The scene last night at Walmart was like nothing I’ve ever been a part of. Thousands of people flooded the parking lot and store to party and pick up last minute items. There was even a Subway inside that is open twenty-four hours a day. Needless to say, the tone was set early, as people partied until the sun came up the next morning. I managed to get a little bit of sleep in my car, resting in several thirty minute intervals.
I awoke around 5:30 am and was surprised to see that the sun was already coming out. Scattered amongst the parking lot, I noticed a large amount of people who appeared to be still partying, while others began to pack up their things to make the trek to the festival grounds. I was off to the radio station to pick up my credentials.
I arrived sometime around 6 am to find a decent sized line awaiting along Hillsboro Road. It was here where I met a few other writers covering the festival from Breakfast On Tour, the Charleston Courier, and the Austin Town Hall blog. We shared stories of past Bonnaroo’s, what we hoped to see this year and other concerts, in general. Though I wasn’t really sure what time passes would start being handed out, I continued to wait in line as I began to doze off. I think the doors of the radio station opened sometime around 7 am, however, we were notified that it would still be a couple of hours until we would see our passes.
Someone from the radio station kept us up-to-date on the ticket information, and we were last notified that we would be getting them sometime around 10 am. Just before 10 am, dark clouds moved into the area, and right after the doors opened it began to rain like crazy. Luckily I was able to find a spot under the awning. After just another hour, I was in the station signing for my pass.
It was just about 11:30 am when I found the traffic line on Route 55, leading to New Bushy Branch Road entrance. I have to tell you that I was extremely happy to learn that this shortcut would leave us off of I-24, possibly cutting out several hours of being stuck in line on the side of the highway. Over the next few hours, traffic seemed to stay still while rainstorms poured off and on.
Just about two hours after the time I first got in line, I had arrived to the checkpoints and tollbooths. The searches were quick and easy, however the traffic seemed to go slower than ever as cars were dispersed to their different campsites. It would be about another hour until I was setting up my own tent. I felt fortunate with the spot that I happened to get, as it wasn’t too far although it wasn’t too close either. About a fifteen minute walk to Centeroo, my camp was located along the main road going through the festival, making it easy to remember where I was camped.
After resting a bit and getting things set up in camp, it was time to head over to Centeroo to check out the festival grounds. I’ve been here twice before but every time I come back it seems like the festival grounds get bigger and bigger. I decided to enter through the arc entrance, located at the back of the What Stage. Although no one was playing the main stage on Thursday, you were able to walk by and capture pictures like this one.
I then made my way through all kinds of vendors and lined up port-a-potties to capture the empty field of the Which Stage. Also on Thursday, nobody plays on this stage.
The first act of the day that I would get to see would be White Rabbits. Here’s a big crowd awaiting their performance. It’s never too early to check out music at Bonnaroo.
Before the music started I made it a point to stop by several attractions to capture images of what the venues look like while they’re close to empty.
They’ve redesigned the Troo Music Lounge, which is a great thing. Obviously by looking at the picture below, you can’t see the stage or even the band playing on stage. Before, the stage was underneath a tent which probably only held a hundred or two hundred people. With the new layout, you can probably fit twice as much, although you can’t see but the sound system is better than ever. The Which Stage is the closest to the Troo Music Lounge, and I think that’s why they’ve designed the backdrop of the lounge this way.
Since rebuilding the fountain a few years ago, they have brightened the design, adding colors and images, getting away from the previous black and white checkered design. I have to say that the new look of the fountain looks more beautiful than ever.
I then made my way over nearby the ferris wheel. I told myself that despite my fear of heights I would be getting on this thing because I didn’t want to pass up the chance for some really beautiful pictures overlooking the festival grounds.
One of my favorite sets early on was the Indie/Dance/Punk band, Hockey. Having not even released an album yet, Hockey drew thousands of fans dancing and singing along to songs like “Work”, “Song Away” and ”Too Fake”.
But the night seemed to belong to Passion Pit. As one of the better up-and-coming Electro-Indie bands, Passion Pit played to a massive crowd that didn’t seem to mind the weather conditions. The band was feeding off the energy of the crowd, the fans were feeding off the energy of the band and everyone was feeding off of the energy of the thunderstorm. This circle of energy seemed to set the mood for the first night of Bonnaroo, making Passion Pit one of the best ways to kick off the festival.
