Well, well, well.

Lord Taco, it's finally here.

The greatest weeks of the entire year.

Yes.

We have made it.

It's Bonnaroo week.

And if you're listening to this, you're either doing your last minute packing or you're on

the road.

We recorded a do's and don'ts, which is one of our most popular shows every year.

We actually recorded it a couple of weeks ago in hopes that it would come out this past

week and we got a not a surprise guest because we knew it was coming.

But something like that, you know, you don't count on.

I didn't even speak of it until it was over.

I don't think I told anybody until it actually happened.

And of course, we're talking about Jim James from My Morning Jacket.

If you listen to this show at all, you know, I'm kind of a kind of a stan when it comes

to if I can be the old guy and use it.

Yeah.

As the Hams would say, as the Hams would say, I'm stan for sure.

That was so great.

That was amazing.

You know, we when we hung up, I just kept thinking about it.

He was in Belgium.

He called right on the exact same time he was supposed to call and was just amazing.

I couldn't believe how open and forthcoming and oh, I know.

Yeah.

I think we cut him off or not cut him off really.

But he would have kept talking is what I mean.

I felt like we could have hung out with him all day and maybe one day we can.

But yeah, so cool.

But anyway, so if some of the things we say in this episode are a little bit dated, it's

because we recorded it a couple of weeks ago, like I said.

But these are our some of our tips.

There's so many tips.

If you haven't left yet, the Bonnaroo website has a lot of information, things like activating

your wristbands and you can go ahead and buy merch when to arrive.

Right.

They've got some times that they anticipate is going to be more crowded and less crowded.

So there's a lot of information on.

Yeah.

And have they ever done that before?

I thought that was kind of cool where it shows the average wait time hourly for each day.

No, because why would they?

Yeah.

I mean, that'd have been that'd have been a bad PR on their part.

Yeah.

Don't show up.

Yeah.

So no, this is we're making fun, obviously.

But it's you know, they're trying to figure out ways to get people in quicker to alleviate

long lines and long waits and good for them.

Also the app is now available, right?

It is.

And I got it.

Did you get it?

Yes.

OK.

Yeah.

I haven't played with it yet.

So I should take credit for getting them to get the app out.

Of course.

I can't prove otherwise, as I always say.

Yep.

That's right.

So no, very good.

It looks like it's much more improved, updated for, you know, this year versus previous years.

And also, you remember Brad complaining about the schedule on the website, how it's unreadable

in that long, narrow, you know, sideways format.

They've updated that too on the website.

Very nice.

I'm with it because as we say in this show and we say all the time, the cell service

is very, very spotty on the farm.

So especially this year when we're basically sold out or at least at capacity.

Absolutely.

It's so anything you can do ahead of time, like your wristbands or study it, print it

out, you know, whatever schedule, write it down, however you prefer to do it.

But I wouldn't count on being able to have the phone in front of your face 24 seven.

Yeah.

Don't count on it.

Don't count on it because it won't happen.

All right.

So what else?

We get into a lot of that, but we just wanted to do a quick intro and wish everybody a safe

travel, a quick travel and see you on the farm.

Right?

That's right.

And yeah, this is, this is the last time this is our last show before we get on site.

Right.

So yeah.

I, you and I don't really know yet who all we will be seeing or talking to or interviewing

or what we'll be doing yet.

So yeah, there's some things in the air that we've discussed that hopefully we can get

to, but like last year, sometimes things just fall into place last minute.

Like that church's interview.

Yeah.

Still one of my all time favorite.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That was great.

And Isaiah Rashad, you know, with the mayor showing up and giving him a key to the city

and all that.

So anyway, we'll see you guys.

Happy Roo.

Radiate man.

Radiate, radiate.

It's here.

Yep.

See you on the farm.

It's that time of year kids, where we started looking at the long range forecasts and realizing

it's useless.

Happy, happy Bonnaroo.

It's Barry Courter, Lord taco, Brad Steiner, just days away from Bonnaroo 2023.

Have we checked the longterm forecast yet?

I haven't, but I'm laughing cause it's now we spent all year planning, planning, planning,

planning.

And now it's time to tear all of that up and just go.

Just go?

Yeah.

Whether it's your schedule or your, or the weather or whatever, everything changes once

it actually happens.

Yeah.

I, uh, I know it is absolutely useless to do the long range forecast, but I feel like

the moment I look, that's when I'm officially in the mood, right?

Like the, I'm in Bonnaroo mode.

As soon as I look at, you know, the 30 day long range forecast, um, I just want to check

it out just in case.

And I know it's not going to necessarily be right, but let's just see if we get a, can

we get a two week out?

Oh yeah.

That weekend is out.

Yeah.

Uh, we're looking highs in the mid eighties and, uh, somewhere between 30 and 60% chance

of showers.

That's a pretty good start.

I, uh, I don't mind that start.

If you're telling me, tell me 50, 50 chance of rain and mid eighties.

Oh, I'm taking that every time.

Absolutely.

Uh, as opposed to mid nineties and no rain.

No, no kidding.

How's that?

Because, because by the way, when it says mid nineties, it's one of three.

Uh, how's everyone doing?

Yeah.

It feels like I haven't seen you guys in a while.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Just feels like we talk every day.

I know.

Just feels like it's been a while.

I don't know why.

Yeah.

I don't know.

Taka, do we have a bus update?

20, 23.

I do have a bus update for you and do it now or you want to wait?

Let's do it now.

It's not good news.

Okay.

Um, he's, yeah, he split the case open and it's not reusable at all.

So he's going to have to source a whole new case crank everything.

Okay.

I'm going to pretend I know what any of those words mean.

It sounds bad.

That's really bad.

Is that a tear?

Is that a cry?

The case is the only part you can't buy new.

You have to reuse a case.

So if mine's not reusable, you got to start somewhere else.

Okay.

Is this an emotional type news thing for you or, uh, it's not great news, but I, you know,

I was kind of prepared for it.

So yeah, you are prepared.

So are we ready to say the backup plan yet?

Backup plan is in motion.

I'm picking it up this week.

Okay.

What are we, are we saying what the backup plan is or you still want to wait to do the

big reveal?

We'll do the big reveal.

We'll do the big reveal on the farm.

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh wow.

Okay.

All right.

Nice.

What woman are you shoving in that trunk to bring along with you?

I don't know who's going to pop out of this cake.

He's still vetting applicants.

That's what he is.

Yeah.

Fax me if you, uh, if you're interested in, um, the, uh, it's just going to take longer.

That's it.

I mean,

All right.

Uh, today on the show, uh, bonnadoes, bonnadoes, don'ts, do a do, do a roo, bonnaroo do's and

don'ts our annual, uh, exploration through the things that we've learned over the, I

mean, I've done 16 years, Barry, are you 16 or 17?

Uh, I think we're, I think you're one ahead of me, right?

Cause you, you went one year prior than I did.

I went to the first one, but I didn't start till oh seven and I've been, okay.

Then taco, are you at three or four now?

This will be my fourth.

I've been to three.

So it's, so we're over 30 Bonnaroo's in between the three of us.

And with all that expertise, we're going to try and give you as comprehensive of a list

of Bonnaroo do's and don'ts, uh, today on the what podcast.

But let's start with something that, uh, I guess I, something I did this past week, which

was one of the highlights of my, my adult life.

So I grew up in Richmond, Virginia, uh, and we spent most of our time in DC being a short

drive to DC.

So a lot of, you know, DC culture sort of just made its way into my life.

One thing in particular was a, a bar slash music venue called the nine 30 club.

Well the nine 30 club hosted every great rock band, uh, that's ever existed.

I'll never forget sneaking in with a friend's brother to a bad brain show and being teeny

tiny little Brad kid, uh, seeing 400 people slam dancing, beating the hell out of each

other.

I walked in about 30 seconds later, turned right around and walked out.

Uh, not, this is not for me.

Uh, and that was the only time I ever actually walked into the nine 30 club.

It closed and then reopened in a much bigger space.

Well the owner of the nine 30 club, the current nine 30 club has reopened a replica of the

old nine 30 club in DC right next to the new nine 30 club.

They're calling the new old nine 30 club, the Atlantis and, uh, inside the Atlantis

for the very first show this week, they had the Foo fighters for 450 people.

Uh, one of the biggest tickets that you could probably ever find on the East coast.

And you know, through the first year of the Atlantis, they're doing 44 shows and they

sold all 44 shows out all for $45 a ticket.

So to get this Foo fighters ticket was incredibly hard to get, but it was $44.

Um, it was absolutely incredible.

I took Evan Bonnaroo down with me.

I made him drive, uh, made him pay for the hotel.

I made him pay for drinks and, uh, gas and tolls.

Uh, but nonetheless, he got in, what a, what a steal for the $45 ticket price.

But I, so the inside is, is so, so reminiscent of the nine 30 club.

I don't know if we've, if we have anybody that's listening that had ever been, but there

used to be this cat bird seat.

There was a pole right in the middle of the room and there was a seat on top of the pole

and the guy would sit up there, all show, feet dangling, uh, videoing whatever show

was on stage.

And it was kind of obtrusive, but it was silly.

It's like, this is such a strange thing to be right in the middle of the venue.

They brought the cat bird seat back.

It's right on the left of the stage.

Um, there's the old street sign, the pole where like on F street and whatever the cross

street was, they've got the pole on the rooftop, uh, bar.

Uh, they even have like, um, they've built like the street scape of what the street looked

like in the mid nineties, um, upstairs in the bar.

We've got all kinds of history painted all over the plaster all over the walls of, you

know, former shows that, uh, we're at the nine 30 club.

So the space in and of itself was just immaculately done.

I was totally convinced.

I was walking into them like rolling on paint, um, drying as soon as we get there because

they got their building permit on Thursday.

The show was a Tuesday.

So, um, their occupancy permit rather.

So the place was immaculate.

The show was unlike anything that I've, I've really witnessed to see that big of a band

in that small of a space, 450 people with the Foo Fighters.

Uh, it kept, I kept thinking through the entire set about Bonnaroo and all of the things that

we had assumed about this Foo Fighters show going into Bonnaroo weekend.

And I kind of feel like I need to change my expectations for this Foo Fighters show.

Okay.

How so?

I know, I know that we've been talking a lot about this being an epic Foo Fighters show

and it will be, but lasting until, you know, Monday morning, you know, four or five hours

show because of the history of what they've always done.

They love playing for a very long time.

If you look at any show that they've done, they haven't gone more than 22 songs, any

of these shows.

So far in this, in this, in this run, they've only done about two and a half hours and they

had every opera.

Now, I don't know if they could have gone past midnight.

Apparently there's a curfew in DC.

So I, it wouldn't have mattered, would have happened at DC.

They had to stop at 12, but they did 22 songs.

If you look at the show before that, they did 20 songs before that, 21 songs.

I don't know if we're getting a three and a half hour Foo Fighters set at Bonnaroo anymore.

I feel like my expectations for that are now completely different.

I think you might see something that's just two and a half, 245 with fireworks at the

end.

With that being said though, even though they're only doing 22 songs at this show, the setlist

was really tight and what they're doing with this, they're letting the songs breathe a

little bit more.

They're finding more moments to, I guess, for lack of a better term, jam.

They're playing with, with breakdowns.

They're giving, you know, more solo times and Josh Freeze sounds incredible.

Absolutely incredible.

They're probably also doing 22 songs because you know, Josh has got to get up to speed.

He can't play everything that they've ever known like Taylor could have when, you know,

they did an hour of Rolling Stone songs at the Metro show after Lollapaloo's a couple

years ago.

So, there's probably a lot of things here, but I'm starting to reevaluate how much we're

going to get on the farm.

Yeah.

A couple of things, I guess.

I mean, that makes perfect sense, but one thing that may play different and I have no

information.

You already know way more than I do, but the idea of having people sit in, you know, would

that change?

Oh yeah.

Would that change things?

You know, it's...

Well, he's definitely having people, Dave and the Foo Fighters are having people sit

in.

Like he had his daughter come do two songs.

You know, I think there's been a couple of other pop-ins so far, like in the Boston Calling

show and the other festival that they did.

So yes, I totally anticipate somebody coming in.

In fact, at the 930 Club show, the owner, I think demanded to play drums with them at

the show.

So they brought him out to play drums during Big Me, which is by all accounts, by Dave's

account, the easiest Foo Fighters song to play.

And it was hysterical how slow it was.

How slow, like the drummer changed everything.

You know, like the owner who is a fine drummer, but he just doesn't, you know, he's not a

professional member of the Foo Fighters.

And it was just so slow.

You could see all the guys looking around and be like, what in the world is happening?

So yeah, I can, I don't think they have any fear of putting anybody and everybody on stage

with them and that could possibly, you know, change things a little bit.

But I think that you're nibbling around the edges at that point, you know?

Maybe it goes from a 22 set, a song set to maybe a 28 song set, 30 songs.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

That makes sense.

But man, it's good.

They sounded great.

And Josh Frees, you know, he doesn't miss a, you know, I don't think the band has missed

a beat.

They sound fantastic.

It's interesting.

In the old days, the long sets and the people sitting in and all old days at Bonnaroo was

the norm.

And we've heard from, you know, the people with the festival that put it on say it's

the shortened sets are because that's what the bands ask for.

You know, as fans, I think we sometimes think, well, they can just play as long as they want

to.

But there's road crew, light crew, sound crew, those guys all have to get paid.

You know, they're all a lot of them are union.

There's a lot of things that we don't even know about.

So you know, yeah, but the second and the second that you go over the band after you

has a plan to catch.

Well, that doesn't happen.

You know, this with because they'll be the last band on Saturday, Sunday and that there's

curfews and all that.

So that's that's the only reason I think we're speculating that it could go longer than than

usual.

But you know, it's still going to be a good show.

I just I don't know.

And maybe there was a part of me that just wanted them to go forever and play for the.

But then again, you know, that Metro show that I was at, it feels like it lives in legend

and lives in lore.

But I do remember a time during that set, I was like, God damn, I'm exhausted.

I'm ready to go to bed.

Like there were so many times where I almost left.

But I didn't.

Sure.

I mean, is is there even an appetite for three and a half hour shows?

It's a good question.

It's a great question.

Yeah.

You're you've been especially if you've been waiting all day, if you're that guy that,

you know, wanted to get on the rail and got there at noon.

That's a long day.

Yeah.

I mean, I know the the fish people would say yes.

And I know that there are plenty in this group that would absolutely be all into it.

But, you know, with the with the normal Bonnaroo attendee, you know, the forty thousand that

are, you know, are the twenty thousand are there for the Foo Fighters.

Do they really want to, you know, at the end of their four day festival?

I don't know.

You know, it's maybe rethink a lot.

Maybe I do want I don't know.

Maybe I do want three and a half hours of the Foo Fighters.

Maybe I maybe the tight two and a half that I got was exactly the sweet spot.

Right.

It was a good show, though, right?

I mean, it was fantastic.

Yeah, it was fantastic.

That's so weird that they would replicate something like that.

I mean, that's such a risk, you know, because, you know, the cliché is you can't go back

and it's never you're never going to reclaim what was.

But sure sounds like they tried.

Yeah.

And I think they I think honestly, I think they tried and they succeeded.

It feels great.

The room really feels.

I will say this about Dave Grohl.

He's just so damn good as a radio guy.

You know, we're all about teasing and and theater of the mind and, you know, creating,

you know, content.

And he's just so it's I can tell he grew up listening to radio because by the third song,

he was making a joke about Fog Hat, you know, because he's so funny on stage and you know,

he's coming in, you know, with with loaded guns.

He makes a joke about Fog Hat after the third song.

After the fourth song, he brings Fog Hat up again.

And then in the middle of the fifth song, guess what they just happened to break out

into Fog Hat.

You know, it's like he knew exactly where he was going.

He knew exactly how to set it up.

He's a pro and he's so funny.

He's so good on stage.

He knows exactly what buttons to push.

It's a fantastic, fantastic show.

Cool.

I'm so glad that I went.

Yeah, glad you got to go.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we have a lot to dive into today.

Our annual Bonnaroo do's and don'ts.

Guys, you got the list ready?

Are you guys ready to dive in?

Yeah, but wait a minute.

You spread some wisdom.

I saw a show I've been waiting for.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Do tell.

I saw that Remain in Light show with Jerry Harrison and Adrian Ballou.

OK.

Where was this?

Riverbend.

Yeah.

Oh, the Chattanooga Festival.

What I've been talking about and I missed it.

Ended up chasing a two and a half or two year old around.

Go ahead, Taco.

I want to hear about it.

Well, you know, this was on the Bonnaroo 2020 lineup that was sadly doomed.

But you know, ever since then, it's popped up on different things and it finally showed

up at Riverbend.

And you know, it was originally with Turquoise.

And Turquoise within the last couple of years has broken up.

But this was obviously like former members of Turquoise.

Jerry Harrison was there, Adrian Ballou.

They played the entire Talking Heads Remain in Light album.

It was fantastic.

Wow.

So good.

Yeah.

And did they?

The whole album.

Did they do anything else other than the album?

Nope.

OK.

Nice.

Yeah.

That's pretty cool.

For people who don't know, Jerry Harrison, of course, was in the Talking Heads.

Adrian Ballou, I think, played on that, but also played a lot with David Bowie and so

many other people.

Yeah.

I mean, he's a god.

Zappa?

Yeah.

He was discovered by Frank Zappa.

Right.

And you know, when you're when you're starting off there.

That's a good place to start.

David Bowie, Talking Heads.

I mean, pretty much he's just one of those prolific session musicians.

Almost any album from the 80s, you could probably pick up and find his name in the credits because

he just played with so many people.

King Crimson, of course.

Yep.

Yep.

Yep.

That's the one I forgot.

So somebody asked me the other day, is there anybody left that you haven't seen that you

want to see?

And of course, for me, there's not anybody except for the Talking Heads.

Right.

And we were just never going to get it.

So when I saw that they're going to bring Stop Making Sense back to theaters and put

it on the big screen so you can watch it again, I immediately Google search how I can buy

one of those big gray suits.

And I found a website that I can buy that big gray suit for ninety dollars.

And that's funny.

Excuse me.

I'm not only going to buy it, wear it to the show, but it's going to be my Mardi Gras outfit

next year.

Oh, yeah.

Make Evan Bonnaroo buy it for you.

Yes, I know.

Get to.

Yeah.

For every ticket.

He's spending ten times the ticket price or anything that I get.

I never saw the Talking Heads.

That's a good question.

Who else?

Who's on your list there, Russ?

Van Morrison for me, but that's such a hair, yes.

Oh, that's a good point.

It is a hit and miss show, but that's a really good point.

Yeah, probably Van would be up there for sure.

You know, I never I never got to see Bonnie Raitt.

I knew she was a Bonnaroo.

I totally missed her.

I totally whiffed.

I think I did years and years ago.

And I say think because I didn't I wasn't that big a fan at the time, but I'm pretty

sure I did see her.

Yeah, there's a bunch like that.

Most of the ones are passed away.

Tom Petty, you know, I did see Prince.

But yeah, I never got to probably it for me.

I saw Prince twice, actually.

Yep.

I had actually had a conversation with a guy the other day who got to see Robert Plant with

Alison Krauss here in town.

And I bring it up only because it was such a moment for him.

I mean, he had tears just talking about it.

You know, you got to see a guy from Led Zeppelin.

So same same for us with McCartney.

We all have that that person, right?

That's pretty cool.

All right, let's take a small breather and come back with Bonadou's Bonadontes next on

the What Podcast.

All right.

Jump in like in years past.

This will be a list on the screen.

So if you want to just ignore us talking about it, just fast forward all the way to the end

and hit print as PDF.

I'm going to start this like I do each and every time.

And you guys know my number one rule.

Yep.

Don't go hard on Thursday.

Never go hard on Thursday, which I'm starting to amend a little bit because we no longer

get there on Thursday.

We get there on Wednesdays and Tuesdays.

So I actually don't mind you going hard on Tuesday.

Go hard on Tuesday.

You got to.

You got to you got time to to to rehab.

In fact, go hard on Wednesday because Thursday you just you just need Thursday to be simple.

Don't try to do too much on Thursday because Friday and Saturday, you're going to be so

body wrenching that you want to be on tip in tip top shape.

So just just keep Thursday as a safe space.

Good point.

OK, I have your permission to go hard Tuesday and Wednesday.

Go hard on Tuesday, Wednesday.

It's OK.

You know, the two problem, the Wednesday thing is fairly new.

The Tuesday thing is brand new.

I don't know that we have enough data to really know how much that is.

I mean, we're now talking Tuesday to Monday for this thing.

That's a long time for anything.

It is.

It is.

It's fair, though, it's it's not like it's not like you're going to be doing much on

Tuesday and Wednesday.

No, you know, there's some scant activities around the campgrounds and, you know, there's

things you can do, of course.

But I just, you know, for the most part.

Screw it.

I mean, you know, my Tuesday was the Walmart parking lot.

Yeah, you did.

And you went hard.

I did go hard, hard in the Walmart.

You rage and rage in the Walmart parking lot.

But then you were in the, you know, the field by Wednesday.

Right.

Correct.

Yeah.

Wednesday morning.

So, you know, you can speak to it more than me.

I didn't get there until Thursday.

So I know I had to set up camp all by myself.

I was the only one out there.

But if you remember by Friday night, you also put on your whatever your dragon or whatever

it was costume and then crashed for it's a dinosaur bearing dinosaur half the day.

Oh, I know.

I was panicked for you.

I was afraid you were going to die in that heat.

I went a little extinct.

It's a little just a little hibernated.

But to your point, and it is legit, be careful.

Realize it's a long week and you know, your people are going to show up.

They're excited, especially if you've traveled a long way.

You know, the, the, yeah.

Well, that's that's kind of where I want to start.

I want to start with traveling.

But before we get there, I've got a new late edition because it's 2023.

It's something that we have never suggested before.

But let's be honest about the realistic about what the world which we live in right now

and be realistic with each other.

It's going to cost you some money, which is a conversation for another day.

I don't know why these are costing money, but fine fentanyl testing strips and Narcan

at this point in the world is you're risking too much.

Buy a pack of 10 if you have to buy a pack of 20, bring some for friends, but don't walk

in there.

And if you're going to do what you're going to do, be prepared at least.

Yeah, yeah, please, please, please don't die on me.

Yeah, okay.

That's a good please don't die on me.

That's a good and I know it's 2023.

It's a sad place to start, but you know, it's reality.

So before we even get to the camp stuff and what we do on site, let's start with getting

there.

I've hit I just I've gone through so many people now that have gotten either a dead

battery or a flat tire and maybe because my car has had a dead battery three times in

the last four weeks.

Bring jumper cables.

Yeah, bring jumper cables.

Bring however you fix a flat or you know, whatever those things are, you know, this

right.

You can tell them.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm I'm well versed in this around.

Don't bring anything.

Just call me.

Yes, call Taka.

Yeah, yes.

Make sure somebody in your car is a taco.

But more so than just more so than just jumper cables taco, you turn me on to this battery

pack that has been a lifesaver for me for years.

And it's it's this brilliant battery that can self jump your car.

You won't even need jumper cables.

It will cost you a little bit of money.

And I don't know if you can get it by now, but you'd have to go to what store do you

have to go to to get that one came from Amazon.

But you can pretty much get them anywhere.

You know, for years, jump boxes were these huge monstrous things because it had a full

battery.

But they've shrunk them down now to where they're just basically like it looks like

a cell phone charger.

And yeah, right.

You hook the cables up, plug it into your battery, give it a spin.

And it's enough.

And you can plug anything into this thing.

Yeah, you can also use as you can charge your phone.

You can charge your lights, you know, charge your phone.

You can run a fan inside your camp if you can get one of these.

Yeah, they're really good.

I would just I mean, if you if you get one, I suggest bringing two.

If you like bring multiple because just in case you do need to use it for a car, you

don't want to have a dead one.

You know, yeah.

After you've used it for the whole weekend to, you know, power a blender.

Yeah.

Or a fan.

I mean, that was another thing.

A lot of people are going to read a machine.

Yeah.

A lot of people, you know, the important stuff.

Yeah.

But they will run things like that and then you don't have to run your car battery.

You know.

Yeah, that's a good one.

I was going to suggest that.

I think one of our candidates had one last year and we did.

We ran our fan, if you remember, so hot.

So I mean, it was good for charging phones and everything else.

And I'm pretty sure you can't bring a generator out in center.

But we have plenty of people where we can't bring generators.

Please don't bring a generator.

Please stop it.

I disagree.

But, you know, they're size limits.

But they're so loud and obtrusive.

I mean, the old ones were.

Yeah, it sounds like a lawnmower.

Yeah, our friend Joe.

We have very silent generators.

Yeah, the Honda, the Honda one that Joe brings is very quiet.

And it's true.

It's great.

But they're very expensive, too.

Yes.

Get a friend.

Yeah.

Find a friend to buy a Honda.

Get Evan Bonnarooy to buy you one.

Yeah, they're great.

One I bring is very loud.

You're correct.

And we only ran it for an hour or so to charge up phones and stuff like that.

Now that you remind me.

You remind me that Joe's was very quiet.

And I remember it actually being pretty small.

Yeah, it's like the size of the thing.

OK.

So when I was saying don't bring a generator, I was specifically saying, Barry, don't bring

your generator.

Yeah, I'm not.

I haven't brought it in a couple of years.

It's yeah, those big ones that, you know, basically, you know, power like a boat engine.

No, I can't.

Those things are just too.

I agree.

But I don't mind it sleeping because it's white noise for me.

But I understand.

It is loud.

OK.

So, yeah, I have some sort of major battery supply slash jumper cable thing.

Make sure your car.

And that's for your car.

But along those lines, bring you can get the little ones for your cell phones, too, that

you can take with you.

And I mean, the one I have will charge my phone three or four times and it'll run our

equipment that we use.

Which is impressive because Barry's phone is a landline.

It's weird how he's got a rotary phone working on the beacon.

But along those lines and I don't know how to prevent this, but we ran into it.

You remember last year, Russ, where mine, I guess, was in the car or something.

It was so hot.

Yeah, it didn't work.

Batteries are very sensitive to temperature.

And if it's too hot, they're just not going to work.

And so, yeah, me neither.

I know.

Yeah, me neither.

Yeah.

So, yeah, keep them in the shade.

We have to keep them cool because if they overheat, they're useless, just like we ran

into.

Luckily, and I'll bring a couple, too.

I have an extra.

Right.

Bring backups is the tip.

Bring everybody a battery.

Bring everybody an extra charger.

I got this, I don't know where I put it.

This teeny tiny little charger.

It's brilliant.

I don't know where it is.

You just can't have enough batteries, chargers, everything.

You can't.

The other thing before you get there, Barry is the one that made me do this years ago.

And I'm so glad that I started doing it.

Do not show up at the farm without having already set up all of your gear.

Set up everything now.

Get everything out.

Wash it.

Shake the cobwebs off of it.

See if there's anything that's broken or cut or missing.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

Missing poles.

Yeah, exactly.

And then camp.

I mean, spend a day with your guys or your girls and your camp mates.

Spend a day with them and just set it up somewhere.

Set it up in a...

I'm not doing it anywhere around here.

But set it up in somebody's yard and just see what it looks like and see how your stuff

aged over the last year.

And make a list so you don't forget because you don't want to be 10 hours down the road.

I mean, how many people have you talked to and said, I thought you had the...

What was the one example?

Somebody we had on the show, they all thought the other one had the tent poles.

I think it was.

It was something like that.

And make a list.

And then if you can, put it in a place.

Not in the car.

Put it in whatever room you have.

Don't put it in several places because you'll forget.

But pack it.

Make the list.

Make the check.

And then you know it's all there if you can.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's a good one.

I know that we only have two weeks here.

But it's probably a good idea to go on a couple of mile walk, maybe a jog, maybe a little

bit of an exercise routine if you haven't started.

Just get the body moving.

I'd hate for you to wake up on, say, June 13th, get in a car and get to the farm and

you haven't done any of these things for your body to just be in shock by the time you start

activating it.

I know we're running out of time, but just try to do something that gets the body moving

right now.

Well, since we're still on the...

We haven't even left the house yet.

We haven't left the house yet.

We haven't even left the house.

So if you're traveling with people, it's very important to compare lists.

You don't need to bring two of everything if you don't need two.

So if somebody has the tent or the tarps or the easy up, make sure and compare.

And you're going to have to figure out at what point to make that check off.

If you're each at home making your list and then you're going to meet whatever, Monday

morning or Tuesday morning to pack the car, somebody needs to make sure that, again, whoever

had this didn't forget it or assumed the other had it.

And to that point, by the way, every year I have always packed every square centimeter

of my car.

I could not get anything else in my car.

You need like a 20% buffer because when you get like getting stuff back in the car at

the end of the festival never works out the way that you did it originally.

Never fits.

So you end up throwing up and throwing out so much and leaving stuff behind, it just

becomes wasteful and junky and trashy.

Yeah.

That's a great point.

Give yourself a little bit of a buffer.

Now's...

I mean, you've probably been doing it all year, but now's really a good time to make

sure you've met with your people you're traveling with to make sure who has what.

The team meeting must have already been done.

That's been done, but you need to still have it and make sure, like I said, for me, I need

to put it out on the floor and see it and touch it and say, oh, there's my tent, there's

my sleeping bag, there's this and that.

And again, I live pretty close.

You have to visualize what it's going to look like.

Yeah.

And I live pretty close, so I can't imagine if I was making a long drive and I forgot

something important.

Yeah.

So...

Yeah.

And don't be redundant.

If somebody...

Don't bring two if you don't need two, that kind of thing.

Yeah.

And also don't fret if you do forget something because...

True.

True.

You'll make friends.

You've got neighbors.

People will help you out.

Yeah.

Yes.

Okay.

So before we even get into the car, other things I want you to bring...

I want you to bring things that are going to keep you warm.

I can't believe I'm saying it.

It's freezing at night.

It is so cold at night.

Do not underestimate how cold it can get.

I suggest buying the signature Kirkland line of hoodies and sweatpants.

Sponsor opportunity.

They are very comfortable.

They're very inexpensive.

It is my favorite hoodie.

Believe me, you will not want to freeze on the farm as much as you don't want to go into

heat stroke.

It is damn near frigid.

Yeah.

It can get there.

Is that from their signature series?

This is the signature line.

Yes.

The Kirkland signature line.

Yes.

That's how you know it's high quality.

Yeah.

This is the signature line.

Yeah.

The other thing along those lines...

Because in 2019, it was the 2019 and 2018, we were shivering.

Yeah.

It was so weird because early on it didn't matter.

You know, 3, 4 a.m. it was so hot.

You couldn't...

You know, it was miserable.

And then all of a sudden about 17 or 18, it just...

Something changed.

I don't know what.

Yeah.

But yeah, I was like...

I never brought long pants or a long sleeve shirt until that year.

And then I was...

I mean, we started bringing a down comforter.

Pretty much.

Yeah.

Because it was so cold at night.

Yeah.

You know, I just like...

Yeah.

It was almost too cold to sleep.

And along those lines, if you can...

I still think those cheap rubber boots that you can get at any box store, they're about...

Just in case it rains.

In case it rains.

It's because it makes walking a muddy farm...

You can walk right through the puddle instead of having to navigate around it in tennis

shoes or whatever.

Around 80,000 people makes more mud and more mud and more mud.

That's what brings me to the combination of the next point that I was going to make.

Prepare for rain and dust, but also bring shoes that you're willing to toss.

To your point, those rubber boots are really inexpensive.

You may never even use them.

But...

Yeah, once a year.

They're really...

But they're 10 bucks, 12 bucks, maybe 15, 10, where do you get them?

And I've said this before, for men, vans are 50 bucks.

Put in some good insoles and be willing to toss them when you're done after the weekend.

To me, that's the best monetary investment that you can make, is spending $50 on a new

pair of vans and new insoles and donate it back to the farm when you're done.

They've done a great job with adding the grass and everything.

It's not quite as dusty as it used to be, but it still can be.

If it rains, again, it becomes very muddy.

A small mud hole becomes a giant mud hole pretty quickly with that many people.

That's where those rubber boots are nice to have.

Then I've got a third pair of shoes for you to wear.

I know this is getting a little bit dainty.

Shower shoes.

Shower shoes.

Not just shower shoes, but something you can wear around camp.

Something that allows you to slip on and slip off really quickly.

Flip-flops that you can take into the shower.

Flip-flops that you can wear around camp to go from point A to point B.

We bought plastic shower flip-flops one time that worked okay.

Then again, back to these things are probably going to be disposable.

Let's be honest.

Maybe some PBR Crocs.

You're brand-specific today.

You are.

These opportunities.

I mean, if Taco spots a woman walking down the road in PBR Crocs.

Wedding bells.

You might as well just set up for a wedding.

Get ordained immediately because the wedding's happening.

Matrimony house or whatever.

I'll be looking for that venue.

Yeah.

What plaza is that in?

Because Taco's there.

Nice.

All right.

Before we get into actually being honest, is there anything else that I had?

Try to be careful how you decorate your car.

Don't stand out.

I mean-

Don't decorate your car.

Yeah.

Don't decorate.

Don't put a big sign on your car that says, I'm going to Bonnaroo.

Please pull me over.

That's a really good one.

Check for whatever.

That's a really good one.

I'll tell you what's a really good one.

Years and years and years ago, in the first few years, they were horrible about that.

The Manchester police would pull anyone over that looked like they were going to Bonnaroo

because they were sitting ducks.

They were easy targets.

You paint a target on your car.

Our buddy Denson, always... Because we would take back roads and we'd follow Denson.

Denson is a big man.

He's an intimidating man.

But he also is a fly fisherman.

He's one of these guys.

You know what?

You have that friend who plays golf who always dresses like he's just got off playing 36

holes.

Denson always looks like he's about to go fly fishing.

Every outfit that he wears, he wears as if he's sitting there with waiters on.

His thing, when pulled over, because we have Tennessee tags, he would always say, oh no,

no, no.

We're going past Bonnaroo.

We're going to that fishing hole right at the end of Blankety Blank.

He knew exactly what he wanted to say.

He knew exactly what to... The cop would be like, oh, okay, go on.

Go on ahead.

What do you get?

This camping stuff is not for Bonnaroo.

No, we're going to the fishing spot and staying for the weekend.

What are you using?

What are you using for bait?

By the way, these guys behind us are with us.

They look like me.

Speaking of Denson, he's a good example, again, going back to the pack in the car.

Seriously, if you can, find a guy like a Denson because if I don't have it, he does.

God, he's a utility belt.

He's a human utility belt.

Yeah.

We've joked.

Will somebody will say, everybody got a hammer?

He'll be like, what do you need, like a 17 ounce roofing hammer?

You're looking for a ball peen because I got both.

You need a claw?

What are you looking at?

For the first 10 years, I called him the Mayor of Bonnaroo because he was like the general

store.

You could walk up to Denson and he'd have anything and everything you needed.

He was perfectly willing to give it over to you.

He worked campsites like he was running for office.

Yeah.

Roll of duct tape, zip ties.

Zip ties are great.

Bungee cords are great.

You can go anywhere and get a bucket of zip.

The bungee cords with the hooks, those are good for tarps.

Zip ties.

We go through those a bunch.

Those are good to have.

What else?

A hammer.

Well, you're getting into camp stuff.

But you got to pack that ahead of time.

You got to think about that.

But I'll make it clear to you about camp stuff.

You guys can talk about the stuff that actually makes sense and the necessities of camp.

I want you to bring something stupid.

Correct.

I want you to bring stupid.

Don't be stupid.

That's why we work together.

If you're stupid, don't be stupid.

I want you to bring something silly and ridiculous every year.

I do it and every year somebody looks at me and thinks I'm crazy.

Then by the end of the week they're like, you know what, that was a pretty fun idea.

Yeah, I know.

That's why we work well.

You worry about the Bloody Mary bar and I worry about zip ties.

It works.

So we have a tent that's dedicated just to Bloody Marys.

We have everybody's cartoon head on a stick.

That's oversized cartoon head.

You can see it over Barry's shoulder.

That is the family portrait.

We have 700, 800 square feet of grass carpeting.

We've got couches that we bring that are easily fold-outable for a bed if you want it.

We've got a tent that's just a kitchen.

We've got everybody's cartoon head on a twister board.

We have a mailbox that you can leave us mail.

We have a giant marquee that lights up at night that's got solar power on it.

We've got white picket fencing.

Anything that makes it stand out and fun.

Find something that sets it apart because it just enhances the overall thing that we've

all created here.

Well, and how many people have said, I'm glad you had the mailbox or the picket fence because

that's how I knew I was close to camp.

How I knew I was home.

Landmark.

Comes a landmark.

Well, back in the day, especially early on, there was no landmarks.

And I've told the story forever about us.

If you took one wrong turn, you took a right instead of a left, you could walk for an hour

and you would have no idea where you were, especially if it was dark.

There's not a lot of light in 2003.

Good luck, man.

Good luck.

And that's one of the big, big tips.

Take a walk.

Tips.

When you get there, take a walk around and note the landmarks because it looks completely

different at four in the afternoon than it does four in the morning.

Luckily now there's flags and signs that are easily markable.

But you think, you know, well, I'll recognize that tent.

And then pretty soon you realize there's a hundred tents that look just like it or they

move tarp or something and it doesn't look the same.

So fine grapes.

What do you think is the worst camp idea we've ever had?

Well, the pool, as we've talked about.

The pool is a terrible idea.

By the way, shoot your worst camp ideas that you've ever had or seen at the What Underscore

podcast.

Drop a comment below.

But worst camp camp idea you've ever had.

You think it was the pool?

What else?

Grills.

You're not going to cook.

You're not going to cook anything.

You know, you're not the last thing you want to do is make it even hotter.

So you're not going to bring food.

First year I prepared as if I'm going into the woods and there's not any, you know, I

have to cook everything and I yeah, terrible idea.

Wasted a bunch of food.

Too much time to clean up.

Keep it to sandwiches, you know, pre-prepared food.

Yeah.

I mean, pre-made wraps.

Right.

I just I am I am not one of these guys that thinks you're going to be making eggs in the

morning, you know, or drinking coffee.

Just just take it to you know, please.

Yeah, no.

We get chickens.

I mean, we're talking about food.

Yeah, let's we get chickens.

Food wise, plan to graze snacks, sandwiches, you know, small meals throughout the day,

several small meals throughout the day and then plan on eating inside center room.

There's good food.

Well, the other yeah, it does.

It has gotten considerably more expensive, though.

Yeah, so I wouldn't say, you know, all three meals, but I will say that back to the back

to the bad camp ideas, I really still feel bad about spending all that money on disposable

cameras.

It's so expensive and they're useless.

They're just so bad.

You know, out of out of hundreds and hundreds of photos we took, we got like, I don't know,

half a dozen that were any good.

And they don't even know where they are anymore.

The disposable cameras just do not.

If you even remember to develop them.

That's right.

Yeah.

And if they don't get lost or wet, it's just a stupid idea.

The other bad idea, and we actually never did it.

Actually, no, I think somebody in our camp did it.

And we were just walkie talkies are useless.

Yeah, that was one I think I see the walkie talkies.

I think I suggested and it was not long after what there was some national event and we

thought it would be funny for all of us to have them on our shoulder.

And then we realized that was the only thing.

Yeah.

Then we realized it would.

Well, that was Russ's first year, right?

Because you got them for us.

Twenty eighteen.

Yeah, I think I did bring.

I'm pretty sure you got it.

Yeah, we did.

The idea was we never used them.

The idea about the walkie talkie, though, we wanted it to make us look like we were

working.

Right.

And then we realized it would make us look like we were working.

Then they put you to work.

Exactly.

People would ask questions.

Yeah.

It's just that didn't really work that well.

I'm trying to remember what else I mean, I know I overpacked early on because like I've

said in the last episode, I think, you know, I thought I was going to have to kill my own

food to eat.

So I was afraid, you know, we were going into.

We only lost one campaign that year.

Yeah, he was delicious.

I think I think the tendency is to overpack versus underpack.

Yeah, but I'd rather overpack with silliness.

I don't disagree because because because overpacking with things that are necessities, I feel like

I can get.

Yeah.

I think there are those are plenty available.

Not many people have just, you know, spare beanbag couches.

No, I totally agree.

I mean, yeah, you have led the way and our camp is very comfortable and all that stuff

is funny, but it gets used.

That's the other thing.

The couch gets the vacuum, the vacuum gets used.

Yeah.

The mailbox was funny and it got used.

The picket fence, you know, all that stuff is it adds.

You're going to be there for a long time.

You know, I just well enjoy it.

Would you say you're there?

You're there.

What else are you going to do?

Yeah, there.

Hey, speaking of bad camp ideas, haven't has anyone ever had success with the portable

shower?

Did somebody bring that to camp one year?

I brought one twenty eighteen.

How was it?

It's fine.

It's I don't think it's a replacement for a real shower.

You're not going to, you know, come out of there feeling, boy, I feel refreshed.

But just to rinse off, you know, a couple of times a day.

Wouldn't you rather just do that in your in the shower that's provided to us?

I think that's what he yeah.

That's what he said.

It's not the same.

Along those lines, what I learned, like for the first couple of years, I used the hand

sanitizers.

I hate that stuff.

I won't use it anymore.

Just use wet naps.

Well, I bring a gallon, you know, thing of water and a bar soap because I remember the

second year I did a whole weekend with the hand sanitizer.

And when I left, I went stopped at that McDonald's or whatever, right, right there by the exit

and washed my hands.

And it was disgusting.

Yeah, it just absolutely creates a film on your hands.

I don't want to do it.

Yeah, I just don't.

I mean, it's good to have in an emergency, but you're still going to want to actually

wash your hands.

So bring something water, you know, soap and a towel and I do like that idea of just like

having a bar of soap just on the on the ready just to wash my hands when I want to.

That's a that's a really good idea.

Yeah.

But that's like but that's a camp soap.

Right.

What is your shower plan?

Your shower shower plan?

What do you usually go into the camp showers with?

You have a bag?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I have a bag that I just.

What's your soap situation?

Are you doing a bar soap in that shower?

Yeah.

And I have the plastic container, you know, you can go to Walmart and get a dollar.

They have the shells for shampoos and bar soap and, you know, travel kit type of stuff.

I'm telling you load up on hotel bar, hotel soaps.

Yep.

And little shampoos.

You know, they're not much and then you're not.

Yeah, I don't shampoo.

Well, I don't I don't wash my hair.

OK.

Well, yeah, I do.

Yeah.

But but you're putting that in a bag and you're hanging it.

How are you transporting?

Most of the I did just a grocery bag, actually, because it's just easy.

And if there's hooks in the showers, I just hang it there and.

OK.

You know.

Yeah.

I use those little shampoo bottles with suction cups.

You can just stick them in the shower wall.

I don't know about that.

All right.

I mean, I just I just that I.

I can't think of anything worse than touching those walls like how in the world am I?

You sit down.

You're in the shower.

You can wash the wall.

Yeah, we're getting into to see.

I just don't want to think about it.

I mean, if we're going to here to do maintenance.

Well, another tip along those lines and same with the porta potties is you can figure out

the daily schedule, you know, if you can work it, try to plan your day to hit the porta

potties in the showers right after they've been cleaned.

If you can.

I mean, well, I get hurt.

So I do that, you know, hurt.

But there's there's I'm a two shower a day guy, a bonderoo.

So I do a shower as soon as I wake up in the morning.

And then the last thing that I do at night, because that three a.m.

shower is the best feeling in the world.

It is the best, literally the best feeling in the world.

So any other shower ideas?

Any other shower hacks that you have?

I mean, just other than other than take them, take them.

Yeah, I told I've told before that about my third year, I thought everybody stinks.

Everybody's dirty.

I'm going to take a shower and then I couldn't sleep because I was so bad.

What's your what's your favorite towel?

What kind of towel do you bring?

Oh, I have a microfiber.

It's not very big, but it's great.

The microfiber really works.

And it doesn't feel like it works because I need an old fashioned towel to like scrub

my skin down.

But no, the microfiber, if you just the padding, it actually really works and saves a ton of

space.

Exactly.

And it dries quickly.

It's great.

That's what I have.

Works great on your car, too.

Same one I've used every year.

Yeah.

The I mean, the only thing I would say about showers emphasized is try to figure out the

schedule, when it's crowded, when it's not crowded, you know, you're going to want to

shower.

It it changes your whole attitude.

And does that 3 a.m. is great or whatever time works for you.

But yeah, you sleep better, you feel better.

Speaking of sleeping, what is your how does what is your sleep setup look like?

Are you an air mattress man?

Are you a cot?

Do you sleep in the back of the truck?

Changed.

It's changed.

Yeah, I had a single air mattress for several years and then I got a second one and I stack

them and I like that slept well.

I'm going to stop you right.

I'm going to stop you right there.

Never ever give me another air mattress that's on the ground.

I want the air mattress that's tall.

Yeah, there's there's just a difference between that's a difference between sleeping on the

ground and sleeping up a little higher.

I sleep like a baby when I'm up on that tall air mattress that essentially when I doubled

them up was the same.

I always slept well.

Last year, I got a cot and loved it.

How'd that go?

I loved it.

And I didn't even put my tent up.

I just put my easy up and then hung tarps all the way around it.

See, this is what I was going to say.

I think that if there's one thing that I've learned over the last 15 years is that if

you have a tent, it should be there for like clothes and changing, et cetera.

I'm talking about like a taller tent, not like a sleeping tent.

I kind of just every time I fall asleep in the last, I don't know, seven years, it's

been either on a chair, a camp or in a hammock.

I don't know if I like sleeping in a tent anymore.

I think the one thing that I gave away last year, some couple came up and they had a whole

run around with Bonnaroo, whatever their tickets didn't whatever.

And I had an extra and I was like, here, take this tent.

I like our tall tent because it allows me some version of privacy.

If I need to go in and just hang out with myself for a second.

But I think I want to sleep with no walls.

The lack of walls in the airflow, I feel like is much more important come six, seven o'clock

in the morning.

I'm thinking this year I'm going to put because I got a big cot and I'm thinking I'm going

to put a big cot.

Everybody knows.

Everybody talks about how big my cot is.

I think I'm just going to put it in the back of the truck and put the easy up over it.

Got to figure out with Russ how we're going to travel and when and timing and all that.

But that's my thought right now.

I camped next to a guy for two years.

We coincidentally not on purpose.

We just ended up next to each other and he had a massive like a F 450 or something.

But he built a plywood platform and put a foam mattress on it and then put carps over

the top and slept open air like it was great.

Yeah, really good.

That's essentially what that's essentially what Denson started doing.

Exactly.

Midway through.

Yep.

Much smarter.

And if you know, depending on the rental car that I would get, I would hope to get some

sort of like, you know, SUV van that I could just put the seats down and sleep that way.

Isn't that what Nick does?

Doesn't he sleep in the?

Yeah, he started doing that too.

It's just easier, man.

Now, I will say that it doesn't give you any sort of stand up privacy, you know, change

clothes and right.

But you know, and the opposite of that is Brian, who literally comes in a pup tent that

I don't know how he can turn around and dresses in it and all that.

Well, let's be honest.

What is he wearing?

Good point.

You got to get his tubes on.

That's the hardest part of the day.

He literally looks he dresses like he sleeps in a pup.

He changes tube socks and he's good to go.

Speaking of speaking of Brian and sleeping in a pup tent and sleeping in general, you

guys know my other hard and fast rule.

What is it?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Don't hook up.

Don't don't hook up.

Don't hook up.

Don't hook up a bonder room.

Unless unless you find somebody who's taking you back to their hotel.

Yeah.

Or has an RV.

Just, you know, if you're questioning why, refer back to our earlier conversation about

the showers and so by showering.

Yeah.

And the walls.

Look, look, some people don't have the hang ups like I do about, I don't know, cleanliness.

So I know you don't.

So it's a lot easier for others, but it just sounds like the worst.

Agreed.

The worst thing in the world.

I mean, I can.

It's not that bad.

I don't know.

If I'm a single man like Taco, I could I can I can go, you know, find a date somewhere

else.

You know, when I when I get back, I can do anything else.

So anything else about camp before we move on to?

Oh, I will say like camp slash self care.

I was hard and fast about not doing this because I always thought that you look like some sort

of gymnast about to jump on the horse.

But baby powder for men is an essential.

Please do not walk out of the house without baby powder.

Yeah.

It is.

Yeah.

I'll be honest with you.

I'm not going to spray baby powder because that feels so I don't know.

It always burns every time I put it on.

Yeah.

But gold or whatever.

Yeah.

Whatever your brand.

But you're 100 percent right.

Make sure you have that.

There's an easier way of putting it on.

Make sure somebody has that in your camp.

Yeah, that's a good one.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

No, don't share your own.

I'm not sharing baby powder with you.

I got you.

Make sure you pack your own go.

Everybody has a different system in which they're squeezing that bottle.

I don't want it.

It's too close to you.

Not happening.

I also live and die by peppermint oil.

Peppermint oil when it gets really hot and stopped up if you have sinus problems.

You throw it under your nose or on your chest.

You breathe so much easier.

The other thing that you can do, it feels like it lowers your body temperature by 10

degrees if you dip a rag in water and then drop a couple of drops of peppermint oil and

put it around your neck or on your low back.

Game changer for about one o'clock in the afternoon.

You're right.

WD-40 does the same thing.

Oh, is that right?

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

You can get peppermint oil from... You got a Whole Foods.

You can get peppermint oil now pretty much anywhere.

You do need a fan of some sort.

A friend of ours a couple of years ago, maybe in 2019, brought this industrial fan that

was out of control.

Boy, oh boy.

That was a game changer too.

We have talked about and we really could do it if you hooked it up to the generator.

Every time I brought it up, it's been the one thing that you guys have absolutely vetoed.

I have an extra air conditioning unit, a window air conditioning unit that we could easily

plug into a generator and hit start.

I don't know why it's been vetoed every year, but if you have space, I'm bringing an AC

unit.

That's probably why.

Well, it's not space.

It's... Where do you enclose it?

You can't just put it out in open air.

Why?

Yeah, I guess you can.

It's going to blow cold air at me.

It's going to blow hot air.

At the back.

At the back.

Yeah.

If you don't have a ducting system to duct the cool air into the spot you want cooled,

it's useless.

Well, what about one of those portable ones that just sits on the floor of my living room?

Those still have to dump the hot air out somewhere.

There's usually a tube you stick out the window.

Yeah, you should.

Yeah, but what if I just had one of the... Aren't there ones that sit in the middle of the room

and cool the room?

Yeah, they have to duct somewhere.

It pulls the hot air out of the air and blows it away somewhere.

It's removing the heat, so you've got to move that heat out of the room.

Still not a bad idea.

This is why I keep getting vetoed.

I keep getting vetoed on this.

Well, that and it's either going to be me or Russ that's going to have to haul it for

you, so... That's the other thing.

Yeah, to your point, I do have a portable air conditioner for the bus, and I have the

duct work made to duct it into the top of the bus.

As long as there's a place to plug it in, it works great.

Yeah, are you going to have that in the new bus or the backup?

I could maybe adapt that to the backup.

But is there going to be a constant source of power?

Yeah, it pulls a lot of power too.

That's the other thing.

Yeah.

Right.

Anyway, that's a luxury.

I had a bad idea.

No, it's just... I know, I like luxury items.

The other thing I totally forgot to mention, because look, I don't know, what is your go-to

hangover remedy?

Don't get hungover.

Yeah.

Get back on that horse first thing in the morning.

That's mine.

Don't get hungover if you don't stop drinking.

You're not a Pedialyte man or, I don't know, orange juice?

You don't have any sort of trick?

Open that first can of bush as soon as I wake up.

Yeah, mine's a Bloody Mary.

Just level it back off.

But I don't get hungover because it's a bad idea to be hungover on the farm.

I know.

It's the worst feeling in the world.

It literally is the worst feeling in the world because as soon as you wake up, the heat hits

you so bad and you feel so nauseous.

Taco, you were there your first year.

You went so hard and you were out the whole day.

Yeah, I did miss part of a day, most of a day.

I don't think that was necessarily hungover though.

Yeah, it's a bad idea.

I mean, the heat, the farm, and porta potties.

Just remember that when you think, do I want that next drink?

Do I need one more?

Yeah.

Yeah, don't.

That's why we have an entire Bloody Mary tent is because me and Nick both get over hangovers

the exact same way as with Bloody Mary.

So speaking of that, Nick, God love him.

I really do think that if you are not, I mean, you can bring your own fanny pack, but if

you want to travel light into Centauru, you need your own bag man.

You need a bag man.

And Nick's always been my bag man.

So we're tied to the hip.

Everywhere he goes, I go everywhere I go, he goes because he carries all of our gear.

He carries everything that we need in his bag.

Well, he's used to it.

He's got a baby.

So he's already got all that carrying stuff.

And he has a child.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, he's got you and a child.

He can get how many cans of beer in that bag?

I don't know what you're talking about, Barry.

I don't know what you're talking about.

That's never seemingly bottomless.

We've never carried eight to 12 beers into Centauru.

We've never done that.

I don't know what you're talking about.

You need a bag man.

The other thing I actually forgot to mention about camp before we actually get into the

day by day specifics.

When you get there, and I'm guilty of this, you're going to want to rush and do everything

you can to get camp set up immediately.

I'm telling you, after a few years of that, we really start taking our time now.

And the one year that we didn't get set up, we had to get enough set up for the night

just to get us through the night, but finish setting up in the morning.

Take your time setting up camp because you're going to burn out, especially if you get there

in the middle of the day.

It's going to be so hot and you're going to try and push so hard to set up.

Just take your time.

And if you can, pay attention to where the sun is and where it's going to be, especially

when you wake up.

And also pay attention to where the streetlights, the portable lights and generators that they

have are.

I think was it the three years?

We always end up camping right next to that goddamn light.

It is so obnoxious.

And depending on where it's pointed, if it comes into your tent or where you're sleeping

or when you get up, like that one year we thought we had a great spot and the sun hit

us as soon as it came up, it was right in all of our tents and all of our eyes.

So if you can, pay attention to that or your tent or whatever.

That way, it's hard to think about when you first get there because they kind of went

to you and say, go here and do this.

Go, go, go.

And you feel like you're so rushed in that moment, but really just give yourself some

time.

And I know that this is sort of anti-code, but we brought police tape just for that exact

reason.

We don't really know what we want to do, but we just need a little bit of time and space.

And I hate the idea of somebody like cramming in and crowding us while we're trying to figure

it out.

The other thing too about booze, I know this is probably not the best thing to say out

loud.

There is, if you follow their guidelines, what you can bring and can't bring, I believe

there still is a quote unquote booze limit you can bring in.

Ignore that.

They're not counting your beers?

I had a friend of mine a few years ago, they took one of his 24 packs because he had a

pile of them.

Which brings me to get everything that you can into a cooler before you get there, and

then pile on top whatever extra that you need, but put everything into a cooler with ice

on top of it.

They're not going to dig through your ice cooler.

No, no glass.

Glass is the big no.

Yeah, don't bring it.

Don't bring it.

Nothing in glass.

But yeah, he had 24 packs taken from him from one of those things.

That's probably just a guy wanted his beer.

I think so too.

Yeah, I think so too.

Alright so that's pretty much camping, I think for the most part.

Along those lines, and it's been our experience, it depends on when you get there and who's

running the gate and all of that.

Don't be an idiot.

If you're bringing something illegal, don't leave it out in the open.

Don't make them be the bad guy.

They don't want to be the bad guy.

They're not trying to be, but if you're very stupid and obvious, then they're going to

be the bad guy.

Be smart.

Like Brad said, they're not going to unpack.

I've seen both.

We've had people who they did go through their cars pretty thoroughly, and then like me,

it's whatever, go.

So it just depends on the time of day.

Be nice, be cool, realize they've been out there for however many hours in the hot sun.

So that's going to be...

If you guys have a bottle of water, share a bottle of water with whoever's checking

in.

Well, that was my next Bonadue.

Do something nice for someone every day.

Whatever you give to the farm, it will come back to you in another way.

Do something nice for somebody every day, no matter what you might be going through,

because that's the whole spirit of the entire festival.

Attitude is huge.

That's basically the theme.

It sounds so cliche, but just be cool.

Not just because of the heat, but just be cool.

Don't be an asshole and you'll be treated well.

You have 70,000 new friends.

Everybody's there to love you and treat you with respect, so treat them with respect and

care and love as well.

One of the things that I figured out pretty late in the game on this...

So I have a clear phone case.

I put a note in the back of my phone inside the case, piece of paper, says, if you find

this phone, please call this number.

So I put a little note.

On the front though, I take a picture of the lineup every day, and then first thing in

the morning, I make that the background of my phone so that I don't waste and kill my

battery and I can just look at the...

You can see right now my background is crawfish, but I make my background of my phone that

day's lineup.

It saves a ton of battery throughout the day.

Yeah.

And along those lines, cell service is going to be horrible.

Go ahead and tell your people back home you're not going to be checking in every hour.

Yes.

It won't work.

Especially with 80,000 people.

So just tell them you're fine.

You're going to be fine.

No news is good news.

Don't expect me to call and let you, mom and dad or whoever know you're okay, because it's

really horrible.

And really...

Honestly, to that point though, the only news or slash things you should be worried about

is in the Bonnaroo newspaper.

Yeah.

Well...

Do they do the Bonnaroo newspaper anymore?

I don't think so.

Just unplug from all of the X-tier stuff, right?

Just unplug.

Yeah.

And along those lines, do call your dad before you leave.

Sunday will be Father's Day and you might get a chance to...

Oh, good tip.

...shad them out.

So, yeah.

Very good tip.

Don't forget, that's a good one.

Yeah.

I mean, if you...

Early morning before everybody else gets up and starts on their phones, you can maybe

get through.

Yeah.

Just let everybody at home know you're okay.

And while you're there, take care of everyone else.

I mean, that's the big thing.

Even if you don't know.

I mean, I do suggest for guys like us, because we're usually working there, but if you have

one of those internet booster things, bring that.

Yeah.

If you're somebody that actually needs to interact with it.

What's the one thing you bring to camp that is unusual?

The thing that's specific to Barry?

The thing that you can't find anywhere else?

I don't know if it's like that, but I'm conflicted on this because my best tip from the start

was to get a case of bottled water and freeze it and put that in my cooler and use that

as my ice, because when it melts, it doesn't get everything wet and soggy, and you can

also drink it.

But just the idea of that many plastic bottles going into the landfill anymore, I haven't

found a solution for it because I love that tip because it works great.

Every year I've done it, I've had three, four, five, whatever bottles remaining that still

had ice in it.

So it works great, but that's a lot of plastic bottles.

What about taco?

What's your secret Bonnaroo hack?

Giant inflatable rubber duck.

Okay.

I was going to say butterscotch moonshine, but you know.

Okay, I didn't know if we could mention that or not.

Where are we taking this rubber duck?

You'll see.

Okay.

Well, you guys know what mine is.

Here we go.

Hang on.

A giant mirror.

It's the yoga wheel.

Yeah, the mirror.

Oh, it's the yoga wheel.

Yeah, the yoga wheel.

There it is.

The secret to a healthy back, the yoga wheel.

The yoga wheel is a wife special.

I didn't know what it was when she brought it into the house.

I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen in my life.

I was like, what?

You just roll around on this?

But you basically put this on the ground and you lay your back over it and you just roll

all of that stress, all of that tightness out.

I'm telling you, it is a lifesaver.

It is worth every penny that you can spend on it.

What are these things like 50 bucks or so, Hillary?

Hillary.

50 bucks.

Yeah, I know.

Here we go.

It's a lot of PBR.

It's a lot of PBR, but here's what you...

If you can't get one in time, if you don't have one, if you don't want to spend the $50,

I suggest, and she will love hearing this, learn some very basic yoga poses like down

dog or a forward fold.

Learn some of those very basic things because I'm telling you, waking up in the morning

or about two o'clock at night, your body will appreciate it.

Even you, Taco, even you, Taco, can do a forward fold.

Even you can do down dark.

Yeah, if only Hillary were here to instruct me.

Taco, I saw a picture of you this weekend in lotus pose.

The man is flexible.

The man can move that body better than you'd imagine.

I'm telling you, it will really, really change...

All thanks to that rubber duck.

How much you're hurting on a regular basis.

Yeah, simple things like that.

The essential oils is a good tip.

Things like just doing some yoga and stretching.

A good chair, because you're going to spend a lot of time in camp early in the morning

and early afternoon.

A good chair.

Can I tell you about that good chair tip?

The worst thing that you can spend a dollar on, and I know they're cheap and I know you

can get a million of them for like $10.

Those dick chairs are worse than you could ever imagine.

They're uncomfortable, they're hot, and they will hurt you if you sit in one long enough.

I hate those dick chairs.

I would rather sit on the ground.

What chairs?

What are you saying?

The dick's chairs.

Dick's chairs?

Yeah, the dick's sporting good chairs.

You know those...

Collapsible in a bag chairs.

Collapsible in a bag chairs?

Yeah.

Okay.

Yes.

I hate them.

They're great for a two hour soccer game, but eight, nine hours.

You bring a chair for your dick?

Well, Barry brings a cot for his.

Size matters.

I'm so confused.

No, you're right.

Those bag chairs are awful.

They are, they're terrible.

At the end of the day, your arms are going to be like, oh, my God.

And your back is covered in sweat.

I hate it.

I refuse to sit in one.

Spend the money on a good chair.

Yeah, they're convenient.

The idea is good, but especially if you're going to be there Tuesday to Monday.

Yeah, good chairs.

We spent...

I know this is an investment.

I know it sounds like we're making you spend a lot of money here.

But we spent a good chunk on a really nice fold out chair.

And I slept in that every day one year.

Yeah.

Every day.

That's what our friend Mike do.

He sleeps in a...

Basically, it's similar to the cot that I have now.

It folds three ways so you can raise the back and the feet and lower.

So yeah, it's worth it.

It's worth it.

It's tough to pack.

It eats up a lot of space, but you're going to spend a lot of time in that thing.

My final suggestion, and I know this is another thing that costs a little bit of money.

Don't bring a cat.

Oh, what a baby.

Don't bring a cat.

Whatever you do, do not bring a cat.

I have gotten to that age, Barry, where I need earplugs.

Oh, yeah.

You're starting to hurt.

Oh, yeah.

Great tip.

Yeah, the foam, yeah, you can get a bag of them for nothing.

But I would suggest...

I've gotten to the point where I've used enough of the foam to know that I think I want professional

radio.

Are you talking about for the show or for sleeping or both?

For shows.

But yeah, you're right.

The foam for sleeping is actually a really underground secret tip.

That's a really good one.

You gave me that a few years back.

It really helps, especially when you have a guy in the camp next to you who loves karaoke

at four o'clock in the morning.

Or snores like me or whatever.

Yeah, it wipes.

You can still hear if there's an emergency or something, but it helps sleeping.

It's great.

Yeah.

Those are good to have.

I'm really into the show earplugs at this point.

I think it's...

I hear you.

I have some.

I've gotten to the age where it's starting to hurt.

Well, don't wait till you're that age.

Take care of your hearing now if you're not.

I know.

I've been in radio my entire adult life.

So for 23 years, I've been wearing headphones.

Yeah, it's like hydration.

If you're thirsty, it's too late.

If your ears are hurting, it's too late.

And those, you can get them.

You can get off the shelf or you can get professionally made ones, but they are good to have.

And I know there's been some obvious stuff in here like stay hydrated that we haven't

mentioned, but come on.

Let's have some common sense here.

We've been doing this long enough.

Yeah.

Start now.

So the final tip that I have for you is, and we've said it in so many words a million times,

don't stick to a schedule.

Have a general idea.

See somebody that you would never see.

Go see something you've never heard of.

Find the two or three things that you absolutely want to do a day, but then the rest of it,

just sort of let it happen.

Let the magic sort of come to you because it will.

I approach it a little different.

I think spending the 11 and a half months planning is a lot of fun.

Go through the schedule, make your list, but then what Brad just said, once you get there,

tear it up because you're not going to stick to it.

You can't do it.

Nobody can.

I don't know if you can hear that in the background.

That's not someone mowing their yard.

That is a cat purring.

Well, you probably hear a two-year-old thumping around upstairs now too.

He was knocking at the door if he wanted to come in.

Oh, that's so cute.

What is the cat's name?

Sebastian.

Nice.

Where did this cat come from?

It's Haley's cat.

She leave a car as well?

Have you traded cats for cars now?

Are you doing companion animals instead of cars these days?

No, this is temporary.

Let's just say I'm watching the cat for 30 days.

Okay.

All right, good.

That's how the car became yours too.

Oh, how cute.

All right.

I think that that pretty much hits my...

I've gone through my entire list here.

I've got a whole list of tips and...

Yeah.

The only thing I would add is an emphasis on be cool, clean up after yourself, respect

the farm, respect your neighbors, keep your camp clean throughout.

Don't wait till the end of the...

What was it that guy across from us that just put his trash out by the road?

Just be respectful of everybody around you.

Yeah, he thought a waste management truck was coming by at the moment.

Just be cool.

Act like you've been there before and act like you want people to act around you.

Yeah, that cat's purring.

Yeah.

So to that point, and not to be a tad sanctimonious about this, but the farm is not yours.

The farm is all of ours.

Let's try and stay respectful for it so that we can have it forever and ever.

Yeah.

Yes, please do.

Along those...

I mean, you talked about the showers.

It always amazes me.

It's like, who is it that trashes them?

If you just clean up after yourself, it shouldn't be that big a deal.

There's not a lot of...

But anyway, that's me being sanctimonious.

Just act like you've been there before.

That's all.

All right.

Anything else, guys?

I think that's it for me.

From these Bonderoo experts.

Yeah, that's pretty full.

Pretty good tips.

All right.

That's a lot of tips.

All right, guys.

It's getting crunch time.

It's getting crunch time.

Yeah, less than two weeks.

Barry's got a fresh haircut.

And Tako's got a cat.

And a whole new bus.

We have a couple of good shows coming up, too.

We sure do.

Yeah.

We'll have more on that soon.

Very excited.

It's crunch time.

And as we get closer, we may just have some of the biggest shows we've ever had.

So until then, we'll talk to you next time on the What Podcast.

Love you.

Take care.