Ice Cream Man

Wakarusa is the little engine that could festival. They havent had an easy road since the first Wakarusa in 2004, yet they keep bringing quality live bands to Lawrence, KS and the fans cant get enough. The festival runs from Thursday through Sunday with a minimized schedule on Thursday as the fans trickle in.

Lawrence is a great little town with lots of fun places to visit. We usually make a stop at Local Burger once we get to town and, because Lawrence is a college town, theres lots of great bars and nightlife. Keith and I werent really in a rush to get to the fest on Thursday and finally started our half-journey to the west side outskirts of town around 8 at night. The weather was questionable at best and the night before, as I was driving toward KC from Omaha, I had to pull Newt under a bridge because the rain and hail were coming down so hard. By the time we got to festival grounds, everyone was driving away in their cars. We have the added safety and luxury of being able to seek shelter in the ice cream truck and werent worried too worried about getting washed away like many of the campers there. Once backstage we noticed EVERYTHING was shut down and a cop car soon rolled by with an officer on his loudspeaker, Winds up to 70 miles per hour and quarter sized hail are on the way in 20 minutes, please take necessary precautions. We debated whether to hang out in the truck but decided to drive back to town, get some drinks, and sleep on the massage tables at our friend Kristis studio. Know thats how you begin a festival.

The weather was a bit finicky all weekend but held out for the most part. ’til the end. There are a bunch of reasons I like Wakarusa and this year the lineup was more diverse than years past. Some of the bigger named acts like The Flaming Lips, Ben Folds, Zappa Plays Zappa, Leftover Salmon, and STS9 werent really big surprises but the addition of more indie rock-ish bands like Cake, Built to Spill, Dr. Dog, Tilly and the Wall were. Wakarusa takes place the week before Bonnaroo which makes it convenient for a lot of people who are on their way east, including us. Clinton State Park, where all the fun happens is a nice spot for a fest with a large lake close by and nice grassy fields where the festival takes place. The backstage area where we park to sling cream is great too because there are trees to shade us and lots of open green space for people to hang out and relax.

We were parked a couple hundred yards behind the main stage which allowed us to hear most of the bands on there. After breakfast on Friday I was pleasantly surprised to return to Apollo Sunshine then Mates of State. Built to Spill was up next and I decided I was going to catch most of their set. Theyve been mixing it up a bunch lately playing brand new tunes as well as diggin in the crates for some classic tunes to throw in their set. I think this was about the time I came to the realization that, the fans at Wakarusa are what make the festival so much fun. Everyone is appreciative of all the bands playing and applauds and dances around more so than any other festival I could think of.

Cake was supposed to play next but the lead singer was stuck on a plane so they swapped spots with Galactic then played the big tent at midnight. It was funny cuz I kept listening and saying.. .hmm.that doesnt sound like Cake. Nope. I dont think thats Cake. Eventually I heard about the swap and it made since.

Flaming Lips headlined Friday night and outside of a UFO, they pulled out all their tricks. Jay, whod been helping us at the truck hadnt seen them before and we headed out to watch the show from right behind the sound board. I had seen them two weeks prior at Sasquatch, and theyre prolly the band Ive seen play more than any other, but that still didnt stop me from jumping around and singing along with a gigantic smile on my face. They got a great bunch of songs and Wayne is the perfect front man to keep thing fresh, fun, and happy.

Since wed had such great luck with breakfast on Friday we kept the streak going and headed in to a greasy spoon in town and loaded up on food before we started slinging. There werent too many bands I wanted to see early in the day so I laid low until Dr. Dog went on. The smaller tent they were in was a bit muddy but they still had a good crowd and it was a loud, rocking show. My favorite part of the set was the new songs they played. Keep a look out for a new record soon. Right after the set I went to search for my missing sunglasses and miraculously found them in the tall grass up near the box office, SCORE! On the way back to the truck I caught some of Old 97s and they sounded great. Their Rollerskate Skinny song had me singing and dancing along. I love remembering that I forgot songs that I liked or something like that.

We closed up shop around 10ish so we could check out some Ben Folds and Cornmeal. Ben had a happy hoppy crowd in the big tent and Cornmeal brought their high energy bluegrass to a packed small tent. One of the guys from Leftover Salmon ended up jumping on stage with them and everyone loved it, yet another example of a great crowd. The night ended with some Yard Dogs Road Show then C-Mon & Kypski who brought their funky, rap-rock-dj, hybrid dance party from Amsterdam.

Sunday started out nice but the clouds slowly rolled in and it started to dump rain in the afternoon. Due to standing water, lightning, and a faulty roof on one of the stages, the only music they could keep going was the main tent. Everyone who stuck around crammed in there to see David Grisman Quintet, The Avett Brothers and Splitlip Rayfield. People were a bit bummed they missed some of the other acts that played but the quality of music in that tent that night made up for any of the lost shows. Since everything was still wet when we got back to the truck I decided to pack up and head to town to stay at Annas and get a much needed shower. Ask me sometime about that night and Ill see if I can dig up some funny video for ya.

Thanks to Anna, Jay, and Kristi for the help. Thanks to Jon and Keith for snapping all the great photos too. Thanks for Frosty Treats in KC for helping us with the ice cream and to Blue Bunny for donating it all.