... From the Festival Files

We’ve been itching to write about Bonnaroo ever since we opened the Festival Files earlier this year, but we didn’t trust the rumored lineups that were circling the blogosphere. An official list of Bonnaroo performers was released today, however, so without further adieu…

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
The word bonnaroo (as popularized by Dr. John’s seventh album, Desitively Bonnaroo, in 1974) is Cajun slang for "a really good time." The festival has been living up to its name since 2002, when more than 70,000 fans first descended upon a 700 acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Since that inaugural year, Bonnaroo has steadily grown in popularity, attendence, and the sheer magnitude of its lineup. Last year’s event boasted headlining sets from Radiohead and Tom Petty, and this year’s lineup promises to continue the upward trend.

The 2007 Bonnaroo Music Festival will be held from June 14th-17th. Confirmed artists include The Police, Tool, Widespread Panic, The White Stripes, Fountains of Wayne, The Decemberists, Wilco, Flaming Lips, Kings of Leon, Wolfmother, Franz Ferdinand, Manu Chao, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Damien Rice, Ween, Cold War Kids, The Hold Steady, and… lots of others. Comedians Lewis Black, Dave Attell, and David Cross will also be performing.

Rolling Stone has called Bonnaroo “one of the 50 moments to change the history of rock and roll,” and they’re not only referring to the festival’s killer lineups. In addition to providing musical weeks of rock, jazz, hip-hop, cajun, and countless other genres to crowds of 80,000+ people, Bonnaroo has also taken steps to preserve the land upon which it takes place. As the website explains, "Bonnaroo continues to take significant steps toward reducing or eliminating its environmental impact, including aggressive recycling programs and the use of post-consumer supplies and bio-diesel generators. In 2006, Bonnaroo diverted 60 percent of its waste from landfills and replaced over 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel with bio-diesel. The festival is aggressively seeking ways to make Bonnaroo 2007 even greener."

So there you go. Bonnaroo provides great music and substance-induced camaraderie for a minimal price ($184.50 for the first batch!), and it promotes environment-friendly policies while doing so. Tickets go on sale next Friday (February 23rd) at 12:00 pm EST, and they’ll steadily climb in price until they’re gone. From the Bonnaroo website: The ticket will be a specially designed souvenir ticket, unique to the 2007 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Incidentally, your ticket will also make you more popular with the opposite sex and appear seven years younger.

Oh, Bonnaroo. You so crazy.