centeroo, I had to empty my camelbak on thursday, but never after that. They just patted my pockets and let me pass. At one point, a guy with a supervisor shirt on was just saying "At this point, i'm just looking for bracelets, i'll be honest with you" and pretty much let everyone through without hesitation. Mounties came by fairly regularly, but never once gave us any trouble, even when were out of our minds telling the policeman how cool the horse looked.
camping/campgrounds: got in on weds night, so i was in pod 1 (BFE), oddjob, but it wasn't bad at all. we seemed to have way more space than my friends in pods 8 and 9. seemed to be fairly peaceful and quiet and there was no shortage of "vendors" that came around. Pod 1 sucks from midnight to noon, when the side gate by the What stage is closed, but when it's open, its pretty nice. never had any problems with people taking our stuff or messing with our tents or anything, but apparently it did go on.
Water: in pod 1, the water smelled and tasted like sulpher way bad. undrinkable. I didnt even want to put my head underneath it to "shower" from a water bottle. All other pods and fountains in centeroo that i tried, tasted great. The "filtered water" stations, shaped like blue mushrooms kind of had horrible lines and low water pressure. i waited 30+ mins to only get 3 people back, got so hot that i decided to leave the line and try the campgrounds. On my way i discovered that the sinks were the way to go. the water tasted great and even during long lines, it moved very quickly and the water pressure was more than adequate.
traffic: can't really say. I waited about two hours, but we took some weird back way (dont ask, bc i wasnt driving) and ended up going in by the winery. the interstate looked more backed up, and i think the two hours was only because of the heavy rains on weds night.
overall everyone was cool that i ran into, sans the few dumbasses that you'll run into at anywhere there are 80k people. i met so many cool people and made new friends. It did seem like 75% of the people i talked to were also first timers, and i thought that was weird. Oh and dollar grilled cheeses were a life saver.
Post by ellisintransit on Jun 15, 2010 16:22:23 GMT -5
"I realized this year that Bonnaroo is only what you make of it and what your expectations are."
^QFT^. They need to post signs every 20 feet that say, "ATTENTION: YOUR BONNAROO WILL ONLY BE AS GOOD AS YOU ALLOW IT TO BE" hahaha.
This was my 7th straight Roo and somehow I have managed to never have a bad time. Inforoo is straight up Complaint City now. I would avoid the threads with titles like this one to avoid the negativity altogether, but every single thread degenerates into this ridiculous complaining. Eff me, I'M complaining now. Haha.
Go check out the Lunar Tent thread where one of the Fuse Barn contest winners complains about the Lunar Stage being too loud. WHILE THEY GOT TO SLEEP IN THE AIR CONDITIONED BARN IN THE MIDDLE OF CENTEROO!
Post by mrsmcmillin on Jun 15, 2010 21:54:53 GMT -5
OK.... So i had never even been campin until Bonnaroo 2008. I was terrified that it was going to be horrid, but to my suprise I absolutely loved it!!!! I was totally expecting the same experience this year.. Boy was i wrong... The first year we only sat in line for about 2 hours was not bad at all. This year was horrible 6 and half hours in my car to only move 10 miles. Then after we waited in line so long we got totally screwed on a camping spot. We were way out by the exit for I-24, so we had like a 30 min walk to anything. Getting in the gate was no problem for us. We went through a quick search of our stuff and went right in. When we got parked i was like heck yea porta potty not far should be water and showers close by right. no wrong again. Water stations were so far from us that we weren't even able to wash our face off untill we started to centeroo. If we had ran out of water we would have dehydrated before we found a water station. My husband and myself came with 3 other friends which had different intentions than we did but still stuck together. On friday we were all walking to centerroo and stopped to get something out of our back pack and check our money. when we did the security on horseback pretty much surrounded us wanting to kno why we had our bags out with money. this really upset me cause to tell you the truth my husband and myself were probably 2 of the MOST sober ppl there and they were harrassing us. we could see ppl doind things right infront of them and they passed them up and try to catch us.Everything went pretty well for the rest of the trip. I had lost of fun and saw lots of bands and the music was great. Until sun night when we got back from DMB. As we were walkin back i thought i saw ppl in my car, well i was right(our friends packin i soon saw). when the other members of our group got back from concert they found our campsite DESTROYED!!!!!someone had gotten out moved our coolers around went through our tent took my corn and RAN OVER (with a vehicle) our camp... everything except coolers was destroyed! bent the legs on our ezup just ruined everything we had just bought to take that was the first time we had even used the ezup. I think that right there did it for me! if ppl can't be respectful then i don't wanna be there. there was plenty of room around us to get out without doing what they did. there was even poop on my hat!!!! my first bonnaroo in 08 was AWESOME!!!! but after this year i don't think i will be back. the lack of organization and the robberies and people destroyin other ppl stuff is uncalled for and it makes me wanna take my $650 i pd for tickets and go to the beach( and i HATE sand!) or something so i don't have to worry about stupid ppl breaking my stuff for no reason. I enjoyed all the music and tried to make the best of it but sun night really got me!!!!!!
i thought it was another good roo. the only time i truly noticed anything different about the festival was during jay-z. i looked around and noticed a lot of "frat" guys. everywhere. one thing i've noticed about bonnaroo is every year it takes one more step away from the hippie festival it was and every year it becomes more "mainstream" for lack of a better word. this is just the way things work. when things become popular they attract more people. different people. i still had a blast this year, but once again, it took another step in that direction.
during the GWAR show, at approx 3 AM, there was a disemboweled mess of human remains spraying fake blood onto the crowd while twirling it's own intestines like a baton.
if that isnt the final nail in the "bonnaroo is a hippie festival" coffin, i don't know what is.
this was the hottest roo ive ever been to. but i had a great time - largely due to the people i spent it with.
best roo? no. not sure if it's the worst - musically it wasnt the strongest for me, so maybe of the five ive been to it was the worst. but only because one has to be last, not because it sucked.
Post by iamgod93081 on Jun 15, 2010 23:56:30 GMT -5
Pfft... you guys call this a worst ever thread, my first Roo was 2008, the year of Metallica (which ironically is what got me to go in the first place), and let me tell you THAT was some real hate!!!
Truly though, this was my third year and every year I hear the same griping and groaning about the same things over and over so let me put this in perspective:
First, wikipedia your hometown, is it less than or equal to 80,000?? pretty good chance that for a good chunk of us it is.
Second, imagine every main sewage line/ power line in your town is eliminated?? how smooth would things be going in your town??
Third, imagine every house in your town is now a tent
Finally, now imagine every person in your town is now trying to leave and go to the SAME place!!
THIS is what the people that throw Bonnaroo have to do EVERY year!!! Of course every year things are going to go wrong, of course there is going to be things stolen and douchebags accounted for, it sucks if it happened to you but with this many people it inevitably was going to happen to someone, it's the name of the game.
I had a great time, only had one issue with Ferris Wheel security and that is when he obnoxiously checked my baby wipes (for my ever tender bottom, dur) for drugs and found none. Even got in with a full camelbak.
Heat was obnoxious this year but I think I was "spoiled" with the rain and mid 80's temps the last two years, so I coped.
Dave Matthews is a frat boy legend, I can't say I was hardly suprised that there was an increase in them this year.
Rothbury didn't happen this year, so everyone should have expected a more congested Roo to begin with.
And as for the illegal substances, well look I love mine as much as the next guy but a bunch of you simply believe that just because you are at Roo you can just do what you want in the open you CAN NOT, just like at home that stuff has to be concealed and done in a private place, if you can't handle that then proceed at your own risk.
The Centeroo port-a-potties were grosser than the last two years, but like I said 80,000 folks, something is bound to go wrong.
If you were robbed then may I suggest a pad lock on your tent?? Yeah, I know it won't stop a good knife but you know what?? Most people don't padlock their tent so if your tent has a lock there is a good chance the thief is gonna move to the next unlocked one, sucks for that person, but such is life. And NEVER keep anything of value in your tent, keep it in your trunk.
Port-o-potties didn't seem to get cleaned nearly as much or well
crowd seemed WAY younger to me...maybe just the difference in people in general and these just looked younger due to the scene they're in, but I swear there were just way more teenagers, in large packs! it's all good but just seemed different...wish my parents would have let me do something like this when I was 15!
otherwise, seemed the same as the last few years...awesome Roo sorry for everyone who got robbed though, but like someone posted above, there's only so much that can be prevented...just bad luck sometimes now running over someones campsite with a vehicle is just plain ridiculous!
I didn't go this year but I kinda have to laugh - in a way - because so far what I am reading are the same old complaints that come out every year after Bonnaroo
This is only one of at least a half a dozen threads already started that are the same old bullsh!t complaints about a good time. I'm surprised I didn't see whaaaaambulances racing all over the campgrounds.
well, I'll tell you. My first Roo was 08 and I had the most amazing time ever. The shows this year were amazing too, and I didn't mind that the people in Centeroo were a little stoic (the heat made it like walking through death valley sometimes). But I did feel that the organization that impressed me so much at my first Roo was lacking.
We were in line at 7:30am and not at our campsite 'til nearly 4:00pm. And that campsite was 81 one of the farthest from Centeroo. I camped about 100 yards closer and arrived at camp earlier in '08 even though we didn't get in line until almost noon.
In '08 I just couldn't get over how CLEAN the toilets were and this year I had to stand (literally) in an overflowing well of poo. Our porta-potties appeared to have only been cleaned once a day and the nearest water station was a twenty minute walk away.
One of the acts I saw mentioned that there were about 100 thousand people there. If that's true then this lack of sanitation is understandable. An increase of 20,000 people with no upgrade of the facilities will do that to you. I just don't understand why the organizers didn't anticipate the needs of the patrons. This is hardly their first time.
I'd come back, because I still feel the magic, but I expect more for my $300 dollars than what I got. I don't ask much (at least I don't think I do) just a moderately clean toilet and a water station within a ten minute walk. I don't mind waiting for things or being searched (not that I was). I don't mind a hike (unless I see people who were behind me in line getting better camping-which they did.)
I just want the organizers of this festival to learn from our misery. I never heard so many people complaining in one place before. The folks of Bonnaroo were discontented and they had reason.
Pfft... you guys call this a worst ever thread, my first Roo was 2008, the year of Metallica (which ironically is what got me to go in the first place), and let me tell you THAT was some real hate!!!
Truly though, this was my third year and every year I hear the same griping and groaning about the same things over and over so let me put this in perspective:
First, wikipedia your hometown, is it less than or equal to 80,000?? pretty good chance that for a good chunk of us it is.
Second, imagine every main sewage line/ power line in your town is eliminated?? how smooth would things be going in your town??
Third, imagine every house in your town is now a tent
Finally, now imagine every person in your town is now trying to leave and go to the SAME place!!
THIS is what the people that throw Bonnaroo have to do EVERY year!!!
Don't be a punk. If my city counsel knew ten years in advance that they were going to be replacing our regular sanitation with porta-johns for a week I would darn well expect them to know how many they needed and to clean the ones on the outskirts as often as the ones in the upper-class neighborhoods. I'd also expect them to provide adequate and accessible water. (Pod 8 was my closest water station and it took me nearly 20 minutes to get there. Wednesday, when I made the walk it was only to discover that there was NO water in the pod and we had to walk another 10-15 mins to pod 9). If I gotta camp in section 81 then I gotta (we can't all be right next to Centeroo) but there should have been at least two more water stations than there were (probably 3) and I'm disappointed that the event organizers dropped the ball on this. (people were actually referring to our toilet station as the "F*** You Toilets" and advising that people wait til they got to pod 3 to "go".)
I showed up expecting to rough it. But my previous experience with the Roo led me to believe that the festival cared as much about the patrons as the patrons care about the festival. Those F-You toilets make me wonder if that is actually the case. I'll give them one more try to get it together. I don't want my image of the "greatest music festival ever" to be permanently smirched.
Also: I found the Kanye/ Metallica crowd to be really kind (except to Kanye). I didn't meet a single hater in '08. It was the friendliest, most familial bunch of strangers I have ever had the pleasure to meet.
Don't be a punk. If my city counsel knew ten years in advance that they were going to be replacing our regular sanitation with porta-johns for a week I would darn well expect them to know how many they needed and to clean the ones on the outskirts as often as the ones in the upper-class neighborhoods.
if it makes you feel any better, they didnt clean the portos in VIP either... i went to pee one morning and found flies and lots of unprocessed corn.
Post by Britney's_Fears on Jun 16, 2010 10:41:58 GMT -5
Druqs are illegal, rain makes dirt mud, it's hot in June in TN, there's an @$$hole in every crowd, and $hit stinks. These things have always been the same and they are no different at Bonnaroo.
Post by missbliss543 on Jun 16, 2010 10:59:50 GMT -5
First time to Roo for me, but I've attended Rothbury and Wheatland in the past... After I did tons of research, mostly here on Inforoo, about what to expect, I was a tiny bit disappointed. I felt surrounded by very young (teenage) college types, especially in my camp area and they seemed very judgemental and rarely had a smile for anyone. I honestly felt like I was at an outdoor frat party. I guess overall, I was unhappy with where we were camped. It was an hour walk to centeroo, which I can deal with, but just added to the sad fact that the nearest water station was 20 min away, the nearest ice vendor rarely had ice and the portopotties were close by, but only cleaned once a day. We paid just as much as the people who lucked out and got a 5 min walk to centeroo and water within 10 minutes, why can't they better prepare for the people out in BFE, especially with the water and ice? They know we're going to be there... Now on the flip side, I managed to fit in 20 shows, all of which I loved. The music saved this festival for me, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. I'm still smiling thinking about Stevie, Forgerty, Avett Brothers, Local Natives etc... Unfortunately Dave was sort of ruined by the chick next to us complaining about the shitty set list and the drunken Bro literally walking up 10 feet from where we had our blanket down, whipping out his shlong, and pissing. The portopotties and urinals were 10 steps away from him. We left Dave early. I'm 50/50 about going next year. We'll see. However... Wheatland here I come! If any of you peeps want a super laid back, ultimate friendly atmosphere with less people (just no huge name bands) come on up to Michigan
How many of you that thought it was soooo soooo awesome have been to other camping festivals besides bonnaroo?
Seriously, i'm going to be blunt, i don't care about whether or not no NO NO WORD!!! talk is supposed to be on here: There's a problem when i see deputy sheriffs in the grounds multiple times and see the horsebacks working with those sheriffs, there's a problem when people are getting things taken from them and being harrassed by actual sheriffs at their own campsite when they aren't even selling. There's a problem when pot is being taken from attendees because the security at centeroo feels they need to search soooo hard (they even looked through my girlfriend's wallet and counted her money!!! no other fest i've been to searches you this hard, ever.) There's a problem when i don't feel safe enough to trip at a music festival. This is sad. People at a music festival should be a family, a community, looking out for one another, but i watched all of you walk by NO NO WORD!!! busts, simply ignoring the fact that your brothers and sisters are going to be in prison for years for the doses they probably sold to you earlier that day. There's more than 70/80/90 thousand of us but no one cares enough to stand up for this Leno? Jesus quack, where's the real heads at these days? Open your eyes people, the man has their eyes on you constantly at bonnaroo. You're all getting finger quacked by the man at roo and you people seem to like it. I don't get it.....
Never go to Coachella. Security there is ten times worse and it makes even less sense considering where it's located. Keep in mind, roo is in a red state that helped vote George W Bush in, twice. When they stole my weed at Coach I showed them my medical marijuana card and all my papers. They didn't care, it was straight up robbery.
Druqs are illegal, rain makes dirt mud, it's hot in June in TN, there's an @$$hole in every crowd, and $hit stinks. These things have always been the same and they are no different at Bonnaroo.
^THIS. and Bonnaroo is like a dice game, get use to the odds of rolling or stop playing the game
And I think a lot of the organization issues deal with economy. They are probably charging up for some big names, ideas for 2011 and the 10th anniversary. Festivals are folding around them and they probably told all of their staffs to cut budgets so sanitation/water couldn't increase in light of that (even though with the 70,000+ number of course it should). They still have to get super large acts to make sure they can assure a profit (Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder are big $ acts; DMB & KOL might have given Roo a break on price but maybe not).
While I hear plenty of complaints about endorsements, honestly, they weren't as plentiful or unavoidable as people make it sound. Exceptions being the Budweiser tent who is a major festival contributor; the Garnier-Fructis line because in such heat folks will love to get their head under some water; and Odwalla tents because those juices will seriously give you a nice boost when you need it. What's so bad? You don't have to buy a damn thing and Bud is a big festie standard, so just be glad you can go to Roo and support microbrews (Never bought a Bud this year).
Let's be real too, they probably couldn't squeeze any extra money out of those endorsements either - Great recession and all. Just my two cents.
Last Edit: Jun 16, 2010 22:41:25 GMT -5 by Deleted - Back to Top
this was my 7th year in a row going. i had a great time but i won't be going back. there were definitely issues this year. soooo much trash on the ground it was gross.
i was kicked and stepped on so many times without any word of sorry or excuse me. i know sitting on the ground means you are going to be stepped on but it only take two seconds to go sorry i stepped on you. i said it when i did it so i dont' get why other's can't. i found tons of cool people too but lots of lunkheads there this year.
porta potties were awful. i have never seen them that poorly taken care of.
with that said i still had a great time and saw some amazing sets and met some great people.
From what i can tell about the port o potties i believe it was a different company that got the contract this year instead of the company they used for the last 5 years. I don't expect this years company will get the contract again next year
From what i can tell about the port o potties i believe it was a different company that got the contract this year instead of the company they used for the last 5 years. I don't expect this years company will get the contract again next year
That would be great, this was the first year they took a step back.
Dude, that stuff illegal. The police have every right to take any they see. And as much as people may hate it, Bonnaroo security is allowed to search every festival-goer and take or prohibit any illegal item from entering Centeroo. When buying the ticket you are agreeing to the terms of attending set forth by Superfly and AC.
Why, so they can sell or take it themselves?? Sorry, but quack that! My friend got searched thoroughly every single time he went through, they went through his wallet on three different occasions and once found his shiz, luckily not much, and he confiscated it. I had already gone through so I stood to the side and WATCHED the summers breeze divide the Leno up between two of his security friends!! My friend tried to be cool with him and get the stuff back, offered him money, etc. but security guy was a smurf...my friend is the nicest guy and tried to reason with him saying he understood and didn't want to knock his hustle but he wanted to have fun too. The summers breeze just basically said quack you, and haha i stole your Leno. I hope I don't come off as a total wastoid...I'm not usually one for substances at shows as I like to remember it all, but if people aren't hurting anyone ??? ??? ??? It was kinda excessive. I never had problems getting through but my guy friends were hassled almost every time.
Last year, I was behind someone who has some shit confiscated. The security guard basically told him fuck you, it's mine now. The dude demanded the supervisor come over so that the security had less of a chance of pocketing it. They just threw in a huge trash bag, which I am sure got split up amongst the security guys. If you can't hide your shit well enough to get it into centeroo, then you don't deserve to have it. I've been to hundreds of shows and never once had anything confiscated.
A Thieve's Parade 2/24 Conspirator 2/26 Kevin Smith 3/11 Keller 3/17 Papadosio 3/18 JJ Grey 3/25 Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer 3/26 Toubab Krewe 3/27 O'Death 4/11 Budos Band 4/22 EOTO 4/28 Summer Camp 5/6-29 All Good
From what i can tell about the port o potties i believe it was a different company that got the contract this year instead of the company they used for the last 5 years. I don't expect this years company will get the contract again next year
so far. worst organization. half of the shuttle drivers are on something. excessive searches. cops everywhere. obv the line up is hideous. I got a free ticket and it's hardly worth it.
hopefully today will be better.
i am trying to be positive. I heard Ashely Caps has constructed a secret lair entirely constructed out of stacks of $100 bills.
Knock off the trolling dude, this is not PT, and I am pretty sure I know who you are over there. If you feel the sudden need to be a dick, Phantasy tour is always waiting for you.
Post by phantasytourist on Jun 17, 2010 15:28:26 GMT -5
When I have to ask a shuttle driver if the shuttle goes over to Check In 3 times and he gives me 3 different answers because he is so whacked, that is wrong. He is driving a van with 12 people's lives in in.
I have a right to my opinion, and I am not trolling. Please feel free to stay out of my threads.
The music was amazing, sound was fair and lights were great. On the other hand, why are they spraying bug killer on the farm?