Sunday 18 January 2015

Music Fests: Bonnaroo 2011 & Sasquatch! 2012

With the Coachella Music and Arts Festival dropping it's line-up for 2015, more festivals have begun announcing the artists that will be performing their stages. Bonnaroo, another huge festival in Manchester, Tennessee announced the headliners and part of their line-up this week. 

Ali and I attended Bonnaroo in 2011. It was the first big music festival that either of us had attended. We drove her standard Honda Civic all the way from Kenora, Ontario to the town of Manchester just south of Nashville. It was a 20 hour drive and the first time I had ever driven a standard vehicle. It was quite the road trip but we made it there safe and sound. One of the craziest experiences of the weekend happened when we arrived in Manchester. Cars were lined up for miles waiting to get inspected and enter the campsite area, we were told it would be about a four hour wait. We stopped at a gas station to grab a few beers. A local guy approached us and offered to show us a route to the back entrance of the festival grounds for a price of $10. He told us we would only have to wait about twenty minutes before we would be in the festival area. It seemed like a better alternative, especially since we had already been in the car for twenty hours. We gave him the money and he got in his dirty pickup truck. We followed behind him as he weaved down the Tennessee dirt roads with corn stalks ten feet high on both sides. We were a little anxious as we got further into the southern backcountry not knowing where we were heading, but sure enough we came to a clearing and the festival grounds were in sight. We thanked our guide as he drove past and we were at our campsite in less than twenty minutes setting up our tent. 

There was a great line-up the year we attended which included Eminem, Arcade Fire, Widespread Panic and Buffalo Springfield as headliners. The diverse line-up at Bonnaroo leads to a very diverse crowd, it is much different from Coachella. There are fewer corporate sponsors and people are a lot less concerned about what they are wearing. Unlike Coachella where the entire festival grounds shut down at 1am, shows at Bonnaroo go till about 4am in the morning. It is also a four day festival, where Coachella is only three days. Bonnaroo also has a full comedy line-up and a mini-film fest. There are ten stages, with the main four called Who, What, Where and Which?... it can get very confusing. The festival grounds are located on farmland that has been set-up to host the festival each year. Bonnaroo is a great festival that I would recommend attending if you want a different experience. 
Ali and I in front of our tent
Waiting for the festival gates to open
First time we tried Alligator
Ali the parrot tamer
Catching up on some sleep between shows
Bonnaroo at night from ferris wheel
Ferris wheel ride
Cruising the festival grounds
Enjoying life on "the Farm"
Alicat in front of the mainstage
Mumford and Sons
Bonnaroo crowd
Which? stage
Eminem
Sunny days at Bonnaroo
Little tired on the drive home
Cruising Cat!
2011 Lineup
Sasquatch! Music Festival is located near Quincy, Washington at the Gorge Amphitheatre. It has not yet released the lineup for 2015, but it suppose to be announced in early Febuary. Ali and I made it to Sasquatch! in 2012, we flew to Vancouver and drove south with three friends for the four-day event. It is a fun festival and maybe my favorite one of the three I have attended. There are several reasons why I like it so much. 
  1. It is a smaller festival compared to both Coachella and Bonnaroo. 
  2. There is almost always a really good line-up that includes a comedy tent. 
  3. The temperature is very comfortable and moderate. 
  4. The people attending the festival are your typical laid back West-coasters.
  5. The main stage is an amazing amphitheatre, that is built next to the Columbia river. You can chill on the hill, watch your favourite bands and see amazing sunsets, all at the same time.
We had a really good time the year we attended with a lineup which included Jack White, Bon Iver, Beck and Pretty Lights as headliners. It is a super chill festival. The headliners may not be as big of names, but it is a lot of fun and you will see great bands at an amazing location. 
Wreck Beach, Vancouver
Alicat collecting glow-sticks for Pretty Lights
Drew (my university roommate) and I
Alicat meeting Silversun Pickups
The Gorge Amphitheatre
The Gorge - Great venue
2012 lineup

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