Time to turn the focus to YOU, the Bonnaroo community we know and love! We’re going to be featuring a series of articles on our new Roo Bus site, chronicling some of the best memories and stories of our little community.
We wanted to start with a simple question: What’s your favorite memory of a live song played at Bonnaroo? We asked some of our good friends we hung with this past year to start off with:
Ron Holgado – Roochute
My favorite show that I have ever attended on The Farm was during my first Bonnaroo in 2014.
I had no intention of really seeing this artist except for the mere fact of being a bucket list artist. However, I was in for a treat Lionel Richie was OUTRAGEOUS! I had the best time with my entire crew listening to songs I grew up listening to on easy listening radio. Hearing ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’ live was so nostalgic.
Our six person crew even started a conga line at the beginning of ‘All Night Long’ and by the end, we had about 100 people snaking through the crowds. The icing of the cake was swaying, arm in arm, with the entire crowd to the closing song ‘We Are The World’ which I found out was co-written by the legendary Michael Jackson.
Kevin Barnes – Camp Reddaroo
(My favorite was in) 2015 when Mumford and Sons as their finale brought out a superstar who’s who of Bonnaroo including Jim James, Hozier, and Ed Helms to cover of the Beatles “With a Little Help from My Friends.”
In that moment at the one place a lot of people feel like they can be themselves completely, it just hit me that life throws us the unthinkable everyday and that the people I have chosen to surround myself everyday make my life exactly what I want it to be and I wouldn’t be who I am today without them, and for that I am and forever will thankful and never forget it.
We also asked everyone on Twitter about their favorite song performances, and you guys had some of the best stories! Here are some of our favorites:
Singing “Na Na NaNaNa Naaa” with 75k of my friends during @PaulMcCartney will always be my #1 but I’ll also never forget when The Boss grabbed the 🎅🏻 poster from the crowd and went straight into “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” https://t.co/HZAkEyqtxehttps://t.co/HZAkEyqtxe
— Lance (@lance466) July 25, 2018
Gooey @GlassAnimals. Dave Bayley danced with us for a hot minute before I got this video. pic.twitter.com/Sr1DhcMkq5
— chase (@ChaseWi11ingham) July 25, 2018
Sir Elton John opened his set with my favorite song, Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding. After @eltonofficial said “You just heard the complete first side of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” I had to dry a tear.
— Bonnaroovian (@TheBonnaroovian) July 25, 2018
Dance Yrself Clean by LCD in 2016! First ever Friday night on the farm and danced like a complete fool with my best friends without a care in the world. Best blisters I ever acquired
— Hayes Dollar (@goofywdw) July 25, 2018
Bobby Osborne at the 2017 Bluegrass Superjam playing “Rocky Top” a song he & his brother had released 50 years before & now the anthem for UTK… ‘cause Tennessee is home sweet home to me…
— oorannob (@jvbt82hhs) July 25, 2018
Favorite this year was Mr. Brightside from the Killers- I looked around at all my friends in the pit and we were all smiling like we meant it. 💖✨👽 @RooTangClan
— Andrea Collette (@collette_andrea) July 25, 2018
Where The Streets Have No Name by U2 in 2017…grew up with U2 being my dad’s (and then entire family’s) favorite band. I waited 8 hours to be in the pit for them by myself and it was worth every second.
— Juliee (@JuCastiii) July 25, 2018
Same Drugs by @chancetherapper that song came out right after I broke up with my girlfriend and my old self. Described everything going on perfectly and seeing him perform it in front of me and my best friends in my favorite place was everything. Thanks Chano
— Tre Joseph (@TravenBetaNu) July 25, 2018
So many incredible songs to choose from, but I’d have to say “Love Somebody” by @stlucia bc this moment. pic.twitter.com/RoyNipXxpy
— Ev (@evandumb) July 25, 2018
This year was my first Roo and my group was lucky enough to be in Plaza 9 where @CageTheElephant did their secret set! It was so surreal to hear Come a Little Closer live, after years of jamming out to them at parties and late night drives along our small town roads. 🤘🏽
— cheyennee 🌞 (@afortunee) July 25, 2018
“You Got Me” by The Roots. It was my favorite because I had lost everyone else in my Groop and had wandered to the What Stage. I made some new Roo-mates during a Tuba Gooding Jr. solo and The Root’s transition into Sweet Child of Mine almost killed me with happiness.
— MoonTaxiSpiritGuide (@RyneNotRyanDuh) July 25, 2018
Me & your Momma Debut-Childish Gambino. It was my first Bonnaroo & i was beyond lit to even be seeing him. He debuted that song & before the track started & said “You arent gonna know the words to this”. Then plays this funkadelic type song. The version has alternate outro also
— Stevie Wonder fan acc. ♊️♋️ (@Savionsonn) July 25, 2018
Ah I missed this. Fav headliner song prob live and let die Paul McCartney, fav late night Alice practice crystal castles, fav which stage whole lotta love Robert plant, fav tent selkies between the buried and me… this is impossible 😂
— Eric Nelson (@E_Nelz) July 25, 2018
for me it was when i heard nobody like you at the @KalliopeStage during @kaskade’s sunrise set. i was dancing with my best friends and in that moment the world was perfect 💙
— gaby (@gdeimz) July 25, 2018
Gunflower by @MoonTaxi in 2012. Lyrics are reminiscent of the journey to Tennessee with my best friends, and it just sounds like the farm. They’ve told me it’s about Bonnaroo. It was also my first show at roo. They later became my favorite band, and it my favorite song.
— Evan (@ebrownout) July 25, 2018
RHCP opening with Cant Stop.
My favorite band ever was playing at happy place. It was my most anticipated show of my life.
Then they decided to open with my all time favorite song!
It was an out of body experience for me. Best night of my life.
— bob gnarly (@JonSheaAllDay) July 25, 2018
“so give me hope in the dark that i will see the light” Mumford and Sons 2015. my grandfather had passed away shortly before that and that song helped me through so much i have the quote tattoo’d on me. i cried and cried when i saw them
— sarah (@sarah_chtm) July 25, 2018
My favorite song performed at Bomnaroo was Scared To Be Lonely by Dua Lipa. I didn’t know of her music last year when she performed but this year I knew every lyric. I chose that song bc I started to cry while she was performing. It was a beautiful moment. 💞
— LEX-LI 💜 (@alexisjane92) July 25, 2018
When @tameimpala started playing Elephant in 2013. The crowd was INSANE. I swear I was dancing but my feet weren’t even touching the ground.
— Jaynell (@jaynellsays) July 25, 2018
Free Fallin’ was my very last song of my very first Bonnaroo and that moment is so special to me now that Tom is gone ❤
— ——–Kalee-si——— (@kaleedenae23) July 25, 2018
@SlanderOfficial entire set. 11/10. The emotions that came with his performance were exhilarating. Plus, chipped tooth and busted lip as a souvenir 💕
— Wilson🤙 (@xWilsonx21) July 25, 2018
The Real Roo Bus 