What to expect when your expecting
In typical ADD fashion my wife and I bought way too much crap and were extremely under prepared. We tend to do this with everything in life, so our first Camping Festival was no different. My friend Laura was a WAKAAN Pro and had been to every Festival on Mulberry Mountain since its inception in 2019. She had been dropping subtle tips and tricks over the past few months but deep down she knew some of this shit we were just going to have to figure it out on your own.
After piling all the supplies in my car like a crazy person, I was barely able to get the hatch and both back doors shut to my small SUV. Looking at about a 5-6 hour drive from Texas to Arkansas we tore ass towards the interstate. My friend was very adamant about not bringing any glass into the venue but it never dawned on us that a mirror would be considered as such. So with a bottle of wine out of the question we stopped at a local Walmart to purchase a cheap stand up mirror and two pillows (since we forgot ours).
Arriving at the base of the mountain around 5pm we blew past the last remaining gas station and made our decent up the mountain. After the car search and watching them toss our mirror into a trash can, we were then parked by a crazy man in spandex who’d been awake since Tuesday morning. Lugging our stuff down a hill and to our campsite we were finally all set and ready to rage.
Day 1 (Thursday)
Unable to attend the pre-party on Wednesday due to babysitting issues our Day one started on Thursday. And Thursday was all about BARCLAY CRENSHAW. Throwin’ elbows and Debo’ing his was through the line up Mr Crenshaw let it be known he was in for the kill. His 11:50pm set really set the tone for the opening nights acts. Bringing in a burst of Old school Dubstep Energy RUSKO bombard the stage and began to turn up.
A brief history lesson in UK Dub he blasted through his set like every Rude Boy should, weird, wobbly and a touch of precision. Then came TVBOO… galloping to the stage in jorts and cowboy boots this sexy young country boy exuded his youthful spirit. Materializing out of thin air INZO began leaking through the speakers. Crawling over the crowd in his usual whimsical manor.
After getting tired of dancing we eventually plopped our butts in the dirt for some much needed rest. I sparked a smoke and began to share it with a man in dark rimmed glasses sitting in a lawn chair next to me. Zeds Dead was last. Closing out the main stage should be easy but to much dismay my Canadian heroes began to falter. Maybe I’m just biased because I had witnessed such an immaculate performance at the Deadbeats Jamboree in Fort Worth last month. This was not there best performance in my opinion. Another bump in the road happened about mid set, everything went completely black and some technical difficulties forced them to reboot and start again. Feeling disheartened, I know they will make up for it in a few hours in the afters (which they most definitely did).
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The Wooks come out at night
With it barely above 50 degrees by 2am the wife and I retreated to our tent to retrieve some warmer clothes and warm up for a bit before LEVITY started at the Halo stage. I realized I packed no warm clothes other than 1 long sleeve t-shirt and a few beanies. Thank God I packed my Avocado Onesie! Levity was already keeping the party going as we crept through the dense crowd not knowing where the actual stage was but rather following the volume of the music heading towards us. They smashed through several early 2000 pop flips and of course their Britney Spears Toxic making all the millennial Wooks go nuts.
In cool suave fashion The Liquid Stranger eased into the beginning of the Zeds Dead b2b set. Bringing down the intensity, oozing confidence and self indulgent weirdness we were underway. The ‘Eleanor Rigby’ flip really stuck out to me in the wee hours of the morning. “I look at all the lonely people, bum bum bum bum” rang through incandescent purple trees as the crowd swayed this way and that. As my brain dwindled into mush ZEDS DEAD had took hold of the reigns and grooved us onward. Keeping the same weird nostalgic vibe going they snuck in a few other classics as well. As the train pulled into the station my wife and I stood up ready to department. Although there was one more remaining act left, we staggered back to camp, ate a snack and collapsed on the bare air mattress.
Day 2 (Friday)
After sleeping till about 2pm or so I finally opened my eyes to my wife stepping back into the tent from smoking a morning cigarette.
“What time is it?” I clamored.
“Almost 2:30” she replied. What the… I was a bit bummed we had missed Gardella and Seth David, but I was NOT about to miss STELLER! Starting at 3:30pm we made our way to the vendor area, bought some lunch and space fruit smoothies and sat at a picnic table to eat and get our bearings. Snagging a cup of hot coffee we made our way to the main stage. Bouncing to the stage with long straightened blonde hair flowing from beneath her bucket hat Steller politely began her most intrinsic set yet. With the swagger of an 80’s b-boy, she windmill kicked every break beat with precision. Vibing one time like we knew she would her mix was exactly what this warm 2nd day afternoon needed. With a quaint bow an quick photo op she drifted off the stage as elegant as she appeared.
Standing for a bit longer a fiery ball of energy barged the stage, screaming into the mic at full volume. GORILLA T jumped around and clanked away through his thick red rimmed glasses. Never ceasing to run out of energy Mr T yelled ballistically into the mic his entire set keeping a steady hum of good vibrations through the warm mountain air. My wife and I watched the last half of his set from the Wakaan Merch tent line. 30 minutes down and we were finally approaching the gates. About $200 later and we had secured the goods. With full arms and bellies we decided to go take a nap.
When the night rolls in
3 hours later we woke up to it pitch dark outside and wondering what just happened. I glanced at my wrist watch, it was almost 9pm… Damn. Stiffly stretching and trying to not feel so old, I changed clothes and adorned my avocado onesie yet again. Stopping for a cup of 9pm coffee we quickly scurried inside, and got set up for JANTSEN. Bringing that 2001 teen angst with a Limp Bizkit “Break Stuff” flip, my millennial counterparts proceeded to go ape shit! Displaying a unique style of his own Jantsen quickly became one of our weekends top 5!
Next Champagne Drips‘ college boy swag oozed through the speakers and caressed our tired brains. Followed by Boogie T keeping the relaxing vibe going. We quickly made a dash to the vendors and scarfed down a chicken peta wrap, then barged back through the gates.
“We can’t be late you Dingus!” I screamed at my wife.
SUBTRONICS is next! Playing a weird an extra wobbly set was just what the doctor ordered. Feeling drained and half dead his vibes matched our subconscious perfectly. With about 20 minutes remaining of his 1:15 minute time slot Sir Sploinky stopped his set a bit short and began to chat with the crowd. Promising a mini rager from his leftover Lost Lands set the Wooks erupted with sudden surge of erratic energy. Re-sparking his blunt for the 5th time the 2nd half was under way and we were indeed in for a bumpy ride. With his Lucious locks flowing heavily in the wind , occasionally stopping to put it back in his infamous side bun Subtronics brought this 2 night to an immaculate ending.
Day 3 (Saturday)
Arising about 8:30 in the morning it felt wonderful to sleep a solid 6 hours. Still quite a bit mangled and depleted, we made our way up the hill to fetch a cup of hot coffee while contemplating our final days strategy. We let our coffee cool a second then made our way over to the Halo stage to find a couple of hammocks to enjoy the morning sun. Still adorning my Avocado onesie we laid weightlessly in the hammocks gazing at the big blue sky swaying in the soft autumn breeze.
Ahhh…This is what we came for, not the music, not the weirdness, not the strange outfits and people, but this wholesome feeling of letting go. Unplugging from life’s daily monotony, and finding oneself in nature with my twin flame. No internet, no cell phone, no power grid, just our spirits and our love to guide us through the weekend. The only thing missing was my boys, but sometimes Dadda and Mamma have to go through some shit to become better human beings for them, and lying in this autumn breeze was part of it.
You should see me in the crowd
Sometime around lunch we made it back to the car to finally fetch our lawn chairs. Sitting in an empty parking space, we reclined and began to smoke in the warm afternoon light. Arriving in our same position slightly to the right and in front of the sound booth we set out our chairs. Stoked to see LUMASI we basked in the pleasures of our zero gravity chairs. Only about 2pm or so the thinned out crowd begun to slowly fill up. A quite diverse group pulled up to our right and begun to set up camp.
“Where are y’all from?” A women in dark sunglasses inquired politely.
“Dallas / Fort Wroth Texas” I hollered back horsely.
” Oh cool! Derek’s from Dallas too!, I’m from St. Louis, the Beautiful gentleman in the blue hair is from Ohio and Sherry down there is from Iowa.” She smiled sweetly.
“Oh neat, how do y’all know each other?” My wife interjected
“Oh we all met in the Forest earlier this year and decided to do Wakaan together as well. This is MY 3rd Wakaan” She proclaimed proudly.
“By far the best one I’ve been to yet, the vibes, the acts, the people, the whole thing is on another level this year” She went on.
Her reply warmed my soul. Of course I felt the same way but being our first trip to the mountain I had no baseline to compare.
Sanka you dead man… ya man…
“We’ll watch ZEN SELEKTA then catch a quick Power Nap” I whispered to my wife.
She nodded in agreeance. Now I wasn’t able to catch all of the female acts this weekend, but one things for sure… The Ladies showed the fuck out these past 4 days! Not that gender is any measure of talent, but man these baddies laid the hammer down. After an enjoyable 56 minutes of pleasure we retired to our quarters for one last pit stop. Getting about an hour or so nap, I zipped up my avocado onesie one last time, grabbed my wife by the arm a descended up the rocky trail into the night. Our thousandth Space fruit smoothie, and a cup of coffee to split an we were back catching the last half of Ahee’s set.
Then came A HUNDRED DRUMS … Bringing in a heavy vibe of dark ominous undertones her set soon became too much. I could tell by the look in my wife’s eye she was overwhelmed. I could feel her energy, and it was bad. With a looming major medical surgery scheduled for this coming up Wednesday, it all became too much.
“Do you want to step outside of the main area…?” I finally broke the silence and asked.
“Yes please!”
Riding this strange torpedo out.
We exited to the left before her set had finished and made our way to the Halo stage. Finding our two hammocks side by side from earlier we began to rock gently in the wind. I wonder if there is normally this much wind up here? Or is it all this fucking energy surging through the mountian? EAZYBAKED was setting up and I was a little bummed I’d be missing them, but this is where I am needed. Being an undercard at Tape B‘s block party these guys know how to ignite the crowd and tonight was no different. We sat for a while longer enjoying the music and breeze before we decided to head back to the tent. Deep down I knew the fun had to come to an end sometime.
Unzipping the tent and collapsing on the air mattress my wife began to cry. Deep willowing billows from the depths of her soul rang loudly through the pitch dark camp grounds. I could feel the tension release from her body. We laid there intertwined as RAVENSCOON softly entered the picture. Being on the far side of shaded camping nearest the main stage I could hear just fine through our mesh window. Melting together as one, we drifted in an out of consciousness occasionally stopping for a deep bellow / release. When DAILY BREAD came in rotation, a small selfish part of me longed to be center stage. But my place is her consoling my wounded lover and bringing her home safely.
She felt bad and mentioned in several times but I didn’t mind. Wakaan isn’t about who saw the coolest DJ / Producers, or who wore the sickest outfits. It was about Love. Pure unadulterated Love. Don’t over complicate it, just relax an enjoy the ride. Another fan favorite was OF THE TREES. Nearing mid night and baring her naked soul, my worn out wife began to drift asleep. We have to hear ‘Spanish Moss!’ It’s her favorite song by him. I lied there staring at the ceiling, enjoying his set in my head and it finally came on.
Peak of the Peak.
Duh of course it would be his closer. I tapped my wife until she eventually awoke.
“Huh?” she seemed disoriented.
“Spanish Moss” I replied with a smile as she let out a Mer.
I don’t recall if she made it through the entire song or not but I enjoyed it for her. Finally what we’ve all been waiting for. The Liquid Stranger. Now I’ve seen him a few times but never fully in his element like this. Usually keeping such a smooth, and almost reserved demeanor the Stranger finally let loose. Screaming into the mic like a wild banshee this Swedish gentleman let you know why he’s the curator of this shit! Driving the train off the rails, I held on the side of the air mattress for dear life. I’m sorry for doubting your poise Mr Stranger, please forgive me. We clamored on. And then it happened… ” If you are with me we’ll start a revolution” echoed delicately through the cool autumn night.
A culmination of my entire life has lead me to this point. Although not as perfectly as planned, it was even better. This was my release. Every inch of doubt and fear fled my body. This is where and who’m I’m meant to be with. Shut up and relax you idiot. Bask in the glory of these frequencies and raise your vibrations you lazy idiot. And with a tender touch just like that The Liquid Stranger closed out this enchanted adventure and brought this long and bumpy weekend to a gliding halt.
Day 4 Sunday Morning Coming Down
Hoping not too sleep too late, I think my body knew it wanted to be back home. Coming to around 8am or so the Mrs. was already up having a morning cigarette and stuffing garments into her bag. Being the responsible adults that we are, we had half way broken down camp the afternoon before so it wouldn’t such a duanting task our final morning. Staggering to my feet in my onesie, we deflated the air mattress and set to work. Only taking two trips to the car, we stopped for one last morning cup of coffee around 9am. Thank god there was about 2 or 3 food vendors still set up serving us. We a sat at a picnic table and soaked it all in one last time.
Time to head home dear, time to return back to reality I suppose. I miss my humans, I said a loud or maybe I just thought it but either way my wife nodded in agreeance.
“We survived ” I mumbled as I took the last sip of my coffee.
“Barely” My wife replied with a worn out smile.
“Barely”
