Buckethead – The white plastic mask and KFC bucket on his head can make the guitar virtuoso an imposing presence, but he’s best known for working with a who’s who in hard rock and more, including Primus’ Les Claypool, Iggy Pop, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian (whose own label is making the latest Buckethead release), Bootsy Collins, Saul Williams, Faith No More’s Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen (that’s Aragorn to you Rings devotees), and Guns N’ Roses
…
Thursday, 6/5/08, 10:00 PM, Revival Tent and Friday, 6/6/08, 6:00 PM, Sundown Stage
Stardeath and White Dwarfs – You might know this Norman, Oklahoma band as having The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne’s nephew Dennis as their lead singer; but what you might not know is that they’ve been making a name for themselves on tours with everyone from British Sea Power to Band of Horses. However, what you need to know is they deliver experimental rock with a light show Uncle Wayne would be proud of (QRO photos).
Friday, 6/6/08, 12:00 PM, Sundown Stage
Mates of State – Lawrence had been rocking before Wakarusa ever came to town, thanks to the husband-and-wife indie-rock duo of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel. They’ll be playing extra-hard to their hometown crowd, just after the May release of their latest, Re-Arrange Us (QRO review).
Friday, 6/6/08, 2:30 PM, Sundown Stage
Del tha Funkee Homosapien – A human of many hats, the alternative hip-hop artist has found success on his own, and has worked with everyone from Ice Cube (his cousin) to Blur’s Damon Albarn in Gorillaz (QRO album review).
Friday, 6/6/08, 3:00 PM, Revival Tent
Built To Spill – Yes, the ‘biggest indie-rock band outta Boise, Idaho’ is still around, still on Warner
Bros., and still putting out new music, most recently 2006’s You in Reverse. They’ve gained a second life on the festival circuit, playing next to band’s they’ve inspired and bands that have inspired them.
Friday, 6/6/08, 4:15 PM, Sundown Stage
Arrested Development – The progressive hip-hop act were a smash hit in the early nineties with “Tennessee”, but broke up, reunited, and had struggled to regain their popularity, but they look perfectly suited for the down-home Wakarusa.
Friday, 6/6/08, 6:30 PM, Revival Tent
CAKE – Another band that covers a lot of musical
ground, CAKE draws from more than just the indie-rock well. While best known for singles like “The Distance” and “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”, the repertoire is varied, including the theme song for NBC’s Chuck. With both a new studio album and their first live album set for release later this year, look for material old and new at Wakarusa.
Friday, 6/6/08, 7:45 PM, Sundown Stage
The Flaming Lips – This is the year The Flaming Lips seem to be rockin’ every festival out there, and with good reason, as there is no live show out there like a Flaming Lips show (QRO live review). Confetti cannons, costumes, video screens, balloons from the sky, puppets, singer/guitarist Wayne Coyne surfing the crowd in a giant plastic bubble – The Lips have it all, and expect them to take it even higher (Coachella 2004 featured the first giant bubble). Oh, and they’ve got some great music, too, from early nineties hit “She Don’t Use Jelly” to 2006’s Grammy Award-winning At War With the Mystics.
Friday, 6/6/08, 10:00 PM, Sundown Stage
Dr. Dog – This Philly indie-rock band’s mix of sixties hippie-pop with seventies guitar-rock has them going places, including sold-out NYC shows, but they’re still best experienced outdoors (QRO photos).
Saturday, 6/7/08, 7:45 PM, Sun Up Stage and Sunday, 6/8/08, 12:00 PM, Sundown Stage
Old 97’s – Rhett Miller’s alt-country icons are still going strong, with their latest, Blame It On Gravity, out in May.
Saturday, 6/7/08, 8:00 PM, Revival Tent
Yard Dogs Road Show – This thirteen-person
traveling cabaret act has a stage show with vaudeville, burlesque, stage magic, sideshow oddities, beatnik ‘hobo poetry’, and the kitchen sink…
Saturday, 6/7/08, 12:30 AM, Sun Up Stage and Sunday, 6/8/08, 1:15 PM, Revival Tent
Ben Folds – Folds had been traversing the country
for years before breaking out as The Ben Folds Five with Whatever and Ever Amen and “Brick” back in 1997. But he’s gone on to much more, including joining up with Ben Harper and Ben Lee as ‘The Bens’, numerous soundtracks, working with everyone from ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and William Shatner, and an untitled solo release set for later this year. He’s also known for exciting live shows, including staging pranks and the ‘guitorchestra’.
Saturday, 6/7/08, 10:00 PM, Revival Tent
Sound Tribe Sector 9 – The acclaimed instrumental act combines numerous influences, including funk, jazz, psychedelic, and hip-hop. But they’re best known for their live concerts, which stretch to over two hours, and feature improvisational collaborative work not known in the jam-band community. Their festival performances, however, go even bigger.
Saturday, 6/7/08, 10:00 PM, Sundown Stage
David Grisman Quintet – Jerry Garcia’s favorite mandolinist (despite their disagreement over the length of Grisman’s mandolin solo on “Ripple”) is one of the founder’s of today’s ‘newgrass’ movement, carrying the sound of yesterday over to today.
Sunday, 6/8/08, 4:45 PM, Revival Tent
That 1 Guy – Australia’s Mark Silverman, better known as ‘That 1 Guy’, brings his seven-foot-tall homemade ‘Magic Pipe’ instrument to Middle America.
Sunday, 6/8/08, 5:00 PM, Sundown Stage
Emmylou Harris – The legendary folk singer/songwriter has worked with everyone from Gram Parsons
to Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), winning the Grammy for ‘Best Female Country Vocal Performance’ four times in the last 30+ years, placing #5 on CMT’s 40 Greatest Women in Country Music, and, most recently, being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. While perhaps best known for her collaborations, Harris can most certainly stand out on her own, with her latest solo record dropping only days after Wakarusa.
Sunday, 6/8/08, 6:30 PM, Revival Tent
Tilly and the Wall – This female-fronted indie-pop group hails from nearby Omaha, Nebraska, and were the flagship release of Omaha native Conor Oberst’s Team Love Records – their latest, O, comes out in June.
Sunday, 6/8/08, 6:45 PM, Sundown Stage
Bang Camaro – This Boston-based pseudo-super-
group is centered around guitarists Bryn Bennett and Alex Necochea, but can reach into the double-digits in singers, who form a vocal choir to go with Bang’s glam-rock/heavy metal-inspired overpowering hooks.
Sunday, 6/8/08, 8:15 PM, Sundown Stage
Zappa Plays Zappa – Okay, so you’re fifteen years too late to ever see the legendary, one-and-only, superlative-heavy Frank Zappa. But if you’re gonna see someone else play Zappa’s music, who better than his son, Dweezil (who still loses out on the ‘weirdest Zappa name’ to his sister, Moon Unit)?
Sunday, 6/8/08, 9:00 PM, Sundown Stage
