Bonnaroo 2006 Day Four

I find my way back to my tent by early morning and get changed for my last day at Bonnaroo. On the way back to Centeroo, everyone is looking visibly wasted. People are getting desperate for a number of things: a shower, clean clothes, edible food and, most of all, drugs. I hear rumours of a guy wearing a sandwich board that says "I Need Acid" and we are offered liquid THC, hash and cocaine on the walk up.

I find myself wishing we were drugged for the first two bands we see at That Tent — Deadboy & The Elephantmen and the (inexplicably) Thurston Moore-endorsed Be Your Own Pet. If I never have to hear crappy guy/girl blues-rock or shrill Ramones-lite gutterpunk again, I'll be the happiest woman in the world. I cleanse my palette with some good ol' white boy rap, first from The Streets, who boast a back-up band in matching orange uniforms printed with palm trees, and the biggest bottle of brandy I've ever seen. The brandy is generously proffered by Mike Skinner, who proclaims, "I like to drink with all my friends," and then promptly launches into "Too Much Brandy." Our lad gets big points for effort in trying to revitalize a tent full of hung-over hippies. The Streets are followed by Atmosphere, who cements his status as one of the better live MCs in the business with his live rendition of "Trying To Find A Balance."

But once again, I have to leave the set early to get a good spot for Sonic Youth, who are above and beyond the best act I have seen in the three days I've been here. The bulk of their set is comprised of songs from Rather Ripped, but they also play a shuddery, layered rendition of "100%" and "Pattern Recognition," wherein Kim Gordon shakes her body at the microphone like a woman half her age and prompts a dude behind me to comment, "Ah love that woman. Ah want her babies." Me too, buddy, me too.

Although purists are probably pissed off that Sonic Youth didn't play more old stuff, the set, for me, is perfect — noisy, energetic, intense, stunning. The pinnacle of their set, and of my Bonnaroo experience, occurs during the encore, when Stephen Malkmus, fresh from his earlier set with the Jicks, strolls onstage to sing "Expressway To Yr. Skull," reuniting with former Pavement buddy Mark Ibold, who currently moonlights as Sonic Youth's touring bassist. Malkmus is in fine form, fist-pumping, grinning and yowling as Moore and Gordon coax feedback from the speakers. I don't recall anything about leaving the tent after the performance, but I'm pretty sure I floated all the way back to the campsite and into the car for the 16-hour drive back to Toronto.

Two days later, for all the frustration, overcrowding, heat, sleeplessness and overlapping sets, Bonnaroo still has me airborne.