Smoke signals mean nothing to a city girl

It is time. To confess. My undying love. For pizza. No, that is not me with the faux feather as seen above, but! it very well could have been me posted up next to the pizza stand... ok, a couple times the course of Bonnaroo (and most likely why I wasn't asked to be in any stylin' pictures.) In order to emphasize my infatuation for my fav food group: one time, this guy kept asking to take me out: "Hang out at the house?" No. "Come to the lake?" No. "Pizza and a *french kiss?" --but he did not say f*rench kiss---and I seriously stopped to ponder, thinking "...I do like pizza..."
So, anyway, Bonnaroo. If you are unfamiliar and/or did not check out the multiple aforementioned links: four days, Manchester, Tennessee (home to Heidi's boyfriend Jack), 80,000 people pitching 25,000 tents in the middle of nowhere, 200+ bands playing to everyone and their token' hippie, and somehow, a limo and Drew Barrymore were there. Ok, I don't know that they came together, but both were very stylin' for the middle of nowhere.
So, after what pieced together to make a full day spent in the car, we rolled up just in time to re-energize for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs featuring the one and only Karen O. The lead singer for the New York based trio, Miss O. stands as indie rocks' most daring female. From a distance, I believed Miss O. to be sporting an ethereal white kimono with traditional print accents. Note: when it comes to the Indie genre, never mistakenly label anything "traditional" as that's why it's called 'indie'. I've read many disagreed or altogether disliked what surely is a custom outfit, but after a bit of research, I get it now.

Note: the pic on the right is a nod to their website and latest disc "It's Blitz!"; one may decipher interpretation of the left picture on their own. Much love to the incredible Lucinda Williams; always have been a fan, always will be, but sister was looking rough. If Ray Wylie Hubbard were there, I would have a) had a case of amnesia whereby attempting to alleviate my disillusion with b) a nap. Anywho, wasn't really feeling it and was joined in the belief that, neither was she.
Photo courtesy this blog, which offers a great--both pictorial and editorial review of what can be had at Bonnaroo. Speaking of naps: it was astonishing how many people found comfort in the middle of nowhere. No really. They would lie down and sleep in the middle of nowhere. While watching Lu, there was a strange, occasional noise accompanied by heat. Huh? Looking around, we discovered a gas-filled torch that, when lit, shot up huge smoke rings that could be seen 'round the grounds. (Me and Lu happened to be nearby.) So, en route to actually see where this random heat was coming from, we saw this guy asleep in the lawn. I thought it rude to take a picture of a clearly exhausted person, but also needed evidence of what I'm talkin'. I took this picture just as he woke to a stranger lying down with him for his Kodak moment, when he honestly woke up with this expression:
Quite honestly, I saw way too many acts to name and think my running mate Dave nailed it when he said "I've heard so much about them, I don't know who I've actually seen!" The Beastie Boys were nothing but energy; Jenny Lewis was everything I remembered her to be: purely poetic and always stunning. Bon Iver, The Decemberists, NIN--if there is one tip I could offer anyone due to make a subsequent trek: if there is a show you want to see, be sure you want to be there beginning to end. Tardiness or lax motivation gets you nothing (at times, not even an eye on the stage, Ex: Phoenix) if you are indeed there for the music.

I was able to see Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 on a recommendation and would extend the same rec for those of you heading to Austin for ACL. An elder Hitchcock jazzed the audience with impressive bluesy rifts and folk melody often compared to Bob Dylan.

Grammy winning Raphael Saadiq was a phenomenal throw-back to the traditional indie line-up. Motown sound paired with a discerning, modern eye for style, Saadiq was my pick for the festival. Oh, and if you'll recall, Saadiq is formerly of R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone (eeek.)

And so it pains me to tell this next part of the story. How everyone wanted to see MGMT. How I missed my opportunity to hang with The Bruce in VIP. How a random conversation with two tech's in Memphis hooked me up with MGMT's sound engineer at the Roo; how I was supposed to meet him and MGMT at "8:00, stage right..."-- six hours before the 2 a.m. show and how then, I would have totally missed NIN "last show" going down at the exact same time.

So, no, it didn't happen. But now I totally understand why some opted for a re-charge nap in the middle of nowhere.

Check out Style.com and Lucky Magazine's Bonnaroo Style Report for more looks from Bonnaroo 2009.
And no, I didn't totally miss MGMT. I just had a different point of view.