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Post by theologians on May 29, 2015 14:00:15 GMT -5
I know a lot of you guys are coming from the south, but I will be coming from the north. As you might have heard north entrance is closed this year due to a hill slide just north of the grounds. All traffic is diverted to the south entrance. It seems like they want you to go north on 23 up to the fest. However I found a route that would take me West bound toward the fest on 215? It looks like on the wakarusa info map that the check in is on 215. Has anyone ever gone this way or know if this is possible?
Not sure. There were a couple of roads that led to 213. Our driver screwed up, because we stopped at the diamond mine that morning to hunt for diamonds and to get some lunch. There was a way up Western AR that way and back to the 23. But he ended up going around Little Rock on a loop portion of the I-40 around Little Rock to get us to the Highway 23 exit. We went too far up and had to turn around. There was one street that was full of cops that Jabco accidentally went down. He said they were doing an administrative check there for insurance/registration/license and if you had your paperwork, it was all good. But apparently someone, upon noticing the cars, did a quick U-turn and some yahoos were "lats go gat 'em" and chased after them. Not sure if that was the 215 or not or just a side road. Those mountain roads all look the same to me. I'll say it again since we were talking about it a while back, the only negative of Waka that I know of is the lengthy, intrusive car checks. They said this year they expanded the lanes due to the lack of a north entrance. So basically what happens, is you go through your car check (and if you pass up the entrance initially, you will see several other entrances for bands, staff, etc. along the way), you leave that area and follow some roads on the mountain to get to the actual fest entrance where you then follow the signs to your respective campground. I'm not 100% sure that the check-in lanes are within the actual festival grounds. I think they're a little bit (3-4 minute drive) away. This process, depending on how crowded it is upon arrival, takes a couple of hours. We were VIP last year, but they sent us to the wrong line. Ugh. We eventually did get some preference, but we were waiting when the Wed. early arrival started. And we had to work through that. But trust me, after you get through that b.s., it's almost f'n paradise.
Alright, most of the shopping is complete. I got a late night case, 2 liters of whiskey, vodka and rum. Only bitch is its all low grade because of the bottles having to be plastic. Got snacks, a new tarp, new icechest, bathroom and shower bs, drinks, gatorades and baby wipes for occasional whore bathing. Rental car is ordered, and tickets are printed. Can't wait to drop the fuck out for 2 weeks. We split 5am-ish Wednesday morning.
if any of the rest of you intersect with my schedule at Outpost, Sattelite or Backwoods, let me know. I'll be vip'ing for Revival and Main for those sets. Also, I'll try to set up a PM for anyone active or going. That's me, ohtrey, Jamflower, theologians, ucsoccer and cmack that I know of.
Nice. I'll see them Wed night at the preparty. I'd love to see Tauk again, but they are at Riverside both sets and that probably isn't happening at all. Fwiw they switched Tauk to close Wed night with Henry & The Invisibles. According to the poster lukarilz at reddit, apparently Chance's set is a little shorter which extended Tribe's Main Stage set and Lindsay Lowend switched with Hermitude. I'm sure there will be other changes, so I'll post if I run across anything. Wakawaka
*edit* they have an app out. It's lowbudget, but it's whatever.
Pretty close to mine except Sunday. See you there! 2 fn days but only 1 1/2 days of work left!!!
I ususally like to start to pack a little on sunday, relax a little before the heartbreak of monday hits me. Lol.
Today and tomorrow are totally dedicated to prepping for waka. I'm actually a little nervous, this is the longest I'll be away from my daughter in her little year and a half of life.
Yeah, that can be tough, but we all need to get away sometimes for sanity. Luckily I get 13 days with mine (who will be turning 19 on Wed) as she hasn't lived with me since Katrina. I'm all ready to go, 1:54 left in the workday and then tomorrow. Everything is bought, packed, etc. All I gotta do is pick up the rental car tomorrow at 4, find a way to sleep (which should be next to impossible) and then roll on out at 5 on Wed morning. I think we're going to take the 55 this year, as Google has that as 8 hours 3 minutes. We'll give it a shot.
I'm actually staying until Monday since we haven't decided exactly what we're going to do the days between. I'm still thinking a day in Eureka or Fayetteville then Memphis and Nashville, but if she wants to go to the Smokey Mountains for a few days before Bonnaroo on the NC side, we might end up doing that. It's all play it by ear.
Post by theologians on Jun 2, 2015 11:03:20 GMT -5
To anybody who has gone before, so Esteban, I might be crazy but I am only seeing one water station marked on the festival map in west woods. Is this correct? I assume they have water stations in main camping and within the main venue?
edit: I just realized the boxes I could not read are Klean Kanteen or something to that affect.
To anybody who has gone before, so Esteban, I might be crazy but I am only seeing one water station marked on the festival map in west woods. Is this correct? I assume they have water stations in main camping and within the main venue?
Most likely - you think they kind of will have to. I'm not 100% since we've only gone once and because we get free water and beer in VIP, and there are showers on a trailer. I think, and I could be wrong, that the dripping faucet you see in West Woods is the only one that shows up by itself. The map is too hard for these old eyes to read, but I blew it up as much as I could, and it looks like there are other spots around the fest with another symbol overlaid over light blue. No way they would make everyone walk up hill all the way over there, particularly if they were camping main venue or whatever. 99% sure there will be available water since there kind of has to be.
I was able to find this on the campgrounds, though I couldn't find where you could bring in a canteen, water bottle, camelback or whatever (which you know there is some way to do that).
What will you be providing at the campgrounds? There will be bathrooms, hand wash stations, potable water, general stores with sundries (personal hygiene products, batteries, film, disposable cameras, ice, soda, etc.), showers, and an assortment of vendors will be selling a variety of reasonably priced foods, beverages and snacks. There will be ATM’s, but we still recommend that you bring enough cash for your stay to avoid long lines or waiting for the machine to be serviced. Please bring enough money for any additional expenses you may have.
*edit* Looks like almost no chance of rain the rest of the week in NW Arkansas after maybe a sprinkle today. That doesn't look to be the case for Bonnaroo next week. We'll have to check back on that later.
Caught Koa last night (rhymes with boa rather than k o a). They were out of Nashville had a good percussionist and sax player and seem fairly talented. Some of it was slower which might have lent a little better to a late night club set. Cure for the Common out of Montana was next. They were a 7 piece band with a trombone player, drummer, trumpeter, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion. I liked them. Music was varied, and the talent level of the musicians was high. Caught about half of Jakubi out of Austrailia after that. They mixed, rap, world, r&b and a little funk in. I have a light day until this evening, so I'll probably wander through the first few sets. Then it's Moon Taxi, Gladkill, Dopapod, Slightly Stoopid, Conspirator, Umphreys, The Floozies and GUC. Conspirator at the Satellite Stage with their lazer show should be sick. It's my Top 1 show going into the day. Talked to a Floozies fan who said they'd be playing new shit tonight and this will be their biggest stage show to date. I have a hard time imagining it will rival their live show with Snarky Puppy I saw in April, but we will see.
Not sure. Some sets are being pro-shot, but I havent heard anyone mention a live stream.
Yesterday was awesome. Bounced around early then posted up front for Moon Taxi who was great. Then I went to Dopapod who played great and had a party crowd for that set. Heard some slightly stoopid walking to Satellite Stage, and they sounded good. But I wasn't missing Conspirator, so I went to that. Set was great, and they brought the lasers. After that we went and saw Umphreys. This might have been the best I've seen them. They mixed it up but kind of made it a rock/metal show. A lot of people were agreeing as to how good of a set that was and people are still talking about it today. After UM was The Floozies getting a main stage midnight spot. You could see how happy they were to have made it to this level, and the show was a love party with the audience. Next was Gigantic Underground Conspiracy. The set ruled. They played some Big G, Conspirator and some other jams. I loved that set. I was coming back to the tent but ended up saying f it and went and saw Minnesota and most of Govinda. Solid ass A day there.
Day 2 started with Gravity A. Set was pretty excellent I just posted up there for a while since Wick-It and Chali 2Na were next two shows at that stage. Both were entertaining, though when Wick-It dropped his TN rep song, that's a hair disrespectful. Haha. Next up was Galactic with Macy. She was drunk as shit. Set was great, a little different from Hangout. They brought out David Shaw for a couple of songs. She sang to me at one point, so you know I was throwing that love back. Next set was Chance the Rapper. He was fun as shit. He had the crowd going and showed a good entertainer presence. He was backed by a drummer, trumpeter, keyboardist and dj. It was my first time seeing him live, so I wasn't sure if him coming out in overalls was a troll. Hahahaha. Anyway, Tribe was next. That set was off the hook and probably an all time favorite Tribe set for me. They were on. At one point they brought out Dom and Jeremy from Big G for a long jam. That was awesome. people were happy. Next up was Big Gigantic who blew up the mountain into the wee hours. They are always great, but I loved that set. Next we went to Quixotic which was also pretty excellent. They brought the dancers, fire, acrobatics, etc. super trippy. I will definitely see them again. Been going hard with cmack and my crew. A+ for Day 2.
happy to hear you guys a re having a great time! i will no doubt be there next year and still depressed im not there, i keep thinking about who i should be seeing at this point in time all weekend and it succksssssss
Up in Fayetteville doing laundry. Bleary eyed bonnawook indeed. Day 3 was a great set by Dirty Heads. They started late because of lightning in the area, so after 5 songs I hoofed it to Quantic who was just going off. A couple people walking out said they loved the show. Watched ProbCause rep out Chicago and go fairly hard. Next was a sweet Galactic set where they brought out one of Macy's backup singers and then the guitarist for Revivalists. Caught about 30 minutes of The Roots which was sounded good but was standard Roots. Next was an hour of Ben Harper. I appreciated his no bs approach, and he was a great guitar player. Next was another spectacular STS9 set. I walked out and listened to a few minutes of JRAD which also sounded great, but I wasn't leaving Tribe. Savoy was next with their outrageous laser show after that, I was like f it. It's after 4 am and nothing else was at that level, so I went and passed out. Sunday started out with a great set from Greenhouse Lounge. They brought out Khris Royal from Rebelution and Dark Matter. I heard The Expendables was great. Next was Portugal, Lotus and Thievery Corp. Portugal was awsome, Lotus was blow away, and Thievery was exactly what I needed them to be. A+ Waka, and I'll get a Top 10 show list (gonna be really tough) and throw up some final thoughts in a couple days. Word.
happy to hear you guys a re having a great time! i will no doubt be there next year and still depressed im not there, i keep thinking about who i should be seeing at this point in time all weekend and it succksssssss
FYI, I'm buying 2 Veep passes once they go on sale. I made it two nights to sunrise. Probably slept a total of 12 hours over the course of 4 nights. More analysis to come. Estaban was on point though about VIP. I could walk to my tent from the main stage in minutes, pee whenever, get drinks every 5 minutes, shade, cookies at midnight, camp however big you want. I think next year we should plan a post party on Sunday, spread the word about a guitar circle or something or just set up mad lights, blast some disclosure or whomever and stay up till dawn.
Thursday: After staying in a La Quinta somewhere in Oklahoma (and getting a BS speeding ticket for doing "72" in a 50) I drive up the windy but beautiful hills of Mulberry and arrive at the security checkpoint and Will Call. This process took about an hour but I got through it. They searched a pretty decent portion of my car and bags, but you could easily stash things in more well hidden places. Apparently, one dude got sent straight to jail when they found LSD on him. After getting my pass, goign through the check point, I drove another 15 minutes up and then back down into the valley where the festival is held. It was very scenic with the rolling mountains and green trees. Upon the view were fields of cars and tents pitched up, festival goers already pounding drinks and lighting joints. It took several minutes to reach VIP because I had to drive through the whole fest to arrive at VIP. After setting up with the help from Estaban's fam, I was off to the first set of the day.
Benefits of VIP: -2 minute walk to main stage and backwoods stage (could hear mainstage loud and clear) -2 minute walk to AC bathrooms and showers ($25 value), unlimited beer (bud, bud light, fat tire and snapshot) bar, mainstage food camps, cafeteria which served lunch, dinner, and cookies at night. -free poster ($50) -unlimited water (super important since this was charged at other bars) -unlimited camping space (set up however much stuff you want) -no pat downs or bag checks upon entering the festival grounds (this excludes satellite and riverside stage) -bar and toilets @ mainstage and revival tent -entry into the fest on Wednesay + pre shows -only natural shaded camp spot w cool breeze and atmosphere
First Set was Moon Taxi at the Main Stage. They set the bar high with loud high energy performance. They did some jamming too after a couple songs. Loved it. Next was a few songs by Devil Makes Three who were like a piece string, blue grass band. Next a couple good songs by Dopapod, split time between Conspirator and Kopecky. Poor Kopecky had maybe +50 attendees but they had a tough time slot playing at the same time as Slightly Stoopid and Conspirator. After that, and lastly for me, was posting up in the VIP area for UM. They had one of the best sets with all the jamming and the lights. The VIP was rocking with people passing crown royal while led to me losing my phone and passing out on bed @ camp. Slight fail =\ I missed out on Giant Under Ground Conspiracy, Minnesota and the Floozies.
Friday: I decided not to drink to day after losing my phone and passing out. I was up by 8am and the campground was slowly waking up too. I took a shower, found some breakfast, and prepped for the day. From the camp, I overheard Split Lip Rayfield perfoming a sweet cover of "Dare" by the Gorillaz. I went over the Outpost stage at the far end of the fest for some Gravity A w Estaban. Next was splitting time between Old 97s and Chali2na. This was one of my biggest conflicts and luckily, they performed 30 seconds from each other. I struck up a good convo w a mural artist at old 97s and am going to try and get him some work here in Austin for FFFFest. Old 97s souns fantastic as they brought some solid alt rock and Chali2na's was fanastic with some "body gaurds on stilt dancers." He ended with "Waka in 2016 anyone?" I hope they bring him back. I was one of a few people who got in a selfie w chali....hopefully Ill find it on Twitter on Instragram. After that I strolled back to main for a hilarious and badass set from Galactic //w Macy Gray. MG was drunk off her ass. She had no idea where she was or what day it was. She told some stories and they said that Wakarusa Women had the "best vaginas in the world." Next up was Dilated Peoples who brought some more solid hip hop. They ended with an encore of Worse comes to Worst. To keep the hip hop trend, I rolled back to mainstage for Chance the Rapper. I had no idea how his show would go but he showboated and worked the crowd better than anyone ive seen in awhile. It was a much slower tempo than I originally thought it would be. Still very impressive. Next up was aone of my highlights, the first of two STS9 sets. They bring it so damn hard with their unique sound, lights and out of this world style. Big G came out during an improvised jam about midway. Towards the later 2/3, I ended up sittingthis girl who was trippin way too hard to make sure she didn't end up like the few people being carted out. She was a pretty cool chick after she came down from it up and hungout w her and her friends for a few other sets in the weekend. I listened to Big G back at the camp w the girl and her friends. We stayed up until 6am at the VIP bar w some bongo friends and this huge 400lb dude walking around getting people to eat the peanut butter cookies. So funny. More to come.
Toughest Top 10 in ages. I got the best Big G, best Sound Tribe and best Umphreys I've seen. I'm not going to count more than 1 set per performer, but STS9 could make it for both.
Big Gigantic (could have been 1A or 1B Lotus (could have been 1A or 1B STS9 1 Umphreys 1 Gigantic Underground Conspiracy Conspirator Savoy Galactic with Macy Chance the Rapper Thievery Corp
I saw a few people go down to whatever they took+ dehydration. I saw some nuisance people thrown out. I went back to camp after Savoy, as nothing late was touching me. C went over to Satellite and watched some naked dude make his way out of the top of a tree, try to run over a fence and get speared along with the length of the fence. Haha. Said 530 crowd was going into riot mode, so he ducked out.
Cons: revival bar got closed early on Saturday. They had Mt Dew Kickstarter rather than redbull
Looks like since this Waka was also sensational, I'll be finding a way back to The Mountain next year.
