Roo AotD Postlogue: Wednesday Pre-Party
Happy Roo! Now that the Artist of the Day series is over, I want to do some fun posts to cover other stuff happening at Bonnaroo. Today, I want to talk about the Wednesday Pre-Party happening in Groop Camping, aka Plaza 5, and some of the lore behind how this came about last year and now this year for Bonnaroo 2025.
At Bonnaroo 2022, I did Tuesday arrival and ended up camping next to Daniel Shapiro, who runs the Troy Speakeasy DIY venue in Troy, NY. When we were setting up camp initially, Shapiro hadn’t arrived yet, so his camping spot just had a large white van and nothing else. The next morning, we heard power tools going off and saw that Shapiro was building a small stage to host concerts at his campsite at what he called his Tiny Van Stage. After bonding over music and ribs, we decided to keep in touch after Bonnaroo as we both had common goals of producing and booking DIY shows. Since that fateful meetup, Shapiro and I have put together multiple festivals and shows separate from our own separate endeavors, including the Bootleg Gizzfest during the King Gizzard Caverns Residency. Shapiro has brought the Tiny Van Stage to SXSW and Hulaween while also starting his own thing on property he owns in Joshua Tree. I have become the talent booker for the Chomp and Stomp festival in Cabbagetown and am looking to expand into booking for the Atlanta Mushroom Festival this year.
Last year, we joined forces with Matthew Chapman, a longtime Bonnaroo attendee and groop leader of SqueakSquad, and Andrew Killough, another longtime Bonnaroo attendee, to put together the 2024 Bonnaroo Wednesday Pre-Party. Since the event was well received by Bonnaroo attendees with hundreds showing up, the festival asked Matt to bring it back for 2025. I have stepped back from helping with the event, but Matthew, Andrew, and Shapiro have been putting in the work to make this year’s Wednesday Pre-Party a legendary event. Jason Huber of Cherub, Future Joy, and ARI@HOME are some amazing headliners for this mini festival happening on Wednesday not to mention the slew of undercard artists including Wanda, Nobody’s Darlings and LSDaniel, Shapiro’s artist project outside of the Tiny Van shenanigans.
The Wednesday Pre-Party is looking like the main event on Wednesday at Bonnaroo. It starts after the TOTEM Foundation Purple Carpet Event at 4 PM and will run well into the night. Come out to Plaza 5 for some good times before Centeroo opens on Thursday. Big shoutout to Matt and Andrew for putting together the lineup and making this happen for 2025. Another big shoutout to Shapiro for providing a stage for the Wednesday Pre-Party. Hope to see yall there!