SHOW review

Quintet brings 'hick funk' to campgrounds

By Written by Sam Carlson
KANSAN.com
June 9, 2007

Assembly of Dust has come all the way from the Northeast two members from New York and three from New Hampshire for this moment. The band is going through sound checks on the Campground Stage as fans trickle into the open-air tent, a welcomed refuge from the hot sun.

Along with guitarists Adam Terrell and John Lecesse, lead singer Reid Genauer slings his guitar over his head and the band is almost ready. Awaiting the first chord is a group of approximately 25 fans standing directly in front of the stage, as close as a metal fence will allow them to get. Many more listeners stand further back, and the tent is continuing to fill up.

Within seconds, the bands first act of the festival is underway. Genauer's voice, which possesses a country singer's twang, and Nate Wilson's keyboard tones are the most distinctive sounds heard.

The end of the first song is met with applause and whistling from the crowd.Two girls dance wildly during the second song near the fence that separates them from the stage.

Behind sunglasses and under a baseball hat, Andrew Herrick, drummer, strikes the cymbal to begin the third song.

A shirtless man with a bright orange baseball hat rides a bicycle past the tent and it appears the music has taken hold of him. Beer in hand, he sets his bike down and begins swaying in a trancelike dance.

After about a half-hour on stage, in between songs, Genauer steps back from the microphone and pushes his glasses back up on his sweaty face.

When the band strikes up again, the crowd joins in on singing. Two men, one wearing a trucker hat and both sporting farmer's tans, bob their heads and sing a familiar song word-for-word.

The band stops playing after about an hour, and thanks the crowd for showing up.

Assembly of Dust exits the stage and setup for the next band begins. This is how it goes at Wakarusa; one band finishes and the next group starts approximately 30 minutes later. Fans are treated to a constant flow of musical stimulation on the Campground Stage, just as they are on every other stage during this four-day free-for-all.
KANSAN.COM