How does someone who was so interested in niche music want to start a pretty mainstream music festival?
Well, I liked the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, too. And I’d like to think that we’ve done our best in presenting an eclectic selection of bands. I’m personally inclined to see a mainstream show at an arena and then head downtown to John Zorn’s space to see something there. Tell me about how the first Bonnaroo experience came to be. Phish, Dave Matthews, and Widespread Panic—I worked with a lot of the artists very early in their careers and I’ve watched their fan base continue to grow. Phish started to do their own festival and that gave me the indication that their fans were looking for a festival experience. I’m not old enough to remember Woodstock but that was something that appealed to me, the notion of getting a big crowd together to hear all kinds of stuff. Bonnaroo has a tendency to host jam-centric bands. Why is that? That seemed like a good starting point, a good launch—they had their audience. The term itself is pretty meaningless though—they draw on a wide range of inspira
