June 2006
On a beautiful balmy Thursday evening on the second official day of summer, the solstice just a day prior… the longest day of the year brought to Boca Raton, Florida a scene you don't see every day.
Thanks for waiting to read about the best part of Wakarusa! The best three shows of the festival lay here in the second half of the review. In this section, I want to tell you which bands earned my top three ribbons of the festival. Please keep in mind that I could not possibly see all of the bands that played, although I did try to see most.
In 1996 Nada Surf was on top of the world. Their hit single, "Popular" was an anthem for depressed high school students. The song served as a painstaking guide book to teenage popularity. They had a major label record contract and were destined for greatness. Fast-forward 9 years and the mainstream music scene had basically written them off. They were a one hit wonder. With four albums to their name, Nada Surf released "The Weight is a Gift" at the end of 2005 on Barsuk Records. The album serves as a beacon of
"There's nothing better than a music festival in the heartland of the country," said Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band on the festival's last day. Even though I can think of some things that are better, there is a lot of truth to this statement. Despite its sputtering start with heightened police threats, and at times clueless security, the third
Whatever you might have heard through the music grapevine about the infamous White Iron Band from deep in the North Woods of Minnesota is probably true. Though Minnesota nice is real, these bad boys aren't called Minnesota's music outlaws for nothing. They carry a reputation for being hard drinking and always eager to settle a squabble with their fists. Yet, when it comes to their music, they are as talented and dedicated.
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In a town that has produced acts such acts as Prince, Soul Asylum, Semisonic, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and a host famous musicians, it is easy to get lost in the shuffle of the Minneapolis music scene. OK, it's not L.A. or New York, but outside of that it is arguably one of the top music markets in the United States, and definitely easy for a band to get lost in the fray.
