Above: A sea of fans is happy to see the band they came to see: Widespread Panic. The sun hadn't set when they started their set; it was nearly midnight by the time they were done. Photos by Timothy Finn/The Star
Saturday has been the best-attended day in the three previous Wakarusas; this year was no different. The idyllic weather and the promise of a four-hour set by Widespread Panic brought some traffic and a little congestion into Clinton Lake State Park. Still, all over the festival grounds, things were orderly and calm. Under a few of the tents, however, the scene got rowdy.
Above: Ali Kral of Cornmeal knows how to wake up the early birds.
Two of Saturday's best shows came early. At noon, Cornmeal served some frenetic bluegrass and old-time country for brunch. At its MySpace page, the five-piece from Chicago calls itself a progressive bluegrass band. They sounded like a little Wilders, a little Split Lip and a little Dead to me. Their 45-minute set was too short but a glut of fun. It helps to have a pretty fiddler like Ali Kral (who sat in with Trampled by Turtles on Friday).
Above: Scott Law, Jillian Nershi and Bill Nershi get old-timey under the campground tent. The matching Nudie shirts aren't required, but they help.
Honkytonk Homeslice nearly filled the Campground Stage around 1:30 p.m. The chief Homeslice is Bill Nershi of the String Cheese Incident. His collaborators are his wife, Jillian, and Scott Law. Their music is a kind of parlor string-band music: acoustic, quaint and intimate with lots of clear-as-springwater harmonies.They had a special guest sitting in on percussion (but I didn't catch his name). Two highlights: "Two More Bottles of Wine" and "Ashes of Love."
Above: Tom Sheaffer (front) and Carey Harmon of Railroad Earth.
Not long after they finished, Railroad Earth went on over at the huge Revival Tent. It looked like they drew the biggest crowd into that tent all day. The band is from New Jersey and Rolling Stone said the band sounds like Bill Monroe's version of the Dead's "American Beauty." True, I guess, but they also resemble a few California country-rock bands from the 1970s, including Poco.
After a dinner break in downtown Lawrence, I came back in time to catch a few songs from Indigenous in the Revival Tent, then headed over to the Sun Down Stage to hear the rest of Yonder Mountain String Band -- more high-speed bluegrass.
Above: Jimmy Herring, the beard and ponytail that stirs Widespread's drink.
The crowd had swelled to a bunch of thousands; most of them getting into position for Widespread Panic's headlining show, which was supposed to start at 8:15 p.m. It took them longer than 35 minutes to set up, though, so the show started more than 20 minutes late. I hung around for an hour, enough time to hear "Who Do You Belong To?" "Rebirtha" and a long instrumental jam. I bolted over to the Revival Tent in time to catch the end of Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. Potter is a rock singer with some blues in her belly -- part Nancy Wilson, Bonnie Raitt and Joan Jett. Hers wasn't a typical Wakarusa sound but she impressed the hell out of her crowd. After her set, Son Volt played the Revival stage. Jay Farrar has a new lineup behind him, but he and his band sound a lot like the old version, except with keyboards instead of pedal steel. He sang lots of new and more recent stuff. For me the highlights were the juiced-up remake of "VooDoo Candle," his duet with Shannon McNally ("Highways and Cigarettes") and everything off the "Trace" album: "Drown," "Tear-Stained Eye" and ""Windfall." He closed with "Chickamauga," the only Uncle Tupelo song I've ever heard him sing.
After Son Volt's set was done I jogged over to the main stage in time to hear Widespread end its set with "Imitation Leather Shoes." Then they said, "So long," 15 minutes early (so the four hour set was less than 3.5 hours).
Pardon the blur: That's the Diamond Hearts Club rocking the snot out of the Homegrown Stage.
On my way out of the park, I hit the Homegrown Stage, where the Diamond Heart Club was going crazy, nearly bringing the tent down with an incendiary version of "Et tu, babe?" Heather Lofflin was doing her usual Janis Joplin/Wendy Case thing vocally; and Mark Hennessy was doing his Joe Cocker/John Belushi thing and wearing a pair of angel wings. Too bad only about 25 people were there to see it. It was a lot more entertaining than watching Jimmy Herring noodle for 10 minutes straight.
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