July 10-13, 2010 in Manchester, Tenn.
On June 10, over 100,000 people traveled from all directions to a small farm in Manchester, Tenn. to witness the ninth annual Bonnaroo music festival.
What began as a journey met by empty highways and country roads came to yield an unparalleled sight: an ocean of tents, cars, smoke and youth.
Though people gathered primarily for the non-stop, four-day concert, patrons also came for the atmosphere of excitement and pleasure; it was commonplace to walk down the dirt roads traversing the campgrounds and receive a few fist-pounds, high-fives and a reminder that you were definitely at the "'roo."
The main attraction, however, was the star-studded line-up that Bonnaroo had to offer. Just a few of the bands that played the festival were Neon Indian, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, The Flaming Lips, LCD Soundsystem, Dr. Dog, Stevie Wonder, The xx and Jay-Z.
The first night of the festival was an perfect introduction to the line-ups that followed: Neon Indian played a set full of raygun synthesizer sounds and bombastic beats, ending moments after The Dodos began their pared down, hollow body guitar-filled set. Ending the night, The xx played a disappointing set that lacked the energy fans have come to expect from them.
The next day was an epic of a completely different sort. The day began at 2 a.m. with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes' energy-filled set and ended at 4 a.m. with James Murphy's rendition of "Empire State of Mind." Edward Sharpe was followed by Dr. Dog, who played a set that sounded like it had been mastered and re-mastered somewhere in the time between them playing and the audience listening. After Dr. Dog, Michael Franti and Spearhead livened things up and paved the way for The Flaming Lips.
After a long setup, Lips frontman Wayne Coyne burst into the crowd in an air-filled bubble. The set, half of which was spent playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, included gigantic, laser-spitting hands, a confetti-filled rendition of "Do You Realize" and a version of Floyd's "Money" in which Coyne sent bubbles of real money out onto the crowd to be popped and collected.
The third day included a three-band line-up: Jack White's new band The Dead Weather was followed by Stevie Wonder and finally Jay-Z. Both Wonder and Jay-Z wowed the crowd with impressive sets that offset the traditional atmosphere of the festival. Regina Spektor, John Fogerty and They Might Be Giants ended the festival in a playful manner.
After an unforgettable 96 hours, pack-up and departure was laced with cries for another four days that won't be answered until next year's festival.