Bonnaroo Music Festival Tickets- 2009 Bonnaroo Dates Announced

ighth annual Bonnaroo Music Festival will be held in itsLouisiana music tradition that sparked the festival
usual Manchester, Tenn. location (an hour southeast oforganizers’ wish to bring live music to fans.
Nashville) June 11-14. Although a lineup announcementBonnaroo has donated over $1 million directly to
isn’t expected until early next year, the firstCoffee Country organizations since its inception and in
round of tickets’ pre-sales began Dec. 4. Theaddition to annual charitable contributions,
festival promoters have taken the economy intoBonnaroo’s activities provide annual revenue to
consideration, as the first batch of tickets wasthe county in which the festival is held.
available for the first time as part of a payment planThe Bonnaroo lineup seems to expand each year,
with five installments of $50. Bonnaroo won the Topalthough in its 2002 inaugural year jam bands ruled the
Festival honor at the Billboard Touring Awards for thestage with Phish’s Trey Anastasio performing
fourth time last month and tickets are sure to be inalong with Umphrey’s McGee, Widespread
high demand even if the lineup hasn’t yet beenPanic, Phil Lesh and Friends, Béla Fleck, Ben
revealed. Last year’s lineup boasted Pearl Jam,Harper, Keller Williams Incident and more. Widespread,
My Morning Jacket, Metallica, Widespread Panic andwhich has since become a staple of the festival,
others. Check out for Bonnaroo Music Festival tickets.reappeared in 2003 along with The Dead, Neil Young
Dubbed as the “Best Festival of the& Crazy Horse, James Brown, the Allman
Year” by Rolling Stone, Bonnaroo wasBrothers Band, Jack Johnson, The Roots, Sonic Youth,
inaugurated in 2002 and has been garnering crowdsThe Wailers, G. Love and Special Sauce, Ben Kweller
ever since. The annual four-day music festival is heldand some of the usual suspects who continue to
at Great Stage Park on a 700-acre farm indeliver each year. By 2004 Bonnaroo was able to
Manchester, Tenn. (yes, people travel all that way forattract the one-and-only Bob Dylan to the stage while
four days of festival bliss) and is created andString Cheese Incident, My Morning Jacket, Yonder
produced by Superfly Productions and ACMountain String Band, Dave Matthews & Friends,
Entertainment. Bonnaroo began with the intention ofDonavan Frankenreiter, Chris Robinson & The
focusing primarily on jam bands, although over theNew Earth Mud and more also played. In 2005 the jam
years the stage has hosted acts representing genresband standards were in place once again alongside
across the board from jazz and hip-hop to countryToots and the Maytals, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Modest
and bluegrass, indie folk, reggae, electronica, and evenMouse, Brazilian Girls, M. Ward and Citizen Cope.
gospel. The two main performance stages are theAmong 2006’s notable performers were
What Stage (100,000-person capacity) and the WhichRadiohead, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers,
Stage (30,000-person capacity), and then there isBeck, Steel Pulse and Matisyahu and in 2007 the
Centeroo area which features three large music tentsPolice took the stage as part of their reunion tour while
confusingly called This Tent, That Tent and the OtherTool, the White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Regina
Tent, two smaller DJ tents and air-conditioned (which isSpektor, Wolfmother, Girl Talk, Hot Chip, Spoon and
a plus in the summer heat) comedy, jazz and cinemaothers were included in the eclectic lineup.
tents.Last year’s festival hosted Pearl Jam, Metallica,
Bonnaroo may seem like a nonsensical word to meKanye West, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, B.B.
and you, but it comes from New Orleans R&BKing, Talib Kweli, Gogol Bordello, Broken Social Scene,
great Dr. John’s 1974 album DestivelyLupe Fiasco, Vampire Weekend, Cat Power, M.I.A. and
Bonnaroo and is a Cajun slang word for “amore so get your Bonaroo Music Festival tickets soon,
really good time.” While Bonnaroo is exactlyas the lineup is sure to be stellar.
what its name means, the title also honors the