The 11th annual Sasquatch music festival happened Memorial Day weekend at the Gorge Amphitheatre near the hilariously named city of George, Washington. It was four days of sun, dirt, dramatic daily temperature swings, tens of thousands of total strangers variously drunk or high or on vast quantities of controlled substances — or, as is more likely, an increasingly unplanned combination of all three — all sharing portable toilets and farmland for camping. All this was done to bring to pass a music festival at one of the most scenic venues in the world, the likes of which haven’t been seen since last year.
I attended the festival for all four days with a fairly large group and saw close to 40 bands. Arriving in the late evening Thursday, we waited in a long line of cars for several hours before skipping the queue under the direction of some friends who had arrived earlier to join them at their camp. Shows didn’t begin on Friday until around 5 pm, but we were busy all day, waiting in long lines for ice at the general store, then in long lines to redeem our tickets for adorable RFID Sasquatch wristbands, then in long lines to be frisked uselessly for contraband to enter the venue. In all this process, proximity was nine tenths of the law: skipping queues was the only way to get anything done in a timely fashion, so I pity the thousands of saps who surely waited like model citizens in a place that felt like a different world. (Click any image to load a higher resolution copy.)
But at last we were in the venue. Oh, the venue!
But, without too much further ado, my review of the notable shows that I saw. Some were good; some were awesome; some were wretched; and I missed some I would have like to have seen, either due to poor judgment or ignorance.
Friday
The most exciting thing was that there were no schedules. I was pretty stunned, but they had a big poster with the schedule that folks were taking pictures of. I wrote down the shows I wanted to see along with time and stage, which was OK since it was a short day.
The Physics – A Seattle hip hop band, they played on the “Maine” Stage (a disaster in naming since this clashed with the Esurance Mainstage to constant bemusement and ridicule). Maine was a small stage that seemed to play nothing but Seattle hip hop. The Physics played a lovely show. Their white male bass player was very groovy and they had a dude dancing around playing the trumpet. The white girl had soul too. Rhymes were good but I can’t remember any of them now, not being a huge fan. But maybe that ought to change; worth checking out for sure. This was the only show I saw at the oddly underbooked Maine stage.
Santigold – The first show I saw on the Esurance Mainstage (notice the branding), Santigold did not disappoint. I’d first heard of her when a friend told me he’d seen her at Bonnaroo 2009 while I had been seeing someone else, but I’ve only heard her newest album (a very good one), out just a few weeks ago. Her show was amazing, and she can sing! A pair of dancers were on the stage with her doing various things like beating drums or dancing with umbrellas. Pure delight!
Girl Talk – Worst. Thing. Ever. This show was so bad that our group started a running joke about how we should never speak of it again. Girl Talk is one hyper white dude wearing a track suit jumping left and right like a delirious, crazed monkey with about two dozen random people less energetically dancing along with him. His deal is mixing rap lyrics over well-known pop dance music, but he only plays 20 seconds of any song before he’s on to some other poorly realized mashup. Every now and again he would hit a decent groove but then it was over before you could enjoy it. The worst bit I recall was “Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn” repeated 8 times in a row over some dumb pop song, which made me want to kill people. The act seems tailor made for female preteens with ADD, if you’re into that kind of thing. A lot of his transitions were horrible. Why anyone decided he would be a good fit for the Esurance Mainstage is utterly beyond me. His act should be illegal under the Geneva Convention. I wanted to leave but I was reassured that it would be worth sitting through the show to be close for the next show.
Pretty Lights – The next show: meh. Pretty lights says it all. They are generic electronic dance music set to flashing lights in cool patterns. A natural act to follow Girl Talk, to remind us that life is actually worth living, or will seem so tomorrow anyway. But the whole mess meant I missed Beats Antique, a show I was later told was full of awesome and featured a belly dancer. Rawr.
Saturday
Amazingly enough, still no schedules. They’d run out literally two minutes before I showed up, and they had a helpful handwritten sign saying “More Schedules Tomorrow.” This time I was pretty upset. Some people were standing around looking at their schedules thy had just gotten, which seemed to me pretty insensitive if not ridiculously rude. I took pictures of the schedule poster but didn’t see fit to waste juice, so I again wrote down the shows I wanted to see. Ho hum.
Blitzen Trapper – First show on the first full day on the Esurance Mainstage. Blitzen Trapper focused mainly on their new album, which isn’t that good, but they did play “God + Suicide” and “Saturday Night”. I’m a fan so I saw them late in 2010; they didn’t have American Goldwing to play then and they still weren’t good. Sorry Blitzen Trapper.
Portlandia – Carrie Brownstein made bad jokes with the other guy. I guess they figured they’d squeeze a little more out of Wild Flag. We left. But this was the first show I saw on the Verizon Banana Shack tent and I used the downtime to take pictures of someone’s schedule I borrowed, which I again never referenced.
Kurt Vile and the Violators – I was more excited for this show than the War on Drugs, but he was really not into it. Maybe he was being artistic in some Dylan-esque way by not singing with the melody? First show I saw on the Honda Bigfoot stage, the second biggest at Sasquatch.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – First band I saw on the Yeti stage, the smallest and most intimate at Sasquatch. Their show was decent; you should check them out if you can. They played their album since they only have the one. I’d seen them before at the Capitol Hill Block Party in 2011 where I was a lot closer (despite it being early in the day and at Yeti, the show was fairly packed), so this was a good opportunity to rest before a giant zig-zag between Esurance Mainstage and Honda Bigfoot stage…
Metric – Wow does Emily Haines look a lot older now. Also, they focused almost exclusively on the less-than-awesome Fantasies from 2009. Pleasant, not too exciting. Now I am more OK with having missed them twice before for bullshit reasons which I will not recapitulate here. Also, I got this cool shot:
tUnE-yArDs – One of the best shows I saw, if not the best. Merrill Garbus can sing! She let out a yawp worthy of Robin Williams from Dead Poets Society. Also her songs are great. She had a rocking horn section on stage and the show was a dance party! She stuck mainly to W H O K I L L closed with “My Country” which I thought was pretty awesome if not too surprising. Awesome awesome show, see them if you can.
The Shins – Apparently one of their amps blew right as their set started, so I could barely hear them from the lawn. This is really too bad since it sounded like they played a good show. I haven’t heard their new one too many times yet, but so far I’m not into it and I really only liked their most recent before that, so I didn’t feel too bummed out. A couple of my friends waded closer to the stage and reported later that they did in fact play a good show. Good job, the Shins?
St. Vincent – Back at Honda Bigfoot, another great show. Annie Clark can shred her axe and did so. She seemed to be fighting a constant battle with her sound guy to stage right; she kept glaring backstage while thrusting her index finger repeatedly into the air. It never seemed to get any louder; Annie, are you OK? HA HA HA. She danced around and played a good mix of her most recent albums, focusing slightly more on Strange Mercy. She may have played one song from Marry Me; I can’t recall. Among more interesting things I learned at this show was that she co-wrote “Year of the Tiger” with her mom. Highlights included “Marrow” and “Surgeon”. Sadly, this was the last good show of the evening; Saturday really didn’t kill it.
Jack White – I was never a fan and I still am not. I took a nap. Seriously, St. Vincent wiped me out and Jack White was boring. I actually napped. Suck it, Jack White apologists.
The Roots – Second time I’ve seen the Roots, and second time they basically didn’t play any of their songs. They do hip hop mixtape, and I just can’t get into it. They did do some tribute songs to Adam Yauch and Donna Summer, which was cool, but then it was just random songs performed by the Roots. I want to hear songs by the Roots, goddamn it. Who else will play their songs? They did play “The Fire” from How I Got Over, which is almost worse than playing nothing of theirs at all since pretty much everything else on that album was better. Sigh.
Sunday
Finally there were schedules! I literally jumped for joy and shouted in victory when I obtained one. Sunday was without a doubt the best day despite getting off to a slow start with…
Trampled By Turtles – Unimpressive folk rock played by sweaty bearded guy. We started close but got bored and adjourned to the lawn. I have pictures documenting this, see if you can find them.
Here We Go Magic – I’d never listened to this band before, but it sounded great as I lay on the ground at Honda Bigfoot stage right. I was quite fascinated with the shapes of clouds at this point though so I must admit I wasn’t too invested. I will definitely check out their recordings.
The War On Drugs – I lay through the intermission and wasn’t disappointed; even the clouds would need to wait for my attention. The band was quite more energetic than the Violators had been the day before and they rocked pretty hard. Also, the wind had shifted: notice you can see Kurt’s face today. This show was more of a dance party both on stage and off. I was surprised by the richness of their sound since their latest — and the only recording of theirs I’ve heard at press time — seemed quite produced and way indier. “Baby Missiles” was a highlight, everyone was dancing. And what better way to spend such a glorious afternoon?
M. Ward – I still haven’t heard his newest, but Hold Time sucked and Zooey Deschanel cannot die quickly and gruesomely enough for my taste, so I didn’t expect much. Given that, I was fairly impressed. M can rock pretty hard and he clearly was enjoying himself. As I mentioned, it was a glorious if windy day, he played all the good ones, and we sang along: “Magic Trick”, “Hi-Fi”, etc., and he closed with “To Go Home”. He said by way of introduction that that was his favourite of his tunes, and it’s my favourite of his too, so maybe I can forgive his horrible taste in duet partners. The few pictures I snapped from a distance didn’t come out too well, but at least I got a cool shot of Captain America here in front of the gorge.
Wild Flag – The Honda Bigfoot stage is the clear victor this year; Wild Flag’s show was the highlight of the afternoon. I arrived just as Carrie Brownstein commented about the increasing wind as the sun sat over the gorge, “I hope you’re enjoying this Whitesnake music video wind tunnel effect here. We must look hot!” And then they rocked us with Wild Flag songs: “Electric Band”, “Something Came Over Me”, and “Romance” were awesome. The harmonies on “Glass Tambourine” sounded really good and they rocked out on the ending. Janet Weiss, the other former Sleater-Kinney-er and drummer, was on. Yay Washington!
It was, I believe, at this point that my friend borrowed my schedule. She gave it to another friend and, for reasons still unclear to me, he ripped it apart. I think he thought it was an extra or something and was being funny? I think he tried to get another one… but they were out! Apparently he carried it around in his pocket all day, so at least it got some use. And thankfully, another friend had gone in earlier than I had on Sunday and picked one up for me in case they were out again. Single oddest thing to happen all weekend.
Star Slinger – Some killer techno dance shit at the Verizon Banana Shack, I think. Probably decent. I did take a picture.
Walkmen – Totally not cool. They were dressed in suits or something. I only heard the new album and it sucked. Why was I even here? No idea.
Beirut – I had some vague sense of liking this band, as if I had seen them once when really drunk and it was revelatory. But more likely I just heard part of a good set some years ago, since this was really mediocre. It seemed like tame and unmemorable world music, but don’t quote me on that since I was kinda checked out. Imagine the lawn at the gorge is your friend’s living room and you’re hanging out and he reveals his step-uncle likes Lebanese music and he’s really into it, so he plays it for you for a little too long but not in an obtrusive way. And meanwhile you talk about your impending evening plans. That’s like Beirut.
Little Dragon – Never heard of this band before but it was quite impressive. Short Aisan lady rocks yr socks is pretty much all I remember, and none of the pictures came out either. But I believe that it will be worth the effort to look into their recordings.
James Murphy (DJ Set) – Indisputably the greatest show at the Verizona Banana Shack, this dance party was off the hook. James Murphy has his faults (the newest and last LCD Soundsystem album was weak, and he fucked up a few fades at this show), but lord does he have taste. I didn’t recognize any of the music he played, but it was all pretty amazing. Basically this show was close to two hours of audio gold, and the crowd was clearly into it. Imagine the best dance party you’ve ever been to, and then consider that this one was a lot better. In my experience, it’s rare that you lose yourself in the music song after song, but this man brought the rain.
Jew stars?! They flashed.
Bon Iver – He played very well. Everything sounded great. But this guy’s a dick. All his banter was obnoxious bro-speak. He set up this epic crowd-participation singalong for “The Wolves (Act XVII and XVIII)” by telling us “we wanted to leave you with this moment” in a teen-girl-swoon-inducing kind of way. “We’re hot shit” says Bon Iver, “and you’re indescribably lucky to have us.” Even so, that was halfway decent… but then he played another song. Who knows what it was? It wasn’t good, it doesn’t matter. Who is this guy?
Feed Me – This show was billed as “Feed Me (With Teeth!)” and teeth there were. Pretty unremarkable electronic show but with giant LED teeth flashing. I’m told it was cool, but I was tired and left early. How could anyone top James Murphy?
Monday
fun. – I was excited to see this band since it is the front man from The Format, which I loved, but he looks pretty squirrely now. Also his songs were weak. The Format was way better because, let’s face it, the Format worked because of that badass multi-instrumentalist bass and drum player. fun was a lot of heartfelt pop tunes that utterly failed to move anyone who isn’t at heart a swooning preteen girl (is anyone else noticing a trend here?). I was bummed because we overheard Awesome Tapes From Africa at the Verizona Banana Shack while we waited for fun to grace us with their presence, and it sounded awesome. Indeed, check out Awesome Tapes From Africa and give fun the finger. This was the last show I saw at the Honda Bigfoot stage.
Feist – Disclaimer: Feist is Christ. Having said that, her show was awesome. Those trio of girls that have featured prominently in her recent videos were on stage with her; I think it likely they did backup vocals on her latest album, Metals, but I won’t look into it. She played a lot of songs from the new one but represented her earlier work too. “Mushaboom” was reworked into a cool slow-burner, and she rocked “I Feel It All” and “My Moon, My Man” as you might expect. My favourite was “Graveyard”, with the girls taking turns singing “Bring ’em all back to life!” A heavenly show for a glorious Monday afternoon.
John Reilly & Friends – I’ve loved John C. Reilly in films and I loved him on the stage. He was billed as John Reilly & Friends, but he walked onto the stage and evenly said, “Hello, my name is John C. Reilly and I’m here to play some songs for you.” I liked thet he has kept the middle initial, and he can certainly sing and play guitar. He played bandleader for a rotating cast of musicians as they played a great set of roots music to a totally packed crowd. He emphasized the historical and emotional importance of that music between songs, and all involved were clearly having a great time. A wonderful show on the Yeti stage.
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – Ted Leo is nothing if not an energetic punk rocker. This was the second time I’ve seen him, and the first since The Brutalist Bricks, his most recent and my favourite. Still, the most memorable songs are the older ones; the highlight was the singalong “Where Have All The Rudeboys Gone?” I got quite close, and this was the only show that left my ears ringing the next day. Someone asked for the set list and Ted gave it without question. Twas a good show to close out the Yeti stage.
Nero – I started here while waiting for Beck, but I ended up coming back because it was a decent dance party. Nothing else to report really. Last act I saw in the Verizon Banana Shack tent.
Beck – Boring. Jack Black came on stage at one point and shook maracas uselessly. I missed Tenacious D due to a lack of excitement so I don’t know if he was any better while his band was playing. Anyway, Beck is yesterday’s news. I kinda walked back and forth between this and Nero. And that concluded the Esurance Mainstage and the Sasquatch Festival for 2012.
My overall ranking places 2012 as better than 2011 but not as good as 2010. Some nomadic dude trying to sell me some drugs Monday morning agreed with that analysis, so it must be correct.