A Bonnaroo Prayer

Creator of the Universe, God of Your Understanding or Tradition or Nontradition, or Simply Any & All Forces of Love & Benevolence Inherent in the Universal Consciousness, We pray today for the musical festival in Manchester, Tennessee known as Bonnaroo!

Please bless & protect everyone involved & shield us all from any harm. We pray for safe travels for all. We pray for drivers & passengers & patient grace in any traffic jam that might occur.

We pray for all the people in all the towns we pass through, especially as we get close in middle Tennessee. We pray for all the shop-owners, businesses, churches or others places of worship, citizens, and law enforcement. We are grateful for the welcome we will receive & we pray for the civilians whose days we might inconvenience or who may not understand our passion for music & the festival life. We pray for all the hospitality industry, restaurants, hotels, shuttle drivers, etc.

We pray for everyone at the Manchester Wal-Mart, customers, managers, staff, suppliers, parking lot hanging-outers.

We pray for all the people who made this festival possible, from Live Nation, AC Entertainment, & Superfly to all the sponsors, creatives, media, vendors, medical crew, staff, incoming security, onsite traffic flow, volunteers, nonprofits, Clean Vibes, law enforcement, & anyone & everyone else involved in the festival in the direct way. We are grateful you have made this possible. We pray for all the artists & performers & their respective staff, tour managers, roadies, & bus drivers. We are grateful for what you give us in art, music, film, spoken word, etc.

We are grateful for food & water & bathrooms & showers & all the ways we will take care of ourselves & each other over the coming days. We pray for moderation in intoxication & for the sobriety of all who abstain.

We pray for the fans, this is what we live for year round, may it be all we dreamed & more. May we dance, cry, twirl, spin, shout, sing, & everything . . . & more!!!

We pray for the weather; grateful for the forecast & ready for what comes. If it is cloudy, let them be clouds of mercy & movement. If it rains, may it rain hope & healing. If the sun shines, may it shine love & liberation for all sentient beings!! & “let there be songs to fill the air.”

For a safe & beautiful & blessed Bonnaroo for any & all we pray! Om, Amen, As above so below, may it be so, Namaste!

Teacher On The Roo (TOTR Podcast 3 and 4)

My first Bonnaroo was in 2006, one year before the birth of Teacher On The Radio. For the last 13 years, we have loved this festival with truest festival love. It is our home festival and by far our favorite. We have had minor issues over the years and have slowly transitioned from working volunteer staff to being paying patrons. 

This post includes our picks of the sets to catch, plus two podcasts and a playlist! I have been making tweaks up until the last, but on Tuesday of Roo week, it’s time to pack this thing up and share it with the world of the interwebs!

There are so many things we love, but mostly the logistical integrity of the overall experience and the lineup, lineup, lineup. The Soberoo community of support makes this option even an option for this recovering person and clean-sober music fan!  After arriving late and leaving early on our last few trips to Manchester, we plan to spend all four days this time. 

For weeks, even months, I have been listening deeply to all the artists on this ideal itinerary. Will I make all these shows? Probably not! Are we gonna try? Heck yes! Be safe everyone, have fun, and radiate all that positivity!!

Most Anticipated Sets - Top Artists To See That We’ve Never Seen Before

1. Brandi Carlile, Sunday at 4:30pm
2. Nahko & Medicine for the People, Friday at 3:30pm
3. Sunsquabi, Thursday at 12:45am
4. The Record Company, Saturday at 3:00pm
5. Kikagaku Moro, Sunday at 12:30pm

Thursday - June 13

High- 72

Low- 48

Peach Pit - That Tent

3:30pm-4:15pm

Kalu and the Electric Joint - Who Stage

4:15pm-5:00pm

All Them Witches - This Tent

7:30pm-8:30pm

Dorfex Bos - The Other

7:45pm-8:45pm

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - This Tent

9:15pm-10:15pm

Magic City Hippies - That Tent

11:15pm-12:15am

SunSquabi - This Tent

12:45am-2:00am

Friday

High - 77

Low - 60

The Teskey Brothers - Which Stage

1:30pm-2:30pm

Rival Sons - What Stage

3:00pm-3:45pm

Nahko and Medicine for the People - Which Stage

3:30pm-4:30pm

Parquet Courts - This Tent

4:30pm-5:30pm

Avett Brothers - What Stage

6:30-7:45pm

Childish Gambino - What Stage
8:45-10:00pm

Solange - Which Stage

10:00-11:15pm

Phish - What Stage

11:00pm-1:00am

Super Jam - This Tent

1:15am-2:45am

Saturday

High - 85

Low - 68

Deva Mahal - That Tent

1:00pm-1:45pm

The Record Company - What Stage

3:00pm-3:45pm

Hippo Campus - Which Stage

3:30pm-4:30pm

Maren Morris - What Stage

4:30pm-5:30pm  

New Respects - Who Stage

5:30pm-6:15pm  

Shovels & Rope - That Tent

6:15pm-7:15pm

Hozier - What Stage

6:30pm-7:45pm

Kacey Musgraves - Which Stage

7:30pm-8:30pm  

Jim James - This Tent

8:30pm-9:45pm

The National - Which Stage

9:45pm-11:00pm

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead - That Tent

1:00am-3:15am

Sunday

High - 83

Low - 68

Chance of Rain

Kikagaku Moro - That Tent

12:30pm-1:15pm

The Soul Rebels - Which Stage

2:00pm-2:45pm

Trampled by Turtles - What Stage

3:00pm-3:45pm

Brandi Carlile - What Stage

4:30pm-5:30pm

The Wood Brothers - That Tent

5:15pm-6:15pm

Lumineers - What Stage

6:15pm-7:30pm

Phish - What Stage

8:30pm - 12am

Podcast - Overview of the lineup and my love for Roo https://soundcloud.com/teacherontheradio/totr-podcast-3-bonnaroo

Podcast - Poems inspired by Roo and the music festival life

https://soundcloud.com/teacherontheradio/totr-podcast-4-we-go-to-shows-etc

Playlist - incomplete but indicative of how we will spend the weekend