Daniel and Sharla are out this week, so JB and PawPaw Josh are taking over with a pilot episode of a Bonnaroo sports podcast.

If you've every found yourself arguing about SEC football one minute and Bonnaroo the next, this one's for you.

We're genuinely curious if this is something the community would want more of, so give it a listen and let us know what you think!

Question for everyone: What sports team or athlete do you think has the biggest overlap with the Bonnaroo? Or, if you're not into sports, what other off-season Roo content would you actually watch or listen to?

Bonus trivia: Without Googling - What MLB infielder used an off-day to perform at Bonnaroo in 2016 with his band? (Hint - the band has the same name as the player).

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Story Time at the Roo Bus was started in 2019, and is the only woman-hosted Roo podcast. 100 percent of proceeds support The TOTEM Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps young adults in live music careers through music festivals.

Wanted to make a poll but I guess we can’t do those on this sub. But I wanted to ask if you thought The Strokes sounded good or if you enjoyed them. Personally I thought they were great but I’ve seen a lot of other people say they were bad or one of the worst Roo shows they’ve seen.

I was front and in the pit so my experience might be different but they were amazing. Julian sounded great and the band was so tight. They were my favorite set for Roo this year.

I don’t get why people always claim Julian was drunk either, he very clearly wasn’t. He’s also been sober from alcohol for 20 years now so I don’t get why people keep saying that. Julian is just awkward, mumbles, and their whole schtick is being too cool for school. Do people just not know that? I also found his stage banter to be funny while I see a lot of others not think so.

Want to ask this to see how many of you enjoyed their set and thought it was great, and how many didn’t like it. Discuss below 👇🏼

We had the chance to sit down with Keith Richards this week. Not that Keith Richards — let's get that out of the way early. Our actual guest is the newly-named Head of Festivals at Ground Control Touring, an independent booking agency representing artists from Waxahatchee to Japanese Breakfast to Manchester Orchestra. He was named to the role this past January, Ground Control's first-ever Head of Festivals, and he joined us to pull back the curtain on how a festival lineup actually comes together.

We get into the questions we've always wanted answered: do artists really make more money at festivals versus arena tours? Is there a "cookie-cutter lineup" problem, or is that a myth? Why is developing a true headliner one of the hardest jobs in the industry right now? Keith also walks us through what it was like being on-site at Bonnaroo 2026 during the storm evacuation, riding it out alongside Bonnaroo's own team, and drops a list of up-and-coming artists he thinks are worth watching heading into next year.

This episode is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts! If you struggle with attention span, there are timestamps in the description so you can jump to specific sections and we regularly post short form video clips of the podcast to TikTok and Instagram Reels!

The What Podcast is the longest-running and highest-rated weekly video podcast covering Bonnaroo and the broader music festival scene! Hosted by Barry Courter and Bryan Stone, two music industry veterans, the show started in 2018 as a celebration of everything Bonnaroo. Since then, it has grown to explore North America's festival landscape and the touring industry at large. Join Barry and Bryan each week for insider stories, behind-the-scenes insights, and the latest news from the world of live music.