In a little field in Manchester Tennessee, a music festival called Bonnaroo has been taking place each summer since its creation in 2002. To many, Bonnaroo has become the Woodstock of our generation, a Mecca gathering to show how our generation has great music to offer the world as much as it did in 1969. However, since its creation in 2002, the numbers of people that flock to this little music festival have grown tremendously and the pressure on promoters to get more attractable acts has begun to weaken that message. With more mainstream musicians now allowed to come to the music festival, one has to ask "Is the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival the year that "the little festival that could" going to sing its Swan Song?"
A Jam Band Beginning: 2002-2005
Like many music lovers in the southern United States, when the 2002 Bonnaroo was announced I was thrilled with excitement of the idea of a 3 day music festival. I quickly purchased my ticket and prepared for the 3 days of new music I was about to experience. I was amazed at the chance to experience so many new and struggling artists who were dying to be heard and I was eager to be experimental. From my very first day there, I loved it, the feeling of the enthusiasm in the crowds, the friendliness, a feeling of community, and not a negative word was spoken in the entire three days. I had never experienced something like this, it truly felt like a Woodstock event, peace & love as far as the eye could see. Of course, then there were the artists! People tend to forget that the 2002 Bonnaroo was comprised of almost all artists who were not established, accept for the headliners, and really broke many of them into the mass markets of people they were dying to reach. Within these first 3 days of the 2002 festival, I and many others, were exposed to the great talents of: Jack Johnson, John Butler Trio, Norah Jones, moe., Old Crow Medicine Show, Robert Randolph, String Cheese Incident, Ben Harper, Ween and many, many more. Hearing such an array of great music really blew my mind and I just couldn't wait for the next year!
In 2003, the Bonnaroo Music Festival came back with a one-two punch, enlisting great headliners such as Neil Young, Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers Band, James Brown & the return of The Dead! I was amazed that such great artists would do such a venue and I was eagerly awaiting to see them as well as experimenting again with new and returning small artists from the previous year. This year I chose to invite some of my friends to attend the event with me, the more the merrier. They too, felt the same way I did my first year at the event, a feeling of peace & love, perfect strangers embracing each other and yet again, not a negative word was spoken. This year, once again, exceeded my expectations of the plethora of talented artists who I'd never heard of but would be listening to in the future. The new artists for this year that I had the pleasure of experiencing were: Younder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams, Ben Kweller, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Polyphonic Spree, and G. Love & the Special Sauce. Of course there were some returning veterans of 2002 that also blew away the crowds such as: Ben Harper, Robert Randolph, Galactic & moe. But of course, what really stole the show, for me, was getting to see the living legend Neil Young and the talents of Widespread Panic and The Dead. The 2003 Bonnaroo was the Festival's zenith!
In 2004, I once again began to prepare for the Bonnaroo Music Festival, I was again extremely excited about the returning, new & headlining artists, with a few exceptions. However, this year's festival would prove to me that the festival's bubble was beginning to burst. I was extremely excited to see headliners: Bob Dylan, Steve Winwood, The Dead, David Byrne and Trey Anastasio, however, the inclusion of Dave Matthews Band worried myself and many others as to where the future of festival was heading. Until then, Bonnaroo had always been a festival of more hippie/jam band type music with independent/experimental music thrown in for fun. The inclusion of Dave Matthews Band signaled to me and others that the promoters were trying to attract a different crowd, the more upper middle class college crowd that most hippies prefer not to be around.
It was just one artist though, so I shrugged it off because I really wanted to enjoy my three days of music with the crowds I come to love, this however, was also a very different experience. From the start I could sense a oddity in the crowds, the multi-cultural distinctions, New England and Mid-Western accents that hadn't been there the first two years. A sense of hostility when faced with opinionated people who were there more for drugs than for music and snapped at you when you wouldn't share more than you could spare. I just didn't see the warmth of the previous two years, people were openly pushing others into the mud and stomping on blankets neatly spread along the fields, not an Altamont weekend, but you could feel a hostility in the crowd.
Now, don't get me wrong, the 2004 Bonnaroo was still a great venue! This is the festival that introduced: Damien Rice, Wilco, Mofro, The Black Keys, Calexico, Grandaddy, Blue Merle, and sadly Maroon 5 to the Bonnaroo scene, but Bonnaroo was clearly never going to be the same again.
In 2005, I was unable to attend the festival due to scheduling conflicts with school, but from discussions with friends who went, suggest the festival was the same as the year before. This is supported by basically the same lineup as the 2004 show with headliners Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, and the Allman Brothers Band. Also, Bonnaroo continued its tradition by introducing new artists such as: Iron & Wine, Ray LaMontagne, Citizen Cope and M. Ward. However, they also were expanding with many more acts and non-jam band groups such as the Mars Volta.
A Mainstream Bonnaroo: 2006-Present
In 2006 Bonnaroo began it's second phase of entertainment by expanding its search for different genres and appeals to different people. The jam bands were fewer and fewer from years past and the crowds attending Bonnaroo were more different than ever. No other signal that the festival was changing was the absence of the band Widespread Panic, a southern hippie following and yearly tradition. The festival's decision to not invite Widespread Panic sent a clear signal to fans that Bonnaroo would be changing and straying away from the jam band crowd and what had been going on for the past 4 years. This change was also clear in the choices for the headliners: Beck, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty and the return of Radiohead indicated a more modern, more experimental, more mainstream type music that traditional Bonnaroo fans might not want to listen to. It's choices in newer/unknown artists was different too than in years past inviting artists such as: Death Cab For Cutie, Cat Power, Bright Eyes, Ben Folds, Nickel Creek, Matisyahu and Clap Your Hand Say Yeah. If the announcement of more mainstream headliners wasn't enough, the non jam bands of the lesser performers clearly showed 2006 as the Bonnaroo year of a newer age sound.
In 2007, after a fan backlash of the sudden departure from Bonnaroo's roots, Bonnaroo promoters went with a mixed festival of half jam bands and half new sounds. They welcomed back jam bands such as Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, Gov't Mule, North Mississippi All Stars, Ween and new comer Tea Leaf Green. But sticking to their desire to see new age bands and embrace different audiences they invited headliners: Tool, The White Stripes and reunited 80s band The Police. This diversity was also present in the smaller guests as well, ranging from the independent singer songwriter clans such as: Damien Rice, Regina Spektor, and Elvis Perkins to more mainstream sounds such as: The Roots, The Black Keys, and The Decemberists. Clearly, the audience diversity was overwhelming.
As for 2008 and the future, the promoters of Bonnaroo have yet again gone to the more mainstream approach to Bonnaroo, this year though, they have possibly gone too far. The headliners for 2008 include: Pearl Jam, Metallica, Kanye West, Jack Johnson, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Phil Lesh, The Allman Brothers Band, Willie Nelson, Levon Helm, & B.B. King; a very diverse and controversial selection. Bonnaroo promoters have also done the same with the other larger and smaller artists, by making them a diverse artist selection of music. The artists are actually a blend of returning independent artists and experimental ones such as: Iron & Wine, Fiery Furances, Donavon Frankenreiter, Ben Folds, O.A.R., Umphrey's McGee, Derek Trucks, Robert Randolph, Rilo Kiley, and Jose Gonzalez that should keep the loyal Bonnaroo fans at bay and entertained throughout the day. But probably the most saddening change to Bonnaroo's lineup is that the unknown artists are almost non-existent this year, striking down the main reason why music lovers, like me, want to go to festival, to try something new! There are hardly any new artists that I have not heard of on the bill. For example, the artists Tegan & Sara who are touring on there critically acclaimed album "The Con", are making there debut at Bonnaroo as "new artists" but for people like me, they are hardly "new" artists. I'm sure that crowds that have not been in the light on the new sounds of music, will be blown away by the sounds of Tegan & Sara and I for one would love to hear them too, but I want to go to a festival to be surprised!
It is clear from this year's lineup at Bonnaroo, that the promoter's are aiming for numbers, money and keeping the ever growing crowds happy with selection. However, by Bonnaroo reaching out to all genres and people by enlisting grunge, metal, rap, pop, country, blues and southern rock, will this gamble pay off?
Which brings me to my main point and question: Have the promoters forgotten about what happened at Woodstock '99?
When Woodstock '99 was announced I was so excited! I was 18 and had never been to a music festival and wanted to go to the "festival of festivals", after all it was it's 30th anniversary, what could go wrong? I quickly started asking if a few friends wanted to go and began making plans, but when my mom caught wind of me possibly driving up to New York she quickly put an end to it. Luckily for me, that was probably the best thing that could have happen from the outcome of the event. If the idea of the hippy dream wasn't dead already, the Woodstock '99 festival sure dealt it a final death blow. Promoters of Woodstock '99, catering to idea of quick and easy money, got a variety of artists from all different types of genres and singing array of messages or no message at all. There was no message to the masses at Woodstock '99, nothing but exploitation of money. Vendors soon found a day into the event that they were ill prepared not having enough water, food or restrooms for the 3 day event. Instead of dealing with the problem, vendors raised the prices of essentials to generate more money for themselves driving the crowds into a frenzy. Then there was the real problem, the mix of different kinds of music and people. With bands such as: DMX, Godsmack, Ice Cube, Insane Clown Posse, Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Megadeath, Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, the message being put out was anything but "Peace & Love." After two days of hostile vibes, extreme heat and overpriced food and water the crowds of Woodstock '99 were primed for destruction. On the final night of Woodstock '99, the band Limp Bizkit began singing their song "Break Stuff" and that's exactly what the crowds did. Violence and looting began with Limp bizkit's performance and escalated with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, setting bonfires around the stages and even the audio delay tower; ATM machines were broken into and vendors were looted. The New York State Police was quickly called in with riot gear to put down the violence, but was met with little resistance. Later, the New State Police would report that at least 4 rapes occurred, six people were injured, seven arrests were made for violence, and some one-dozen trailers, a small bus and a number of booths and portable toilets were burned in the chaos. Since Woodstock '99, there have not been any other plans or interest shown in promoting another Woodstock.
Now, Bonnaroo has always been greatly prepared with food, water and medical supplies and in all the years that I've to the event, and I have never seen any kind of exploitation of the public. However, deaths at Bonnaroo have been growing each year due to young kids experimenting with drugs and heat exposure. And now, with the potentially hostile sounds and messages of artists like Metallica, Kanye West, and even maybe Pearl Jam the promoters run a risk of causing another Woodstock '99. It just seems that the message of "Love of the Music" is slowly getting lost to "no message at all" or more the capitalization of music that we already have in today's music industry.
I want so badly to be wrong on this, I want to hope it will all work out. I respect all the artists who will play at the festival, I just don't have faith in the difference in musical genres and what they do to the people who are absorbing the vibes that they put out. As Woodstock '99 proved, when people have been put together for 3 days and are exposed to an entire array of emotions caused by different kinds of music, non-prepared officials and just natural causes, any and all things can happen. It might not happen this year or the next, but if the course of Bonnaroo continues to go as it has been these last 3 years I fear that the festival will turn into chaos.
"Oh mama, can this really be the end? To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues again!" - Bob Dylan
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