Dear Bonnaroo,
These words are my humble attempt to express my deep love and appreciation for you. My sisters and I visited Bonnaroo for the first time on our first Sister Sojourn, our first adventure all together as grown women. That’s a lot of firsts! We had high expectations for something we knew little about, and we were beyond impressed by the experience.
To tell this love story, I must to start at the end of what was one of the most perfect weekends in my life. In my opinion, this one brief moment during three days of music and sister bonding is the most quinntessential representation of all things Bonnaroo.
At The Silent Disco, without headphones, you can't hear the music but you sure can feel it!
At 3:30am on Saturday evening, our last night at Bonnaroo, we headed to our favorite spot…The Silent Disco, for one last round of dancing in our own worlds. As we stood in line to enter, a young portly fellow emerged. He was covered in sweat, droplets hanging from his slightly furry belly. He was wearing a tie-dyed T, knotted up like a halter top and his tighty whities. That’s it. He approached a small group of young guys, said loudly with outstretched arms, “I’ve been dancing for 4 hours!” Then embraced a few of those uncomfortable looking boys and he bellowed, “I just made love to the WORLD for 4 hours!”
Honestly, I’m so thankful I was there for that moment in time. To see his absolute bliss. Makes me laugh everytime I think of it. I’m thankful to you, Bonnaroo, for many moments unlike any others I’ve ever experienced. And I’m especially thankful for the lessons you taught me, such as:
- Concert chairs are a music festival essential. And while not so sexy to strap onto your back, they make life so much better.
- It is possible for nearly 100,000 people to gather from all walks of life to spend time celebrating music and art…and never see a fight or hear mean words from anyone!
- Never wear black to a giant dust bowl. Brown is the best way to go because that’s how everything ends up.
- There is such a place where a girl can sport a stick on mustache and no one will look at you twice. Not once.
- All is not lost when you leave your cell phone somewhere in a trash-covered field in the middle of the night. Thanks mister for returning to me!
Everyone at Bonnaroo was treated to so many great musical performances. Thank you Bonnaroo for giving an ecclectic lineup with awesome shows from Florence & The Machine, Primus, Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys (my personal favorite) and Eminem. I was especially impressed by the sound quality. Here’s a great little clip of our favorite show of the festival, the beautiful Mumford & Sons.
Thanks to Bonnaroo, my sisters and I have new catch phrases, inside jokes and memories that will last a long time. Well, until next year. See, the beauty of you is that once someone is embraced by Bonnaroo, you just want to keep coming back. My sister was even wondering how to cure post-Bonnaroo depression. I guess we can only count the days until next year and we are reunited again.
With much love and music in my heart,
Natasha
