Bonaroo Wrap-up

A few years ago Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys came out to Tennessee National to play a round of golf before a show he was playing at the Valarium. Anyone who knows Dave knows that he is a music fan and Adam always has Dave play with any musicians that come out to play the course (Alice Cooper for instance). So Dave played with Ken and they became friends. Ken would call Dave to get a golf course recommendation or to see if Dave might be able to get him on a course. Dave even set Ken up to play Des Moines Golf and Country Club with Marvin and Kyle (Ken said it was the coldest round of golf he's ever played, it was snowing when they got to the 18th hole! That's Iowa for you!).

Ken gave Dave a call a few months ago saying that the Dropkick Murphys were going to be playing at Bonaroo and that he and Dave should meet up to play a few rounds of golf before the show. So on Saturday Dave and Bob went to Chattanooga to pick up Ken and play 18 holes at Black Creek Golf Club. After their round they picked up Al (the lead singer of the Dropkick Murphys) and went to dinner and had a great time swapping stories.

Sunday Dave, Bob and Ken had an early tee time at Canyon Ridge Golf Club in North Georgia where apparently no one played too well. After the round of golf Dave and Bob took Ken to meet up with the rest of the band at a Holiday Inn just outside of the Bonaroo to get ready for the show. All of the tour buses (30 or 40) for the different bands that played on Sunday were lined up in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn. The artists are shuttled in to Bonaroo and their stage in 15 passenger vans, which is what Dave and Bob rode into Bonaroo on with the Dropkick Murphys. No parking and walking for them!

The first band they saw was Against Me, the guys in the Dropkick Murphys are big fans of Against Me so they all went to see their show. Festivals like Bonaroo are really the only time bands can see different band play since they are generally touring with the same opening act for a while.

The Dropkick Murphys had to get ready for their show so Dave and Bob took a walk around Bonaroo (there are 4 stages at the festival) and saw Zach Brown Band, Jamey Johnson and John Fogarty play. Then they went back for the Dropkick Murphys show and were able to sit at the soundboard backstage and watch the show since they were lucky enough to have artist access passes. During the second song of the Dropkick Murphys show a van pulled up and a guy with a bass jumps out with a couple of security guards and an entourage. It turns out the bass player from the Dave Matthews Band is a huge fan of the Dropkick Murphys and wanted to play a song with them, so he got on stage and jammed for one song with Dropkick. The Dropkick Murphys played an awesome show and had the crowd going crazy. They also said, "This song goes out to our good friends Bob and Dave!" before playing the song Forever. Bob said there were crickets when the dedication was made and then when the song started playing everyone was going crazy again. I am sure everyone was wondering who Bob and Dave were!

After the Dropkick Murphys show Dave and Bob went to see Phoenix play, ate dinner in the artist tent and saw Dave Matthews play. The Dropkick Murphys were headed to New Orleans for their next show so Dave and Bob said their goodbyes and got on the road home.

I'm going to say the only way I'd want to experience Bonaroo was the way they did!