All The Wakarusa
(Where do they all come from?)
By Croix Provence
Real festival lovers know that the first weekend of June belongs to one of the most beautiful, chill, and awesome festivals ever to grace the Ozarks: Wakarusa! Since 2004, this festival has been bringing the funkiest, grooviest, soulsiest, electronic-est music to Mulberry Mountain, and isn’t planning on quitting any time soon. Forgive me for putting my hipster glasses on, but this festival thankfully hasn’t gone mainstream. Sure, they bring in consistently big names, but they have not ever sacrificed the genre-specific musical origins of their festival for the sake of pulling in bigger crowds. Plus, with much bigger crowds, you wouldn’t get to enjoy the beautiful forest and the lakes as wholly! Despite this, their repertoire of musicians constantly grows and taps in to sub-genres of funk, hippie jam, soul, and electronic, offering something awesome and new to attendees every year.
In 2014, we saw a completely awesome lineup consisting of String Cheese Incident, The Flaming Lips, Bassnectar, STS9, Umphrey’s McGree (UMMMPPHHHS!), Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Michael Franti & Spearhead, John Butler, Rusko, Adventure Club, Trio, Infected Mushroom, Dr. Dog, Lettuc, Xavier Rudd, Wookiefoot, Papadosio, Moontaxi, Dopapod… Just a ridiculously solid and fun lineup. With such a successful roster of artists last year, there is no possible way that 2015 will lack in the lineup department! Let’s check out the release:
Oh hell yes! There are some badass groups listed for Wakarusa 2015! Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminal’s mix of funk, soul, blues, reggae and rock will blow you right out of the Ozarks, and their “Sexual Healing” cover is only the best thing ever. If you’ve read my pieces before, you know that I can’t wait to see Major Lazer this summer! Got to hear “Original Don” live… got to. His electronic fusion of reggae and dancehall is perfect to dance and jump around to. Hip hop/soul band The Roots is an obvious win; keep your fingers crossed for a surprise Jimmy Fallon appearance! Trip-hoppers Thievery Corporation promise to be badass live as well! Chance The Rapper, Young The Giant, and Umphrey’s McGee are all over this year, so if you’re festival-hopping, there’s no pressure to see them here. That being said, I’ve not seen Dirty Heads, Rebelution, Lotus, Paper Diamond, Big Gigantic, or The Expendables much of anywhere else so, seeing as they all rock, you can’t miss them! Slightly Stoopid’s acoustic mastery will ring through Mulberry Mountain as well! Other awesome bands include Moon Taxi, The Growlers, Galactic featuring Macy Gray (as well as a set without her), Matisyahu, STS9, The Delta Saints, STICK FIGURE!!!, and The Revivalists.
That’s a damn good lineup, and will make for a damn good weekend. All things considered, on the Croix scale from Bad to Bad-Ass, Wakarusa 2015 is looking:
Overall: Sweet.
They’ve done it again! Wakarusa, I hope your musical roots never falter, and that your lineups keep getting better and better with every year! If you want to hit up this hippie festival, general admission tickets are going for $179 (don’t forget your camping and parking passes!) and VIP starts at $705. … Wait, what? Only $705 and you get VIP camping, access, and treatment? Holy YES, sign me up! Not to fear: there are payment plans to get you on your way to the forest. For more information, like Wakarusa on Facebook, and follow @wakarusafest on Twitter to get your sweet weekend planned!
Croix Provence, abridged: Singer. Actress. Model. Dork. Snack enthusiast. Freelance writer. Music lover. Comic Con freak. Adrenaline junkie. Short sentence sorcerer. Follow @CroixProvence on Twitter and Instagram, and like Croix Provence on Facebook.
