For Immediate Release:

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Wins Best Festival Award!

At the Billboard Touring Awards held Thursday night, the Bonnaroo Music &
Arts Festival won the award for top festival.

Produced by Knoxville's A.C. Entertainment and New York-based Super Fly
Presents, Bonnaroo won the award for the third time in its five-year
history. The prize is based on box-office figures reported to Billboard
Boxscore. Bonnaroo beat out the Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza
festivals for the award.

Approximately 80,000 attended the sold-out Bonnaroo 2006, held in June on a
700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn., to witness headliners Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers, Radiohead and Phil Lesh & Friends, as well as performances by
Elvis Costello, Beck, Damian Marley, Bright Eyes, Matisyahu, Sonic Youth and
many other acts.

The dates and line-up for Bonnaroo 2007 will be announced early next year.

For additional information, contact Paige Travis, A.C. Entertainment
publicist, at (865) 523-2665.

Posted by the 520 gang at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Your favorite music, well, it just makes you sad. But you like it because you feel special that way.” — Clem Snide, “Your Favorite Music”

Continue reading "Sad Songs Say So Much" »

Posted by Paige Travis at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

State Fair people, that is.

I recently returned from a visit home to Minnesota. Even though there are much warmer times to visit the north woods, I wouldn't have missed the opportunity to plan my trip in conjunction with the Minnesota State Fair last week. It was also my mom's birthday.

My dear mother has the good fortune of celebrating her birthday on Labor Day weekend every year--which also happily coincides with the State Fair. This year, we decided to ring in her 54th year with one Fair activity for each year she's graced our planet. This may seem like a daunting task at first, but it's really quite do-able. With the main Fair activity being eating like a Prize Sow, we knocked about 27 things off our list in the first couple of hours!

Fair organizers make this even easier by putting all the food on a stick. Every food you can imagine (and some you shouldn't) can be fried and shoved on a stick: pork chops w/ sauerkraut, Hot Dish (what Minnesotans call "casserole"), Twinkies, various candy bars, French toast and even a pickle. (With the pickle, you get a souvenir hat, too!)

Only at the Fair

Whether you eat your way across the fairgrounds, stand in line for every ride or simply spend the day wandering through the craft exhibits, Fairs leave an impression on pretty much everyone. With the Tennessee Valley Fair kicking off tonight, we at 520 thought we'd fry up some of our own memories of the annual community get-together. Step right up and get 'em while they're hot!

Continue reading "Memories on a stick" »

Posted by the 520 gang at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I realized something at Bonnaroo. The revelation had been arriving for a while, but it really hit me in the 90-degree heat of midsummer while sharing personal space with 80,000-plus people in a 700-acre cow pasture. My epiphany? I dance. I can’t not dance. Stand me in front of live music, and I move instinctively, uncontrollably, even sometimes to music I don’t even like. (Dancing while seated is more difficult but not impossible.)

Continue reading "Dance Like No One is Watching (or The Rhythm is Gonna Get You)" »

Posted by Paige Travis at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As the Yard Dogs Road Show’s magician lifted the bundle of knotted
handkerchiefs he’d just pulled from his mouth to reveal an exotic
chicken, my mouth fell open in utter disbelief, and I felt compelled to
consider the meaning of the word “entertainment.”

Continue reading "Entertainment is experience" »

Posted by Paige Travis at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)