Wakarusa 2015- Review and Photo Gallery

Tim Wenger | July 10, 2015

Story by Joel Center

Photos by Ann Rairigh

Escaping everyday reality is a task that grows more difficult with society being integrated into social media and computers being found in the pocket of most citizens. Keeping up with the responsibilities of today’s world can be overwhelming, and it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle of the work world. As a prologue to the breaking point, the overworked start to imagine a world where bills and obligations are the least of their worries, where fun and new experience is an everyday guarantee. This utopian dreamscape weighs heavily on the mind of these overworked until an excursion into the unreal becomes an absolute necessity. For this ailment, which is quickly becoming an epidemic, the best cure lies deep within the Ozark woods of Arkansas. Atop the serene Mulberry Mountain in early June lies the ultimate panacea: Wakarusa music festival.

Immediately upon entering the gates to the festival grounds after ascending the long, winding road up Mulberry, it is overwhelmingly apparent that this is not simply a vacation, but rather a home for the next four days. The words “Welcome to Wakarusa” are colorfully displayed in ten foot wooden letters for all to see as they begin filling in enormous camping areas. The sprawling festival grounds are a gorgeous blend of form and function. The main campground is a huge grassy field stretching out between all five stages that, despite its size, is very easy to navigate. Surrounding the campground is a breathtaking forest to be explored (a hike to the nearby waterfall for some cliff jumping is sure to be as refreshing as it is exhilarating), and it also hosts two heavily wooded and intimate stages. The entire venue is peppered with art galleries, workshops, giant installations, a ferris wheel, live painters, and even huge standing blank canvasses for the public to make their mark.

In the center of the main campground lies Shakedown Street, where one can peruse all sorts of goods from across the nation, indulge in free samples from the dokha tent, and even get a car buffer massage to invigorate tired bones. Upon entering the main stage area, there are dozens more vendors selling anything and everything you could possibly want for a festival, and the plethora of food and drink tents encourages the consumption of something new and absolutely delicious the whole weekend long. The layout is a giant loop, so it’s nearly impossible to get lost whilst maneuvering through the grounds. Years of experience at the same venue has also given Waka ample amounts and impeccable placement of trash/recycling stations, toilets, and water refilling outposts. For those with a bit more luxurious standards, private showers are available for a small fee. They have also made impressive initiatives over the years towards a greener and more sustainable event.

Wakarusa has a long-standing reputation for booking an eclectic array of extremely talented acts from across the globe, and this year was certainly no exception. From wildly successful groups like The Roots and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals to up and coming artists such as Moon Taxi and MarchFourth!, every performance was exciting. The energy and beauty on the mountain greatly enhanced the experience for performer and spectator alike. The weekend started strong with the always entertaining and inspiring Andy Frasco. Thursday night, the party reached full force with headliners Slightly Stoopid and Umphrey’s McGee. As more people arrived on Friday, they were welcomed with the deep dubs of Collie Buddz, the message-driven rhymes of Dilated Peoples, the funky grooves of STS9 and Galactic (featuring an extremely drunk yet flawless Macy Gray), the mouth-gaping sonic and visual performances of Quixotic, and the incredible dance parties under the stars by Big Gigantic and Paper Diamond.

The highlight of the night and perhaps the entire weekend, however, didn’t come from one of these enormous names on a huge stage, but rather from Colorado’s own James and the Devil at the smallest of Waka’s five stages. Their unique blend of punk rock, hip hop, funk, folk, and bluegrass is perfectly representative of Wakarusa’s eclecticism, and the electricity in the air inspired one of the group’s most impressive performances yet. The driving beats, screaming violin melodies, and impossible guitar riffs progressed through the entire set, getting more and more impressive with each song. Just when the set could not possibly get any crazier, Andy Frasco was invited on stage to conduct an improvisation session that shook the very mountain to its core. The crowd, all equipped with glowing devil horns (a signature giveaway of the band), was absolutely enthralled. James and the Devil is constantly playing around Denver, so keep an eye out!

As Saturday’s sun rose to the soundtrack of the irresistible trance that is The Human Experience, the more sleep deprived festival attendants stumbled off to camp for a few hours of much needed rest before another full day of incredible music. Just as the majority of fans were starting to recover from the previous night, the Dirty Heads let everyone know that the party is far from over. Following them was the first of two beautiful performances that weekend by the community and humanity inspired group Nahko and Medicine for the People. This tribal vibe was then exquisitly complimented by the worldly beats and melodies of Ozomatli, who made the crowd insatiable for the second half of the evening, which was a swirl of electronic vibrations pulsing out into the cool night air by Rob Garza, STS9’s second set of the fest, Savoy, and Bro Safari. An incredible and intimate interlude for those who prefer slightly more organic tunes was provided by Andy Frasco’s final set.

The general mood on the last day of any festival is bittersweet, but Wakarusa had no intention of slowing down until the very last note. The daytime flew by with the tight, folky jams and harmonies of Trigger Hippy, the hazy ska-reggae of the Expendables, and a second mandatory dance party by Ozomatli. Another overall highlight of the festival was the incredible performance by Portugal. The Man. As the sun began to set, this group of twenty-somethings from Alaska engulfed the crowd in its signature falsetto psychedelia. Awesome sonic landscapes filled the heads of audience members as they played tunes from both their classic and new albums, intertwining a couple fantastic and unique covers into their originals. Their connection as musicians grew tighter and more blatant as the set went on, and a few technical difficulties only provided the crowd with a more powerful sense of intimacy with the band. As attendees were reeling from what they had just experienced, they collected freshly melted faces from the ground and prepared themselves for Lotus, which turned the entire field into a dance floor with their own, slightly more poppy brand of psychedelic instrumental jams.

Next was Thievery Corporation, which took the stage like it was their only home, switching out genres and performers with every song and dropping jaws by swinging a lantern on a twenty foot chain just over the heads of onlookers. A short walk away, EOTO blasted the crowd with their on the spot improvisation insanity. Goldfish closed out the festival at one of the wooded stages, providing their organic house music and giving the crowd one final opportunity to dance like crazy before heading home, back to normality.

While there are a select few who get the opportunity to constantly live the festival life, it is simply not feasible for the vast majority. Everyone has responsibilities, and this can make life so unbearable at times. Luckily, once a year we have the chance to forget all of our troubles together and journey into the gorgeous Ozark mountains for an event unlike any other, guaranteed to realign the mind and refresh the soul, leaving us prepared to take our experiences back to the real world in an attempt to create a happier society; one that’s as beautiful and wonderful as Wakarusa music festival.