Saturday, June 12, 2010
This morning we woke up to our neighbors talking about how awesome Kings of Lay-own were last night and who was going to see Gwar (and trying to explain what Gwar was).
I always dread the mornings because that’s when everyone rushes to the toilets. It doesn’t matter how early you think you’ve woken up, there will be a line. Although, I heard that around 4 or 5 a.m. is pretty good.
On the very first day, while we were still in line on the highway to get into Bonnaroo, some guy handed out these pieces of paper that said “The End of Bonnaroo.” It had stuff about earthquakes, tsunamis, curses, different supernatural signs that explain this, Jesus Christ, “the escape from the 2nd death and ticket into the Everlasting Bonnaroo!” and the matrix. It reminded me of an author I had interviewed about a year ago who said he saw supernatural beings and received messages from signs, including some “hidden” ones in the Bible. It quite possibly could have been that guy.
Anyway, when we were walking to Centeroo on Saturday, we passed a group of guys near our camp who were holding crosses, passing out Bibles, and spreading the good word. 
(Several police (those on and off horses) were standing across the road from them.) They were telling people they needed to be saved and let Jesus into their hearts. One cross said “Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into HELL.” And another said “Jim Morrison, John Lennon & Jerry Garcia Are: Burning in HELL! And YOU could be Next! Got JESUS?” No, thanks. OK Go saved me yesterday.
It was probably 10 a.m. when we were walking, and it was already hot. We wanted to see Conan O’Brien at the Comedy Tent because 1) It’s Conan, and 2) there’s air conditioning in the Comedy Tent. But we soon found out that they were doing “something new” this year. You have to come early to the tent and get a pass. Well, everyone had already gotten their passes early, early that morning. Pshaw! So we ended up just waiting at This Tent, listening to Circa Survive. I did want to see The Postelles because I missed them when I was watching Fanfarlo, but I didn’t want to go to the Sonic Stage. It was too hot. Waiting for Circa Survive (who’s set started at 2 p.m.) to play and to finish was such a long wait. The waters we had were starting to get warm, and the sun kept creeping under the tent. While we were waiting, though, I did get to see the premiere of OK Go’s “End Love” video at the Lunar Stage, which was next to This Tent.
Before Circa Survive finished, we went on over to That Tent to see the end of Brandi Carlile’s set so we could get a good spot for the Dave Rawlings Machine. And we did. Well, pretty good. I was one person behind the gate. If the people to the right of me would’ve moved over just a bit, I would’ve been able to see a lot better. The guy in front of me was about my height, but he was wearing this big, white, safari-type hat. I could not see anyone. There were five musicians on stage and I couldn’t see a single one of them. I saw the cameraman who was next to the speakers, but that was it. After maybe one or two songs, I asked him if he could take his hat off because I couldn’t see. He did, which was nice. DRM were amazing. I really like watching them play their instruments, and they looked like they were 
having lots of fun. They ended up playing with two other acts that day, but I missed them.
Toward the end of the DRM set, I could see, in the crowd, people from the sides starting to close in. As soon as the last note was hit, people just bull-rushed the center of the crowd, trying to get in front for the next band, Mumford & Sons. This mammoth of a woman just pounced at my spot. People were pushing and shoving. Normally, people aren’t that close during the gigs. You may brush up against someone, but you’re not always on top of one another throughout the whole thing. There are always gaps between everyone. When people started piling in, you couldn’t move. At. All. I thought I was going to end up like that one Hispanic woman in the movie Selena, where she’s at the front near the chain-link fence. People start pushing toward the front to get closer to Selenas (that’s how they say it. Okay, so two guys (maybe just one) says it like that in the movie, but I like to say it like that because of it). Anyway, people start pushing, and that woman up front gets her face plastered to the fence and pushed down, nearly getting trampled. But I digress. These people wanted their Mumford, and they wanted their Sons, too. A few people made it out of the crowd. I was trying to stay behind them and get out too, but it seemed like every time a person squeezed through the crowd, it closed up. It was like trying to make your way through two rolling pins pressed against each other. One girl next to me was trying to get out as well. And just like in the movies, a hand came out and grabbed hers, pulling her to safety. My party had already made it out. I was stuck. I started pushing my way out. People were squishing my camera bag and my backpack. T
hey wouldn’t let me leave. I was like, guys, I’m just trying to leave. They just stared, with irritated and sweaty faces. I finally made it out. But I think I nearly died. I was thisclose to being that Selenas fan.
In hindsight, I wish we just stayed for Mumford & Sons. We would’ve been up front and seen a lot more than when we went to Which Stage.
Next up was The Avett Brothers. DRM ended at 4:30 and TAB started at 4:45. There was no way we’d actually get good spots, so we settled for a spot in the back. For some reason people weren’t allowed to sit on the bleachers. Maybe because it was lightning? We stayed for a good while and then left to see The Dead Weather. We got a pretty good spot – closer than we were to KOL. I could actually see real people on stage. They were fantastic and cool, all dressed in black. I wanted Alison’s Gretsch guitar. Oh, but in the audience, a few people in front of me was none other than the Dancing Woman! She wasn’t alone this time. She was with a shirtless man with dreadlocks. Dancing Woman was shirtless, too. She had different tie-dyed pants on (no hole), and she was still swinging her braids around. Her dancing was almost fluid-like. It didn’t matter what she was dancing to (Hot Rize to Dead Weather, I think she does it all), when a song ended, she’d do the same move. She’d raise her hands above her head, allowing people to see her fuzzy armpit hair, and then slowly lower them to her sides while doing spirit fingers.
