Bonnaroo is a journey into the unknown as this modern-day Brigadoon rises for four days, becoming one of the biggest cities in Tennessee during its annual occurrence. It’s a large commitment of time, money, and energy driven by a love of music, and whether the affair is isolated to one genre or labels has no effect on the heart; anyone who walks away claiming they were unfulfilled from this year’s event surely has no one to blame but themselves unless the weather was too much for them.

Bonnaroo is many things to many people yet the individual experiences are like snowflakes: no two exactly alike. Accompanied by fellow Snob Fumo Verde, my journey was prefaced with a three-day cross-country drive with nights spent in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Choctaw, Oklahoma; and Memphis, Tennessee.

Day one of the concert was an adventure in itself. At 6 am, an hour before the campgrounds officially opened and four hours away in Memphis, we hit the road. It wasn’t until Nashville that we noticed mutual travelers, out-of-state and Canadian license plates on cars packed with camping gear. Smiles and peace signs were passed back and forth as the anticipation and excitement grew each mile closer. However, Exit 111 was closed off. The Manchester police made those of us heading southbound continue 16 miles farther south before allowing us off the freeway, and then we had to take backroads, which were slightly less backed up than the northbound side of the freeway. Of course, the occasional idiot had to cut the line and make it longer for the rest of us, temporarily dispelling the peace, love, and understanding vibe that was growing.

We drove four hours at a snail’s pace through the town, passing farms where a few locals sat on their porches or rode around on their ATVs. Slightly on edge from aggravation, I grew nervous watching one large woman bound around her yard with an unprotected young child in her lap, although I will grant that the child might well have been safe in an accident as it sat between the driver’s undulating tricep flab and thigh meat.

When we finally got to the temporary boundaries, there was no search of the cars upon entry. We skated right in, as did many others who carried more trouble than we did. The vehicles were lined up in rows two cars long, back to front, and as wide as possible with occasional lanes to get around. There was an ample area for tents set for one row’s back cars and the next row’s front cars. The land rush was on, and people claimed their spots quick. The vegetation really needed to be stamped down well because it was so tough it could easily pierce the bottom of a tent. The population slowly grew as we worked to set up camp.