Sasquatch Music Festival

Sasquatch Music Festival was a great time this weekend!  I went in an RV with 8 friends.  We drove up Friday evening and left around noon on Monday.  It was pretty hot during the day and really cold at night, and there was no re-entry, so you had to bring clothes that would be suitable for the 12pm sun through the 12am wind.  The wind was so bad on Sunday that Polyphonic Spree had to stop playing, and the mainstage was shut down for about 2 hours.  The other 2 stages remained open though.  Here’s my take on the bands:

 

Citizen Cope was my favorite.  It might have been that it was the perfect time of day and I was just relaxed and happy with the world, but I really liked their music.  Unfortunately, Tom and Mike slept through the entire show. 

 

Michael Franti and Spearhead was also really good.  He had to switch to the Wookie stage because of the wind.  They announced that he would begin at 9:20.  We waited an entire hour in the cold for his roadies to finish setting up.  I was not happy with Michael Franti.  Then at 10:20 he started playing and it made the whole wait worthwhile.  He has so much energy, jumping around, and he really connected with the audience.  Some of the lyrics are borderline cheesy, but others were really good.  I liked him a lot.  Because he started so late, he was up against Beastie Boys, who started on the mainstage at 10:30, but we decided to stick around and listen to Michael Franti until 11:15.  By "we", I mean the 3 of us that didn’t go back to the RV early because of the cold.

 

Beastie Boys were a disappointment.  They didn’t play any of the songs that I was really into, they were dressed in suits like Blues Brothers, and they played some really strange music.  We only stayed for 3 or 4 songs, so maybe I was just there for a bad part.

 

Black Angels were also really good.  I know a girl who used to date a guy whose cousin does the projections for the Black Angels.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but I got to go backstage during their show.  (Thanks Adam!)  I met some of the band members, checked out their van, took some pictures, and had a fun time.  I also ended up chatting with the lead singer for the Dandy Warhols while I was backstage.  They were on right after the Black Angels, and they were awesome too.  He was chatting with Adam about projections and their best tours.  He mentioned a Mexican restaurant that they love in California, so I told him my flying tortilla story.  I have a big scratch on my forehead where I was hit with a flying tortilla during a show on Saturday.  I know it sounds ridiculous.  Later I saw people throwing some tortillas during his show and it made me laugh (and duck!).  Free tip: If you ever see a flying tortilla, watch out.

 

Bjork was pretty good.  Interpol sounded good but lacked energy.  I was sad to have missed Blackalicious.  I know I’m missing some bands here, but it was so much to remember.  Anyway, definitely a good time.

 

Last night, Neda had free tickets to go see Citizen Cope at the Showbox, so we went and had a great time.  I bought their album and a t-shirt.  From there, we went to Neumos to catch the end of the Black Angels show.  They were even better than at Sasquatch.  I should have bought an album.  We didn’t stick around to meet the band though – it was a really long weekend.  I’ll put up some pics later.

 

Thumbs up for Sasquatch.