6/4/09 Wakarusa Festival, Ozark, AR

The Crazy Engine journey reconvened today at Wakarusa Festival in Ozark, Arkansas. I flew into Little Rock last night, checked into the Holiday Inn, and enjoyed some in-room dinner, TV, and a long night's sleep. Recharging with Waffle House in the morning, I was ready to reconnect with my bandmates and rock Arkansas!

We were scheduled to have festival-provided transportation leaving the hotel at 2pm today. But apparently, some genius decided to combine our ride with not one, but TWO, different airport pick-ups, both of whose flights were delayed, and we ended up leaving over an hour late. I thought to myself, "These better be important people we're picking up at the airport." Turns out it was just the girlfriend of a fairly small band on the bill, and another musician who wasn't playing till latenight. With a 2.5 hour ride to the festival, this wasn't leaving much room for production preparation and made the day start out very hectic. Brian was livid. I was annoyed, but glad that I wasn't in charge and didn't have to deal with the mess and consequences.

The weather in Little Rock was cold and threatening to rain, but 2 hours away at the festival site, it couldn't have been more perfect. Sunny and warm, virtually no humidity. We arrived only about an hourish before showtime, and once again, I was thankful I didn't have any setup to worry about. I attempted to grab some dinner backstage, but no vegetarian choices amongst the 5 or so trays of meat entrees, with the exception of fruit salad. Worst. Catering. Ever.

Setup and monitor check were brief, but I think we got things dialed in OK. The first tune was a little shaky, but we all eventually settled back into our groove. The "Long Form Part 4" at this show was particularly adventurous, and kind of precarious at the end, but we made it through. The crowd was fun, and it was nice to see familiar faces out there and have some Midwest FGC representation, with lots of "Janis!!" calls. (Thanks guys!!!) George Porter Jr. showed up and sat in for the last 2 songs, and I hung out side stage with Charlie and enjoyed watching the crowd.

Post-show, I was immediately whisked away with Johnny on a golf cart, with the promise of a better dinner at the destination. We arrived at a huge house at the edge of the property, a secret house serving better dinner than backstage. I sat at a long table with Warren Haynes and his band and crew at the other end, while a bunch of servers brought us several courses of food with more substantial veggie options this time around. I got to hang with Jason and Travis from EOTO for a few minutes before once again being whisked away, this time by the van leaving the festival for the hotel. Another long 2.5 hour drive, and now I have to wake up in 5 short hours for our trek across the country to British Columbia. Worst. Routing. Ever.

See you in Canada, eh!!