Leaving Waka and Nashville

Monday morning I was woken up by someone going through the campsites with a megaphone telling everyone that a storm was on the way and should be there in about an hour, so I got up and began packing. I kinda just threw everything into the trailer in no real order so I could get out quickly. Just as I was about to be turning out of Mulberry Mountain I noticed two dudes trying to catch a ride to Louisville, so I offered them a ride to Nashville if they pitch in on gas money. Right when they got in it started raining, everything was just working out perfectly! They were really nice guys, they had caught a ride to Waka with a friend, but didn't want to leave on Saturday when their friend did. We talked for awhile, but they fell asleep pretty quickly. Once I was just on the other side of Memphis I got pulled over. The officer said the reason he pulled me over was that he couldn't tell where my temp tags were from. He even said my speed and driving were fine. He asked if he could search my car, and I told him that I had nothing to hide, so him and one other officer spent a good 30-40 minutes searching every nook and cranny of my car, but of course there was nothing for them to find. It was pretty annoying having to stand on the side of Interstate-40 barefoot in the hot sun while they took their time searching me. Once we got to Nashville I dropped my new friends off at a Starbucks at the intersection of I-40 and I-65. I then went onward to find a shower, and just 3 exits down there was a YMCA right off interstate. I stopped there for a shower and to try and find somewhere to stay the night. I found a KOA (Kampgrounds of America) right outside of Gaylord Opryland that looked nice, so I headed there. The flood had destroyed all their buildings including their bathrooms so two nights was only $50. I got my trailer set up and crashed pretty hard.
This morning (Tuesday) I woke up around 10 and started taking everything out of my trailer to get it organized. I spent about two hours getting everything put together and cooking my bacon before it spoiled. I then went to this shop called Scarlett Begonias that my awesome friend Mallory recommended and got some cool beads from South America there. I asked the guy who owned the store where some cool places to go around the area were, and he told me about a park right across the street that had a full scale replica of the Parthenon. I went to take a look at it, and it was huge!!! I then went to an outdoor store next door to look around and found a really cool KAVU hat that I bought. I asked if there was anywhere to go climbing around Nashville and he told me about an amazing climbing gym called Climb Nashville. I headed that way after stopping to get some ice for my cooler. I met two guys who go to Vol State while I was there and we climbed for about 3 hours until 5 when they had to leave. I sat down and got on my computer and worked on updating this blog. One of my new friends, Matt, came back after about an hour and we climbed a little while more before ordering a pizza. After the pizza we did one more wall before I realized that it was 8:30 and pretty much dark outside, so I decided to head back to camp. I've just been sitting in my trailer updating this, and now that its 10:30 I'm prob gonna put on an episode of South Park and go to sleep.
P.S. I'll do my best to post daily after this, but sometimes its hard to get cell service at the festivals.

WAKARUSA Sunday!!

Sunday was a little more relaxed, I woke up around 10:30 and hung out at my camp reading for a little while. I then went to catch a little bit of The Giving Tree Band at The Outpost Stage before going to help Flowers pack up his campsite. Around 4 I went to catch part of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad before going to see That One Guy again, this time at the Backwoods Stage. After he was done we went back to Nick's tent to finish taking everything down before going to State Radio and John Butler Trio. State Radio Put on a pretty good show, but I enjoyed their set at ACL a little bit more. John Butler Trio had an absolutely amazing set!!! He played a good variety of his old and new songs. About 45 min into the set I saw one of the guitar techs tuning a twelve string, so I leaned up and told James "I think he's about to play Ocean" the other two band members walked off stage and John Butler sat on a stool and played a 15 minute version of Ocean that was simply AMAZING!! After that the band came back out to play Revolution and some other songs. A little while later the bassist went into a ten minute solo that was great, followed by a 10-15 minute solo by the drummer. During the entire performance Flowers and I had been noticing a butterfly flying around the stage, and druing the drum solo it decided to land on one of the cymbals. The drummer stopped playing and started making up a song about the butterfly that was pretty funny. He then got the whole crowd beatboxing until the bassist began playing and John Butler walked back on stage. They played for a solid 2 hours, even though they were only scheduled for 1.5. During the set John Butler prob played at least 8 different stringed instruments including a 12 string, a dobro, a banjo, and a lap guitar. After the show I walked with Flowers back to their tent and told them bye and went to crash in my camper.

WAKARUSA Saturday!!

Saturday morning the heat woke me up around 9, so I got in my car and started the A/C and slept for about another 2 hours, then got up and cooked some oatmeal for breakfast and headed down to shakedown street to check out the vendors there. After checking out all the artists and such I went to see That One Guy in the Revival tent while Flowers and everyone else went to see Tea Leaf Green. I listened to about half of That One Guy's set and went to join up with Flowers at Mainstage for the end of Tea Leaf Green. After that Blues Traveler played, and by that time it had gotten up to over 100 degrees! I had my umbrella set up to give us a little shade on our heads while we were laying down, but it was still stifling. We listened to a little of the Black Keys and went back to the tent to relax in the shade for a little while. We listened to the beginning of Zappa Plays Zappa from the tent, and when they left for Slightly Stoopid I went back to mainstage to see the rest of Zappa's set. When it was almost over I headed for the Revival Tent to meet up with Flowers and catch part of Stoopid. I left a little early to get to Widespread Panic and I fought my way up near the front. I ended up right in front of the VIP section for most of the show. The security was keeping a pretty good eye out for people trying to jump into VIP, but right before they came out for the encore they were distracted by another person jumping, so I saw an opportunity to make it over and I did!! I was right in front of Jimmy Herring for the encore! After that I was pretty tired so I went to catch part of Umphrey McGee's set at the Revival Tent. Their set in the tent was even better than the Mainstage set. They played In The Kitchen with some amazing solos!! After watching for about 45 min I went back to my campsite to go to sleep

WAKARUSA Friday!!

Friday morning I woke up around 9 to go get a limited edition hand signed Wakarusa poster by EMEK that I thought went on sale at 10 so I got there around 945 only to discover that they didn't go on sale until 11. So I went and walked around the carnival for a little while and came back at 10:30 to wait in line. I ended up getting lucky number 7 out of 350!!! After I went and placed it in a safe place in my car I went down to Flowers tent to hang out in the shade and listen to Black Joe Lewis from his tent. They left a little before 6 to go see Railroad Earth, but I went to see Dirtfoot at the Backwoods Stage, and left that early to catch the end of Railroad Earth. After that was Umphrey's McGee, who performed an awesome set!! I left that early to go back to my tent to get some food, and on the way back to STS9 I stopped at this booth called Brainquility. It was a digital meditation booth. I paid $10 for 20min, and they put me in a comfortable reclining chair with subwoofers behind it, she then put headphones on me and glasses with flashing lights. I was told not to open my eyes while the glasses were on. She then started giving my face and arms a massage, and the next thing I know I woke up 36 min later and STS9 was starting. They said that I was absolutely out of it, and they just woke me so I could catch Sound Tribe. If anyone has a chance to do Brainquility, I would definitely recommend trying it out. I somehow found Flowers at STS9 and joined up with him. I was somewhat disappointed in Sound Tribe's show this time. At ACL (Austin City Limits) last year they had much better lights and visualizers. Their music was great, but they didn't put on the show I was expecting. Hopefully they'll make up for it at Nateva. I left STS9 around midnight to get to Bassnectar 30 min early, and it was totally worth it!!! I got there and waited up at the very front of general admission dead center, and about ten minutes before the show started the crowd rushed the VIP section and I made it up to the front by about halfway through the show. After the show he came down front to take his "Family Picture" and I was right next to him for the pic! I also got a high-five and a Bassnectar sticker from him. I waited around to try and get the setlist, but it had already been given away. After that I was exhausted so I went to check out EOTO in the Outpost tent for a few minutes on my way back to my tent.

WAKARUSA Thursday!!

Ok, so here goes:
Thursday morning the heat and sun woke me up around 9:30 so I went and walked around all the vendor tents and checked out the stages. On the way to the mainstage I met my brother William and his friends Spencer and Ryan. They led me to their camp where we chilled in the car for a little while before I left for Mountain Sprout. At Mountain Sprout I met up with my friend Flowers and his crew and we went back to his tent to sit in the shade for a little while before Dumpstafunk. I left Dumpstafunk early to go finish checking out the vendor booths before Papa Mali. I met some really cool people at the Strange Booth who let me sit in their tent and gave me a cold beer. I also bought an awesome bandanna for $10 off the regular price. Flowers found me after that and we went to see Papa Mali, who put on an awesome show as always!! We stayed at Mainstage until Robert Randolph & The Family Band came on. About halfway through the set he broke out into Poker Face by Lady GaGa, and it actually sounded pretty good.

For the Disco Biscuts we moved closer to the front to get a better view. By this time it had gotten dark, and when the Disco Biscuts came out onstage there was a huge shower of glowsticks thrown up by the crowd!! The Biscuts put on a pretty amazing set with lots of variety. I left early to make it the The Machine Pink Floyd Laser Light Show, and I'm glad I did. When I got to the Revival Tent it was alread packed with people! They came onstage and opened with Shine On You Crazy Diamond which is a slower song; after about ten minutes all the Ravers had left and the crowd was much smaller so I was able to make it up pretty near the front. After Shine On You Crazy Diamond the went into Time then Money. About halfway through Money they turned on the lasers and the crowd went wild!! They played a great selection of Floyd songs, everything from Pigs on the Wing to Comfortably Numb to A Saucerful of Secrets. It was a 2.5 hour show, and I left with about 20 min left in the set, so as I was walking to my tent I could hear them close with the end of Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Wakarusa Lineup

Tonight I'm just going to post which shows I went to at Wakarusa, and tomorrow I'll post a full story. I'm just fixing to crash and I just got my camper set up at an RV park in Nashville near Gaylord Opryland.
-Thursday I saw Mountain Sprout, Ian Neville's Dumpstafunk, Papa Mali & 7Walkers, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, The Disco Biscuts, and The Machine (Pink Floyd Laser Show)
-Friday I saw JJ Grey & Mofro, Dirtfoot, ALO, Umphrey's McGee, STS9, Bassnectar, and EOTO.
-Saturday's lineup included That One Guy, Tea Leaf Green, Blues Traveler, The Black Keys, Zappa Plays Zappa, Slightly Stoopid, Widespread Panic, and Umphrey's McGee.
-Sunday was a little more relaxed, I saw The Giving Tree Band, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, That One Guy, State Radio, and John Butler Trio.
My favorite sets in no particular order are: The Machine, Bassnectar, That One Guy, Widespread Panic, John Butler Trio

Last night I left STS9 early to get to Bassnectar. I made it to about 5 people back front and center. About ten minutes before the show the crowd rushed the VIP section and I made it in! I ended up second person in the front :) When he took his family picture at the end I was right next to him. The show was incredible! Now we're watching Blues Travler in 100+ heat.

VIP Bassnectar!!!!

I made it!
I have my campsite set up at Wakarusa, even after some delays. I got to the event and was told I had to turn around and go back down 3 miles of steep, winding roads to get my wristband. When I got there I had to wait in a line for about 45 min to go through security and get my wristband. On the way out of security I saw a guy walkin on the side of the road so I stopped and offered him a ride. He had had to walk that way 3 times already because he left his phone at security. He was from Georgia and pretty chill. After I let him I went to find a campsite. I got my trailer set up with no trouble. After everything was set up I walked around the event site and found the WET (Work Exchange Team) tent to get promo materials to pass out at the other festivals I'm going to. Amy, the head of the street team filled me up a big bag of promo. It probably weighed 10-15 lbs. Now I'm cooking some ramen and Vienna sausage and fixing to go to bed. I've got a busy day tomorrow :)