Thursday marks the beginning of my favorite stretch of days on the music calendar.
Bonnaroo begins Thursday and Riverbend the following day. That means live music will dominate my life for 10 straight days, and that is a very good thing. Those attending both will have the opportunity to choose between almost 150 acts.
Beginning Thursday afternoon, I will post updates on Facebook, Twitter and the our Bonnaroo page at fyi.timesfreespress.com detailing the things I see and hear on "The Farm" in Manchester.
If there is anything you'd like to know or want me to check out or you just want to share your thoughts on either or both events, send me an e-mail.
When it burst onto the music scene in 2001, Bonnaroo immediately became known as a jam-band hippiefest. Organizers have repeatedly said Bonnaroo was never intended to be solely a jam festival but rather a festival open to all genres as long as the fan base would also camp for the weekend.
Over time, and as the festival's reputation has grown, it is getting a little harder to pin a label to Bonnaroo. It is still thought to be a hippie festival by a lot of people, and in fact, I would argue that a lot of folks, especially the older RV set, go to be among the tie-dyed and dreadocked folks. Ironically, it would seem they are taking tickets away from the folks they are going there to see, but that is another issue all together.
One thing is certain, the lineup is more diverse than ever before. Just a look at the headliners -- Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Kings of Leon and Dave Matthews Band -- will bear that out.
Riverbend has always been about diversity. From the beginning, the goal has been to bring the entire community together through music.
Because Bonnaroo and Riverbend take place during the same week in June and are so close together geographically, they often are compared. They are entirely different festivals.
What is interesting to me is the differing mindsets. Generally speaking, Bonnaroo folks are willing to sleep in tents for four days and want to discover new acts.
The Riverbend patrons traditionally have wanted to hear hits from people with whom they are familiar. That has changed a little over the years as folks seem to enjoy taking a chance on someone new. This is a great lineup for doing both.