Tag Archives: live music

Rise and shine, party time! After setting up camp, drinking, and partying atop the cold and rainy rim of the Gorge on Friday, the feeling of being baked like a Christmas goose in my tent was a welcome way to start the second day of Sasquatch. My fatigue gave little resistance to getting up around 11am Saturday morning. I hate to miss out, and when traveling alone, the tent is the least exciting place to be, so I was up and at’em without a moment to spare. I welcomed the warm embrace of the sunlight with a smile, gave a double thumbs up to our Sasquatch flag, and felt all the stress I had accumulated preparing for the festival seep out of me. Finally here, set up, familiar with the venue; Sasquatch was fully underway.

My earliest must-see show of the weekend was on Saturday, so I wasted no time in hitting the two mile trail to where the music lived. I enjoyed the joy all around me, capturing some festival fashion photos along the way. Without a hitch I found myself arriving at the early part of Robert DeLong‘s set on the Bigfoot stage. I got excited about Robert while scoping out fresh new bands from the lineup, following a trail of web links that ended in a very snappy music video for his song “Global Concepts” He stayed true to the motif established in the video, leaving no question that the orange X means you have found the dance floor. It was energizing to see a solid fan base in matching orange attire so excited to be at the show. DeLong even got the nerd in me to squeal when he hooked up the Wii-mote to the deep bass wah wah machine; the Wii sensors responding to his rhythmic fist-pumps.

From the moment I walked away from the Bigfoot stage, I was focused on Devendra Banhart. I have had a boy-crush on Devendra since high school. I once drove my Ninja 250 sportbike (a dinky back killer, if you are not familiar) for two hours in the rain from Tucson to Phoenix to see Devendra play, only to have the show canceled due to the drummer breaking his leg. This was before Megapuss and Little Joy – the interchangeable touring bands that introduced Devendra to his current drummer, Fabrizio Moretti, who you might recognize from The Strokes.

To finally be able to see Devendra Banhart, with my love for his music having only grown greater since that night in Arizona, was spiritual. It was not the show that I expected to see. It was not silly, or energetic. There were no words of wisdom passed down from this handsome, Venezuelan man. But he did give us his heart. He would hold up his hands in the same way a gospel singer sometimes does, often closing his eyes and willing the tremors to enter his voice. Devendra has an incredible range of vocal manipulations he delicately uses to convey the feelings behind his songs. In between songs, he was the perfect gentleman. When Devendra finished, he thanked everyone sincerely, and left the stage remaining a mystery.

Following what felt like a chill soiree with Devendra Banhart, the high energy ensemble of Acron/Family on the Yeti stage seemed like it would be an abrasive transition out of my daydream, so I moseyed over to El Chupacabre. That night, Laidback Luke would turn the tent into a 50-yard square cube of dirty dancing, but early in the day the comedians had free reign. It was my good fortune when my eyes adjusted to the dim tent light to find the man standing before me to be Nick Offerman; whom I know from the television show Parks & Recreation. Fellow cast member, Aziz Ansari, must have passed on a good recommendation of the northwest from his times at Sasquatch, because Mr. Offerman gave us everything he had. His routine went through the “Ten Tips for Prosperity” in much the same way you would expect from his character, Ron Swanson. Don’t trust anyone, go outside, do drugs, avoid mirrors…he was preaching to the choir. Most of the advice was accompanied by a song, and all of it made a lot sense, and kept me laughing the whole way through.

I would have been happy if his act had ended right there. But he took it so much further. Nick mentioned that some people had been wondering where his wife was. “Well,” he said “let me introduce you to the hottest new family band in America!” Out came his wife, Megan Mullally, who ironically plays Swanson’s crazy ex-wife on Parks & Rec. Once again, if being treated to rocking anthems by the green sequined queen of showmanship, Megan Mullally, was not enough, Offerman slamed down onto center stage, shirt open and rapping the funniest smoke-weed hip-hop/rock tune I have heard, keeping pace with the best of them. He did another four songs with the new band, exited the stage, and returned for a grand gesture as people started to turn away. Shirtless, Offerman flexed like a rock star to the sights and sounds of Beatles-level, adoring screams for Nick Offerman’s simple attractive wisdom. Or at least someone who paddles their own canoe.

After tossing around for a bit it was time to settle in at the main stage to see what changes fame and fortune would bring to the xx on the main stage compared to their first Sasquatch on Bigfoot two years ago. The high contrast lights flashed like a siren calling the bodies to the dance floor, and I rushed to join them. Just like everyone else there, I had been obsessed with the self titled inaugural release from the xx, and had no strong feelings about their new album, Coexist. The less enthusiastic reception has not impacted the band’s drive through Success Town, but the ride has affected their music. Two years ago there is no way that these three young adults could have filled  a 30,000 person venue with sound, let alone people. The beatmaster, Jamie Smith, has been very busy outside of the band, releasing an entire remixed Gil Scott Heron album weeks before Herron passed away in 2011. His recently gained experience is showing. It was the simplicity of his production that first caught everyone’s attention on Saturday night. Instead of building on top of and around those simple forms, a choice that would have cluttered the band’s music, the xx have gone in another direction. All three are taking their sounds deeper, manipulating them more precisely, and innovating new expressions of their trademark simplicity. The dicerning listener can now pick out syncopated reverb, a bit of a wobble to the strings and vocals, and an even deeper, no-contact, mysterious intimacy between childhood friends and singer/guitarists, Oliver Sim and Romy Madley-Croft.

Neither the band, nor the joys of the stage show failed to impress. During the mesmerizing concluding songs, a cloud of fog was set loose from all sides around the lower dance floor. Then a two-dimensional sliver of a roof began to be cast over the crowed in sections, adjusting on and off to the rhythms coming from the stage. To look up was as to look into a monochromatic northern lights just beyond the reach of your fingertips.

Oliver concluded by showing his appreciation for the moment. He told the crowd that they had played music festivals all over the world, and that the Gorge in Washington was one of the most beautiful music venues there are. He said that they had not even thought to dream of filling the same spot as M83, whose set the xx could see from their own stage the last time they played Sasquatch. For me, I was thankful that the band I loved, and had doubted, was on track to create their best work yet.

Stressed that I would not catch the end of Tame Impala‘s set, I ferreted through the herding humans shuffling out of the narrow gap in the fence leading to the rest of the Gorge complex. As I approached the Bigfoot stage my heart was crushed. All that lay before me was a baren stage surrounded by after-party trash. I started zombie walking towards the stage, hoping I could glean some of the energy from the show that I assumed had just ended when a man in front of me yells out “Tame Impala has moved to Yeti!” I immediately did an about face, anticipating a rush for the golden vantage points no one yet knew to keep. The gentleman kept doing the good work of spreading the news behind me as I excitedly pranced, uplifted that I had not missed the Tame Impala show after all.

By the time I got situated in the best spot in the front of Yeti (my favorite) stage, some more news trickled down. This time not so good. The new show time had been moved to 11:15 PM, an hour and a half after it was scheduled. There was a collective sigh as the news was passed along. We were all sharing and understanding that this was going to be long, boring, and cold – but once Tame Impala came on, undoubtedly worth it.

Not a soul was let down when Kevin Parker strapped on his guitar. There is no psychedelic rock band today that compares to Tame Impala. Each of the five members lived inside the music and within each other during that show, taking breaths of fresh air outside of their transcendent melodies to make real connections with the crowd. Parker shared with us that bassist (and Pond frontman) Cam Avery was playing his first ever show in America that night. I could not imagine a better performance experience to introduce him to our great country.

When Tame Impala released the crowd from the spell of their wonder, Sigur Rós had finished on the main stage, and Empire of the Sun had begun their epic performance closing Bigfoot for the night. It was a shame that they were not given a slot on the main stage. The effort and rehearsal that went into the show looked to be next level, but only a few hundred people were able to enjoy it. The crowd was thicker than quicksand, but refused to suck you in. Bigfoot stage was troubled with bunk sound anywhere outside the perimeter of the sound board tent every day until Monday. The low quality audio on the outskirts combined with only glimpses of what was clearly a visual art performance odyssey were enough to encourage the Tame Impala late-comers to continue on back home to camp. My energy level did not argue as I made my way with friends to gather as much energy as I could for a full two more days of celebration.

All photos by Korbin Bennett-Gold.