Eric Nelson, co-founder of Track Marks
Lindsay Rittenhouse, co-founder of Track Marks

Since we attended Sasquatch and Governor’s Ball, and thanks to Festival Passport have a lot of others scheduled, we had to do a diet Bonnaroo of sorts this year. But, hey, being Bonnaroo veterans with 10 and five years under our belts, we just couldn’t stay away from the farm entirely.

So, long story short, we crashed onto the tall grasses of Manchester, Tenn., after a short plane ride. That was the first time we didn’t make the 14-hour trek from New Jersey. A little off put, not coming with our usual stash of camping gear, food and “goodies,” we drove up prepared to sleep in our car. We only had two days to revel in the magic that is Bonnaroo after all. Luckily for us, and some lovely, friendly Roovians, we were able to borrow a tent for our short stay. Even as the lineup and people have changed over the years, it’s that generosity you just can’t find anywhere else but Bonnaroo. Strangers are not a thing at Roo. We are all family.

Anyway, we missed Thursday but all in all we thought it was a bit lackluster compared to other years. We did see such rising stars that would become icons as Vampire Weekend, the XX and The Drums on that day. Don’t get me wrong we would have bobbed along to Space Jesus and Pigeons Playing PingPong but you only get so many days off work.

So, Friday, it is. The first act we ventured to was Sheryl Crow. We did miss Japanese Breakfast to chill with our new Roo friends. Hey, you gotta do that sometimes and we did catch their performances at Sasquatch and more recently Brooklyn. But, back to Sheryl. Damn she blew us away. She certainly got the crowd going in the beginning, starting off belting “If it makes you happy it can’t be that baaaaad.” Sing it, girl. Then from there, we were jumping around to “Everyday Is a Winding Road” and “All I Wanna Do,” because, yeah all the audience wanted to do was have some motherfucking fun!

The crowd loved Sheryl and (we hope) she loved us back. Getting Sheryl is another reason to appreciate Bonnaroo, because it’s only there that you can truly let your hair down and sing “we are drinking beer at noon on Tuesday” like no one is listening.

And scene. Now what? Well, get a beer. And then go see funky Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave, and from there Manchester Orchestra—they killed it yet again (but you can read all about that in the Governor’s Ball review). One thing we will add is they played the ending to “I Can Feel a Hot One.” THANK YOU!

From there, we got a taste of Paramore—they brought a lot of energy to the main stage, especially when they played “Still Into You.” Their fans truly appreciated it. Then we went to Tash Sultana, where of course she blew the minds of everyone watching (just like she did at Governor’s Ball, and Sasquatch too). Now it’s time to go get down to some T-Pain. Oh boy, were we surprised when we could hardly get a glimpse. Maybe it was the hype around his karaoke set in the pods or maybe we just underestimated how many people are really in love with strippers, but he should have been on the Which stage rather than a tent.

Ah well. Next up? Sturgill Simpson. This, admittedly, is where the night gets hazier and hazier (you gotta go all out at Bonnaroo, she deserves it). But, damn, with guitar licks that could give bluesy John Mayer a run for his money, we just couldn’t help screaming “Stuurgillll” several times throughout the explosive set.

And then the night was really creeping up on us. We made a pit stop at club act Okey Dokey and they were more than okey dokey. That’s another great thing about Bonnaroo, it allows you to fall in love with rising stars before the music industry even knows they’re rising.

After Okey Dokey we made our way to the first headliner of Bonnaroo 2018—Muse. After seeing Muse several times we thought we knew what to expect. Boy were we wrong. Every band knows it’s a right of passage to headline Bonnaroo and Muse was no exception. Serious in the most rockstar of ways is as close as it gets to describing Muse’s aaamazing performance. They opened with singles off their two latest albums—“Thought Contagion” was piercing our ears, followed up by “Psycho.” You could tell already, before they even dug deep into their extensive catalog, this was going to be a show for the history books.

Playing snippets of Rage Against the Machine’s “Know Your Enemy” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Matt Bellamy was in a jubilant mood. And so were we. They even dabbled in EDM to preface what the late night had in store, playing “The 2nd Law; Unsustainable.” The set peaked when Absolution’s “Stockholme Syndrome” shot through the crowd with its rock anthem guitar and syncopated piano. They blessed our ears and blew our minds with top hits including “Super Massive Blackhole,” “Starlight,” “Time Is Running Out,” and ended with a confetti explosion into “Mercy.” And, oh how can we forget to highlight Bellamy’s awesome guitar tapping skills on “Blackholes and Revelations; Take A Bow?” That started the encore … and just right. He took us on one hell of a ride to the end, sending the entire audience jumping for “Uprising” and singing loud and clear to “Knights of Cydonia.”

The sunglasses Matt smacked on his glowing face during the encore signaled the night was about to get weird. We were about to board the Bassnectar rocket ship and launch off; thank you Muse for getting us there.

Talk about sensory overload. My face was cheesin’ and that cheese was melting. With the bass buzzing through our bodies and the lasers cutting through the fog like a lightsaber, everyone in the crowd succumbed to the king of late night—Bassnectar. Oh and that magician of a DJ had some more tricks up his sleeve for us. Knowing his hippie audience, he played Pink Floyd’s “Money.” What?! Knowing everyone was there to let go and have the best fucking time, he played “Let Me Clear My Throat.” It was fun, psychedelic and truancy as ohhh myyy lawwdd. It was a mindblowing way to kick start Bonnaroo late night.

How do you follow up that crazy electronic dance rave? I guess by popping by an energetic live band. Chromeo knew how to keep us tapping our toes and clapping our palms.

Rolling along … Virtual Self had us out way past our bedtime (wait is that a thing at Bonnaroo?). It was 4 a.m. Porter Robinson’s alter ego landed that rocket ship on a planet … not Earth, but somewhere where there were “castles in the sky.” With enough pulsating lights to cause an epileptic fit, Virtual Self kept us stomping to the bass before leaving us with video game sounds and ‘80s lettering.

Slightly disappointed, the acts were over but the night was not. After 11 hours of dancing, the only logical thing to do next was … go to the all-night Kalliope rager for a sunrise set.

Phew, now that that’s over. We’re off to the pods where House of Yes awaits. That was a fun science project to end the night. Oh the people you meet in the wee hours of Bonnaroo’s after-late-night mornings. We wonder if they’re reminiscing the same way about us now. We satisfyingly watched the sun roll over the Tennessee hills, laid in the tent for roughly 30 minutes, looked at each other, knew the party wasn’t over, cracked a beer and now onto day two.

So, that was a good idea until about 11 a.m. That was after we trotted around to our friends’ campsite, had a bloody Mary and almost fell over from exhaustion to the point our Roo friend said “you guys need a nap.” We said nah but went back to our site anyway. Looking at our nearly-dead to dead phones we decided we needed to plug in for a charge. Hopped in the car and I guess it was our brains that needed the charge. All of a sudden we were waking up at 2:45, realizing we were MISSING MOSES SUMNEY! No time to freshen up, let’s goooo.

We arrived at Sumney toward the middle of his set. He was singing “lonely, lonely, lonely. loonleey world.” Soothing. Admittedly, that Tennessee sun felt relentless, as Moses played his soft songs on the main stage to an almost empty field. His performance was well received but probably better fit for an evening tent slot. Still, closing with avant-garde jazz single “Plastic,” we drifted into sweet R&B heaven.

And then we drifted to Cali Uchis, who beckoned us in with her red dress and sensual moves. With one of the strongest releases of 2018, she was a force not to be reckoned with. Between her appealing hooks and dreamy melodies, her pop-funk band backed it all up with style. Who didn’t get sleep last night? Not us. She perked us up with such hits as “In My Dreams,” “Feel Like a Fool” and “You’re Dead to Me.” Ooh yeah, girl.

Now it was time to transition from a rising young star to a legendary female powerhouse; Mavis Staples was up next. The Staple Singers icon had everyone on their feet—we even hopped on a conga line. When she played “I’ll Take You There,” she took us there. She warmed a younger generation up to some good ol’ fashioned oldies.

Good is an understatement for this next act which easily tops our lists of favorites of the weekend. Top three. Top two. TOP ONE! After playing phenomenal sets at Coachella and Glastonbury, someone must have let Nile Rodgers know “the real party was at Bonnaroo.” “Everybody dance … clap your hands.” We did. He even called us one of his best audiences ever. The feeling’s mutual—you’re one of our favorite performances!

Oh man did we have a blast! Of course they played Chic classics like “I Want Your Love” and “Le Freak.” FREAK OUT! But they didn’t shy from Nile’s solo-written favorites like Sister Sledges’ “We Are A Family,” David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” and Madonna’s “Like A Virgin.” WHAT?! Rodgers’ signature Fender Stratocastor coupled with his powerful female backing vocals and soulful bass had the entire audience writhing and swaying like our hearts would burst. Then the heart strings tugged when Rodgers revealed he had beaten cancer, and he felt so lucky to be alive. An easy transition into “We’re up all night to get luckyyy,” a song he wrote with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams. The group ended their spectacular set by inviting WE THE AUDIENCE on stage to get down to “Good Times” and “a hip hop, a hippy to the hippy to the hip, hip hop.” Wow. Mind blown again.

OK, can’t come down from that. Gotta keep the dance party a-going. Onto electronic duo Sylvan Esso. “Hey Mami,” we see you. From there, we went to Andersen .Paak and The Free Nationals to keep the funky vibes rolling with his Dre-approved L.A. swag and virtuoso drumming.

Now it’s time to catch the last bit of Swedish sweethearts, First Aid Kit. We made it in time for the best—“Fireworks” and “Emmylou.” “Why doo ooh I dooo this to myseellff?”

OK, let’s talk Bon Iver. Set one—we didn’t know WHAT to expect. Bonnaroo handed them two time slots. A nice evening spot and a late-night slot, both on the Which stage. So when Justin Vernon came out the first time and played almost all of his hits including “33 ‘GOD,’” “22 ( OVER SooN),” “Perth,” “Holocene” and “Creature Fear,” what the heck were we to expect for the second show?! Well, Justin did surprise. But, be patient my friends, we aren’t there yet. Back to the first set. What a soothing performance that left everyone in the audience awestruck. We watched as his magnificent orchestra of a band accompanied his guitar switches with beautiful piano, horns and bass, creating otherworldly sounds. Vernon is a true artist. If only we knew then what we had in store for later.

And now was the moment of truth. Could Eminem redeem himself of his 2011 lackluster performance? Make us eat our words, please, Marshall Mathers. He took the stage full of energy and with that swift flow, showing he may no longer be the king of rap but he’s still part of the royal family. He blasted through one of his best versus, the unstoppable “Rap God,” but he also returned to classics like “The Way I Am,” “Kill You” and Slim Shady LP favorite “Just Don’t Give A Fuck.” This guy came prepared to headline Bonnaroo. He was fully equipped on stage with booming sounds and special guests to lend melodies on “Stan” and “Love the Way You Lie.” Would you like some sauce with those words? Closing the curtains with “Hi, My Name Is,” “The Real Slim Shady” and “Without Me,” could only be rightfully followed with fireworks and “Lose Yourself.”

Now back to Bon Iver. Did I say Justin Vernon was an artist? Getting all his friends on stage, he put together a masterpiece. Crazy good guests, on and off the Bonnaroo lineup, made their way onto the stage and into our hearts. First up, Frances and the MF Lights. Together they played groovy tracks like “Morning” and “Just For Us.” The set did feel like it was just for us—Bonnaroo 2018. Ooh and when Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath came out and covered Bon Iver’s Flume, perfection! Even Moses Sumney graced us with his appearance (oh, and don’t think we didn’t see you in the Chic crowd rocking out earlier that day, Mr. Sumney). Thanks Justin for a great time again.

Well, let’s go jam out. It is Bonnaroo after all. STS9 delivered improvised electronic big-band sounds that seemed to wrap us in a warm fulfilling blanket, not unlike Umphrey’s McGee the year before. We ventured to Kaskade next. It was awesome, sure, but something is just not as fun when you know you have a flight back home in just mere hours. We were leaving Bonnaroo. So what do you do? Eat tacos and reminisce on the wonderful, magnificent time we had at the center of the world. Another Bonnaroo for the books. Maybe the festival has changed over the years but what I found is that this heavenly vibe just can’t be found anywhere else. Bonnaroo always manages to restore our faith in humanity. It’s the vacation our minds and souls desperately need each and every year. Is it June 2019 yet?