Fans enjoy diverse musical lineup despite heat, traffic

MANCHESTER, Tenn. -- A makeshift city of 90,000 sprung from a dusty farm field Friday on the opening of the three-day Bonnaroo music festival.

Despite the stifling heat, women in peasant dresses danced and twirled to music that ranged from plinking mandolins to moody electric guitar solos.

"Even though it's hot and humid, I think it's amazing," said 18-year-old Ashley Davis of Franklin, Tenn., who lounged on a blanket to the side of a towering stage where the Yonder Mountain String Band played a country-tinged set. "It's like a big family."

"Big" was a key word Friday, as in big traffic jam and big crowd. A line of cars snaked for at least three miles on Interstate 24, with things moving so slowly that people got out of their vehicles to chat and play hackysack while they waited.

But amid the partying, word came Friday afternoon that a 20-year-old man attending the festival had died from unknown causes. Rick Farman, a Bonnaroo organizer, said the man was taken to Manchester Medical Center after becoming ill Friday morning. They later learned the man had died.

A Coffee County Sheriff's Department dispatcher, who refused to give his name, said the young man was from Michigan, and that an autopsy was planned to determine a cause of death.

Meanwhile, vehicles of all kinds made their way slowly to the 600-plus-acre farm along a dirt road that wound through a sea of tents and campers. Thousands of fans, many in sandals and beads, tromped over the cinders to the six stages.

The stench of portable toilets, stale beer, sweat and marijuana smoke wafted through the site.

No one seemed to mind.

"So far it's been a blast," said 20-year-old Justin Schmitt, who made the trek from Finksburg, Md., with 10 friends. "I figured it would be big, and sure enough."

Schmitt says he's wanted to attend the festival since it began in 2002.

This year, the 80-act lineup includes Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, The Dead, Steve Winwood, Trey Anastasio and Wilco.

For all three years, tickets have sold out by way of the Internet with no advertising.

An additional 10,000 tickets were sold this year because organizers leased 100 more acres of land next to the primary festival site, which is about 60 miles southeast of Nashville.

Most of the festival-goers camped on site. While some already were wishing for a comfortable bed and warm shower, most shrugged it off.

"There are port-a-potties and we're in tents without air conditioning, but that's part of what it's all about," Davis said.