CoS at Wakarusa (Day 2)
After a stormy night, Friday turned around into the classic Kansas summer day with high’s in the 80’s and night lows in the 70’s, not to mention there was not a cloud in the sky all day. Friday was also the big day for music at the festival, stacking in headliners that had me at the main stage all day long. On with the music…
While leaving the campsite I was welcomed into day two by the group Back Door Slam. I had heard the name passed around the festival scene and have seen it on a few bills but have never actually heard the band. At first listen the soulful blues guitar and deep aged R&B voice give the impression of a band that has been around for decades playing the festival circuit, but that’s not the case once we saw them. The band turned out to be only in their early to mid twenties, and carried by a singer who largely resembled Johnny Lang in both his skill on guitar and his deep mature voice. They played a good mix of originals as well as classic covers by Jimmy Hendrix and Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young, and a cover of the blue’s staple “Riding With the King.” It was still early for most of the crowd who were probably draining their tent from rainwater, but those that could make it were obviously very impressed. I look forward to seeing where this band goes over the years.
Following Backdoor Slam was another great set by Apollo Sunshine. This time they were on the main stage and without technical difficulties, which helped the set flow. This showed in the band mate’s attitudes because without constant sound issues they were able let the music glide and enthusiasm spread into the audience. The set list was mostly the same as the first time around on day one, adding a track that showed off some Spanish singing skills. Over all it was much better the second time around.
After this set I took the one excursion of the day to check out Del tha Funkee Homosapien, who provided a high energy hip hop set that included both Hieroglyphics as well as Deltron 3030 songs such as “Virus”. His set was tight and was mostly comprised of tracks off his newest record, Eleventh Hour, and definitely worth the crutch across the festival grounds.
Built to Spill followed right after across the grounds so I had to motor quickly back to the main stage. I have been listening to these guys for a long time now but this was my first time seeing them live. Quickly it was easy to see why Built to Spill are a classic band for this generations independent music fans as well as many staple acts including Death Cab For Cutie and Modest Mouse. In fact, having seen Death Cab a few years ago it was interesting to see how much they have been influenced by Built to Spill. They played a tight, fun, and nostalgic set filled with some classics, but mostly songs from Perfect From Now On. The set list included “Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss”, “Out of Time”, and “Strange.” The only track from the latest record to be played was “Conventional Wisdom,” while extensive jamming was done on “Strange” when mic issues forced front man Doug Martsch to ditch one of the last verses and roll right into an incredible show of musical prowess with the rest of the band mates.
Having had an hour and half moment of musical bliss just ended, I had no idea what to expect from the next
performer, Buckethead. My knowledge of him is limited to what I have heard about him from those who have seen him before. I knew he was an extremely talented solo guitar player, but twenty minutes into the set I was already over the gimmicks and the hype. On stage it was only him in his classic mask and bucket helmet playing to pre-recorded backing drum and bass tracks from what appeared to be an iPod. The sudo-thrash-metal and jam metal guitar riffs were impressive, but repetitive and boring and it was not until That 1 Guy with his electro pipe machine stepped out to close the set with Buckethead that I got into the music once again. I understand Bucketheads vast musical talent, but by himself it got old fast.
Cake was originally set to follow, but due to flight issues had to switch sets with Galactic and play at midnight. Galactic, another jam-fest staple out of New Orleans infused Jazz, R&B, Blues, and Rock onto a great jam that was high energy and well received in spite of a quick set time change. Galactic has been known to bring in fellow festival performers for vocal help, and this time they included Lateef the Truth Speaker who performed earlier in the day with Blackalicious.
After a long day of heat, humidity, and great music, it was finally time for the big show. The amazing thing about the Flaming Lips is that even if you have seen them before, you still have no idea was surprises lay ahead. Lead singer Wayne Coyne rolled out over the crowed in a giant inflatable ball, being passed around only to return to the stage for a mind bending psychedelic show. The set was a list of greatest hits including “She Don’t Use Jelly”, “W.A.N.D.”, “Yeah Yeah Yeah”, and “Free Radical”. The incredibly played set was punctuated by exclamations of confetti cannons, colored smoke, and even nude dancers from the festival volunteers. Also brought out, volunteers in Tele-Tubbie costumes and a giant dancing sun and butterfly. There was so much confetti by the end of the show that it looked like a blizzard of colored paper, and when it was all over after the encore “Do You Realize” the audience was in awe having never seen anything like this before.
The long day of back-to-back music ended when Cake took the stage at Midnight. Unfortunately, I did not catch the first part of the set as it over lapped with the last few songs of the Lips. Because of the flight delay and the set time switch, they had to be put in the Revival Tent, which is a large structure, somewhat resembling the Denver airport, or an elongated circus tent. When I arrived, the tent and surrounding areas were already packed, so finding a spot was difficult. I had to settle for just out side the tent perimeter, and because of the location it was hard to hear all the acoustics since they were blocked by the overhead structure. Their set list included a good variety from their catalog, and included “Short Skirt Long Jacket”, “Sheep go to Heaven, Goats go to Hell”, “Love You Madly”, and “Jolene”. After two encore sets, and extensive crowed sing-alongs, the day was over.
There were more late night sets, but after being on crutches through out the day I opted to listen to The Everyone Orchestra from my tent. Before I knew it, four am rolled around and it was time to call it a day, and an amazing one at that.
Photos via The Kansas City Star/Back to Rockville & Lawrence Journal-World & News
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