Twenty Days to Bonnaroo 2014!

Let the countdown begin!

In less than three weeks upwards of 90,000 music fans will gather at a farm in Manchester, Tennessee for four days of fun in the sun soundtracked by Jack White, Elton John, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Grouplove, Dr.Dog, Broken Bells, Ty Segall, White Denim, Vampire Weekend, Goat, Andrew Bird & the Hands of Glory, Washed Out, Cake, Warpaint, Phosphorescent, Phoenix, Arctic Monkeys, The Flaming Lips and more.

Although there’s still twenty days until year’s fest, there’s already been a ton of news about it. It started with hear-say leaks of this year’s artist line-up back in January. In February we decoded Roo Clues, or at least took a guess – many of which turned out to be right: Broken Bells, Phosphorescent, Washed Out, Break Science, CHVRCHES, First Aid Kit, Janelle Monáe, Meshuggah, Neutral Milk Hotel.  The official roster was announced during the BLAM! webcast on February 19th, which also included a Flaming Lips/ Ben Folds superjam (new songs streaming here). In April Bonnaroo and Sonicbids launched a contest offering two performance slots at this year’s fest to be selected by Billboard and Wayne Coyne; last week the winners were announced: Royal Teeth and Black Pistol Fire. Now Ford and What’s Trending’s “Escape to Bonnaroo” contest is providing bands another chance to win their way onto a Bonnaroo stage, and MarchOne’s Ultimate VIP Experience is giving away free admission.

Other opportunities: build a rubberband car to win admission, buy level 4 tickets (still available for purchase for $284.50 plus applicable service fees), or try this. Forbes published an article comparing “the three major music festivals” ticket prices on secondary markets, summarized in the graph to the right. Bonnaroo is the bargain.

In 2014’s other pre-Bonnaroo news, this year’s schedule is here, a new app called Lantern will allow Roo attendees to make wishes – front row access to Jack White’s performance, a chance to make a wedding proposal on a stage, a free cold beer, etc. – some of which will be granted; Animal Collective released a “Live From Bonnaroo” EP on Spotify earlier this year (listen here), and the festival organizers commissioned Already Alive to create a short film of the fest as it’s never been captured before (watch the result, The Bonnaroo Experience, below).