(Photo credits: Ryder Henry)
I have never really been known as a shy person. I figure every place I now consider a sort of home away from home and every single one of my close friends started off as a "stranger". That being said, before hopping in the car with one of my friends and 3 people I hadn't met yet to drive 16 hours into the Ozark mountains to some festival I barely even knew the line-up for, I was definitely feeling a little nervous and surprisingly shy. Wakarusa, the crew I was fortunate enough to journey with, and the other festival heads with crowded hearts on Mulberry Mountain made me realize how when you're in a place with so much amazing music and vibes to match…it's hard to feel nervous or uncomfortable and not right at home.
Music Festival? Hell yeah. Packed up the cooler with food and beer and jumped into the car. After driving from Virginia through Tennessee…crossing the Mississippi over into Arkansas…then stand-still traffic for a solid 3 hours somewhere outside of Little Rock…turned into an outrageous traffic jam party complete with Tweed rolling and bubble blowing…finally we rolled into Waka somewhere around 1 am.
The line-up was to die for.
All types of genres and new bands I didn't even knew existed to some of my old favorites I was beyond excited to see for the umpteenth time. Thursday was a great kick-off for the rest of the weekend in the Ozarks. New Monsoon, P-Groove, and Papadosio among other bands were the beginning of Wakarusa. Seeing Railroad Earth for my seventh time was just as good as the first. Playing at the main stage as the sun started to set and cool off the incredibly hot day we all had made it through was such a perfect evening in this beautiful place. One of my favorite things about festivals is the chance to fall head over heels for a band you never even heard of before. That band for me was Rubblebucket. This band has such a funky fresh atmosphere and really weird style of music that you kind of get drawn into whatever stage they were performing at in the first place. I walked into the tent they were playing on Thursday evening and couldn't get enough of their sultry singer and her hauntingly beautiful voice. But, once she picked up her saxophone and started wailing along with the other members in the band…I was needless to say, sold. This is also the only place I have ever been where I willingly jumped into a conga-line and danced my ass off all the way to the front…this band is fun and they get the crowd involved by any means possible…even either dancing through the fans themselves or being carried on someone else's shoulders while still killing it on the trumpet.
Speaking of weird…Primus was a highlight of the weekend for sure. It had been a few years since seeing Primus in Quincy, CA that I had even really heard their music. If possible, the show was even weirder and hypnotizing than I had anticipated. FYI people…when at a Primus show and people near you, clearly dancing their asses off and having a blast, start to shout 'Primus sucks'…don't worry or be offended…Les Claypool isn't.
BIG GIGANTIC?
Yes, please.
This was by far my favorite show of the entire festival. Before getting to Waka I was sure Pretty Lights was going to take the cake for me. Not saying that I didn't enjoy every minute of Pretty Lights for my first time and danced and laughed until I was almost too tired to keep dancing and laughing…because I did. But, damn. There is something going on with Big G that no one else can touch right now. The collaboration of bass dropping beats, insanely on-point sax, and a bad ass drummer…I am not only all about…but, mildly-obsessed. If you haven't seen them…GO. That's just my prerogative.
The satellite stage had some awesome performers that were such great shows and most likely will be needed to move to the larger stages to be able to pack in more people seeing as the place was filled to basically max capacity this year. Break Science, H, R/D, MartyParty…all of these guys rocked it out in the woods. Gramatik definitely being the best 'pussy-poppin-bass' out of any of the shows out there. People were getting down and having a blast.
The weather decided to get a little crazy there at the end of the festival…but, if you went with a crew even half as kick-ass as the one I rolled with…sitting in a car for an hour, mildly damp from being rained on, laughing and having a great time piled 5 deep into a Toyota Camry…waiting for the thunderstorm possible tornadowarning wasn't that boring or frustrating. All in all my very first Wakarusa…and definitely not my last…and I'm all smiles. Thank you Ozarks. See you next year!