A Clever Diversion

bonnaroo fell into a routine really quickly. you cannot sleep past 9am. like, it’s too damn hot. on friday, i actually woke up at around 6:30 because i had to go pee. after that, i hung out under the canopy and tried to stay cool. the only act i really wanted to see that day was lil wayne, but he wasn’t scheduled until 1:30am. nada really wanted to see atmosphere and was also familiar with a couple of other bands. so, we made a loose schedule of what we’d do that day and headed to centeroo at around noon. however, before we even left camp, nada complained that she wasn’t feeling good again. even after we ate (i had to have another corn dog! lol), she was feeling bad. when we got to the stage area, instead of trying to get a good spot to see atmosphere, she just wanted to sit down by the stage. the band that was playing at the time, phosphorescent, sucked really bad! they were awful. so, i left nada there for a minute while i went to go have an herbal refreshment. when i came back, i started to think about the lil wayne performance later on. my iphone takes such great video. better than my camera. and i wanted to get some decent footage of lil wayne. i decided to go charge my phone up at the phone charging station. i told nada i’d be back. when i found the phone charging station, the line was super long and people looked pissed. i tried to maneuver my way to the front, but the line just was not moving at all, and the sun was blazing hot. after a while, i was like “fuck it.” i went back to the side of the stage where i had left nada, but she wasn’t there and had left her phone at the campsite. in her place, was a whole bunch of people trying to get a good position for the next act, matt & kim. i looked over the crowd. it was packed. i knew that since she was feeling sick, there was no way she would be up in that mess. so, i thought that maybe she moved out to get some air, i circled the entire stage searching for her. then, i checked the emergency tent, thinking she could have felt sick enough to go back there. then, i searched the porta potty area… the food area… and all the nearby shady areas. still, no nada. i went back to the front of the stage to make sure, but there were so many people. i decided to just sit under a nearby tree and wait for her to pass by. the crowd was going crazy for matt & kim, and they were really good. after their performance, i decided to go into the crowd and try to get into a good position to see florence + the machine, who i kinda wanted see. before them, atmosphere performed. he was just aight to me. i wasn’t really impressed. like 5 songs into his performance, i see nada with a train of girls leaving the front of the crowd. 

baffled. 

i caught her attention and told her i had been looking for her. she nonchalantly told me that she had been in the front in the crowd this entire time. i was pretty pissed. i stayed in the crowd for atmosphere, who didn’t move me, and then watched some of florence + the machine, who were great (her voice is amazing). i left during the middle of the performance to get a good position for lil wayne. the stage lil wayne was performing on was different from the others i had been at. in the front, they had a pit set up where if you were going to see that particular band and wanted to be close, you could. only about 150 people can fit in that front area. after the band you wanted to see performed, you had to get out of the pit and in line if you wanted to see the next performance in the pit. i didn’t know this. so, i told the security guy that i did want to see ray lamontagne, who sucked by the way… but ron jeremy was there, thinking that i would get to stay in the front until lil wayne performed. but after ray lamontagne was done, everyone was forced to get out of the pit. i asked the security guy where i could wait for lil wayne, and he directed me to a small line against a wall near the stage. i sat down next to some really cool people. two ghetto white girls from georgia and one overweight chick from somewhere i can’t remember. we talked. had beers. and just chilled. they were super cool. 

even though the security guard said that the lil wayne line started by the wall, before primus played, who had 3 parachuters drop from the sky and sprinkle glitter over the crowd but otherwise didn’t impress me, things started getting disorganized. suddenly me and the other people who had been waiting for hours found ourselves scrambling to line up in a new line that had began. it was torture. hours of standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers. it was hot. and nasty. and tiresome. my feet and ankles began to hurt so bad. but, i held out and made my way to the front of the new line. finally, they let us go through to the pit. i got a pretty sweet spot on the right side of the stage, front row. lil wayne was really good too. energetic. crunk. not sloppy like i thought he would be. he brought out some random lame people from his label too. he also tried to get sexy and i saw some of his pubes… eww. but otherwise, it was a great show. i was really surprised by his focus. after the show, i was pretty exhausted, but i got a text from this girl i had met in louisville a couple of weeks ago, liz virgo (she’s a rapper but that’s her real name!). she had finally made her way to bonnaroo. we met up and hung out for a few hours. fortunately, pretty lights, did like four encores and were still playing on another stage. visually stimulating. liz virgo was ready to party hard because she had just gotten there, but i was tired and my feet and ankles hurt so bad from walking around looking for nada and standing for hours for lil wayne. i had to go get some rest. she had driven right up to the concert and forgot where she parked and where her campsite was. so, i helped her find it and then tried to get back to my own campsite. i ended up getting really frustrated because i couldn’t find my way in the dark. i was like about to cry because my feet hurt so damn bad and i was just so frustrated. i had to climb over a fence and everything. ugh. frustrated. but, i finally found our campsite and crashed. 

part 3 soon.