WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2008
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne sings on stage at the Wakarusa Festival. The band was accompanied by confetti, videos, lights and naked women on the stage.
Hammel also had an agenda to accomplish Friday night.
"I want to see if I can get the bucket off of Buckethead's head," Hammel said. "After that, I want to see Cake go the distance and, of course, watch The Flaming Lips."
Hammel said he loved the idea of sharing the limelight with other bands at a festival rather than having an individual concert. He said he liked the idea of it being a free-for-all where anything could happen
and that he enjoyed the challenge of getting thrown on stage quickly after another band.
Hammel wouldn't classify Wakarusa as
simply a hippie festival. Well, at least not in public.
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"I saw a lot of people dancing weird," Hammel said. "But you can't judge people for being hippies. Well you can, but only in the privacy of your own home."
THE FLAMING LIPS The Headliner
See more photos, video and blog posts.
Origin: Oklahoma City Been around since: 1983 Times at Wakarusa: 2
Web site: www.flaminglips.com
"We are from Oklahoma," Coyne said, "and frankly that wasn't that
The well-known alternative rock group, whose main members include Wayne Coyne, Michael Irvins and Steven Drozd, made Wakarusa a full Flaming Lips event. Arriving Thursday night, the Lips braved the storm in their hotel, but didn't think the weather was all that alarming.
big of a storm last night. By our standards it was a little wimpy."
The Flaming Lips were accompanied on the stage by confetti, videos lights, naked women and teletubbies dancing on stage.
"The thing I love that we have is that we're really available to the audience," Coyne said. "We use the audience. We'll set up stuff and hope it works. If the audience gets into this thing, it's the greatest thing of our lives."
The band also previewed their new movie, "Christmas on Mars," both Friday and Saturday night. The Lips have worked on the movie for the past
seven years and have only previewed it once before. Coyne said the meaning of the movie, like all art, was up to the viewer. To him, the movie is about how to live your life.
"In this life you need two things magic and hard work," Coyne said. "The movie is about the mixture of the two. People need to realize they only have this one life to live and need to live it to the fullest combing these two things."
Coyne said that although he loved smaller festivals such as Wakarusa, the band probably wouldn't be back next year. He said that the performance would lose its magic if the Lips returned every year.
JENNIE ARNAU
The Newcomer
Origin: New York City
Been around since: 1998
Times at Wakarusa: 1
Web site: www.jennieearnau.com
It may have taken Jennie Arnau and her band a three-hour flight from New York City and an hour drive to get to Wakarusa, but the singer said it was worth every minute of it.
Mindy Ricketts/KANSAN
Madyson Gray, 4, Lawrence, plays in the bubbles outside the tent where her mother was selling refreshments to raise money for the Lawrence Community Nursery School. The school is a parent-teacher co-op on Seventh and Alabama streets that has been open since 1952.
"I love it," Arnau said. "I like the feeling of community and getting to
know people I normally wouldn't. It's inspiring. I haven't walked away from a festival and not wanted to write a new song."
Arnau and her band arrived Friday afternoon and spent the day checking out other bands.
For the first half of her time at the festival, Arnau remained in the crowd simply enjoying the music, especially Leftover Salmon. In spite of realizing that she had access to VIP tents backstage, she said she was grateful for what she had accomplished.
"I've gained a lot from this experience," Arnau said. "I've heard a
lot of bands I never would have if I hadn't come here. Everyone influences in a positive way and it feels good. You have to take a little more of the positive and a little less of negative energy."
Arnau hopes to come back to Lawrence for Wakarusa next year.
"A year from now hopefully I'll be doing the same thing with a little bigger crowd and a new CD behind it," Arnau said. "It just takes stamina. It takes putting it out there and seeing what comes back to you."
—Edited by Case Keefer
Mindy Ricketts/KANSAN
First-timer Jenny Arnau plays her guitar on stage during her performance. She and her band flew from New York City for the festival.