Summer is a time to let your troubles and worries go. A time to relax and get out of your hell hole town. My summer consisted of long traveling, crazy music, and memories of a life time. Manchester, Tennessee was my destination this summer. Bonnaroo was it's name.
This summer I traveled to one of the largest music festivals in history. Bonnaroo, is a five day concert that consists of some of the most popular bands today. Bonnaroo is also filled with thousands of hill billys and rednecks. This is a time where people can dress up like complete hippies. Five days of no showering really takes its toll on people. The drugs don't help much either.
While my friend Kody and I were sitting around a campfire we were approached by our neighbor. Kenneth was his name. He was a middle age african american that had obviously been at these type of concerts before. We could tell by his 2009 official Bonnaroo t-shirt. He told us that we were being lame, and offered to show us the "real" Bonnaroo. We accepted his offer and we followed. Our experience of Bonnaroo was much different than his. We weaved our way through hundreds of tents. As we neared random strangers, he would yell "Party man with party accessories!" He was selling all different types of drugs. Coke, ecstasy, acid, molly and hash were on his menu of death. It was awkward at times because parents would let their teenage kids buy them. I thought "Isn't that a terrible thing to let your children do?' I kept my mouth shut and continue to follow. After an hour of "dealing" almost 1,000 dollars were added to his billfold. It was getting very late, and it was now time for the music.
The Music experience was nothing I had ever experience before. Seven different stages always has seven different bands playing. The late night shows were always packed. Stevie Wonder preformed in front of what seemed like a million people. The crowd was a giant wave of people. You couldnt just go up to the front of the crowd. Squeezing through people, and stepping over passed out people was quit a challenge. Being rude was the last thing on my mind, as I neared the stage Jay-Z was playing on. The show I was most excited for, was about to begin.
As the countdown began people were becoming anxious. The excitement was like nothing I had ever experienced. The beat began to build and his voice was herd. Suddenly all of the lights came on and he was singing on stage. Halfway through he stopped, and pointed people out in the crowd. I was going berserk for the best rapper alive attention. He pointed out my New York Yankees t-shirt and told me to come up to the stage. As I began to walk towards the stage, the butterflies had swarmed into my stomach. "What if I trip going up the stairs?" My palms were sweating, and my body started to get warmer. The stairs were a simple climb, but now I had to approach Jay-Z. He demonstrated me as loyal New York Yankee fan like him. It was the best night of my life.
Sleeping in the tent was our only decision. The temperature always raised to what seemed like 100 degrees. As i peaked my head out the tent, Kody was all ready awake. He was very anxious to tell me something. Kenneth had apparently dropped off a huge bag of fake drugs, and told us to go and make a profit. I was very shocked at this point. His vehicle was gone. He reminded me of those guys in old western movies that rides off in the dust. The last thing we wanted to do was sell fake drugs. We threw the bag away and decided to pack up the van. This was a experience I will never forget.
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