With more than 100 sets to choose from at Wakarusa, it's really tough to pick the bands you want to see. Complicating things are the multiple stages, which means sometimes two great bands are playing at the same time.
It all started yesterday at Mulberry Mountain north of Ozark, and tickets are still available through the event website.
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FYI
Wakarusa
Main Stage Schedule
All artists listed perform on the festival’s main stage. Five other stages operate at the festival, sometimes simultaneously. For a full schedule of events, visit wakarusa.com.
Today
1:30 p.m. — Split Lip Rayfield
3 p.m. — The Revivalists
4:45 p.m. — Collie Buddz
6:30 p.m. — Galactic featuring Macy Gray
8:30 p.m. — Chance the Rapper
10:15 p.m. — STS9
1 a.m. (Saturday) — Big Gigantic
Saturday
2 p.m. — Donovan Frankenreiter
4 p.m. — Dirty Heads
6 p.m. — Young the Giant
8 p.m. — The Roots
10 p.m. — Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
12:45 a.m. (Sunday) — Major Lazer
Sunday
2 p.m. — Nahko and Medicine for the People
3:45 p.m. — Trigger Hippie
5:30 p.m. — Ozomatli
7:15 p.m. — Portugal. The Man
9:15 p.m. — Lotus
11:30 p.m. — Thievery Corporation
FAQ
Wakarusa
WHEN — Through June 7
WHERE — Mulberry Mountain event grounds, located about 15 miles north of Ozark on Arkansas 23
COST — $204 for a four-day pass; $705 for a four-day VIP pass; other ticket options available
INFO — wakarusa.com
TRAVEL NOTE — Due to a mudslide just to the north of the festival grounds, a portion of Arkansas 23 has been closed indefinitely. All access to the site must be made from the south via Interstate 40.
I've tried to sort through the lineup, the schedule conflicts and the external factors that will make the sets great, and I feel confident in recommending these acts as the 10 Must Sees of Wakarusa.
I also know for certain this is MY list, and that my tastes aren't everyone's.
In descending order, with No. 1 being the most important show of the festival:
10) Glass Animals -- 9 p.m. Saturday, Outpost Tent
British band Glass Animals occupies the same kind of psychedelic, dreamy headspace as acts such as Radiohead, Alt-J and Tame Impala. This is a tough one to catch, though -- it conflicts with two of the acts listed higher in this collection.
9) Donavon Frankenreiter -- 2 p.m. Saturday, Main Stage
Donavan Frankenreiter, a Jack Johnson protege with a decade of records to his credit, plays the kind of sunny, folky pop songs every festival needs.
8) Judah and the Lion -- 4:15 p.m. Saturday, Backwoods Stage
Nashville's Judah and the Lion offers a harmony-rich take on the folk-pop movement. The band has the potential to be a breakout act.
7) Split Lip Rayfield -- 6 p.m. Saturday, Backwoods Stage
This one is personal. The bluegrass trio Split Lip Rayfield is from Kansas. I'm from Kansas. And I've watched this group more times than any other. They perform gasoline-fire-fueled bluegrass rather unconventionally.
6) Mountain Sprout -- 12:30 a.m. today, Backwoods Stage
Bluegrass outfit Mountain Sprout has a pair of Wakarusa gigs, actually. But the late-night/early-morning shows at the Backwoods Stage tend to be the rowdiest of the bunch. You won't go wrong, in fact, if you catch the 12:30 a.m. sets by Dirtfoot (Saturday) or Andy Frasco (Sunday) on the same stage at the same time on the other festival dates.
5) Chance The Rapper -- 8:30 p.m. today, Main Stage
We get so few rap performances in Northwest Arkansas. Much less those of the critically acclaimed, lyrical wordplay type offered by Chance the Rapper. This is going to be a fun one.
4) Thievery Corporation -- 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Main Stage
Ask the Wakarusa staff members what the best concert of 2011 was -- a year that featured Mumford & Sons and My Morning Jacket, no less -- and many of them contend it was Thievery Corporation.
3) Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals -- 10 p.m. Saturday, Main Stage
Ben Harper just got the band back together. His former backing band the Innocent Criminals is with him now, a change from his 2011 performance at Wakarusa.
2) The Old 97's -- 5:30 p.m. today, Revival Tent
The Old 97's are entrenched in my personal canon of influential bands. The group has spooled out dozens of alternative country staples, and the most recent album contained a few gems.
1) The Roots -- 8 p.m. Saturday, Main Stage
The Roots can be silly, like they often are on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." They can also be one of the best bands in the world, and I suspect we'll see more of the latter during the festival. I got to see The Roots live once before. It was incredible. You will regret missing it.
NAN What's Up on 06/05/2015