Monday, February 06, 2006

Bonaroo 2006--Woodstock Grown Up

Have you ever noticed the impact of Bonaroo on the local economy, or otherwise, have you ever thought about attending this most magnificent concert event just down the road from Nashville? I'm talking to the probable readers of this site--you know--the well adjusted, 30's/40's/50's something crowd that normally has sworn off large concert events...like me??? Too many people our age think this event is what Woodstock used to be--but I think Bonaroo has grown up and ultimately achieved what Woodstock could never become---the ultimate repetitive outdoor concert event.

Of course, the major local media always seems to concentrate on the drug intake aspect of the (very minor portion of the) attendees, or, in the same vein (no pun intended) of the News of the Weird of how some people die at the event. The media will never give credit where credit is due. You've read it here on this site--Bonaroo is a cultural and economic phenomena--and I officially salute it's creators and management.

We were sitting in a restaurant in SteamBoat Springs, Colorado about 3 years ago and we were chatting up the server. She about flipped when she realized we lived about 60 miles from the Bonaroo event location. She had purchased her tickets on line (Which by the way, is the ONLY way to buy tickets--NO TICKETMASTER ALLOWED--which is another subject, but which it totally and completely a great idea)---but anyway, it's totally amazing what Bonaroo has accomplished in such a short amount of time.

It has become THE concert event for most 20's/30/s something (concert-going) people. It continues to draw as many people as they allow tickets to be sold.

Just last summer, we were at the airport a few days before the event, and there were tons of people picking up their back packs and their gear at the baggage claim area, obviously, not heading to local hotels. They were totally phsyched about heading down towards Manchester (we overheard these conversations), and they were renting cars, stopping by local restaurants, basically going by grocery stores, and doing most of their prep work here in Nashville. Quite an impact here locally.

Also last summer (pre-blogging), Sharon and I took our daughter, Rachel, to camp in Mentone, Alabama. We happened to be traveling around the second week of June. We stopped in Monteagle on the way back, and noticed a bunch of people at a local restaurant taking a break from Bonaroo. The interstate was packed and so was the town. Bonaroo impact is well known south of here.

All in all, it was a slow news day, and just thought I'd share these thought with you. If you want to look at who is playing this year, or if you would like to get up a group of people and go, here is where you need to click to read about Bonaroo.