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Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll … Bonnaroo
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by Cristina Daglas
Thursday, November 6, 2003
Bonnaroo 2003, the three-day music festival in Manchester, Tenn., was an experience of a lifetime filled with sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. More than 80,000 folks traveled from all over the world to hear more than 60 bands ranging from moe. to the Roots.
Fans endured not only hours driving to the obscure part of Tennessee but also hours in standstill traffic through the afternoon, into the late hours of the evening and early hours of the morning to make it into the acres and acres of land filled with campgrounds, stages and attractions to satisfy any concert fiend’s utmost desires.
“270 Miles from Graceland- Bonnaroo 2003” hit stores Nov. 4 after a two-week delay and works to successfully capture the life that was and is Bonnaroo. This two-disc DVD features 23 live performances on disc one and performance schedules, artist info pages, the concert film trailer, press-tent artist interviews, exclusive backstage rehearsals and portraits from the Bonnaroo Experience on the bonus disc.
The disc begins with an inside view of the Brooklyn, N.Y., natives of Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra loading up their UHAUL and trekking it out to the festival, experiencing the same hilarious road trip moments as the rest of us, as well as the tedious gas-station stops and traffic delays. People are shown in their cars in standstill traffic waiting to get into the festival. They were out on the streets playing frisbee, meeting other soon-to-be Bonnaroo audience members and, lastly, working to push their cars through the mud pits that surrounded the entrance ways to the Bonnaroo camp grounds. The disc then cuts to the band performing early Friday morning with “Talkatif,” and, with excellent camerawork, successfully shows the upbeat vibe of the crowd with the sun beating down on this hot, southern day.
“270 Miles from Graceland” manages to convey the upbeat vibe of the crowd well throughout the entire weekend, as well as the diversity of the people comprising it through the concert footage and random shots of people enjoying their free time dancing in the fountain, throwing back a beer in the campgrounds and making their way down Shakedown Street, the dirt road where everything handmade and homegrown was sold.
The 23 performances selected for the DVD are by no means the most popular songs put out by the bands, which wasn’t really surprising but rather incredibly refreshing as a viewer.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band’s, “I Need More Love” made it on the DVD and showed the amazing stage presence this band conveys and the energy that comes from Randolph himself. This performance stood out at the show, and looking back on it through the disc magnifies how impressive the concert was.
All the barefoot and mud-soaked hippies dancing and twirling with their giant hula-hoops were shown during Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminal’s performance. Before their performance of “Temporary Remedy,” the DVD shows the band planning out its set list and simply saying, “This is Bonnaroo, baby!” in response to Harper’s second thoughts on throwing a few songs back-to-back. Ultimately, their performance is one that definitely sticks out after watching the DVD despite not being a huge fan of this band.
However, Yonder Mountain String Band’s concert was exceptional, both live and on “270 Miles from Graceland,” and when put together with amazing camera shots of the crowd and the atmosphere it instantly becomes my favorite performance on the disc. During “Mother’s Only Son,” Yonder hypes up the crowd with the band’s bluegrass melodies as one of the few purely bluegrass bands there. This band attracted a huge crowd at the festival, and by watching the DVD, it is incredibly easy to see why … its stage presence was amazing and it was just “on” despite being one man down.
Apart from the daytime concerts, the disc also concentrates a bit on the late-night acts of the festival. These late night sets would last anywhere from two to four hours and go until 6 a.m.
Medeski, Martin and Wood played late night as well as The Flaming Lips. At the festival, they played at the same time, so by watching the DVD it is nice to see what one could have essentially missed. The Flaming Lips, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot” was a crowd favorite at Bonnaroo and an amazing sight to see. The animal costumes, crazy ways of the band members and uniqueness of the crowd is a memory forever engraved in my mind … a memory that vividly shines through on the disc.
A few of the other bands featured are James Brown, Leo Kottke & Mike Gordon, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and the Dead.
The only thing downplayed or essentially ignored on “270 Miles from Graceland” was the prevalence of drugs at the festival and the non-existent horse-riding police officers. However, it’s Bonnarro. Let’s be realistic, we all knew it was there. The chocolate “shrooms” were waved in all of our faces!
The festival was so much to take in over the three days. It was the farthest thing from reality and such an amazing escape. “270 Miles from Graceland” can take one back to those incredible music-filled three days or can give someone who wasn’t there a glimpse into the alter-reality that is… Bonnaroo.
