Nestled in the Ozark National Forest on Mulberry Mountain in Arkansas, Wakarusa delivered it’s 7th installment of the festival with an incredible lineup. Four days of music, basically from noon to the early morning, with over 100 acts packed into 6 stages. With most festivals of this size, the main issue is planning out who you will see and making the sacrifices of the missed shows. The beauty of festivals like this is that you have scores of acts that you have yet to discover. As you float around, you are bound to make the serendipitous walk to a stage with an undiscovered treasure (at least to your ear holes) Each day presented the wonderful challenge of hopping from stage to stage, absorbing as much music as you can handle. Wakarusa’s layout of the stages works well with the natural flow of traffic. Only two stages were off the beaten path, The Backwoods and the Satellite, though still fairly close to downtown Waka. This detour was shorten by Shakedown Street. Food and merch vendors of all varieties added zest to the fest, ranging from the free oxygen bar at the State Farm booth to trippy holographic/3D images from Jumbie Art out of Louisville, KY. One of the favorites on the food side was Bearly Edible, serving up quesadillas. I have to admit, the Iamayamadilla was one of the greatest food items I have ever consumed.
DISCLAIMER: This is a glimpse into my Waka experience. Click for my Rough Road to Wakarusa story. The Show of the Day Awards are much more difficult to hand out that you can imagine. The acts at Wakarusa were some of the best live performances I have seen in recent memory. Each act works hard to get their music out, be it through the music, dance, antics on stage, lights, etc. Some of the hardest working bands in the country were represented at Wakarusa. I can honestly say that I did not see one show that I was disappointed in. This is why I go to the festivals. If you don’t believe me, check out these bands yourself. You will thank me later, I promise. Doctor’s orders!
Day 1 – Thursday (1% of lineup seen)
As noted earlier, my arrival was not as planned. Thusly, I missed a large portion of the lineup and why I have so many acts most missed. One of the early highlights was camping next to Beatle Bob, who has a claim to have been to a live show every night since Christmas Eve 1996. He has so much energy and knowledge of shows and bands and was a pleasure to hang around. I saw him later getting down on stage with Michael Franti at the end of the set. The discovery of the day was beyond a doubt, Ha Ha Tonka. This discovery came in part due to being in the right place at the right time. These United States just finished a great set themselves and as I was hanging with some familiar faces in TUS, Ha Ha Tonka was setting up. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had seen Umphrey’s McGee play recently in Lexington, I would have surely gone to check that set out. I decided to stick around and catch a few songs of this band from the Ozark region or Missouri. I am sure glad I did. This band was incredible and I was shocked that I had never heard of them. I kept asking the guys from TUS, “Have you heard of these guys? They are unreal right now” They of course were wise to the ways of the Tonka. Just when I thought they had hit their groove and didn’t have anymore to give, here comes an a cappella breakdown. Now, being a singer for most of my life and coming up through an a cappella choir, this is one of the more difficult things to do with just four people, and not just sound like a standard barbershop quartet. They actually had soul to accompany their amazing voices. The one voice that stood tall to me was the one of Luke Long, who has one of the silkiest baritone voices I have heard in a while. All I can say is, when either Ha Ha Tonka or These United States are in your area, make it a must see show.
Acts seen:
Michael Franti and Spearhead (Main Stage)
These United States (Backwoods Stage)– Show of the Day Runner Up
Ha Ha Tonka (Backwoods Stage) – Show of the Day Award
Lotus (Revival Tent)
Acts most missed on Day 1:
Those Darlins
Truth and Salvage Co.
TFDI
Pimps of Joytime – Most Missed Show of the Day Award
Minus the Bear
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – Most Missed Show Runner Up
Umphrey’s McGee
Beats Antique
Kinetix
Day 2 – Friday (22% of lineup seen)
Friday was a day full of great acts, as is the trend of all the days. One of the toughest things for the media is balancing interviews and making to the stages for certain acts. Missing Cornmeal and Carrie Rodriguez to start the day was tough, though making it to Trombone Shorty was killer. The discoveries of the day were: Hoots and Hellmouth from Philly and Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band out of Asheville, NC. Totally different vibes, yet on top of their games respectively. One of the highlights for Friday was the press conference with Trombone Shorty, crew from STS9, Elliot Lipp, Ana Sia and Quixotic Fusion. I asked Troy (Trombone Shorty) about how fans who just see Trombone Shorty in his name might not know about his singing ability. He replied by saying, “When you are a horn player from New Orleans who is leading a band, you have to sing. We are following in the footsteps of Louie Armstrong, so it’s just part of the landscape for Nola. If you were a horn player from somewhere else, you might be able to just play horn. But being from Nola and representing the music that came before, it’s a respect and honor thing to lead the band with both horns and a voice” For my Show of the Day, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings get a little bias. They are one of my favorite bands out there right now, mainly because they have it all: power soul singer with some James Brown inside her, super tight band sound led by Bosco Mann and Binky Griptite, and some of the funkiest horns you will hear. They take me back to the old school soul days, yet are doing it right now. There are not a lot of bands that carry the soul power as this one. On the flipside, missing Ghostland Observatory was tough. This was attributed by taking a “quick nap” to power up for Bassnectar and Ghostland. Note to self: no naps at music festivals, unless you are willing to miss some music. One day, I will experience the lasers for myself.
Acts seen:
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue (Main Stage)– Show of the Day Runner Up
JJ Grey and MOFRO (Main Stage)
Hoots and Hellmouth (Backwoods Stage)
Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band (Outpost)
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (Main Stage) – Show of the Day Award
Parts of STS9/Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses/Rebelution (Main Stage/Revival Tent/Outpost)
ANA SIA (Satellite)
Galactic (Revival Tent)
My Morning Jacket (Main Stage)
Acts most missed on Day 2:
Cornmeal
Carrie Rodriguez – Most Missed Show Runner Up
The Heavy
Josh Phillips Folk Festival
Bassnectar
Ghostland Observatory – Most Missed Show of the Day Award
Day 3 – Saturday (22% of lineup seen)
While I could make arguments that each day was the best day, Saturday was really an incredible day for music. Let’s call it “Revival Saturday” as I spent most of my time at that stage. In talking to Big Sam before his set, I asked him about if he ever had dueled Trombone Shorty and he mentioned that in the documentary, Make It Funky! which features many New Orleans musicians, there is a face off of sorts. He also mentioned that he was going to sit in with Galactic right after his set and later with The Budos Band. That is another great benefit of music festivals, so many collaborations which are usually not advertised. It’s one of those things where you are either there to witness, or get the rehash of what awesomeness you missed. Now, you may think it’s a cop out for me to have 5 favorites for Saturday, but I am telling you, it’s impossible to sort them out. If I had to truly pick one, I would choose Quixotic Fusion, as they are my discovery of the day. This group out of Kansas City is a mixture of symphonic music, progressive music, dance (both traditional and modern), and acrobatics. It’s like a show from Vegas with added breadth and dimensions to give it an unique feel. This really does not even do this group justice. As a member of the crowd exclaimed, “This is like watching sex on stage” For me, it was an incredible show with elements that are rare to find bundled up into one package. The term “fusion” fits nicely, as it’s a blend of many influences and styles to create a beautiful performance. In talking with Anthony Magliano, composer and co-founder of the group, he attributes the complexities of the show to come together with each part having targeted rehearsals. They also have a rehearsal studio with 22 ft ceilings and a sprung floor to maximize the potential of each show. Wakarusa was their debut festival and were equipped with a dedicated stage to fully utilize their talents. The future is bright for this cast and will be worth checking out when the fusion rolls close to your home base.
Acts seen:
STEEZ (Revival Tent)
Big Sam’s Funky Nation (Revival Tent) – 5 Way tie for Show of the Day Award
Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band (Revival Tent)
Ozomatli (Main Stage)
MarchFourth Marching Band (Revival Tent)
Ben Harper and the RELENTLESS7 (Main Stage)
The Budos Band (Revival Tent) – 5 Way tie for Show of the Day Award
Thievery Corporation (Main Stage) – 5 Way tie for Show of the Day Award
Quixotic Fusion (Quixotic Performance Stage) – 5 Way tie for Show of the Day Award
Wookiefoot (Revival Tent) - 5 Way tie for Show of the Day Award
Acts most missed on Day 3:
Family Groove Company
Mumford & Sons – Most Missed Show of the Day Award
Grupo Fantasma
Mouth
Papa Grows Funk
Perpetual Groove
Big Gigantic
Day 4 – Sunday (0% of lineup seen)
(You can use this or cut Sunday out all together)
Unfortunately, this day ended up being a drive back to Kentucky to make it back by Monday day. That being said, I missed all of the acts for this day.
Acts most missed on Day 4:
Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy
John Brown’s Body
Here Come The Mummies – Most Missed Show Runner Up
The Beautiful Girls
Toots & the Maytals – Most Missed Show of the Day Award
Lance Herbstrong
That was Wakarusa for 2011. Overall, it was one of the most incredible music festival lineups I have ever seen and all delivered as advertised. Saw many bands that I already love and discovered many bands and acts that I now love. If you haven’t thought about Wakarusa before, now would be a good time to start planning for 2012. You can trust that another incredible lineup will be in place to satisfy any musical soul out there. Even through all the trials and tribulations that it took for me to get there, I will be hard pressed to miss future installments. See you on the mountain next year.
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