Local businesses offered Bonnaroo consolation show and deals over the weekend

By Mason Edwards, Chattanooga Times Free Press

Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse performs on day four of the Lollapalooza Music Festival on Aug. 1, 2021, at Grant Park in Chicago. Modest Mouse played a surprise show at The Signal in Chattanooga after the band's Bonnaroo plans were canceled due to bad weather. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

After Bonnaroo 2025's weather-based cancellation, many stranded festivalgoers rerouted their weekend plans to Chattanooga, where local businesses scrambled to turn bad news into new opportunities.

From a sold-out make-up concert to drink deals, Chattanooga became an impromptu refuge for music fans without a venue and disappointed locals.

With tens of thousands of festivalgoers evacuating from Manchester — needing to pick between Nashville and Chattanooga — local business owners wasted no time in softening the blow, like with drink discounts for people with Bonnaroo wristbands.

(READ MORE: Bonnaroo 2025 canceled because of severe weather)

The Signal music venue jumped at the opportunity to catch talent as it passed through, booking indie rock band Modest Mouse in what the venue's spokesperson, Jeremy Hicks, described as a "once in a lifetime" show, even though it was unfortunate Bonnaroo had to cancel.

"The show sold out. Like I mean, Modest Mouse typically play like rooms double our size," Hicks said in a phone interview. "To see them in a more intimate setting where the energy is just electric, and honestly, the general feeling and vibe of the room was just, you know, excitement, just happy that the show still got to go on."

The idea came together fast. By late Friday night, Hicks said word was spreading about the festival's cancellation, especially as many of The Signal's staff also work at Bonnaroo. As artists packed up and headed to the interstate, they either drove north or south, and the Signal lucked out that Modest Mouse was heading south. Staff set aside their plans for the evening, and by Saturday morning, announced the band would be performing there that night.

"We were all at home, getting texts and phone calls at, like, 11 p.m.," he said. "This is kind of like the best way to make up for an already unfortunate situation."

By Saturday night, Modest Mouse, known for "Float On," a song popular in movies and television, played after Doug Martsch, frontman of Built to Spill, opened with a solo set.

(READ MORE: Owners of The Signal are excited about versatility at the new Chattanooga Choo Choo location)

Several other businesses jumped to curb the Bonnaroo blues. Riverfront Nights, a free, weekly concert series during the summer, offered $1 off beer for anyone with a Bonnaroo wristband for one night only. Hosted by Friends of the Festival, its executive director, Mickey McCamish, said in a phone interview that about 15 people took advantage of their deal.

"We saw it just as an opportunity to say, 'Sorry about Bonnaroo, sorry it was canceled, but hey, come on down to enjoy Paul Thorn and the opener, Call Me Spinster,'" he said. "We were glad to offer it, and we were glad to do it after all the festival they had paid a large sum to had been canceled."

River Drifters, a restaurant overlooking the Tennessee River on Suck Creek Road, offered a 25% off discount for festivalgoers for one day only, and staff mentioned that several couples came through and eagerly accepted the discount. Corey Hall came up with the idea for the discount after being disappointed with having to leave the festival himself.

"I left work at 4 p.m. on Friday, went up to Manchester, and they had all the roads blocked off and let everybody know about 8 p.m. that it was canceled," he said. "I woke up Saturday thinking about what I can do to help the people that were being evacuated, then I came up with the idea of 25% off."

Knowing a lot of people who had planned on staying for the festival would be coming to Chattanooga, he ran his idea by the owners, who were "all over it" and enticed several people to come to the restaurant, he said.

One of the servers that morning, Caitlin Shirk, 30, of Signal Mountain, had planned to go to Bonnaroo, but River Drifters needed her, so she understood the disappointment the festivalgoers felt.

"I had probably like four couples come in, but only worked the morning half of the shift, and then I know there were some more couples that came in after I had left," she said in a phone interview. "They were super sad about Bonnaroo being canceled, but they were super excited about the deal we offered," Shirk said. "They were so appreciative that they had someone to talk to who understood they were sad about Bonnaroo."

Snapdragon Hemp offered 15% off for wristband holders for the weekend only.

"Bonnaroo 2025 may be canceled, but the true fest spirit isn't," a Snapdragon social media post said. "We're keeping the Bonnaroo vibes alive at all of our locations with good energy all weekend long."