Bonnaroo-Kalee

Have you ever met strangers that feel like friends? Have you ever heard a song that was so perfectly tuned to your life that you feel the artist must have bugged your living room because they know what you're going through? Walking into the first day of Bonnaroo is like realizing there are 100,000 people in the world JUST like you. They like weird indie and mainstream pop and hip-hop and EDM. They have no reservations about the human spirit, are accepting of everyone around them and are sharing snacks and bracelets and pins. 

 

There is no place in the world like the Farm. Every day you wake up in a hot tent and crawl out to all of your best friends sitting in the shade, making PB&Js and playing the Bonnaroo Lineup Playlist way too loud on a speaker. You have nothing but time, music, friends and food for 5 days straight. When you first walk under the arch (the Square Arch as it was known this year), you are greeted by the What Stage, the grandest of all the stages on the Farm. This is the only stage that remains partly up throughout the remainder of the year due to its size.

 

Bonnaroo had an AWESOME 2019 lineup (especially if you love 'bottom of the listers' as I call it). From Phish to Cardi B, to Kacey Musgraves, all the way to Illenium, The Wood Brothers and Brockhampton, every genre was covered. Great Stage Park, Bonnaroo's home, holds about 100,000 people comfortably and inside Centeroo, the enclosed event area, there are seven stages, several popup attractions and vendors galore. There are shows happening constantly, so you never have to wait at an empty stage for the next act. 

 

One of my favorite parts of the festival was seeing how some artists have transformed since their last Bonnaroo performances on smaller stages. In 2016, Maren Morris played the Who Stage, the smallest stage at Bonnaroo. "My Church" was a brand new #1 hit and about the only song the crowd comfortably sang along to, and as I listened, I swayed in the back thinking, "this girl is going to make it." I have made wrong predictions a couple of times in my life but not this time. This year I saw Maren rock out on the What Stage, to over 40,000 people singing every song right back to her. In three short years, Maren surpassed every stage between Who and What.

 

Another incredible moment was seeing professional Nashville songwriter Luke Dick completely kill it on the Who Stage under his Republican Hair artistic guise. As the songwriter, he has co-written hits such as "Kill A Word" for Eric Church and "Velvet Elvis" for Kacey Musgraves, who just happened to perform it at the Which Stage a couple of hours before Republican Hair's set. Bonnaroo moments, am I right? Cross-pollinations of genre, experience and music are exactly what Bonnaroo is all about. Knowing the track record of the Who Stage gives me hope that we’ll see Republican Hair on the What Stage in no time!

 

During The Lumineers’ Sunday afternoon set, some very special things occurred. After sharing an emotional new song that covers the topic of addiction in families, lead singer Wesley Shultz asked the crowd to put their arms around the person next to them. My crew was resting on our blanket and I happened to be the only one standing. I didn't ask anyone to stand up, and a stranger noticed. A tall, tan man with dreads down his back put his arm around my shoulder, and we held tight to each other for a few verses and a chorus. When the song ended, I looked up and said, "well thank you for stopping by!" He replied, "Happy ROO!” and scurried off to find the friends that he lost so he could sway with me. Caring strangers and beautiful shared memories: now THAT is a Bonnaroo moment.

 

A few songs went by before The Lumineers brought out their surprise guest (and my favorite artist) Rayland Baxter to sing "This Must Be the Place/Naïve Melody," my wedding song. My jaw dropped. As a matter of fact, on my first night of Bonnaroo this year, we walked into Pod 3 and heard the same song at a tiny popup stage before the gates opened to Centeroo. Not only did I hear it walking in, but I also heard it sung by my favorite band with my favorite solo artist during the last full set I experienced at Bonnaroo 2019. Yet again, this stuff can only miraculously happen on the Farm.

 

If the music, art and food weren’t enough for the average festival-goer, the camaraderie of perfect strangers will boost any spirit. There is no place on earth more accepting than this 100-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. And there’s a reason people like Chance the Rapper, The Lumineers and Kacey Musgraves have been general admission ticket holders and camped in tents for Bonnaroo. Their motto is "Radiate Positivity" and for the first time since something like Woodstock, I think Bonnaroovians actually try to live by that code. As cheesy as the made-up languages and pod names can seem to a spectator, this utopia is the intersection of music-makers and music-lovers, and there is nothing else like it. Come as you are, and you’re guaranteed to leave with a fuller heart (and way more new songs and bands to research) than you could have imagined.