Bonnaroo 2013: Reviews, Impressions, Interesting Sandwiches

I know, I know!  I think my problem with both was sound levels...

Not a sandwich, but I kept hitting up a kebab guy near the fountain who was just killing it.

i had this same sandwich, it was delicious. they had dope tater tots as well.

I ate in the food truck oasis for the first time this year and was extremely satisfied with my Roti Roll wrap with pulled pork and kimchi. Two thumbs up. I likely will hit up the oasis in future years.

It's hard to even describe how amazing this experience was, but here goes nothing!

Thursday:

Twenty One Pilots - I found out that one of my friends had never been to a concert before! We are both big Walk The Moon fans so I told him that I was starting to listen to Twenty One Pilots and that they should be a decent first concert, then we could stay through Araabmuzik and get a good spot for Walk The Moon. Next thing I know, a bunch of white balloons come flying by us and it was on! I never could of imagined this show being this amazing. Twenty One Pilots put out all the stops. I was completely blown away. The standing crowd surf, putting platforms and a drum in the crowd and drumming on top of them, Dual drumming and walking around the drums while doing it, Climbing on top of the scalfolding that the lights were on and singing from there, the list just goes on. Huge props to these guys. I didn't know a lot of their songs, but they made me love every one of them.

Araabmuzik - I admit to not being a big Dub Step/Club music guy, but I really did not like this at all. Just wanted to get a good spot for Walk The Moon. He was late, never spoke, and had a hype guy to get the crowd going for him. It came off really lazy to me. Wasn't feeling the passion for music at all

Walk The Moon - Amazing. Totally worth sitting through Araabmuzik. These guys are just awesome. I just love everything they do. They closed with I Can Lift a Car and before starting the song, they had everyone put their hands in the air and wiggle their fingers. He said to feel all of your cares and worries leave you and to have an amazing week. It really was a great way to set the mood for the rest of Bonnaroo. Kind of like getting a mission statement that just says "Be Happy."

Alt-J - This is kind of a tough one for me. They sounded good and his voice sounded pretty much exactly like it does on the track but they just seemed a lot more mellow then I was expecting. Even Fitzpleasure seemed a little dulled down. They were still very good but with so much competitiono throughout the week, they kind of fell through the cracks

The Vaccines - I loved them before, but I LOVE them now. Such a fun show. Really felt like being at a real rock show. I have nothing bad to say about them. Their only problem was that their were so many unbelievable acts throughout the weeks that knocked them down on my personal ranking. My friends and I referred to that phenomena as getting "Vaccined." But seriously, this show was excellent. Definitely will continue to pick up their albums. Exceeded all my expectations.

The Trapped in the Closet Sing-A-Long - What is there to say? It was hilarious. It's the Snakes on the Plane of music and I love the ridiculousness of it. Had a great time!

Calexico - One of my friends favorites, I thought Calexico was pretty good! Not really what I'm into right now but sounded great. Fans of this kind of music would love it. It was cool being introduced to a new artist.

Of Monsters and Men - The lesson I learned from Of Monsters and Men was that some bands are better off being seen by sitting and hanging out in the grass. They sounded awesome and I was really hyped to see them. Their music is a little calmer in comparison to the other bands I saw so I felt that they were a great one to just hang out, listen too, and enjoy life. Great show, but unfortunately had to cut out early to see Passion Pit in one of my few conflicts.

Passion Pit - This guy's voice is crazy. You listen to sleepyhead and you think "He can't possibly sound like that live." Let me just tell you, he does. It was unbelievable. They were one of my most anticipated shows and they did not dissapoint me. I wish they could have gotten more time but few acts got more then an hour and fifteen minutes. It was a moment for me where I realized that I was finally seeing all of the music that I have been listening to over the past years live. Definitely would see them again!

Wu-Tang Clan - Listend to them a little bit on the outside before moving over to Paul McCartney. Pretty much exactly what you would expect.

Paul McCartney - I usually don't get like this but I was a little starstruck here. The fact that I can say that I saw one of the Beatles sing 8 Days a Week just is unbelievable to me. He told a great story about him, Jimmy Hendrix, and Eric Clapton. It's amazing to think about all of the legends interacting. This was really awesome because Paul McCartney is 71 years old and I am probably in the last generation who is going to get to see anyone from the Beatles. Not only is he a legend, he is THE Legend. This was just amazing

The XX - And just when you think the week couldn't get any better, here come The XX. Throughout the days leading up to Bonnaroo I was getting increasingly more and more excited for this one. I thought they would have such a cool vibe and then when they got moved to a night time show I knew this would be an awesome show. I don't know if there is a word to describe how cool this concert was. They have their show down to a science. They mixed in some awesome beats and tweaked some of their songs to make them even more awesome and come off more upbeat for a live show. Their voices were flawless. The use of the smoke and the lights blew my mind. They played just about every song I would want to here. It was flawless. The opening to Crystalized could be the coolest thing I saw all week. They shoot smoke everywhere and shut off the lights. When the howl comes in to start the song, a light fades on from behind them and their silouettes appear in the smoke. Mind blowing. Then, for Intro, they shot four lasers that crossed over each other and played the song from the bottom of the giant X's. They also had lights in the smoke to make them look like clouds. I just can't say enough about this show. Far beyond anything I expected.

Pretty Lights - Like I said before, I am not a big Club Music guy, but a friend of mine really wanted to see this so I stayed with him. He started at about 2 am and at 3:30 am when his set was supposed to end, he said he was just getting warmed up. 4:30 am, he asks the crowd if it was time for bed, they say no, he keeps going. 5 am, the person next to us points out that the sun is rising! The show ends maybe fifteen minutes later. I have to say, while this is not my genre of music, big props for keeping it going. I feel like being at a show until the sun came up was a big plus to my Bonnaroo experience and I am really glad I did it. Great light show with the music too. If you are a fan of this kind of music, this was the ultimate show.

Two Gallants - I didn't know anything about them, but I wanted a good spot for Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. They are a little more of a harder rock then I am personally interested in but I was really struck by how well these two guys have it together. They came off as real musicians to me. One of them was playing the harmonica and the guitar at the same time. I was really impressed. I would definitely consider looking into them in the future.

Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls - How is this guy not more famous? This was show of the week for me. There were times where I was so happy I didn't even know what was happening to me. This was my biggest conflict with him, Portugal. The Man, and The Tallest Man on Earth going on at the same time but I definitely made the right decision here. Frank Turner has got to be the greatest showman I have ever seen. He had everyone clap to one song, taught everyone the chorus to another song, had everyone jump to a song, and then for Recovery, had everyone do them all together for the chorus. He said sometimes he tells a crowd to do that and noone does it but that that usually only happens in Belgium! Needless to say, everyone did it. Then, when closing with Photosynthesis, he had everyone sit down on the floor. He taught everyone the chorus "I won't sit down and I won't shut up, but most of all I will not grow up." He then gave a speech about how rock and roll is not just about people yelling over loud music. He said that there were people from all different backgrounds and that for one week united under music, everyone was together and left their baggage at the door. Then he started the chorus and everyone jumped up and went crazy! It was unbelievable. I don't have words to explain the feeling during this show.

Matt & Kim - What fun people! They were just having a good time. Not a show I would bring your kids too but it's Bonnaroo so who cares! Sounded exactly like they do in recording. Had a blast at this show. Loved it!

Bjork - I remember having Bjork's cover of It's Oh So Quiet on cassette tape when I was little, so it was really cool seeing her. She sounds like she hasn't missed a beat over the years. Great effects on stage. She makes everyone want to dance. That was especially helpful since we were trying to get a good spot for Jack Johnson! I always felt like Bjork and Karen O were doing the crazy costumes and all that long before the Lady Gagas and Katy Perrys of today. You can't beat the originals!

Jack Johnson - What a musician! This guy finds out the night before that he is going to be headlining an 80,000 person show, has his band come in, puts the show together, writes a song about having to do so, and performs it all for 2 hours. Unbelievable. You've probably heard that he messed up 2 or 3 times but seriously can anyone really blame him? They were only able to rehearse for a few hours the day of the concert. He's insanely good. Not many people could pull that off. He also did an awesome cover of The Cave as a tribute to Mumford and Sons. And not only is he extremely talented, but the rest of his band is as well! His piano player also played 2 other instruments and sang beautifully. His drummer even rapped a verse! I was so impressed by this. I always liked him, but I immediately bought one of his albums when I got home. He's just such a cool guy and his music makes me feel like everything is ok. Can you ask for anything else from music?

Billy Idol - Billy Idol was kind of the legend act that got lost in the mix this year. It's hard to stand out when Paul McCartney and Tom Petty are around, but he was great! Sounded awesome. Exactly what you would expect from him.

Empire of the Sun - An Empire of the Sun concert is an experience that's for sure! Awesome costumes, awesome lights, and an awesome atmosphere. Getting into the show was crazy. Completely smashed together but it broke up a little when the show started and was comfortable. Turns out Alive is the perfect song to crowd surf too! You really had to keep an eye out or someone was going down! Glad I was able to check crowd surfing off my bucket list! Had a great time at their show! Unforgettable experience!

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - I'm about fifty fifty on this one. Walking in through the arch with everyone dancing to Thrift Shop is something that I will never forget. It just defined the Bonnaroo atmosphere to me. Same Love is an amazing song as well. He has his share of meaningful songs to balance out the fun ones. The problem was he pulled them all out in the first half and didn't leave himself with a strong closer. And what was up with the build up like he was going to bring out a special guest only to have him come out with a wig on? Kinda lame. I think once he gets more material, he will be able to put on a better show.

Kendrick Lamar - Not a fan to begin with, but one of my friends was and he said he was pretty disapointed with him. He said he was the only one throughout the week that didn't sound like he does in his recordings. He was trying to get people to sing along from the beginning but you need to hook the crowd first before you can do that. It just wasn't working out for me. Cut out early for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - I don't think anyone could of predicted that this show would be this good. They sounded amazing. I think Jade may have one of the most underated voices out there today. She's awesome. They closed with Home, and instead of telling their own story, they went to the crowd and had them tell stories. Someone said they met their husband at their show. Another met one of their best friends. Then a guy says that he was diagnosed with Leukemia and they visited him in the hospital about a year ago. They brought him on stage and it turns out that he ended up getting a transplant surgery that saved his life! They finished out Home with him and just blew everyone away! At this point, my friend and I were heading over to The Other Tent to meet up with our friend who had left to get a good spot for A$AP Rocky, when one of the parades went by! We followed it and it was Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros playing another show, still with that guy on stage with them! They covered Lean On Me and the Hokey Pokey! They then did more of their own songs once their equipment was set up. A guy in the front row said it was his birthday so they brought him on stage and gave him a microphone! They also had a girl with a drum come on stage and found someone who played harmonica. The harmonica player was too nervous to come on stage so Alex Ebert put the microphone and the stand on the floor and changed the key of the song so they could all play together! Unbelievable moment. This show defined the Bonnaroo Magic for me. Talk about taking people on a journey with your music. Incredible. Never could of predicted this being so good!

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - They haven't missed a beat! Absolutely incredible guitar players and Tom Petty sounded awesome. I loved it. American Girl was my most anticipated song by them so it was great to close Bonnaroo with that. So many great songs in their set. Absolutely loved it.

Overall - I expected this to be the best week of my life, but it was better. There is no word for that, so to me, that is the definition of Bonnaroo. I will be there every year from now on. I read people on this forum saying that this was a life changing experience and that you will definitely be back but never thought much of it. They were not kidding. I went in struggling with depression, anxiety, and other hardships and came out in a million times better shape. Now, when I am sad I can put on Alive by Empire of the Sun and think of crowd surfing, I can put on Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and think of the miracles worked by music every day, I can put on Photosynthesis by Frank Turner and remember how important it is to accept everyone for who they are, and I can put on Jack Johnson and just think of how cool he is! Absolutely Life Changing. I will not miss Bonnaroo for the rest of my life. Unbelievable Experience. Through Bonnaroo, music may have just saved my life, and for that, I will always be grateful.

Gearbm95 -

Wait. Wait. There was a rattlesnake in pod 9?
I was sleeping outside on the ground and woke up friday with a freakish lump on my cheek under my eye. I guessed spiderbite. Of course I ignored it. 2nd day worse. Got so big, security asked what I had up there. Guess I'll never know for sure. No erythema, so likely little to no venom, whatever was my nighttime assailant.

Now that I've had a few days to process everything -
Wow! My Bonnaroo 2013 experience was super awesome! The logistics of throwing something like this are beyond mind boggling, yet they did it and I thought they did a damned fine job this year!

Every set I caught, with 1 exception, were all fantastic and super fun. I'll skip reviewing each one since they've all been covered in this thread already. But I got to say a word about McCartney; FFUUUUUKKK I love the Beatles and to a lesser extent Wings. Youtube videos miss the mark by miles. I didn't plan on missing Macca but I wasn't overly stoked about it either having seen some youtube footage of the show. I expected I'd loose interest after about an hour and move on for a late night spot. !!WRONG!! That shiz blew my mind big time! I stayed glued to my spot and grinning the whole time! I was sad that it ended. I would have sat there for 3 more hours with no second thoughts. This was IMO the best set of the weekend.

The 1 exception Of Monsters and Men. The all too familiar "I can't hear a quacking thing" problem with the Which stage. It looked like it was a fun show but I couldn't hear a quacking thing.

Everyone I ran into seemed cool. There's always going to be some jack assery in any crowd but nothing I saw or experienced broke my vibe. In the time it took me to say "A$$ Hole" I was already over it.

There were a number of people in TO and in the camp grounds in general that made a mind boggling rookie mistake of not staking down their tents or EZups. WTF?!? Every day the wind would pick up and EZups would go cartwheeling through other peoples camps. Thursday morning zeljocotha, his friend James and myself were trying to find Whoreshack & LoveLuckLaughter and crew's "Camp Cool Kids" (turns out we were looking in the wrong area). There was a car with all it's windows covered in trashbags sitting beneath an EZup. James turns around and just like magic the ezup lifts up off the ground and proceed to tumbleweed away. We caught it and I think we broke it down and left it next to the car. Bonnaroo needs to put up signs around the camps that say "STAKE YOUR shiz DOWN!! Your tent WILL blow away and probably get destroyed and maybe destroy someone else's tent if you do not STAKE YOUR shiz DOWN!!"

In short I loved it ALL! It's gonna be a long year.

EDIT: The sandwich, I forgot the sandwich! Holy mother of shiz I had a grilled cheese from a food truck, I can't remember the name of the truck or the sandwich but man it was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. It was made with Smoked chipotle gouda, jalapenos and fresh guacamole. I was feeling pretty played out sunday morning but that sandwich brought me back to Friday night levels of energy. Soooo good!

My fourth and one I will never forget... this is me proposing to my future wife