courtesy photo of Gene Ween
Kris Lager recognizes that Hullabaloo Music Festival at Sokol Park in Bellevue, now in its third year, runs as a small operation. But he and the rest of Kris Lager Band like it that way.
“Brandon (Miller, Kris Lager Band’s bassist) is pretty much the decision maker for everything Hullabaloo related,” Lager says, “It’s not like we’re handing the duties off to someone else."
While Miller is in charge of booking the lineup for the festival, he takes input from the rest of the band and friends, often comprising musicians met while touring.
“Ultimately, it comes down to how much we like the acts,” Lager says. “We are a very eclectic band ourselves, so we love all styles and genres of music.”
With bands bringing blues (Kris Lager Band), hip-hop (Purveyors of the Conscous Sound), reggae (Blue Martian Tribe), pop (Icky Blossoms), funk (Funk Trek) and several other genres to Hullabaloo stages, Lager sees diversity as one of the experience’s biggest assets in setting it apart from other festivals.
“(Kris Lager Band) loves to jam and improvise, as well as have fun and get the audience involved, so naturally we’re fond of similar approaches,” Lager says.
Gene Ween, former lead singer of Ween, Blackalicious, The Floozies, Jon Wayne and the Pain and, of course, Kris Lager Band, all appear in the lineup, sharing the bill with more than 20 other bands.
“We want it to be an experience,” Lager says, “a multi-day festival that takes you to a very unique and interesting place, mentally and spiritually.”
To Lager, that’s how camping festivals can separate themselves from more urban festivals like the one-day Maha Music Festival, or Lollapalooza in Chicago.
Social mores and rules that govern day-to-day life don’t necessarily apply within the fences of a music festival. One approaches the day differently: There is no clock to punch, no appointments or home work, there is only the music, the party and the people. The festivalgoer who camps is immersed in the festival’s infrastructure for the event’s duration, not afforded a return to the outside world at the end of each day.
“It often makes for a life-altering experience, or at least a very memorable one,” he says.
Lager says the organizers intend to take advantage of that dynamic. Besides three stages of music, Hullabaloo organizers are installing a nine-hole disc golf course, offering midnight movies, ping pong, community art exhibitions, bonfires and a theme for each night of the festival: Thrifty Thursday, Freaky Friday, Sinful Saturday and Soul Salvation Sunday.
“We make a point when we organize the festival to get as many unique styles as we can,” Lager says. “I consider us a unique band and we want to carry that over into the personality of the festival.”
Lager says he hopes the festival’s personality will catch on.
“We think (a Nebraska music festival) can be successful,” he says. “We want people and bands all over the country to think of Hullabaloo when they think of the Midwest and festivals in general.”
Ambitions of national notoriety aside, Lager’s priorities lie with the day-to-day experience that the festival offers. He says that a camping festival like Hullabaloo can change a person’s perspective on life and music in just a few days. For that, he can give credit to the music, the party, the people.
“Hullabaloo means a good party, a gathering of kindred spirits.”
SCHEDULE:
Thursday
Second Stage 5 p.m.-6 p.m.
Artillery Funk
Main Stage 6 p.m.-7 p.m.
Ian Hilmer
Second Stage 7 p.m.-8 p.m.
Purveyors of the Conscious Sound w/ DJ Destro
Main Stage 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Funk Trek
Second Stage 9:30 p.m.-11 p.m.
Jon Wayne & The Pain
Main Stage 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m.
Henry + The Invisibles
Indoor Stage 12:30 a.m.-1:30 a.m.
Linear Symmetry
Indoor Stage 2 a.m.-3 a.m.
Djem
Friday
Indoor Stage 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Russell & The Flow
Indoor Stage 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
White Wolf T-shirt
Indoor Stage 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
John Klemmensen and the Party
Indoor Stage 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Monstars
Second Stage 5 p.m.-6 p.m.
Low Spark
Main Stage 6 p.m.-7 p.m.
Dumptruck Butterlips
Second Stage 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Henry + The Invisibles
Main Stage 8:30 p.m.-10 p.m.
Kris Lager Band
Second Stage 10 p.m.-11:30 p.m.
Icky Blossoms
Main Stage 11:30 p.m.-1 a.m.
Gene Ween (Aaron Freeman)
Indoor Stage 1 a.m.-3 a.m.
Spoonfed Tribe
+ Dumptruck Butterlips “late night sexy set”
Saturday
Indoor Stage 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Star Belle
Indoor Stage 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
The Witness Stand
Indoor Stage 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Rock Paper Dynamite
Indoor Stage 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Matt Whipkey
Second Stage 5 p.m.-6 p.m.
Jake Briscoe and the Moonlighters
Main Stage 6 p.m.-7 p.m.
Blue Martian Tribe
Second Stage 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Mama Lenny and the Remedy
Main Stage 8:30 p.m.-10 p.m.
Sophistafunk
Second Stage 10 p.m.-11:30 p.m.
The Pimps of Joytime
Main Stage 11:30 p.m.-1 a.m.
Monophonics
Indoor Stage 1 a.m.-3 a.m.
BASSthoven/SHARKWEEK
Sunday
Indoor Stage 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
TBA
Indoor Stage 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
The Midland Band
Indoor Stage 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Hector Anchondo Band
Indoor Stage 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Jake Briscoe and the Moonlighters
Main Stage 5 p.m.-6 p.m.
Cadillac Flambe
Second Stage 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Samantha Fish
Main Stage 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
Kris Lager Band
Second Stage 9 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
Monophonics
Main Stage 10:30 p.m.-12 a.m.
Blackalicious
Indoor Stage 12 a.m.-2 a.m.
The Floozies
DJ Destro and Lovedrunk will be hosting the indoor party while the main stages are running.
Jacob Zlomke is an editorial intern for Hear Nebraska. Reliability and moderation are his favorite music festival drugs. Reach him at jacobz@hearnebraska.org