A Friday at Wakarusa 2006.
If you love music, it was definitely easy to find something to enjoy Friday at Wakarusa. With over 27 bands playing on Friday alone, there was a lot to choose from. Wakarusa servers as a chance for fans of the jam band scene to come together and experience new music and see old favorites.
My day started off with Truckstop Honeymoon over in the Revival Tent. Truckstop play a style of bluegrass combined with hillbilly love songs and a vaudeville-like approach to their show. Their songs featured great lyrics and they clearly love to have fun with the crowd (taking questions mid set). Husband and wife duo Katie Euliss and Mike West’s harmonies gave the band a great sound and their fast playing really had the crowd moving.
Next up was multi-instrumentalist Jackie Greene. During his 45-minute set of blues-rock with his band, Greene showed off his playing ability. Greene switched quickly between guitar, harmonica and keyboard throughout his set. During “Closer to You” Greene put down his acoustic, made a frantic dash for the keyboard and played the same lick on the keyboard. The songs had standard blues structure but the crowd responded really well to his playing. Next, it was over to the Sun Down Stage for an hour of funk jamming with Florida-based band Mofro. Mofro can play but the vocals were very hard to understand. The bass also seemed to be too high in the mix, which increased the lack of vocal clarity.
Back over to the Revival Tent for the guitar wizardry of Tim Reynolds. Reynolds dazzled the crowd with his amazing fretwork and extremely fast playing. He performed solo and didn’t say much. He let his playing stand-alone. Near the end of his set, he employed a sampler to create a beat out of notes and sounds he played on his guitar. He then played guitar and the looped beat he had just created. Reynolds then put down his guitar and left the stage with the beat still playing.
It was then back over to the main stage for the funk/reggae/rap fusion of Michael Franti and Spearhead. Franti had a message which he hinted at all throughout his set(he spoke in very quickly about the war in Iraq, helping the homeless and protecting the environment), but as one concert-goer put it, “the main thing he kept saying was “how ya feeling?” It would have been nice to see more of a direct message from Franti as opposed to just references to his opinions. Spearhead had one of the most energetic crowds of the entire day.
The Disco Biscuits then followed with two hours of live, sample free-dance music. The Biscuits clearly have ability and their fusion of dance beats and rock jamming is something completely unique. There were a lot of “Biscuit Heads” in attendance, but several of their songs tended to wander on for too long. However, their cover of Men Without Hats 80s hit “Safety Dance” sent the crowd into a frenzy and was one of Friday’s highlights.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band closed out the Sun Down stage on Friday with one of the most intense performances I have ever seen. Highlights included a magnificent “Pressing My Way” and the new track “Deliver Me” (with Robert’s sister on backing vocals). His instrumental version of “Purple Haze” destroyed the crowd and his encore of “Isn’t She Lovely” into “Roll Up” finished off the night amazingly. During Randolph’s extremely high-energy set, everyone in the crowd could feel the power of music and the sense of community that you can only get at experiences like Wakarusa.
My day at Wakarusa 2006 showcased the musical diversity and the passion of music fans at one of the best music festivals in the country.
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