Bonnaroooooooo!!!!!
06:01 PM Tuesday 6/12/12
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Yesterday we posted a series of photographs contributing Pollstar photog John Davisson shot at this year’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Today he gives us his thoughts behind the pictures.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 9, 2012
(John Davisson)
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This weekend I returned to the farm in Manchester, Tennessee, for Bonnaroo. It is one of my favorite festivals because of the vibe in the press area. Publicists from the Big Hassle PR company are always there and many of the same writers and photographers return every year. I’ve made many friends there and we have a great camaraderie and look out for each other. After 10 years, many of us know the ropes and how to navigate the grounds without needing to consult a map.
So I arrived early Thursday and started at the Great Taste Lounge Brewed by Miller Lite (a newer addition to Bonnaroo) and photographed a few minutes of Rollin’ in the Hay, a new grass band that sounded great. There was also a bleacher area with futons for fans to relax on while listening to the music. The futons were full every time I went by the stage; finding time to rest can be difficult at Bonnaroo since there is always something to do.
June 7, 2012
(John Davisson)
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The rest of Thursday was for catching a wide variety of new music as well as a few comedians. K-Flay did her suburban rhymes, and EMA made a lot of noise. The Dirty Guv’nahs from Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. from Austin, Texas, rocked out. This was all in the first couple of hours at Bonnaroo.
I then spent some time in the Bonnaroo Comedy Theatre checking out Andy Daly, Jon Dore and Natasha Leggero while Comedy Central taped the performances for an upcoming special. The folks from the comedy channel had pretty strict rules. They wanted to keep fans from walking around or taking photos during the performances because it would, I guess, interfere with the taping. I think they learned a little about the Bonnaroo vibe this weekend. Sure the venue had comfortable seating and air-conditioning and state-of-the-art production, but Bonnaroovians do not have strict rules.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Great Stage Park, Manchester, Tenn.
June 7, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Great Stage Park, Manchester, Tenn.
June 7, 2012
(John Davisson)
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After the comedy, Danny Brown and Yelawolf presented hiphop while White Denim played jamband music. Then Kendrick Lamar presented the latest buzz in hip-hop and Phantogram played their moody electronic music under dark moody lighting (made my job as a photographer more difficult but I got some interesting arty shots).
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 7, 2012
(John Davisson)
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I later read that Kendrick Lamar is socially conscious hip-hop and thought about what I saw. I have photographed him several times and usually hear the same first 3 songs because that is all we are usually allowed to photograph. Socially conscious was not what I thought of when I heard “Pussy and Patron” so I went back to the lyrics to see what was there. It was not the party track I thought. It is dark, about giving in to the hopelessness of a life of mistakes. I guess that is very street credible to some people, but it offered no hope for a way out, just a way to numb the pain and give up. Maybe it is socially conscious but, as art, I think it should also point to a solution.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 7, 2012
(John Davisson)
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I would reflect on this again the next day when I photographed needtobreathe. Their lyrics have a message, but it is a message of hope and salvation. There is a way, a path to follow, rather than just an escape. This is a better way, in my humble opinion, to be socially conscious. I realize that music is escape, but it affects people very deeply and can lead to riots or to redemption. Sure I ended up singing the hook to Kendrick’s song when I left the photo pit because it is catchy (and I am sure a lot of other people did too as the tent was overflowing with fans for his performance). Sure his music fits in with the musical smorgasbord that is Bonnaroo, but I wish there was a little more optimism as that is also the Bonnaroo way that I love. These are just my personal thoughts, feel free to disagree (with social networking, feel free to add your comments)
My night ended with Alabama Shakes and Big Gigantic. Alabama Shakes had a huge crowd and they were probably the most-anticipated act of the evening. Big Gigantic had a large crowd of dance-music fans. Both acts were difficult to photograph for different reasons. Alabama Shakes was so packed and there were so many photographers there to cover it, that my comrades and I were divided into 2 groups and only got 1 song each. Big Gigantic play on giant decks that make it difficult to see the band members from the photo pit. The decks are brightly lit video with a bright back screen, while the band members are not so brightly lit. Not the best combination for a photographer, but the EDM fans like the video and were definitely into the production.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Great Stage Park, Manchester, Tenn.
June 7, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Great Stage Park, Manchester, Tenn.
June 7, 2012
(John Davisson)
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I began Friday with needtobreathe and as I said before, I very much appreciate their message as well as their great sound. I then drifted to the small Sonic Stage for a short set by Colin Hay. My friend Annabel runs the stage and presents short (often but not always acoustic) sets by artists at Bonnaroo. I love the intimacy of the stage and the fact that the performances are different than the normal sets. I spent the rest of the day on a variety of bands such as Laura Marling, Hey Rosetta, Dawes, and St. Vincent. Little Dragon had a big crowd at This Tent and The Avett Brothers had the field full at the What Stage.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Great Stage Park, Manchester, Tenn.
June 8, 2012
(John Davisson)
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I also went by a press conference to get some different photos. My night ended with Foster the People and Radiohead. Mark Foster was at the press conference talking about how the past year had been a whirlwind of professional growth as the band exploded. Their Bonnaroo performance was definitely slicker and had a better production than a year ago when they were playing small clubs. And the crowd was a lot bigger. Radiohead was, of course, Radiohead; what more can I say about them? I passed on the late night performances as I knew I needed to work on photos and would be working late the next night. I need to sleep sometime.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Great Stage Park, Manchester, Tenn.
June 8, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 8, 2012
(John Davisson)
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I began on Saturday with Dawes at the Sonic Stage. Dawes is getting more popular every year and even though they were thrilled that they got a large crowd at The Other Tent the night before, they also had a large crowd at the Sonic Stage. I saw both performances, just because I love their sound. I then caught Das Racist in This Tent. They are a party hip-hop collective and I am not sure if they are trying to say something or just have a good time onstage. And they made for some nice photos.
Next on my agenda was Blind Pilot on the Which Stage. I love their sound, which is kinda like Wilco folk (another of my favorites) and real catchy. They don’t have the sonic cacophony that is Nels Cline to give it the rock edge, but I love when they add trumpet to the sound to give it a different, more melodic edge. They seem to be having a good year, and I was happy that I caught them twice at Bonnaroo (yep they were on the Sonic Stage the next day).
Performing on the Which Stage at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 9, 2012
(John Davisson)
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I photographed a lot of performances on Saturday, including Flogging Molly in That Tent, Childish Gambino, Dispatch, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I also spent a good bit of my time at the Sonic Stage for Trampled By Turtles, Oberhofer, Gary Clark Jr., and Art Vs. Science. At the Great Taste Lounge, I caught the jamband Tauk and the fans were dancing there. I again caught several comedians, including Steven Wright (I love his comedy, preferring my humor served dry).
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 9, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Danzig Legacy brought the dark side of music with Glenn Danzig covering material from his various bands. For some reason, he does not like photographers in the photo pit, so photogs that like him shot from the audience and VIP area. Danzig did not like that either and left the stage at one point to confront a photographer. While most people were there to enjoy Bonnaroo, it is strange that Danzig could not. That is related to what I was talking about earlier concerning the message in the music.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 9, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Embrace the light and things will improve. Embrace the darkness and you keep sinking deeper. My life is full of disappointments. I wish I could get an Infinity pass at Bonnaroo so I could easily photograph outside the first 3 songs instead of having my schedule dictated by the stage schedules. Then I could see more of my favorite sets. But instead of wallowing in that disappointment, I do the best I can with what I have. And, because it is Bonnaroo, I sometimes get blessed with extra photographic time. People at Bonnaroo know me (I’ve been photographing it for 10 years now) and I can often get extra time in a photo pit, or get a ride on a golf cart or other special treatment. That is the Bonnaroo vibe. And one day, I WILL get an Infinity Pass. I am positive.
For the late night, I photographed and watched most of Alice Cooper’s set as he played his classics with full production. It was epic and I bet he earned a lot of new fans. I then photographed the spaceship that is the current Skrillex production. Skrillex had a huge crowd at the Which Stage for his late-night set and his production was up to the task of entertaining such a large crowd. After more than 12 hours at Bonnaroo that day, I was exhausted, but it was a great time.
Alice Cooper lights up the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.
June 9, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 9, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Sunday was a little more laid back for me, even though I started early. It rained a little the night before so there was some mud on the grounds, but ’Roo promoter Superfly made a lot of improvements to the grounds and it was much better than it has been in prior years. I was worried it might rain on Sunday (not good for my cameras) but it stayed mostly dry until I finished my day by photographing Phish at 8 PM.
I photographed Gary Clark Jr., The Beach Boys, and Bon Iver on the What Stage, Mac Miller on the Which Stage (which had the most mud in the photo pit), Grouplove and The Joy Formidable in This Tent, and fun. in That Tent. In the Other Tent, I photographed The Civil Wars (Joy Williams is 7 months pregnant but I guess they wanted to play Bonnaroo), and Kenny Rogers. Kenny embodied the Bonnaroo vibe by inviting Lionel Richie onto his stage for a guest turn, and then by guesting with Phish. Who knew Kenny would be so Bonnaroo?
Bringing the good vibes to The Beach Boys’ performance at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn.
June 10, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 10, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, Tenn.
June 10, 2012
(John Davisson)
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One of my favorite moments at Bonnaroo was when I was photographing We Are Augustines on the Sonic Stage. I love their hard-rocking sound and was enjoying photographing them when the guitarist came up front for a minute. I was right there photographing and all of a sudden he head butted my camera. Not hard, more like a fist bump. I kept shooting throughout, even though my lens was not macro (his face is slightly out of focus) and it made for some cool photos (in my humble opinion).
Bumping the camera at Bonnaroo.
June 10, 2012
(John Davisson)
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Always expect the unexpected at Bonnaroo and it is awesome. Bonnaroo is definitely better than the real world I am returning to now.
Click here to see more Bonnaroo photos shot by John Davisson.
--John Davisson