As the Bonnaroo loudspeakers echoed through the campgrounds asking festivalgoers to shelter in vehicles, Eddie Wolf made sure festivalgoers’ vehicles were open to shelter in.
“It’s a pretty easy, 10-second job to unlock someone’s car,” Wolf said. “We’re saving people’s festival experiences.”
Wolf and girlfriend Grace Updike drove to Bonnaroo from Omaha, Nebraska. Wolf was at his fourth Bonnaroo, while Updike was only at her second. She attended her first ‘Roo with Wolf last year. They began dating a few days later.
“We had a spiritual experience,” Wolf said. “We fell in love at Bonnaroo.”
Wolf is a locksmith with two months of experience, and he decided to pack up his tools to help out fellow campers. Updike had a job at Bonnaroo, too: reading children’s books to festivalgoers, using the pseudonym Drunktor Seuss.
“I bought a bunch of books, I had a little raggedy sign,” Updike said, laughing and tugging on the strings of her Tyler, The Creator hoodie. “It had red glitter. There was glitter all over the campsite.”
At 1 p.m. Friday, Wolf and Updike packed their gear — a bucket hat, umbrella and lock picks — to unlock the cars of unlucky ‘Roovians. The umbrella came because of a chance of storms.
“Here’s a good quote for your story,” Wolf said, taking shelter in an a vendor booth peddling alpaca-based goods at Plaza 3 of Outeroo. “It was hella rain.”
Bonnaroo was postponed at 1 p.m. and canceled at 7:38 p.m. But even before the cancelation was made official, Wolf and Updike powered through the storms, trekking over five miles to unlock five cars.
“I’ve unlocked… eight to eleven cars today?” Wolf said.
The first locked car belonged to Tabitha Perkins, who drove to Manchester, Tennessee from Florida. Throughout the day, they met ‘Roovians needing unlocked at the House of Yes and as far out as Plaza 10. Some ‘customers’ even walked together with Wolf to the cars he’d unlock, forming a small C’Roo.
After Wolf unlocked the fifth car of the day, lightning and torrential rain overtook Outeroo. Wolf and Updike sheltered in four different tents, passing through plazas and radiating positivity.
Wolf received thanks for his locksmith work through festival goodies — such as a cold can of Busch Light — rather than cash. It was a better deal than hiring Bonnaroo’s official locksmith.
“It was $75 cash or $86 card,” Alex Macdonald said. “Crazy.”
Right before the rain began, Macdonald asked for an unlock. He managed to find his keys and unlock his car himself while Wolf and Updike were on the way, but Macdonald was excited by Wolf’s tools. He asked Wolf to unlock his car and locked his keys in it again, on purpose.
On a day where every set was cancelled, this was the most entertainment Macdonald was going to get.
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