Winding Down

Last night, I went to the medical tent at 3 in the morning with the complaint that my throat hurt so much I could no longer swallow. I was prepared to drive myself to the emergency room in Manchester if such a thing existed. The doctor there assured me I would survive until Monday, that my body was run down and I just wasn't feeling well. He wrote me a prescription for antibiotics before going into a long lecture on how our society is over medicated and that I should not fill the prescription if at all possible. I asked, "so dancing until 4 in the morning is probably not a good idea?" To which he responded, "no, I think dancing is good for your immune system". And he was right. I feel much better today, after a few pain killers, many cough drops and as much sleep as Bonnaroo will allow.

The highlight of yesterday was Jenny Lewis bringing out Elvis Costello to sing with her. Raphael Saadig performed in the tent before Jenny Lewis and played some incredible funk music to which Emily, Katie and I danced like fools to. We waited until that crowd cleared out and moved up to the front for Jenny Lewis. She had the most hipster back up band I have ever seen and her voice was clear and beautiful. I could sing a long to almost every song she played. The two girl drummers had a face off and the set ended with her back up band transforming into her traveling choir with phenomonal 6 part harmonies.

Wilco played after Jenny Lewis and was extremely laid back. So laid back, Katie fell asleep on the ground and the crowd consisted of people wanting to get a good spot for Bruce Springsteen. After listening to Wilco play the beautiful emotional music that they play, we went back to home base to sleep before preparing for another all nighter. There is a pattern here.

I woke up at 1AM to get ready for MGMT. A dissappointing show to say the least, I was expecting a high energy show that was going to be fun to dance to, but they played psychedelic music that would have been great to listen to if I was on a psychedelic. But since I wasn't, after my medical tent experience, I curled up on the ground as the people around me watched their glowsticks melt into their hands.

This morning was a rough one, not making it to Centeroo until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Emily and I set up camp at the big stage and watched Erykah Badu followed by Snoop Dogg who played everyone's favorites from 10 years ago. I snuck out to catch Neko Case-adding to my obsession of red headed musicians. She played confidently and her original, quirky lyrics transported me to somewhere else other than Bonnaroo. She has this nervous habit of tucking her hair behind her ears when she performs. I am currently listening to her play "that teenage feeling" in my left ear.

After Phish tonight, we are going to head out of this place and back into the real world.

Writing from my favorite place to write from, The Troo Music Lounge. ~Vima