Appreciating concept albums feels like something you age into, like bluegrass or vintage baseball card collecting. Not that the idea was lost on me in my youth, but that I didn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about the structure of an album while listening to it. Another orbit around the sun is rapidly approaching and it feels like as good a time as any to share of my favorite albums to listen to front to back. The criteria are simple: bangers throughout that flow seamlessly from beginning to end. In no particular order, here are a few of the best ones that came to mind:
Downward Spiral – Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor in his prime was something unique to behold. If Pretty Hate Machine is more your cup of tea, that’s also perfectly acceptable, but Downward Spiral is an impending tsunami of passion and anger that needs to be heard all the way through at least once. Drugs are a hell of a drug, but they do make fantastic music.
Brown Album – Primus
Imagine yourself in a haze, wandering through a turn-of-the-century carnival haunted by the ghost of Frank Zappa. The circus master is named Les Claypool and the sideshow attractions double as the band. With that mindset, you may be prepared to feel the funk, jams, catchy lyrics, and bass-slapping goodness that Primus has to offer.
Drunk – Thundercat
A one-two punch of another bassist-led project that includes plenty of funk and comedy mixed in equal measure, Thundercat’s “Drunk” is an enrapturing experience throughout. Unabashedly cool and nerdy at the same time, Thundercat slaps on all the right stings in a way that seems at times both a blast from the past and a gift from the future.
Francis the Mute – The Mars Volta
The sophomore album from The Mars Volta holds no punches and explodes into a cavalcade of progressive rock virtuosity right from the first track. A concept album at its core, Francis the Mute borrows elements from a story written in a diary discovered in a repossessed car by the band’s former sound technician. If that sounds up your alley, then you are in for a wild ride.
Steal This Album! – System of a Down
A fair combination of heavy metal, political activism, levity, and storytelling, System of a Down’s provocatively titled album stands out and demands to be heard. Not taking themselves too seriously while simultaneously talking about very serious topics can be a mixed bag, but Steal This Album! nails System’s quintessential sound without anything as corny as “Chop Suey” or conspiracy theorist-y as some of the lyrics on their freshman outing.
Each individual’s music taste is molded just as much by their personality as their environment. In this way, sharing music becomes a channel through which people from all different backgrounds, cultures, and geographies can connect. What are some albums that shaped who you are? Let me know in the comments below.
Bonnaroo 2019 is quickly approaching. This time next week, I’ll be relaxing in my campsite, bracing myself for the Tennessee mid-day heat. Before I get there, however, there’s a lot of preparation that I have to get done. In this post, I hope to outline a few of the most important items for any Bonnaroo fan to bring and things that I forget every year.
First of all, register your wristband. That’s key. I also decided to sign up for the auto-payment feature through Paypal so that I don’t have to fuss about having my card on hand during the festival. Once the basics are established, then it’s time to pack for the road trip:
Cooler: Although our Bonnaroo plan involves creating a large group camp, we still need to bring a cooler for ourselves while we’re on the road. We purchased a cooler on our trip to Maine last month, so that’s what we’re going to use this year. Our travel companions will be carrying the larger cooler for our campsite.
Tent: We don’t plan on using our tent for Bonnaroo, given how hot it can get in the morning with or without a canopy. However, it is still essential to have some sort of shelter if all else fails. Also, who knows what might happen if someone needs to borrow a tent.
Solar Shower: Sometimes it’s worth renting a motel room just to get a good shower. Othertimes, there’s a solar shower. Live Nation has done a great job to increase the quality and access to showers in Bonnaroo proper, so this may not come in handy during the festival, but it is a great way to save a few bucks either way.
Bed: Since we’re driving down in a van, we’re assembling a bed in the back to give us a nice place to sleep on the drive down to Bonnaroo. Thankfully, with enough ventilation and a canopy to keep out the heat, the back of the van becomes a cool little hideout to escape from the hustle and bustle of Bonnaroo.
Snacks: Although we usually pick up food for Bonnaroo itself at the Manchester Walmart, we always bring plenty of snacks for the drive down. Although the GSP says it’ll take ~16 hours, it’s more like 20-22 if we include stopping to eat, sleep, and pee. We’re going to want to bring a lot of snacks that I can eat, given how little I’ll be able to snack on at Southern gas station pit stops.
Medicine: Gotta always take your medicine.
Extra Car Supplies: Although I’ve tried my best to ensure that our vehicle is prepped for the trip, it is always wise to prepare for the worst. In our case, we bring a spare tire (not a doughnut), puncture repair kit, and some extra rags and tools if need be. Worst case scenario, we have AAA and festival insurance in our back pocket.
Now that the van is packed, the next step is to ensure that I have everything packed for my time at Bonnaroo. Usually, I try to pack light and load up on luxury items like food and comfortable clothes. I’ll be bringing mostly shorts, with a few pairs of pants and sweat pants for colder nights, mostly t-shirts or light button-ups, my raggedy pair of Nikes I bought to bring to Japan two years ago and my knock-off Timberland boots in case of Mudderoo. Always be prepared.
As mentioned previously, we also plan to bring a reflective tarp to act as a canopy over our van during the day to help keep it cool inside. We’re bringing sheets and other tapestries to hang from our easy-up as well. Solar lights wrapped around the campsite will help keep the place illuminated at night. Unlike previous years, I think I’ll be bringing a small propane camping stove to heat water for morning tea, coffee, oatmeal, etc. Fingers crossed.
I was tempted to bring my guitar this year, but given its sentimental value to me, I don’t want to chance anything happening to it. That being said, I recommend anyone with musical talent to bring their instruments and get things going back at camp during off hours.
My girlfriend and I are very excited to make it down to Tennessee again this year, but at this point, it’s just a case of making sure we have everything we need to bring before we ship out. Once we do, it should be smooth sailing from there.
There’s a chance I get another blog post out before we leave, but it’s slim. Better chance I publish something on the road. Thankfully, there’s a lot yet to discuss! Stay tuned here, on my Instagram, and on Twitter for more updates, blog posts, and musings.
If you heeded my advice from the last Bonnaroo 2018 blog post, you’ve prepared for an extra day of travel and general detox before trying to reenter the civilian world. Depending on how you got to Manchester, TN, you are either looking forward to a short, albeit cramped, airplane ride or you’re gearing up for a road trip back home. In our case, we had breakfast plans at our favorite local restaurant and lodge, a friend to drop off at the Chattanooga airport, and then approximately 1,500 miles to cover on our drive back to Massachusetts.
After meeting up with friends just outside of the festival and saying our goodbyes, we made our way Northeast towards Virginia. My girlfriend and I decided to stop later on in the night to sleep and recharge instead of driving through the night. We found a cozy rest stop, crawled into the back of our van and made room for ourselves among our luggage and festival supplies.
Driving is rarely an issue for me, especially on long road trips. I grew up traveling from across New England every few months and have found highway driving very therapeutic ever since I got my license. The thing is, you never really remember just how long Virgnina and West Virginia are until you have to drive through them up route 81 for what feels like an eternity. Chalk this up to a whiny Yankee who is used to being able to drive to 5+ different states in less than 5 hours, but the wanderlust wears off after the 8th hour spent driving through the same cow-littered, green landscape.
The only real thing of note about our trip back was what happened after a brief pit stop in Connecticut. Just moments after taking the wheel and reentering route 95, my girlfriend was able to narrowly avoid being mixed up in a car accident just two cars ahead of us. An SUV in the high-speed lane looked like it had been bumped from behind, causing it to spin out of control across the highway and smashing into an unsuspecting car in the right lane. Thankfully, we were also accompanied by an undercover police officer who, in record time, managed to establish a parameter, call for backup and attend to the scene.
What’s the moral of this whole story?
Stay safe, don’t do anything stupid, and get your butt home before the post-Bonnaroo blues sets in. There’s nothing worse than spending the best week of the year at Bonnaroo and then having something dumb happen to put a damper on your festivities.
The few days after Bonnaroo can be a tough time for all of us. Here are a few ways to avoid the worst of the post-Bonnaroo blues, recover from your festival debouchery, and prepare for next year:
Keep the Music Going: Leaving the farm doesn’t mean that you have to leave the spirit of Bonnaroo behind! Embrace new ideas, share your favorite tunes, and always keep the music flowing. I recommend listening to the last few years of Bonnaroo playlists on Spotify during your drive home.
Keep in Touch: Whether it’s sharing your excitment for next year’s line-up on social media or discussing your road trip plans in a group chat, it’s always a good idea to stay connected with your Bonna-buds in between visits to the farm. There’s nothing like sharing the Bonnaroo vibe with kindred spirits that can help transport you right back to Manchester in the blink of an eye.
Shower & Relax: You’ve survived another year of Bonnaroo. You deserve a break from all of the vacation you just had. First, I’d suggest a shower, then followed quickly by a nap. Jaccuzi? You do you. A trip to the beach? Have a blast. Enjoy yourself and reenergize, because you’ve got work tomorrow morning and it’s going to SUCK.
Next week, I’ll be discussing some of my preparation plans for our trip to Manchester, TN this June. We’ll be outfitting the van with a bed, packing the bare essentials, and planning our mid-road trip stops. There’s a lot to discuss and only a few weeks left to discuss it! Stay tuned here, on my Instagram, and on Twitter for more updates, blog posts, and musings.
Sunday on the farm brings with it a bittersweet feeling after a week in the Tennessee heat. On one hand, you are most likely sore, sweaty, and quickly realizing how much money you’ve spent with your Paypal-linked wristband. On the other, it’s the last day of the best week of the year and you’re ready to tear it up!
If my memory recalls correctly (which is not always a safe bet at this point), our Sunday schedule for Bonnaroo 2018 was much more flexible than others. As long as I saw Thundercat and eventually ended up at the Killers before they closed their set, I knew I’d be alright. I also joined my girlfriend to watch Dua Lipa and was pleasantly surprised. I had listened to her on the radio in preparation for the trip and found her songs pleasant enough to nod along to, but I was impressed at how well she performed as a newer pop artist on the biggest stage of the festival.
As expected, Thundercat was easily one of my favorite sets. After being introduced to him by a friend, I spent most of the beginning of 2018 hyping myself up for seeing him in Manchester. Thankfully, he did not disappoint. After the spectacular Pigeons Playing Ping-Pong set, listening to Thundercat jam with his band was a welcome cherry on top for a Bonnaroo that felt much more relaxed and pleasant than the ones I’ve previously attended.
If Thundercat and Pigeons created a cohesive vibe for the Bonnaroo 2018 experience, the Killers joined Sheryl Crow and the Chic in teaching me an important moral for Bonnaroo 2018. There are a TON of songs that I know front to back and had no idea before seeing the artists live. I don’t think I’ve ever sat down to listen to the Killers on purpose, but nevertheless, I knew every tune and could even keep up with some of the lyrics when I saw them close out the festival. Their cultural ubiquity was lost on me until I sat down in front of the What Stage and witnessed it first hand.
After witnessing a stranger steal our picnic mat right out from under us, our group transitioned back to camp and enjoyed the night relaxing and reminiscing about this year’s festival.
Seriously. Someone swiped our mat right as we (a group of approximately twelve or so adults) stood up to applaud the end of the festival. It cost us $5 at Family Dollar and it had spent the past week getting soaked in sweat, mud, and rain, but sure man… take our picnic mat.
They wouldn’t have had to wait much longer for stealing to turn into willing donations, however. Almost immediately after the Killers’ set wrapped up, people started leaving the farm. Once I woke up the next morning at around 10 AM, what had once been a flourishing tent city had become a barren waste of particularly American consumerism. More than a few attendees decided to leave their entire campsite behind, tent, cooler, and chairs included. Anyone who wanted to stock up on cheap camping supplies would have had a payday.
As for myself, seeing the sea of crap left behind by festival-goers put a pretty depressing damper on the whole occasion. Sure, we had a lot of fun, but what kind of waste are we producing to create that fun? Someone mentioned that the Bonnaroo staff specifically donated and recycled most of the items left behind, but it felt like a convenient way to brush aside the fact that we, as a community, leave behind so much worthless crap for others to clean up. Bonnaroo takes place on a wonderful farm, not a movie theater, folks.
All in all, Sunday of Bonnaroo 2018 was a fantastic way to cap off one of my favorite festivals. I didn’t have the normal anxiety of having to jam as much of the last day as I could into 24 hours and the shows that I did end up going to left me thoroughly impressed and satisfied.
The last day of Bonnaroo is often bittersweat. Here are a few ways to make the time between the last set and your departure as smooth and relaxing as possible:
Hydrate or Dydrate: Depending on your mode of transporation, you may have a long road ahead of you. Make sure to stay hydrated and rejuvinated so that you can tackle the journey home in even strides.
Relish the Friends You’ve Made: The best part of Bonnaroo each year is meeting and staying in touch with the friends I meet and make on the farm. Before leaving, take some time to confirm contact info and say goodbye to friends you may have made during your trip. At least pretend that you’ll keep in touch.
Sleep the Night: If possible, stay an extra night after the end of Bonnaroo before leaving the farm. Avoiding the end-of-festival rush is worth the extra time it may take to get home. If you can’t stay an extra night, consider taking a nap or relaxing with your camp before leaving the farm. You’ll thank me on your drive home.
Stay Safe & Don’t Be Stupid: Here’s a simple tip. You’ve survived another Bonnaroo. You’re leaving Manchester, Tennessee and you’re on your way home. Don’t do anything stupid. Just please be safe and don’t take for granted that you’ve been able to enjoy a week of festivities at the best festival on Earth.
Next week, I’ll describe our trip home from Tennessee, how we managed to reintegrate into real life, and provide some tips on what to do to keep the Bonnaroo spirit alive during your 9 to 5. If you’d be interested in reading more about my experiences traveling and visiting music festivals, feel free to shoot me a comment to let me know.
Bonnaroo is already half way over and you still have some of the best bands in the line up to see! Saturday has snuck up on you and it’s time to get a quick shower before it gets too hot and head into Centeroo to catch some of the early acts. That’s how I always imagined it in my head while preparing for Bonnaroo each year, but my Saturdays rarrly ever worked out as planned.
Our Saturday schedule initially looked something like this: Knox Fortune at 3:00 PM, Billie Eilish at 3:45, Nile Rogers & Chic at 6:45, Tobi Lou at 7:45, Anderson Paak & the Free Nationals at 8:45, The Glitch Mob at 9:30, Bon Iver at 10PM, Eminem at 11PM, STS9 at 1 AM, Brockhampton at 1:30AM and Kaskade at 2AM.
What actually happened was a lot tamer in comparison to our original plans. My girlfriend and I managed to catch parts of Knox Fortune and Billie Eilish as we explored Centeroo, but didn’t have any solid commitments until Nile Rogers at 6:45. Needless to say, we had a lot of time to prepare for the Chic!
Niles and the band put on an amazing show packed full of classic hits that everyone in the audience knew by heart. That was the pattern that stood out to me most that year; there were so many performances where I could feel the audience’s apprehension before the set be washed away by a deluge of familiar tunes. Sheryl Crow was the same way! A lot of people didn’t know what to expect and ended up getting a lesson in songwriting history from them both. Check out part of Niles’ set below.
After Niles, my girlfriend and I went our separate ways for a bit. I ended up at Tobi Lou long enough to catch a few songs. I was really impressed on the ride down to Tennessee by his laid back cadence and video game-inspired beats. Tobi reminded me just how much of a pleasure the Who tent is every year I go to Bonnaroo. It may sound like a joke at first, but I’ve had some of the best experiences of the festival at the smallest tent. Don’t underestimate a performance based on the crowd.
As a preface to the fanboy drivel you’re about to read, Anderson Paak’s inclusion in the lineup was one of my main reasons for attending, that and my wonderful girlfriend of course. Keep that in mind when I say that Anderson Paak and the Free Nationals blew the roof off of the biggest damn stage at Bonnaroo. I’ve seen Elton John perform on What stage, I’ve seen Jack White, I’ve seen Lionel Ritchie, and none of them showed the kind of energy and enthusiasm and showmanship that Anderson put into his Bonnaroo debut. Also, keep in mind that the What stage is big in every way that the Who stage is small. It is huge, so the fact that they used up all of the space, both physical and sonically, available to them was truly awesome.
With my mind sufficiently blown, I was lead by the hand to a Glitch Mob show for the umpteenth time to find myself pleasantly amused. It is true that once you see an electronic dance music show, you’ve seen them all, but at the same time, if it’s a good EDM show, that’s not that bad! Sadly, I’m an old fart and my girlfriend and I retired back to camp after TGM, despite really wanting to see Bon Iver. I promised myself that I would leave the tent to catch their second set, but I deep down I knew that my night was over at that point.
Remember when I said that the What stage was very, very large? Do you also remember when I said that Pod 3 was really close to the Arch and, therefore, the What stage? So, despite an early nightcap, my girlfriend and I were able to enjoy the muffled sounds of Eminem’s fading career from the comfort of our minivan. Silver linings.
All kidding aside, I did hear the gunshot sounds that were part of Eminem’s set and I can say that they were very convincing. For a split second, I thought I was a very lucky man for deciding not to go to the show. That’s not something that anyone should have to think when going to a festival and Eminem and his crew should have had more foresight to know that putting realistic gun sound effects into a live performance in the United States during 2018 was a bad idea.
Talking about controversy, 2018 was also the year that Brockhampton backed out of tour dates in response to allegations of sexual assault and misconduct towards one of their members, so that was out of the picture. I didn’t know anything about the rap boy band at that point but the news soured my already cautious opinion of them. I can say that their music is definitely worth looking into now that I’ve delved a little deeper, but it was a pretty bad first impression.
All in all, I wished I had seen STS9, more of Knox Fortune, and Bon Iver, but I was glad to see Paak, Rogers, and Lou and get extra sleep before Sunday.
Every Bonnaroo, I go in with a list of must-see sets and a general plan for how things will line up. Of course, nothing ever goes exactly to plan. Instead of our normal list of tips, I thought I could spend this time going over some of my plans for how to improve Bonnaroo 2019 for myself and my companions. Maybe that will help you get in the right mindset for preparing your own adventure. This summer I want to:
Do More In The Morning: Bonnaroo may be known for the late night partying, but it also has a bumping morning scene, whether you’re into comedy, yoga, running, or social justice issues. I want to take advantage of my mornings better, rather than rushing to grab a shower and sitting at camp until noon.
Do More Outside of Centeroo: Last year, I had a lot of fun at the House of Yes Barn in Pod 3, but other than that, I didn’t do much exploring outside of Centeroo. Apparently, Chance the Rapper was spotted riding around a golfcart last year and I want to embody that kind of energy as much as possible. My goal is to explore each pod’s barn at least once and explore as many extra curricular activities as I can muster.
Try More Food: This one is going to be very hard for me, given I am now dairy, gluten and FODMAP free, but I hope that I can try more food this summer than my last four Bonnaroos. I ususally stick to burgers and fries, since they’re easy and hard to screw up, but there are also plenty of diet conscious people in attendence, so I should push out of my boundaries a bit more and explore what my limited options are.
Meet More People: Last year was my first time attending Bonnaroo with a companion and it was glorious. To my surprise, we actually had a fair amount of time apart as well, which gave us both time to meet other people and do some of our own exploring of the festival grounds. My only hope is that I can use more of that time meeting new people. By now, most of my Bonnaroo friends are well established, even though we add and lose a few to the crew each year. I need to make more of an effort to reach out to strangers and strike up a conversation.
Next week, I’ll cover what happened on Sunday and provide some tips on how to transition back into civilian life. If you’d be interested in reading more about my experiences traveling and visiting music festivals, feel free to shoot me a comment to let me know.
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