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Written by Alex Schreiber Thursday, 17 June 2010 10:46

The word around Mulberry Mountain on Saturday was that the sizzling hot temperature was at a record high.

Mulberry Mountain, Ark.

This year was the year for Wakarusa to shine, and similar to the ferocious sun, it did. Rothbury and the 10,000 Lakes music festivals are on hiatus this year, and many of the bands playing Wakarusa have previously graced the other two festivals. Not only did Wakarusa entice the migration of the Northern festival-goers, it also summoned people from out west. For the first five years Lawrence, Kan., was home to the festival. The seemingly permanent (and perfect) relocation to Mulberry Mountain last year did not stop its loyal fans from following. I probably saw more Colorado State flags than Bob Marley and Grateful Dead flags combined. Wakarusa not only displayed 90-plus bands playing a myriad of genres throughout its four-day duration, but also displayed the goodness and generosity of the community-like festival-goers.

The gates opened for thousands of wookies, festie kids, gypsies, hippies, phamily members, tribe members and the straight-up music lovers at 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning. According to the people who decided to show up this early, the first few hours were confusing and hectic. Caravans of cars were sent up and down the mountain on a wild goose chase, with attendees being told contradicting directions of where to set up their campsites. The Satellite Camping was the first spot the cars would file through. The popularity of Wakarusa forced this spot to be used as overflow camping. This was unfortunate due to the long, steep hike up the road and the lack of buses to get to the actual site of the festival. But, after the initial rush, the volunteers got it together and everything went smooth as ganja butter.

My group’s truck arrived around 11 a.m. Wristbands were received, camping was verified (the person validating camping gave us three free main stage camping passes to give out because he recognized our driver as a person whose high score he beat in a Fayetteville, Ark., bar game). Before anyone in our area wandered over to the music playing in the distance, introductions were made and everyone around was calling each other “neighbor.”  

The festival grounds consisted of five stages—Main Stage, Revival Tent, Backwoods Stage, Outpost and Satellite—gravel roads that cut through camping with vendors alongside them, and a full-scale carnival. (Yes, there was a Ferris wheel.)

I then proceeded to bounce from stage to stage, not staying for full sets. The number of options overwhelmed me, so I just ran around getting a short glimpse of each band. Thank goodness I made it to Robert Randolph & the Family Band just in time to catch a guitar-driven version of Lady GaGa’s “Pokerface.” This proved my theory that no matter how far you may travel, GaGa’s presence can be felt. I caught a couple solid songs from both Railroad Earth and Disco Biscuits before lying down in the back of Revival Tent for The Machine (Pink Floyd Laser show). The lights beaming and bouncing to classic songs from The Wall and Darkside of the Moon was just what I needed to relax. Just over an hour later…done resting!

My personal favorites were the Bloody Mary girls. I swear the drinks could not have been concocted any better. The array of vegetables submerged in the bottom of the cup made me feel legitimate for living off one breakfast burrito a day. Each time the girls came back by, we couldn’t say no to one more.

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, the duo that comprises The Black Keys, released the new album, Brothers, two weeks before Wakarusa. However, they started off the set with a handful of older songs, machine-gunning them out in a straightforward fashion without much spectacle or enthusiasm. But once they started belting out the new tracks, they got wild and the crowd happily followed. “Everlasting Light,” “Next Girl” and “Tighten Up” were standout songs that had the band banging and thrashing with expert precision. The duo also had a bassist and keyboardist come out to add some nice touches. At one point, Auerbach was tuning his guitar for well over five minutes and a group in the front was still dancing. He looked in their direction and let them know he wasn’t even playing a song. Either the heat was so excruciatingly hot that the dancers didn’t know what was happening around them, or The Black Keys are just so damn good that even when they tune an instrument it’s something to applaud. Or was it just the drugs?

The last three bands I saw were Mishka, State Radio and John Butler Trio at the Revival Tent. Mishka played a soothing show that led me to a much-needed nap. Chad Urmston, formerly the front man of Dispatch, came up next with State Radio. They brought the energy back up with a set heavier in rock and punk than reggae. It was an impressive performance, but hearing Urmston’s voice just makes me want to hear a song from his defunct band, Dispatch. Finally, John Butler Trio came on to close out Wakarusa. After a few songs, Butler started honoring the crowd by calling us “legends” over and over, and thanking us for not leaving until the last band played. They had played at Red Rocks in Colorado the night before and then immediately came to Arkansas for Wakarusa…and we are the legends? Humble as pie that John Butler. After a nearly two-hour set, he said his goodbyes to us and we said goodbye to Wakarusa.