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Wakarusa Music Festival Part III: Definitely Neck Deep By Now
Saturday, June 18th in Lawrence, Kansas, another beautiful blue sky day and
tons more bands to see. First stop was to see Rose Hill Drive, a Boulder band
made up of two brothers (Jake and Daniel Sproul) and an old friend (Nate Barnes)
who completely tear it up. [See
recent JamBase feature.]
Daniel Sproul |
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Jake Sproul |
Rose Hill Drive |
Simultaneously on the Sun Down Stage was the Jazz Mandolin Project set. When
I hustled over there after Rose Hill Drive was done, Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey's
McGee was playing "What Is And What Should Never Be" with JMP. Woo hoo!
Jamie Masefield and Brendan Bayliss
Back over to the Sun Up stage for a little John Butler Trio.
John Butler
Back over to the Sun Down Stage (dizzy yet?) to shake a tail feather
with Karl Denson's Tiny Universe.
Karl Denson
Back again to the Sun Up stage to see Split Lip Rayfield, a local
Lawrence, Kansas "experimental country" band that has a real gritty
punk edge. These guys could be the fastest and most furious pickers I've ever
seen and the bass is a one-stringed junked gas tank!
Kirk Rundstrom |
Jeff Eaton |
Next was my visit to my old favorites The Samples at the Revival
Tent and then back to the Sun Up Stage for Neko Case.
Sean Kelly |
Neko Case |
Nighttime at Wakarusa brought a lot of favorites to the stages. I first stopped
over at Gov't Mule just to have Warren Haynes bring me to tears with "I'll
Be the One."
Next was the set that I'd been looking forward to all weekend, Wilco. This
was one of the most moving and genius sets of music I've seen in a long time.
The musical highlight of the festival, for me, was the powerful "At Least
That's What You Said" from A Ghost is Born.
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Late night for me began with a set from Matisyahu. I unfortunately missed
the String Cheese Incident late night in the Revival Tent which was "off
the hook." Again, the sign of a great festival is that you had to
miss amazing stuff to see the amazing stuff that you saw. Matisyahu ripped
it up - it was rockingly spiritual. A young rapper from Minneapolis ("the
only Jewish rapper in Minneapolis") named Yoni and gave Matisyahu
a run for his money in a freestyle battle. Just excellent.
Late night continued on with a rocking set from Moonshine Still and Shanti
Groove after that while Galactic was at the Revival Tent. Another great
day and night at Wakarusa.
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Unfortunately, that was the end of Wakarusa for me. Sunday was no doubt another
great day with sets by Xavier Rudd, Donna the Buffalo and Little Feat, among
others. My general impressions of Wakarusa is that it is a wonderful growing
festival that has a bright future. My only qualm was that the VIP areas in front
of the stages seemed too large - sometimes there was a thirty foot space between
the band and their fans which is not great for the energy interaction. Other
than that, this festival was top notch and I really hope to make it back next
year!
Words & Photos: SuperDee
JamBase | Not In Kansas Anymore
Go See Live Music!
Be sure to "Continue Reading" for Days 1 and 2!
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