Summer Gets a Headstart on Mulberry Mountain

© Jen Davis / RumBum.com

What better a way to kick off fest season than on a mountaintop in the middle of Arkansas? On June 3 through 6, a rumored clan of 35,000 gathered at Mulberry Mountain for Wakarusa 2010. Days soared to 100 degrees, music pumped through sunrise and carnival lights gave Waka its unique festival glow.

How can a festival allotting 35,000 ticketholders keep its cozy appeal? With remote and main camping areas, five stages and plenty of extracurriculars. Easily the most down to earth staff heading the operation, Wakarusa came to be known as “the fest that keeps getting better.”

Day One: Here Comes The Sun

Arriving promptly from all over the country between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. on Thursday morning, car bumpers kissed while new friends shared beers, awaiting sunrise. Will Call seemed ages away, and camping even further, but all was well on the Waka front. Finally, hours dwindled into minutes, and tents were finally erected. An artist named Jess was wandering Shakedown Street sewing feathers into people's hair, getting everyone ready for the weekend.

© Jessica Dugan / RumBum.comIt was early evening, but the sun still baked as The Heavy Pets took to the Revival stage. Joined by Chuck Morris from Lotus, the five-piece was opulent, dripping with added rhythm and cymbals crashing. The Pets got everyone a little hot, and so the inaugural trip to the famed waterfall was in order. Adults transitioned back into kids away at summer camp, doing cannonballs off the cliffs.

The night brought a wide array of tunes from the tents to the main stage and throughout the park. Fort Knox Five’s funky breakbeat indulgence was the choice way to enter the night hours. Remixes, afro-influences and scratchpads resonated for a dance party crowd who knew warming up to some hippity hip-hop was the winning combination. The Disco Biscuits were the first main evening headliner to premier; serving up a set laced with new and old tunes, smooth transitions, timeless jams and one killer Gorillaz encore, “Feel Good Inc.” Pursed lips glistened under strobe lights, as thousands of two-steppers hopped in euphoria. How would another band match this fire and keep it ignited? Easily. One band, one name. Lotus. Taking their electronic perspective to more intense levels of space glitch-meets-funk experimentation, the Philly-based trio delivered a raw set over by the Outpost, where the Ferris wheel ignited while carnival games, rides and signs owned the evening sky.

Break time called for a few swills of whiskey before hitting the late-night Satellite experience, referred to as the Interstellar Meltdown. Kraak & Smaak’s midtempo electro was great for grooving or hitting the dirt, where blankets and a plethora of glow toys covered the woodsy getaway that sat below the ground level of Wakarusa’s main attraction. Slap bags filled with orange juice and bubbly made their way to the dance floor for MiMosa, the young dubstep killer ending the first day with some serious wobbling, paying trib to wompmaster Bassnectar with his version of “Cozza Frenzy.”

Day Two: Extra Womp For You

It was quite the late first night, so the excuse to nap into the early afternoon hours seemed more than valid. At fests, you’ve got to embrace the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and realize you can’t be everywhere at once. Rest and hydration were crucial, so was snack time, thanks to neighborly vendors like Crystal and Tom, who fired up the charcoal and grilled up some meat skewers in exchange for a few chilled brewskis.

© Leigh Okraski / RumBum.comThe second day’s tunes got us feeling quite in our element over at JJ Grey & Mofro, storytelling hour was in full effect as different tapestries wove colors to paint the main stage grounds. Over in the Backwoods, Trampled By Turtles was throwing a bluegrass hoedown, banjos plucked faster than the sluggish mind could process. Umphrey’s McGee, hot off the Memorial Day Weekend sUMmercamp run, blasted the sea of eager fanatics with a storybook of song, including whimsical weavings of Motley Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood” and an impressive Pink Floyd’s “Time.” Before long, it was time to make moves to check out Big G. For those who don’t know Big Gigantic, this is one power livetronica duo that acquiring a national following on the backs of Pnuma Trio, with much love from the Colorado music scene. Dominic Lalli dominated the sax and boards while Jeremy Salken threw down nasty on the drumkit (not to mention a few amped Jay-Z samples along the way). Back at the main stage, STS9 was greeted by quite a following, but technical difficulties interrupted the set, which felt a bit choppy, picking up soon after for the set highlight, “Grow,” which added Big G’s Lalli on the sax.

As late night approached, hydration via hops was in order, mastering the technique of the beer-drop-over-fence was crucial, while friends began to grow curious of missing 20-spots, realizing it was one’s self-robbing his own wallet. Bassnectar was a straight up clusterf*ck, a traffic jam of womp all stars vying to get next to those speakers, only to find themselves in line for the carousel, which isn’t the most womp-friendly of carnival rides – although we suspect those in the Graviton had quite the meltdown. You could feel the vibrations oozing from the Nectar across the field, where Travis and Jason of EOTO geared up. The dubstep frenzy fed thousands, those who rode the rail almost toppling onto the stage. The impromptu mix of dubstep, transitioning into breakbeats and back again was the most palpable energy felt at this point in the fest. The tent dwellers huddled together, dripping with salty sweat, as the never-ending set carried onward. Following EOTO, there was no time for rest, only more stepping of the dub. Over at the Satellite hole, Tipper dosed the crowd with yet another flavor of infections wompstep, blowing minds and shattering knees.

Day Three: Let’s Find A Tree

Legs were burning, so was skin. The utter dilemma of day three: rest or rage? How about both… Arts and crafts hour with neighbors gave Saturday its camp vibe. For Waka returning campers, it’s all about giving your camp a name – so next year, design that flag and bring a pole. Friendship bracelets were so not fifth grade, neither were Super Soakers. Day three was about trying things, including the Mediterranean vendor’s melt-in-your-mouth falafel, the first taste of fest food for the weekend. The boys hit up some disc golf, the girls indulged in body painting. Drunkards kept to their whiskey stash under the tarp laying over their trucks, beach bunnies hit up the four-hour beach party at Satellite where water balloons and Nerf balls took us back a good fifteen years. Couples napped under shady trees, taking journey walks through the woods, feeling the amazing vibes that Wakarusa continued to pour out from the sky, lighting eyes and triggering stoned grins throughout the sunlight hours.

© Leigh Okraski / RumBum.comAs night fell, we got Slightly Stoopid, or in other words, feelin’ irie, with some light-headed roots reggae, skankin’ all over the fields by the carnival. From irie to dance party was where Saturday night was headed. Staying Stoopid wasn’t really in the night’s full agenda, it was time to throw that feather boa on and get down to Alabama-natives BoomBox. The sexy reverberations of Russ Randolph’s sound engineering, mixed with the funky elevations of Zion Rock Godchaux’s guitar stylings made for one helluva disco getdown. Incomparable to anything else at both Wakarusa or in the livetronica scene, the combination of electronic elements and blissful guitar created a sensual, unorthodox but welcomed approach to the musical merry-go-round that was Waka.

Saturday, a night known for outings, was no time to sit back at camp and elevate the feet. Dub Tribe Soundsystem, a duo that boomed Afro bass, reggae beats and synchronized drumming, hauled in the fanfare with a spectacle of a lawn party. Ott took to the stage around 3 a.m., the psy-electro presentation was one of those sets that you really had to grasp hard and think about in order to wrap your mind around.  One chick yelled, “This one dude is better than all of Widespread Panic combined,” and while hate was not in the cards, the quote resonated and spoke volumes of the UK-based mixmaster’s talent. The shape-shifting, abstract, hypnotic nature rounded out with an organic dub sound. It felt like swaying to a sluggish video game, taking place in the middle of a LOST-esque island. How could Ott be topped? Taking the walk from Outpost to Satellite, one could really only wonder. It was time to get groovy to some mushroom jazz with Mark Farina. This genius of sound somehow finds ways to splice electro with different jazz components; bytes you would never imagine could fit together, like a snug puzzle of a soundtrack. Horns mixed with synths, keys married with bass and for a few hours, it was so damn easy to get lost in this lable-less dimension, a world that Farina has made his very own. Bluetech was the glitter to Farina’s piano key necktie. Finally, the night fell free, dying down to some ambient downtempo. Bluetech forced everyone into his spiritual realm, where gongs collided with bells and bits and pieces from all over the world seemed to meld under one tent. The Hawaiian Zen master had caste one mystical spell that lasted into a two-hour hypnosis, the true meditation block of Wakarusa. As day three came to a close, ‘Namaste’ found its way to relaxed lips and heavy eyelids.

Day Four: Please Sir, Can We Have Some More

Sunday’s sunrise somehow seemed an extension of Saturday. Perhaps it was lack of sleep and alcohol for breakfast. It was too hard to face saying goodbye, so we each found our intoxicated state and stuck together like glue, as if someone were going to chant ‘Red Rover’ at any given moment. Links of Wakarusaites bound together, exchanging laughs, tears, and silly coined camp names. When you’re at a megafest, you realize it’s not all about the music. Sure, there’s so much to see and you have to make peace with missing some of it. And, while music is the common element that bounds everyone together, there’s no shame in finding a quiet canopy to sit and share life together.

© Leigh Okraski / RumBum.comNew besties headed over to Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, the sound fit like that three-day old friendship bracelet slowly finding its home on every wrist. The quartet shelled out tastes from 2009’s Live Up and you could sense the motivation and influence in their sound still lingering from a live collab with Steel Pulse just two weeks earlier. Primetime called for finishing all the party favors, so things got a little sloppy around dinner at State Radio. Tipsy Waka goers were Waka’ing all over the place, getting giddy with the reggae/rock trio, a highlight of the set being sing-along “Camilo.” Australia’s John Butler Trio gave everyone a grunged aftertaste to take home, before one last late night hoopla over at Satellite. We left our souls down at Satellite with Two Fresh, a live compilation of jazz, hip-hop and funked out filth. Even though our feet were ready to detach from our ankles, the boys brought it until sunrise and spirits lifed with the beats, rising to the very top of Mulberry Mountain.

Monday arrived. Tents broke down. Cars reloaded. Hugs, kisses and last goodbyes were exchanged. Mulberry Mountain will whisper the tales of Wakarusa 2010, carrying a historical festival in its belly… Thankfully hibernating…Until next year.