Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you already know that the annual Wakarusa Festival at Clinton Lake State Park just outside of Lawrence has been this area’s most high-profile concert event for the past three years. No stranger to the strangeness of this unique scene, the Patchchord crew was out and about for nearly all four days of the festival – which would explain the sunburns, sore legs, and all these damn chigger bites in unmentionable places.

As we continue to sift through the mountains of photos and mentally download all our notes from all the great sets of music and mayhem we caught this weekend, you can be sure we’ll be posting them all here for your enjoyment. To start things off, here’s a little taste of the action from Friday; this photoessay includes shots from sets offered up by South Austin’s fabulous Del Castillo, the Disco Biscuits, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band.

Patchchord Photo Essay:
Wakarusa 2006, Part I
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—John Kreicbergs