Also, a chance to win Bonnaroo passes!
This week on The What Podcast, Barry, Lord Taco, and Bryan asks listeners who they should check out when it comes to the Bonnaroo 2024 lineup. Additionally, they hear 'Roo tales from Olivia Ross, a newspaper photographer who has worked the festival the last two years.
First up, the guys react to fans recommending they check out the likes of The Mars Volta, Fred Again..., The Tesky Brothers, Half Moon Run, Whyte Fang, and more.
As for the conversation with Ross, multi-year vet discusses how despite each year featuring different types of crowds with varying taste in music, she's always had an enjoyable experience on the farm. Though her first year involved a good deal of confusion, she soon became a pro, and now works the fest as a concert photographer.
Listen to the full chat above or watch it via YouTube. Do us a solid and also like, review, and subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you listen.
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Fans' Bonnaroo 2024 Lineup Recommendations
It's February, but everybody is thinking about Bonnarooo.
We're thinking about June.
We're thinking about camping in a field.
Can you believe it?
We're thinking about camping in a field.
We're going to talk about Bonnarooo.
We're going to talk about late night sets.
We're going to talk about the bands we've never heard of.
We're going to just talk about whatever we want to talk about.
Here we go.
And here we go.
I'm so excited.
This is going to be so much fun.
I've got I'm Barry.
There's Russ Lord taco and Bryan Stone.
We're going to talk about Bonnarooo.
We've got a special guest Olivia.
She's going to come on later.
She's one of the photographers that I've worked with over the years at the Bonnarooo.
She works at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, but more importantly,
she's just a Bonnarooo fan and we're going to talk about her.
We're going to talk with her later.
But before that, we're going to have a little bit of fun.
I hope we're going to talk about some listeners.
We've got some we asked people last week to call in and leave us some messages
about who they'd like to see some Bonnarooo let type of stuff.
Yeah, their version their version of the Bonnarooo let that maybe we didn't get to
that we need to expand more.
And this is the time of year where I start to get excited where I start to you know,
all you need in any setting is a reason to get excited.
And then it went and then it builds from there.
And I've found a couple here and there and I'm like, oh my God, that was great.
I need more of this.
And and so there's plenty of time, but it won't be long before there's not plenty
of time to get to do the homework and get caught up.
It gets it gets up on us quick.
But I have a question for you guys.
And just because I'm feeling froggy and it's in and and I have to be honest,
Brian reached out to you earlier this week and said, hey, we you know,
we need to redo this show on Sunday.
And you said I have some notes and I got to be honest.
It kind of pissed me off because we don't do notes.
And then I got up this morning and this is going to make sense.
I'm going to throw you guys a huge curveball, but it's going to make sense.
Can you make it a hanger?
Make it a hanging curveball.
So I have a it'll hang.
It's going to hang for sure.
Can you tell me the first time you heard a girl fart and I and trust me.
I have a reason for asking this question.
What a way to start the show.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I am one of those types growing up that just would refuse to believe that women
even did that.
Thank you.
So the answer is never.
If it did happen, I've blocked it out.
Thank you.
You've you've exactly confirmed what I thought.
I remember I was coming home from a date with and I won't mention her name,
but we were walking into her house around the corner and she pooted and she was
devastated.
She was so embarrassed.
And I was like, whatever.
I mean, so you guys I know Brian, I know I've heard you talk about MythBusters
because I was a huge fan too.
Did you ever do that?
See the episode where they said to pretty girls fart?
No, but I know that was familiar and I probably stayed away from it because I
didn't look at it.
I didn't want to.
I didn't want to hear what I didn't want to know.
Ross, if you're being very quiet, it was the first time she waited until after
we were married.
So my wife never listens to this show.
This is not an issue for her, which would should embarrass her.
The reason I bring it up is I was watching Mr.
and Mrs.
Smith, which is the latest show from Donald Glover childish Gambino.
Okay, and this is how I'm bringing it back.
Okay, one of the best shows ever at Bonnarooo was his episode.
His show.
Absolutely.
I wasn't there.
Right.
Of course you weren't.
You're probably on a walkabout in your car listening to the shins.
I would not know that was a decade ago.
Courtney Barnett was playing a set on a tent stage exact same time.
And everybody was like, you're a fool.
I said, she's my favorite young go, you know what?
Yourselves.
I'm out of here and met not the best decision that show.
Russ.
I was on the rail and this is again.
This is why I knew this was going to go this way.
I knew Brian.
You were probably not there.
Russ.
I don't you were chasing some blue hair and I didn't want to go but said,
I'm going to see how close I can get and wandered up and was on the rail.
She had green hair by the way.
Okay, literally ended up 30 feet from center stage and watched his roadie rip nearly
ripped the arm off of a guy who was illegally videotaping the show.
That's part of what I remember.
I just happened to walk up and this guy was standing next to me and his roadie came up
and just like I'm like what just happened?
Some guy was anyway.
Yeah.
And then he kept staring at me this whole time because I'm you know,
look at me.
I'm I look like a narc.
I look like I'm there.
You know, I don't look like I'm there to see childish Gambino and my god that show was
amazing.
I've never seen one person on a stage hold an audience like he did.
I remember the excitement.
Yeah, right Russ.
Yes.
That's a good way to put it.
It's it was just him.
Yeah, it was and he filled that whole stage and so this show Mr.
and Mrs.
Smith, which is I think he's the producer and Maya Erskine is the actress who's on it
with with him.
It's it's him.
It's so it's just like that show Russ and that's why I bring it up.
It's so confident.
It's so the the confidence that he has because it's so slow a lot of it and then all of a
sudden it's not just like that show was but on episode 3.
He's saying are we going to get back to this?
Yes.
So question right episode 3 it ends.
He's in bed with his the his co-star and she's like I got to go get some snacks.
He's like no go ahead and fart.
She's like, what are you talking about?
I said, I know what you I know where you're leaving.
You got a fart.
It's the funniest thing.
It's the funniest thing.
And it just made me think, you know to the point pretty girls don't fart right?
No, no, there's no right.
I won't believe it.
I won't believe it.
I'm so sorry.
I know y'all didn't see that coming.
No, no, no, but that's my morning.
I think it was definitely didn't have that on my bingo card.
Yeah, it's a man.
It's a man.
It's not real.
All right.
So what are we going to do?
We've got we reached out.
We did Bonnet roulette last week.
One of my favorite things that we do and we ask people to share with us some acts that
they think we should put on the Bonnet roulette wheel and they did and Russ you've collected
them.
What would we have like about a million people?
Million and a half at least just under so many calls.
Yeah, phones.
It's like a telethon ringing off the hook.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jerry Lewis telethon going on over here.
People are standing by.
No, lots of calls and lots of good calls and we encourage more of those and we'll play
a few here in a little bit and give away these tickets here before too long.
You know that that's the that's the whole idea and and for more discovery as this is
a year that all three of us I think appreciate that more than some years, you know every
year there's discovery but yeah, let's talk about that before we get into it and there
are probably some other news.
I know the late night set came out this week to yeah, which I'm interested to talk about
too because that was we'll get to that but you want it.
Well, you want to do that first.
You want to do the the call ins.
Let's do it first.
Let's talk about the late night.
Yeah, let's look at the late night and and and the the reason that I found this to be
interesting enough for something that I felt like could be stretched out on and stretched
out can be 10 minutes.
It can be 30 minutes.
It can be an hour can be whatever you want it to be is that I have never seen Bonnarooo
do this before and if I have I've missed it and maybe they have the last few years but
I missed it.
A push of the at like the after hours branding which is basically I guess what I consider
that with that flyer.
You know this this flyer that came out to that everybody saw that's a a calculated push
by the organization to to get people to go to these late night shows.
I mean there's late night shows have been happening at Bonnarooo for 15 years minimum
maybe since day one.
I don't remember what they did the first five years.
I don't know if there was music playing at four o'clock in the morning then but for a
decade and a half there has been.
I don't ever remember seeing there being a push saying hey here's exactly early on like
we don't know the set times yet.
We don't know the stage times.
We don't know anything.
I don't remember other than the day that they're playing.
I don't remember ever seen this before and I thought it was just another I don't want
to say genius move.
We start using that word too much but a very very slightly above innovative way of continuing
to push this festival and what makes it stand out from everything else.
And I found that to be the most notable part and then after looking at who is on this list
and actually recognizing somebody each night because most of the time the late night stuff
is stuff I haven't heard of.
Sure.
But other than like last year corn was late and my morning jacket was late.
That was a different year than we've been used to.
I think it's really cool.
Problem is I don't stay up this late so I don't know that I'm going to make any of these
shows other than after last week.
Last week's discovery of Neil Francis with an I Francis comes alive on that Thursday
that I would really like to see.
And my initial thought was wow Bonnarooo once again makes another really cool advertising
push that you know that always sets them apart from everybody else.
It's that value added kind of thing to me.
It's and we talked about this especially this year.
Okay I'm going to spend how much for a ticket to see my favorite band right.
Or maybe two or three and then it's like okay so what else am I going to do.
Oh you mean I can see Gore on Thursday night late.
Yeah.
You know two in the morning.
Or Mars Volca.
Yeah.
Are you kidding.
I mean that alone right.
It's the feelies they want you to you know you've dropped a bunch of money on the ticket
they want you to feel good about you know and tease a little bit of what you're going
to.
Yeah they don't they don't care if you go to any of these shows.
They're just pushing that they're there and really actually that maybe that's not true.
There is a little there was a part of me that thought for a minute well there's maybe there's
an interesting crowd control here thing.
If you take away the variables that that that people who are going to get themselves in
trouble anyway no matter what time of day it is you know what I'm kind of referring
to usage of substances and things that no one encourages not us not the festival not
people who understand the stamina it takes to be able to do this kind of weekend.
But if you really look at the science of the temperature and the of June this your safest
bet is to spend the late nights seeing music in the middle you know in the middle of the
night and and not in the in the sweltering sun and then if you have a bunch of people
do that they'll all be crashed out all the next day and then we get a center much easier
to wave our arms around while we're checking four o'clock shows out on the what stage.
Well I think I just made a bunch of stuff up.
You've just become the cynic you become your dad.
When did this happen.
When I was 17.
Wow.
But there's just become the old man in the room.
These acts so are nothing to to not pay attention to.
No.
Look it.
So we're looking at Fisher Rosen Murphy big the plug war.
Neil Francis.
Francis comes alive on Thursday.
It's big.
It's T pain T pain.
Oh my God.
That's going to be so much fun.
T pain confirmed confirmed T pain will not be in a tent this year.
I don't know if you remember that 2018 set.
You couldn't get anywhere close because that tent was overflowed.
So he's going to be on one of the stages.
I would say which would be my guess.
Me too.
Who knows.
That's Friday.
That is worth a ticket alone.
That's kind of my point.
You're going to get to see T pain do something stupid, something crazy.
I mean, stupid good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mars Volta.
Thunder Cat's going to be fun.
And then Saturday Pretty Lights, a sunrise set.
Are you kidding?
I know after doing the Thursday, which which we talked about a little bit last week, the
the Thursday night on the what I am just beyond excited to see what that stage is going to
look like.
It's like the International Space Station is going to be able to see a pretty good view
of Manchester and the what stage with pretty lights late night.
I'm guessing it doesn't say it.
We don't know yet, but I'm guessing that'll be like a 11 o'clock at night, maybe midnight,
1030, whatever it is.
It's sunrise.
It's going to be later.
No, but then that the sunrise is Saturday.
Right.
Because they're doing the two sets on Thursday.
I'm assuming it'll be more like 11 or 10 or midnight.
I don't know.
It's going to be so, so cool.
So yeah, it's amazing.
Again, these are the and we'll talk more.
I don't want to spend all this because we've got a lot to get to.
But that's amazing.
That's going to be so much fun.
And these are those again, the value added type of things.
Yeah, we love this festival.
We get it.
We know we have our expectations.
But then they throw this at us and it's like, oh my God.
Well, and what Banra is done marketing wise to me feels like what the NFL has done over
the years where they kind of spend the whole year giving you a little bit here, giving
you the schedule release here, the free agency days here, the combine.
Yes.
That whole thing, what they're doing and they've been doing it more and more is just it just
every little while, here's another little something.
It's a marketing.
It's all marketing.
Again, it's value added and it works.
And even if it's not an additional true value that you can put a measurement on, it's tangible.
It feels it's like, oh man, did you see the after that's how I reacted to it.
And that's not normally how I would.
I just I like the way they presented it.
It didn't.
It wasn't like, hey, coming up tomorrow.
Big announcement.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Where you're like, oh my God, what is the great, you know, they didn't set up lofty
expectations they couldn't hold up to.
They just one day said, check that out.
Yeah.
Well, here's T-Pain on Friday.
That's pretty cool.
Oh, we already knew all these bands were going to be there.
But when you curate it down like this, it adds a level of perception, perceptive value.
And and that's what they need to do to move these very expensive tickets.
And I hope they do.
I hope they do.
Bye bye bye.
I hope everybody is going to eventually do.
I want 80,000 on that farm.
We've been there when there's been light crowds and we've been having like 40 because I like
to be.
I do too.
But you know, good and damn well, we won't be doing this show in a couple of years with
40,000.
So I want this thing to sell.
I do.
So I love it.
I think it's I think it's another just small but really effective move by the by Bonnarooo
just overall in general.
Well, we've got we got some tickets to give away.
Go ahead.
I'm buying tickets.
Yeah.
We will do our part.
We'll get some tickets given away here.
Like you said last week, we spun the wheel, the Bonnarooo let wheel.
And then we asked, we said, it's your turn.
Give us a call and tell us who we should be listening to.
Who are you excited about?
And that's what we did.
We got calls and we're still you know, phone lines are still open.
So keep calling.
All right.
Along those lines, you've already picked out some some of the better ones.
So who's the let's listen to those.
Like I just said, we we asked people to tell us who we should add to the Bonnarooo wheel.
And we got a bunch of calls.
And so Russ, who's the give us an example of one of the best ones.
Hello, my name is Ronnie Robinson.
And my suggestion is Half Moon Run.
I know y'all kind of craft on it there in the podcast.
I wonder what songs you all listen to, because this is going to be my 11th Bonnarooo.
Very familiar with all the type of bands that come to Bonnarooo and stuff.
And this is one of those artists that really fits the description for a Bonnarooo band.
I don't know what two songs you listen to, but I left a comment on the podcast of a video
of them playing live so you can understand what they are like live.
And then songs that you should check out.
You should definitely check out full circle or full circle.
Alco, Alco, call me in the afternoon.
Need it.
Then again, it's just it works itself out.
Drug you, NURBS.
They got a lot of good stuff.
I definitely suggest giving them another listen.
And also, you know, Francis Comes Alive is going to be excellent on Thursday if you haven't
given that a listen yet.
Anyways, thank you for listening to me and I hope you give Half Moon Run another chance.
Thank you.
Thanks, Ronnie.
Man, we got a super fan there.
Perfect.
Perfect.
That's what we're talking about.
Did we crap on Half Moon Run?
I did.
Remember, I hated it.
Oh, remember there were two precious.
Is that the precious band?
Yeah, that was the one.
All I did was say it was the precious band.
And then I came back around.
Remember, I came back around because I gave it a second listen.
But yeah, that's I and his answer.
That's so great that we did that.
His answer is why I came back around because I again, as we said before, I kind of have
to trust Bonnarooo for booking this band, right?
Yeah.
And intricate, complicated and generally good music is not something you can listen to once
and get.
So my first reaction was I hated it.
When we got over it, I came back around.
When we spun the wheel, I mean, there was a little theater of the mind here, but overall,
it was a quick sample of seconds to maybe a minute.
And correct.
So when I said I was, oh, my God, I love Neil Francis, Francis come live.
Can't wait.
I've still only listened to like, it's going to listen like two minutes.
I'm just guessing that it's going to get stay where I think it's going to go.
Yeah, that was perfect.
Great.
Great first call.
All right.
What's next, Russ?
Hey, guys.
I'm Russ.
And at the top of my list this year, bands I'm most excited to see, so be the Mars Volta.
You guys haven't heard of them.
Give them a listen.
They've got a they've been going to town on it since I think 15, maybe 20 years.
They've been a band.
They've been in the game for a while.
Goliath is a really good song.
They've got a new album that came out last year as well.
There's a lot of gold on that, too.
Really don't overlook white thing as far as like the EDM and electronic side of Bonnarooo
Music Goes.
That is actually somebody that I discovered when the Bonnarooo lineup came out.
But yeah, I really enjoyed y'all's talk today and the Bonnarooo let.
That was really exciting.
Yeah, look forward to hearing from you guys.
Bye.
Cool.
Thanks, Michael.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
Mars Volta, this is my probably my top pick.
I'm sorry to stumble.
It's not all over.
You mentioned this in the pre show meeting.
We have a very extensive pre show meeting every every week.
Go over all this like for an hour and a half.
It takes hours.
You mentioned the Mars Volta and I was kind of thinking, man, I've known this name.
He just mentioned it.
Maybe 15, 18, whatever he said years.
I don't know about this band and I feel like that's wrong.
I think that's something that's something I've missed in my life.
Tell me more about it.
It's a great name.
Yeah, it's a great name, right?
They.
Yeah, this is going to be more like of a progressive rock type band.
Very intricate, very layered.
They're out of Texas and they have rock driven bass band guitar like electric guitar driven
bass band.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is this is my bad.
Everybody don't don't come at me.
I'm telling you now, I'm sorry.
I mean, I mess this one up.
I should have known.
I'm still surprised that you're not.
Yeah.
Yeah, I wish I did.
I wish I could say, yep, yep, yep.
Love Mars Volta.
I they played Shaky Knees last year and I love that set.
And I'm very excited that especially now that we know it's going to be a late night, this
is going to be a perfect late night band to play.
There you go.
Look, to your point, Brian, and we've said this on this show, you can't know everybody.
You can't.
And don't pretend that's that's always bothering.
It's the worst guys are like, yeah, of course I've heard of.
I haven't.
You know, if I don't know, I'm going to tell you, I don't know.
It's the worst in every this kind of medium.
The person who like I mean, sports is the worst, like with especially with the NCAA
tournament coming up.
And then you get all in sports radio is just the dumbest thing ever.
But then, oh, yeah, Old Dominion.
They had that good run.
Yeah.
Shut up.
You don't know anything about them.
And the more that you that you you make that clear, it makes it more more exciting to talk
about and to figure out and discover.
So yes, I I wish I have no problem telling you.
I don't know who, you know, whatever band is.
What is it?
But he also one thing that the caller said that I really do want us to do is mention
the EDM.
To that point, none of us are EDM fans and none of the three are EDM.
I'm probably the closest of the three, which is probably not what anyone would get.
I know, right?
And that's because I do really like it for a minute.
Well, I look at the other stage and I'm in awe of it.
Like when I see when I see it in action, I'm like, oh, I'm mesmerized by it.
I know I'm with you.
I wish that would be my crowd if I were 20.
Yeah, it's it's it's more of a just fascination in, you know, just like what is that?
What peak behind the what is that?
What is that?
Yeah, to me, it's a guy at a computer hitting a space bar, you know, and I didn't know the
old guy thing.
But what what I where I'm going with this is I really want us to have that guy's shack.
It was exactly.
That was it.
He said last year.
Don't make me come down there.
Yeah, I'd have to look at the thing that was everybody keeps talking about.
Don't make me come down.
I didn't take the bait.
I should have gone.
I go.
Oh, my God.
I should have gone.
It was fantastic.
Come on.
I messed up.
My point is that I really want us to find somebody or a couple of somebodies to have
on as guests to talk about the EDM lineup because it's not we would love to.
And I do not want it to be, you know, it sucks.
I want to have somebody who's knowledgeable, who could come on and tell us you guys need
to go check out this show.
Yeah.
Maybe we can get that one guy on Reddit that comments on every post saying that we don't
know anything about EDM.
All right.
Well, come on the show and tell us.
We admit it.
Yeah.
Reach out.
We want to have you on.
Tell us who we had somebody last year or two years ago.
And, you know, yeah, Kyle, people got mad because it wasn't, you know, what they wanted
to hear anyway.
All right.
So let's do another one.
Hi, all.
My name is Kate.
I'm most excited for Post Malone.
But aside from the headliners, I really encourage you to check out Fortet.
He's playing Sunday.
He's actually really close friends with Fred again, who is headlining on Sunday.
And they did an amazing back to back with Skrillex actually three way back to back at
EDM at Coachella last year.
I'm really, really excited to see their set if I win this giveaway.
And I would love them to do a surprise guest with Skrillex and do a surprise back to back
three way, run it back just like they did at Coachella.
A little bit of four.
They were a replacement for when Frank Ocean decided to cancel after weekend one.
And they were amazing.
And I was not there.
But I am a huge fan of Fred again and Fortet.
So I would really, really like to see them.
And I encourage you guys to check out especially Fred again's boiler room set, which was really
great.
They really know how to keep the energy going.
They're really wholesome vibes and that really keeps the energy of the life of the party
going.
So thank you so much and really, really hope I get chosen for that.
So thank you.
All right.
Thanks, Kay.
All right.
So one of the things we kind of said was about this with the Bonnarooolette is we wanted to
get the undercard kind of thing.
I have to admit, I don't know anything about Fred again.
But based on our conversations with Brad and Corey from C3, this Fred again set might be
the blow up thing.
Are you all at all familiar with Fred again and why this is important?
Go ahead.
Not familiar, but you're right.
This feels different.
This feels like it's the only.
It's the only show he's doing on this continent.
I mean, that's the way they sell it.
I love that.
You know, that's huge.
I mean, that's a big deal.
And it's the first time in a long time that Sunday is being closed by a non-legacy act.
And so will that keep more people there, younger people there?
Does that matter?
I don't know.
I'm interested.
Yeah, we'll see.
I still don't know the first thing.
No, but we keep running into people who are excited about Fred again.
But she also mentioned, I know we're talking about lower stuff, what we're looking for
most, but Post Malone.
And for anybody regular that's just getting used to me being around here, my Eddie Vedder
obsession has been for 30 years and it'll never slow down.
I've run across two or three TikToks in the last two or three days and Eddie and Post Malone
have been hanging out playing acoustically and wherever.
He calls him Eddie, by the way.
Yeah.
They're on the first name.
I noticed that.
Yeah.
Or Ed.
But they've been playing together and now I'm like, hmm, maybe I'm excited about Post
Malone.
We'll see.
But, okay, let's, let's, you know, people are always, oh, well, they did this thing
with this person and that person.
Maybe they'll bring them out.
I don't want people to get, you know, to their expectations up.
I would not expect Skrillex to be there.
I would not expect Skrillex to be there.
It'd be great if he was, but, you know, I think if Bonnarooo knew, had them in their
pocket, they would, they would promote that.
So probably, probably, but they didn't with Jimmy Buffett that one year, 15 years ago
or so, they let that be a major surprise.
They did it at the very end.
It was, I mean, you know what happened.
I mean, he literally was driving cross country and two days prior said, I'm going to be in
the area.
Can I play?
It was a surprise.
Well, the coral reefers were scheduled though.
His backing band was already scheduled to open up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then I don't remember.
It can't happen.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't remember for sure in 06, Stevie Nicks came out with Tom Petty.
Now they toured together that year.
Right.
I don't remember it being billed as come to Bonnarooo because Stevie Nicks might be here.
I don't quite remember that, but man, that was a lifetime ago.
But Hey, we can all dream, right?
I do it every time.
That's half the fun too.
What blow me away.
Who's yeah.
Who's going to be the big surprise, but don't convince yourself because then you'll just
be disappointed when it doesn't happen.
Well, to that end.
And I think we asked Corey and Brad, right, about that when they were on.
I know we have in the past because that has always been such a big part of Bonnarooo is
the unexpected surprises.
And we asked them, you know, why did that seem to go away?
And it was not on purpose.
It's just part of the industry type of thing.
They love it.
And who was the act?
Who is it?
We asked about this year and they said, we will do whatever is pretty lights.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was.
Somebody asked about pretty lights.
What's it going to be?
And he said, we will do whatever they want us to do if we can do it.
Right.
Am I misrepresenting that?
No, that's exactly what they said.
So they will bend over backwards to do these things.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And that's, that's what that's again.
I mean, I'm that's part of what we love.
I mean, we've talked about, I don't remember what year it was when they had the guy, the
pair troopers that fell out of the plane and landed on the, Oh yeah.
You remember that was like 2008, nine, 10 was that chili peppers?
I don't remember, but I would have never thought of that again if you didn't just mention it,
but absolutely.
Yeah.
It was before you Russ.
I've never heard of this.
I remember standing there like, what the hell is happening?
There are people falling out of the sky.
You go home and tell your people, I was at Bonnarooo and people were falling out of the
sky.
Literally fell out of the sky.
And enough out of you, dude.
You don't need to go to Bonnarooo anymore.
You're seeing things.
It was amazing.
They were falling.
They were parasailing out of the sky.
That's absolutely true.
It was great.
We got one more.
Let's do one more.
Hey guys.
My name is Blake.
I am a huge fan of the show.
You guys are great.
Last year you guys got me onto Noah Kahan.
He's awesome.
So thank you for that.
I'm going to go with the band that I saw in 2019.
It was my first Bonnarooo and it was like, I think it was Saturday was like the first
show of the day.
It was so hot.
And all my friends were saying, don't go, don't go.
It's too hot.
It's too early.
But me and my buddy Devon, we brought it to the show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
It was a great show.
And I actually I've seen a bunch of other shows of you guys, and they were just so hot.
And all of my friends were saying, don't go, don't go.
It's too hot.
It's too early.
But me and my buddy Devon, we braved it.
And we watched the Tusky Brothers and they were so good.
Like his voice is amazing.
It's like liquid gold.
It almost reminds me of like a Nathaniel Rateliff and they can transport you back to a different
time.
If you don't know the Teske brothers, you should give them a listen.
I would recommend listening to their, uh, recording live at the forum.
It is fantastic.
Um, have a great day guys.
And thank you so much for everything you do.
All right.
Thanks Blake.
Yeah.
Teske brothers on, um, Saturday.
New one.
That's a new one.
Love it.
Going to check that out for sure.
Yeah.
When he mentioned Nathaniel rate lift, that was a great show for me.
What?
Two years ago?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And the, and, and, and good on you Blake to not take your friend's advice.
If you're feeling good and you're handling your, you know, your, your, your
schedule well, man, the early days in center route, the early part of the day.
If you're, if the sun's not killing you and you got a way to protect yourself
from it, you're going to see some of the best music every hour of the festival.
But I just, I love an early portion of the day, especially Friday and Saturday.
And so, uh, good, good on you for not, not let your peers tell you to stay at camp
and, you know, lounge around all day, which is fun too.
I'm not saying that's not also fun.
Everybody has to start somewhere.
We heard Davey at 12 30 on a Saturday Warren treaty right after, right?
I mean, yeah, that's a great point.
Great point.
And, and they're so happy.
They're so happy to be there.
That's the other thing you're going to see a band that is happy to be there.
And they're going to give you everything they've got.
Well, back in the day when Warren Haynes used to be there from government mule and
almond, the late version of the almond brothers, um, the later versions of almond
brothers, he did a, an early like noon set on the what stage, this is like 20 years
ago and he released an album of it.
And it was, it was, it was something else.
I don't, I don't want to be hyperbolic and say it was some kind of,
he's God, but he was just there with it.
Yeah.
But he was just there with just an acoustic guitar.
And it was like, you would think it was something you would do in a, in a
honky tonk or just a little bar on a strip somewhere.
And he did it on the what stage at noon.
And it was, it was mesmerizing.
Yeah.
So you never know when you're going to get that.
I saw Macklemore at what?
Two o'clock, three o'clock on the what stage?
I mean, I bet that was great.
I knew the hit and I was like, what's he going to do for 90 minutes?
It was incredible.
It's one of the great shows.
So that's a year I would have said, screw that idea.
I'm not doing that.
What we should do someday is do a show of all the regrets that we have.
Oh, there's a lot of those.
I could make a list that goes days on stuff that I messed up on terribly.
Don't start with Lionel Richie.
I'm going to start with Tom Petty.
Yeah, I can make that list.
I wasn't at Paul McCartney for crying out loud.
Well, yeah, that's cause you're an idiot.
Um, I'm right there with you.
I'm right there with you.
All right.
So we're going to then we're going to now go to our interview with Olivia, which
we did weeks and weeks ago and Olivia, thank you so much.
Um, she's a former coworker.
She's just a Bonnarooo, you know, like all of us, she has her Bonnarooo stories.
All right.
We have, uh, my former coworker and, uh, a really, really cool person, Olivia on with us.
Hi, Olivia.
Thanks for doing this.
Of course.
Hey.
Yeah.
So, uh, one of the things we like to do, as we've said, is, uh, hear from lots
of different people, uh, about their Bonnarooo experience.
And we have learned that everyone has a unique experience, but also there
are a lot of things that are, um, similar, right?
I mean, I guess that's, we all, we all seem to say the same things when it's
all said and done, but we all have totally unique experiences.
So, um, again, thanks for doing this.
And just to let everybody know, Olivia is a person that I had the great opportunity
to work with for a little while when I was still at the Chattanooga Times Free Press,
covering Bonnarooo.
Um, she's a photographer with the paper there.
And, um, we had a couple of cool experiences last year that we're
going to get into in a little bit, but, uh, um, tell everybody how many times
you've been and what do you like about, I assume, I assume you like it.
I shouldn't put words in your mouth, but, uh, tell us, tell everybody
your Bonnarooo experience.
Yeah.
So my first one was, um, I think it was 2018.
And so, uh, how many Bonnarooo's is that now?
Five, not including the COVID year.
Is that right?
Yeah.
2018 was my first year.
Really?
Um, yeah.
So that was, that was my first one.
Um, went with a bunch of my college friends that I had just made.
Um, and I'd always wanted to go in high school and my family would never let me.
And so that was finally my time that I was like, I'm old enough to go to Bonnarooo.
Um, and yeah, so I've, uh, I've photographed it two years and then I've just gone as a
normal Bonnarooian all the other years.
So.
The, I know you photographed it last year for the paper.
What was your first, was it for the school paper?
That was, so I did the paper both times.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
So it's funny when you say, yeah, it's funny when you say your family wouldn't
let you go, cause when we talked to, uh, Brad from C3, he said the first year he
went, he told his mom, he was going to Gatlinburg.
Yeah, I had to, I definitely had to tell my family, like, I'm going with all my
good friends and we're going to be, you know, good.
All right.
Well, that gives me a reason to launch into one of my stories.
So the first year 2007 that I went was with another, was with a photographer,
Ashley White, who I just adore.
She's so cool.
Um, and I remember, and this is such a, this is so me as the old guy and being
dad and on the whole thing, right?
I'm just going to tell this story.
So we're laying there or I'm, it's the first night, uh, probably
a Thursday night, 07 and we camp next to each other.
And she worked, we worked hard all day long and we'll get into that.
People don't understand how much work it is covering it, right?
As a journalist.
So we went hard all day and then she just disappeared.
And I went back to our camp and went, was going to go to sleep and I were,
I literally had this in my head.
I don't know where she is.
It's like two and three in the morning, right?
She's out in my mind.
She's out having, who knows?
She's being terrorized, right?
I mean, terrible things are happening and I can hear our editor, uh, Chris
Vass, Olivia in my head saying, you left her, you let that child go out by herself.
And I'm like, what can I do?
I'll never find her.
And of course she was out having a great time and we all know Bonnarooo is safe
and fun and she was having a blast, but in my head, you know, I'm like, oh my God,
I've abandoned this child.
It's 80,000 people doing whatever.
So yeah, I got over it pretty quickly, but that's, that's the thing.
Yeah, I got over it pretty quickly, but that's one of my first memories.
Um, of Bonnarooo.
So anyway, all right.
So we're going to get into your picks for your lineup, the, you know, the ones you like.
Um, but what was it like that first one?
Isn't that, why did you, first of all, where were you living?
What part of the country?
Um, the first Bonnarooo I went to?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, at the time, I think I had gone home for summer.
So I was back in Memphis, um, because I wasn't in the dorms anymore.
So we were driving up from Memphis, um, to go and yeah, it was, it was a bunch of my,
like all my Memphis friends ended up going to call it, like we all went to the same
school.
So we all got to like go together and we actually drove up.
Is it a coupe?
Is that what the car is called?
But it has just the two doors.
We drove up like coupe, coupe.
We drove up like six of us in a, in a little coupe.
Um, it was horrible, but we got there and it ended up being fine.
But, um, yeah, that, what was it?
Four hours, four and a half hours, um, crammed into a car was quite the drive.
So,
you know, it's interesting that it has become now it's 20 something, 21 years old,
the festival going on 22 and that sort of right of passage thing, I think is such a
big part of it.
I can't imagine, uh, I can in my old, old age, what a cool thing that would be to
be like, whatever 13, 14, 15, thinking at some point that's, I'm going to go to
Bonnarooo.
And in your case, it was, you know, when you get 18 and you can go and you don't
have to ask permission, right?
Right.
What a, what a cool thing, right?
To have that on a, on a wish list.
I remember my sister sitting at the computer and like doing the pre-sale to
get her tickets and being so excited.
And I was like, I'll get to go one day and I'll get to hold it against her.
Cause I'll be able to say, well, she went when she was this age.
So now I get to go.
So
even then, was it a, was it the lineup or the event?
Um, I think it was that year's lineup.
I feel like I remember being really good.
I think that might've been the year that it was like Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish
and Eminem.
I think that might've been that year.
Um, possibly that might've been the next year, but I remember that being a lot of
fun.
Um, so I wanted to do that.
And then also it just kind of was like, it just was something cool that I had
always wanted to do.
And like the, I don't know, I'd never gone to any type of festival or camping
festival.
Beale street music festival was the only one I'd ever been to.
And that felt so local to me that it didn't feel like a big deal, which it's
a great festival, but like, I wanted to, you know, go out of my own.
My area.
Right.
All right.
So, um, you went to that one.
What was it like?
Was it everything you thought?
It was a lot of fun.
It was, I, um, definitely did not prepare and the group I went with hadn't been
before.
So we were not, you know, prepared for how the showers were going to be and,
you know, all the food we were going to need.
Um, and I think that year I slept in a tent and I had a yoga mat down on the
floor and that was what I slept on.
And I didn't also didn't realize you'd be able to hear all of the music from
where you were sleeping.
So you just, you didn't sleep.
But yeah, that first year was definitely just a lot of like kind of wandering and
trying to figure out like, oh, it's the, the who stage, the what, where, like, and
all the confusion of trying to get places.
Um, and yeah, so it was a lot of fun.
All right.
So first time doing that sort of a festival and you're with your friends and
obviously you're, as you say, you're in a coupé.
You didn't have enough room to pack a lot.
Um, but you went back.
So what was it that, I mean, there's a, as we heard from, um, Brad and Corey,
more than 50% of Bonnarooo attendees are first timers, which is a stunning
number because I know Russ, when he said that you and I were both like, man, we
thought it was, you know, everybody goes back all the time.
Right?
Yeah.
I wouldn't have guessed.
And I guess maybe just cause everyone we know has been year after year after
year.
So we don't get to talk to a lot of first timers.
Right.
And we have this sort of, um, I don't know, history with it.
So for those first time that people like you, Olivia, that are listening, that
are high school, that are, this is their first time.
What's your best advice?
Best advice?
I'd say just make, go with a good group.
I think the company is important.
Um, yeah.
Having people that, you know, we're going to want to wander around with you and
are open to seeing, cause the one of the things I love about Bonnarooo is that
there's a lot of people I don't know and I've never listened to.
And I like to be able to wander around and like listen to whoever and sit at
the back of the crowd or we can go up to the front.
Like I'm, I'm kind of, you know, definitely having good people around you that are
open to do those things with you.
And then also, I don't know, the packing list is now that I have it down, I have
it in my notes and I, every year I check it off.
Um, and I don't delete it, but yeah, just having and being okay with kind of
being gross.
It's like, I think the first year I was so obsessed with making sure I took
showers and then the sec, by the third day I was like, I don't really care
anymore.
I was like, you know, it's really okay that everyone's kind of gross and just
having a good time.
Like it's really not about like, I don't know.
I was so excited about my outfits and everything like that.
And it was more just like, I'm kind of over my outfits.
I kind of just want to wander in and a t-shirt, you know?
So yeah.
That's funny.
That's very funny.
Actually.
Yeah.
You do notice that, yeah, like Thursday, Friday coming in, you see everybody
all dressed up and then by Saturday and Sunday, yeah, nobody cares anymore.
That's whatever's comfortable.
Yeah.
And one of the things I've always liked about you, Olivia, and I could kind
of tell from the start is you just, you have that attitude.
You have that Bonnarooo attitude.
Like let's, let's go, you know, whatever.
And that's huge.
I think that's so important, but the other, it's funny you said that
because I remember sitting next to again, Ashley White, our photographer
in the media area, we were trying to send some photos back and I was like,
you don't want to sit next to me.
I, I, I stink.
And she was like, you know, everybody does.
I'm like, no, it's like two a day football practice.
It's bad.
And then I remember that second year, third year, I was like, I don't care.
I'm not going to shower, but it was so bad.
I couldn't sleep.
So I went and took a shower.
That's how bad it can get pretty rank.
Well, sometimes like, especially when I was, um, just like the normal camping,
I would go take a shower or I'd go, you know, like bring my jug of water
and make a makeshift shower.
By the time you walk back to camp, you're kind of already sweaty and gross again.
So it was like, I don't really know what I did that for.
And I wasted $10.
That's why that 2 a.m. shower is the best.
Yeah.
You can do it because then you can go to sleep.
Yeah, I think that's exactly right.
Is you said all the right things and I will ask and maybe you can send it to us,
email a photo of your packing list and we'll put that up.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Get rest to put that on.
Yeah, we'll put it up.
Because we're all the same or you've done like I've done and you know what you're taking
and when you get home, clean it, you wash it, you dry it, and then it goes in a corner.
And then and you don't touch it.
Right.
If you do, you'll forget.
You know what I mean?
You'll break it up.
Does the same group go back?
Are you with the same group that you went in 18?
No, I have actually gone, I think with a different group every single year.
And then this year, actually, my like all time best friend is going to be going.
And I've been begging her to go forever.
And it's just she's like, I just don't know if I can do the camping.
And it's not my vibe.
And I'm like, come on, you see how much fun I have.
Just let's go.
And so she's her and her boyfriend are going to go this year.
And I'm super excited to be able to like have her around for that.
Because it's something that I've talked about loved for so long.
So it's experience that with her now.
It's a hard thing, isn't it?
We have said on here many, many times, who you go with is can be tricky.
Because not everybody gets it.
Not everybody camps.
Not everybody likes the same music you do.
And the last thing you want is an anchor around your neck.
Worrying that someone else is not having a good time.
Right.
That's her name is Britt.
And we could not be more different in the music that we like.
But we FaceTime the day that the lineup came out and she was like,
okay, I will go see this if you go see this.
And we were going back and forth on everything.
But that's also fun because I don't dislike any genre of music.
But we definitely have different music taste.
Along those lines, who was it?
Do you remember last year who it was that you were so excited to see?
I remember you saying it to me and I was, and again,
it's that book by its cover type of thing.
I was like, okay, I didn't see that.
Was it when Suicide Boys played or?
Okay, that is my Spotify number one artist.
Yeah, I was like, all right, didn't see that one coming.
Yeah, them and I think, who was it?
Knocked Loose played last year.
I really enjoyed them.
That's funny.
All right.
And so also last year, and this is a, well, first of all, I think I've told you,
we kind of had a, at the time I was working at the paper along with you
and I was halfway there and got a phone call and the editors were like,
some things have happened.
We're really not supposed, you're not supposed to be there.
We don't want to pay you guys to work all weekend kind of thing.
And we did because you and I both were going, right?
I didn't care.
I was going no matter what.
Yeah.
But what happened, and this is such a classic Bonnarooo type of thing.
If you remember, I'm sitting in camp and I get a phone call or a text,
I guess it was from Ted Heinegg, who is the president of AC Entertainment,
which is the co-founder of the event.
Right.
And he said, Hey, are you going to the Isaiah Rashad show?
The mayor is going to give him a key to the city.
And I'm like, which mayor, which city?
I mean, why is Isaiah Rashad getting a key to Manchester?
Right.
And he's like Chattanooga.
And so I jump up, grab my phone, text you and say, get to the, was it,
it was the what stage, right?
Yes.
Yeah.
The witch.
It was the witch.
I think it was the witch.
The witch.
Excuse me.
It was the witch stage.
And so you're like, cool, be there.
And so we go back and there's our Chattanooga mayor, Tim Kelly, ran into him
and ran into you quickly and Nate Gale.
Who's a friend of the show and then taking a lot of photos for us as part of the show
and camps with us.
And, and we're standing there and Ken Weinstein, our, our good friend, media guy comes walking
by and Nate's like, we need to get into the pit to get good photos for this.
And of course, for people who don't know, you get typically the first three songs and
that's it.
Then you got to leave the photo pit.
And Nate walks over to Ken and like, Hey, we're from Chattanooga.
We understand this thing is about to happen.
Can we get into the pit area?
Right.
And Ken's like, sure.
And so you, Olivia and Nate, what 20 minutes in 30 minutes into the set, I guess they kind
of stopped and you guys got to go just the two of you to the front and get that photo,
which is Isaiah Rashad is from Chattanooga.
I should have said at the start.
So that's why it was a big deal for us.
But I just think that's kind of a cool, I don't know that that happens everywhere.
That kind of, you know, you got a good idea.
Let's do it.
Right.
Yep.
Yeah.
That was pretty cool.
That was a good photo too.
They, they did end up, thank you.
They like, they ended up being really good and he's Isaiah Rashad, he's a great guy.
And really good and he's Isaiah Rashad is just such a, like a smiley guy.
And it was just, it was so happy.
And yeah, I have one of him like holding it up and it is, it's a good photo.
I like it.
Yeah.
His parents were there, right?
I mean, didn't he stay like, can you believe this mom and dad or something?
It was a really a cool, a cool moment.
Yeah.
And he had the Chattanooga baseball jersey on like the old lookouts jersey.
Yeah.
That's exactly right.
I forgot about that.
So that's just what a cool, those things, you know, just one of those moments.
And very cool.
All right.
So going back to the lineup, Russ, I don't know about you, but the more I live with this lineup,
the better I like it.
Oh, me too.
Every time I look at it, yeah, I get more excited.
Yeah.
And we're going to get into that in many, many future episodes, but Olivia, you, when you
texted me, I think that morning, right?
And you were like, that's pretty good.
It's pretty good lineup.
What are you, what are you looking forward to?
Let me, let me pull it up so I can, I can look at everything.
I know there's some people that there's not necessarily anyone that I listen to often,
but there's people that I have either seen and love seeing or haven't seen perform or
don't know much about.
And I've been listening to them now and I'm so excited to see them.
I saw Post Malone at Voodoo a few years ago and I cried.
I wasn't even a Post Malone fan and I, something about, it was like the last show of the night,
something about standing in that big crowd and realizing y'all are all there just to like
see this artist and have a good time, bawled my eyes out.
So I'm very excited to see Post Malone again.
Let's see, KG Elephant's always fun.
Guar, interestingly, I'm very excited to see them.
Yeah.
Interestingly, I'm very excited about Guar.
I saw Guar in 2017 at Warped Tour and didn't know what Guar was.
And then I went in the crowd and was like, oh, okay, this is interesting.
So that'll be fun now that I'm expecting it.
And my-
Did you, did you go home with blood all over you?
I did.
And I, I don't know if you know who Never Shout Never is.
They're a little like smiley pop band, like a kind of scene emo smiley pop band.
But I went left from that and I went over to Guar.
So it was, it was very different vibes.
And we were standing there and we, and the girl that I went with were just wide-eyed,
like what is happening?
But it was, it was so fun.
And from that, like from then I loved it.
Let's see, Megan Thee Stallion.
Yeah, that'll be fun.
Melanie Martinez is an interesting artist.
And she was on The Voice and my family used to love The Voice.
So I'm excited to see her because her whole performance, she wears like a mask now, I'm
pretty sure.
So that'll be, that'll be interesting to see.
Renee Rapp will be fun.
Key Glock will be fun.
I think there's some good rap this year.
I feel like a lot of times there's not a lot of rap.
And like T-Pain, that's interesting.
I'm glad you mentioned that.
I, you know, I don't know if people saw that, and I don't know when it came out, but Ozzy
sort of Osbourne endorsed him as the best, the best cover version of what Warpigs is
from T-Pain.
I saw that.
Yeah, I saw that.
And it's pretty darn good.
And I think, I think that's going to be a great show.
Oh yeah.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
I didn't know who, is it The Garden?
I didn't know who that was.
And I've started listening to them.
And I do enjoy them, so I'm excited to see.
The Fredigan thing, you know, Brad and Cory pointed out that that's,
that only North American show is going to be at Bonnarooo.
Yeah.
And I heard them later say, you know, basically we're going to do whatever
we can to make that a unique experience.
So Bonnarooo, because of it, you know, they own the farm and everything, and it's a 24-7
basically event.
I'm excited to see what they come up with.
They will.
Yeah.
That's going to be fun.
I have no, I have no clue, you know, but definitely going to be a fun show.
And it's a Sunday night, so it's the end of, and then you get pretty lights, right?
We don't know when that one's going to be, but do we think it's going to be that Sunday?
Probably Saturday, probably Saturday into Sunday, right?
Yeah, either that or Friday into Saturday.
Yeah.
Anyway, there's a lot going on.
Yeah.
What's your can't miss, Olivia?
What's the one on there?
I feel like Dominic Fike is definitely someone I'm going to drag everyone to.
And I do think Post Malone.
I, or Big X the Plug, do you know who that is?
He's a rapper and he's very fun.
And I do think that that'll be fun.
But I might honestly say Post Malone, which is kind of how Machine Gun Kelly was for me.
I was not a Machine Gun Kelly fan and I didn't really ever listen to his music.
And then I saw him perform and just to like see someone actually like,
you could tell how much he cared about his set and his music and all that kind of stuff.
I just think I like that.
And like, especially from a photo standpoint, it was he's, you know, pink helicopter.
And it was just, it was a performance.
And so that's fun.
And when I saw Post Malone, he's like breaking his guitar and there's fire everywhere.
And it was just, it was really cool.
So I do think Post Malone might be one of my top ones.
And I don't even listen to Post Malone that much.
He's just, he's just a cool guy.
Yeah.
All right.
And I'm trying to go through.
For me again, it's still John Baptiste and Krung Ben, but there's a lot.
The more, like I said, the more I keep unpacking.
And I think they really did a great job of building this one.
There's something every day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's layered very well.
Yeah.
They did a great job.
Yeah. You had media, which is a different thing, Olivia.
I mean, that's where we stay, but you chose to go out and camp with your friends.
What was that like in that?
How is it different or is it different?
Could you tell a big difference camping last year versus 18 when you were, you know, in a coupe?
Yes.
Yeah.
Definitely more, yeah, more prepared.
I did have all my gear with me, so it was kind of a thing of like, lock the car.
Like I'm pleased.
But yeah, it was, I don't know, I guess just, yeah, very ill prepared the first year.
And then going from, so last year, Avi and I ended up with another photographer staying
in, he has a family friend that lives around there.
And so we were like 30 minutes.
I should have just drove from Chattanooga, honestly, but we were like 30 minutes away
in this little house.
So we, I did get my showers and I got to sleep on a couch and all that kind of thing.
So that was nice.
And then, yeah, camping, I went and camped with my friends.
And then when I was tired of walking my gear back and forth from the press area to the
campsite, I would just sleep in my car, go take naps in my car.
And so I was parked, I guess in the media parking lot and I was like, I'm just going
to take a nap right here.
And I put my little towel around my window so it was shaded in and I lay my seat back
and take a nap.
I'm very, I don't really care.
I'm just there to have a good time.
Tell everybody, because I mentioned earlier, it is a lot of work.
People, you know, it beats digging a ditch.
So we're not complaining, right?
I mean, it's the best place on earth and working it is a lot of fun.
But I don't know how it is for you or was for you, but it always seemed like I was in
the wrong place at the wrong time sometimes.
Like as a fan, I wanted to be watching this show, but something I needed to cover, shoot,
whatever was happening, right?
I mean, did you have a lot of those sort of conflicts or did you, I think,
how did you sort of resolve that, I guess?
I think some of it was that things would overlap.
And so I'd have to choose, okay, who of these two artists am I?
Because I can't get through that crowd from this stage to this stage.
So it was like, you got to make a choice on who you're going to shoot.
And then I would read the schedule wrong.
And I, you know, you think after five years, I'd understand and know where the stages are
because they haven't moved.
But I would, I'd go to the wrong stage and I'd get there and I was like, okay, well,
I guess I'm just sitting this one out because it's only three songs.
So it's like, I guess I'm not going to that one.
But for the most part, I would get local people.
And then if there was someone that I wanted to shoot or like someone that seemed like a
big name, like I don't necessarily know much about Sheryl Crow, but I figured most people
would want to see photos of Sheryl Crow.
So stuff like that.
I made sure to be at like all the headliners and big names like that.
I'm not sure if there was anyone I for sure missed.
Sometimes I was tired because it is like, it's a, the work day is the whole day.
And I remember too, my friends would be like, okay, we're going to like this 3 a.m.
set at where in the woods.
Do you want to come?
And I'm like, I'm so sorry.
No, I'm not trekking out there.
I can't.
Right.
And you know, do you want to carry that camera?
No, do you want to carry that camera around?
Exactly.
That's the other thing.
You do your three songs and then you've still got that camera around your neck.
So yeah, like I said, it's a lot of work, but not complaining because it's the best.
So do you have a favorite photo?
I do actually.
Do you want me to pull it up?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I have, I have two and one of them is from that machine gun Kelly set.
And it's him and Sophie Lloyd, who is his guitarist and it's on my Instagram.
So yeah, but they're leaning back to back of the movement in her hair.
I just, I really, I love that one.
And then I also last year shot Suki water house and I, I'd never listened to her.
I knew she was, you know, beautiful and talented and so I wanted to go get her, but they,
these from this set were just like the colors were great.
I love, I love movement.
I love, I know some songs and artists don't lend way to like actually having like
performance performance, but I love anyone that's like really getting into it.
It just makes the action nice.
Yeah.
Do you take a lot of photos of people, fans, just the during the day type of stuff,
or do you like, do you prefer the performance?
I like the performance photos.
Those are probably, I mean, they're exciting because you're getting to see this artist
and especially ones that like you idolize, you get to shoot them.
But the people are just so interesting and people at Bonnarooo were so fun.
And I remember last year, someone had a bedazzled like disco ball helmet
and it just had the eyes out and that I was like to take a picture of you.
And it's just, you just meet so many people because someone sees you with a camera
and they just, at Bonnarooo, everyone's excited to kind of be in a photo.
So it's like someone's posing and, you know, yeah, the people are a lot of fun.
And it's just like the, to look back on different years of like the,
just the line and the high fives and seeing who's high five in and you know,
who's, what are people doing at the fountain?
Yeah.
The people are a lot of fun.
There's actually, do you know the app?
I think it's called Radiate.
I know it.
Yeah.
So it's like a festival app and people will talk.
And I went in there and put a message in and was like, I'm shooting this year.
If you see me with a camera, like come say hi.
And I actually did have quite a few people that were like, I saw your post.
Like, can I get a picture?
So stuff like that is a lot of fun.
And it's just a lot of meeting people and talking to people I'd probably never,
you know, talk to.
Yeah.
Do you know yet, are you going media or are you going as a fan or are you hoping to as both?
So I bought, I have applied for the press pass, but, or the media pass, but I also bought a ticket
because when they came out, I was like, if I can't go, I'm going.
Smart.
So if anything, I will have a ticket for sale.
Thank you guys for listening.
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Like and do all that.
Share, tell all your friends and yeah.
And go, Hey, go check out the stone on air podcast.
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Some guy.
Yeah.
Go check that out.
Russ.
Thank you.
Love you guys.
All right.
Thanks everybody.
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