Sasquatch! day one

It was an incredible lineup this year, and pretty great weather as well; conditions were perfect. I've never seen or heard of such a lineup jam-packed with stuff I was super excited to see. Granted, I'm more into music now than previously, and am somewhat biased toward the Seattle-y music scene, so in a way it's not surprising that I'd be in sync with the festival. However, it seemed like this was a Sasquatch to top all Sasquatches. From Beirut on Saturday afternoon to Flaming Lips' epic closing UFO show Monday, there was something I was wanting to observe other than the eccentric hipster wear and Northwesterners' over-reactive, under-clothed responses to the Central WA heat at all times.

We left Seattle at eight Saturday morning, making a stop for camping food and gas in Ballard and then making a beeline east on I-90, stopping just after Snoqualmie Pass to relieve ourselves at a rest stop, and then in Ellensburg to diagnose a flappy taillight casing. It was benign, just annoying to look out at in the side mirror as it resembled a confused fledgling hummingbird. We got to the Gorge campground around 12:30 and then spent, excruciatingly, what must have been almost an hour inching our way toward designated camping area 22, as apparently those who didn't come the night before arrived at the same time we did, and it was a giant clusterfuck. I've never seen nearly so many people camping there; last time we were in area 6. Needless to say, after I bargained with the stubborn local dudes on letting me pull forward to set up camp more than ten feet from the port-a-potties, we were a little late for Beirut after navigating the entry lines.

(in the photo, my response to the unbearable wait, and the canadian/pirate flags seen in the distance.)

However, Beirut was awesome. I am a huge fan of horns and strings in my rock music, and Beirut is a shining example of how wonderful that alchemy can be. Great recorded, great live... beautifully tragic and optimistic and lovely all together. For much of their set they had a veritable symphony up there- three or four violins, three or four horns, and accordian, in addition to the usual rock instrumentation. We happened to run into Zach (the Beirut dude) at one of the smaller stages later in the day and we all ended up talking about one of his horns, which apparently he fashioned himself. Sweet. (post-horn discussion photo included; story about how I felt too stupid asking for a photo but then went to take a really horrible shot nonetheless omitted.)

After Beirut came Ozomatli, which I wasn't familiar with but their latin hip-hoppiness was fun to chill to on the lawn while commencing the weekend-long peoplewatching-fest, which was quite colorful. I was looking forward to seeing The National, but sadly (as Rainn Wilson, the dude playing Dwight Schrute in the Office, and a native Northwesterner, reported), their bus was marooned in BC when something vehicular failed and they had been moved later and to a different stage. I didn't end up seeing them as the schedules didn't align right, but the Fleet Foxes, who'd played at noon on a smaller stage, filled the gap, and were a nice, mellow, folksy filler. Maybe I should have seen Rogue Wave, haven't seen them live either, but oh well... the sun and the scenery and the Fleet Foxes were not bad at all.

Next came the New Pornographers, the local-ish BC wonder team, which I was really looking forward to, and Neko Case was in attendance which was cool. We went down to the floor for it, and it was a great set. Even though I am only familiar with a couple of their albums and recognized no more than half the songs, it's all good stuff that's easy to appreciate, with their lovely indie-rock-poppiness. And Neko has such a distinctive tone, as well- it's hard not to enjoy. Sadly, some ominous clouds rolled in during their set, and threatened us all with moisture, but it had been so sunny and lovely that it created the Jesus Ray effect through the clouds, and Kathryn, the keyboarder, requested photos of it from the fans. It was pretty dramatic. This did not overshadow the debut of the party shark and orca duo, who made appearances rocking out hardcore all three days beginning with the New Pornographers.

I had also been greatly looking forward to the Grand Archives, the Seattle band that's made it pretty big on the local scene and owns the Redwood on Capitol Hill. I picked up their album a few months ago and have been enjoying their smooth, hummable, folksy indie rock ever since. The catchy whistling intro in "Miniature Birds," the dreamy retro-ey vocals, the addictive bass lines, the country guitar in "Setting Sun," the harp intro in "Sleepdriving..." It's poppy and smooth and mellow at the same time. I'm a convert. I swoon.

I forwent the National on the Yeti Stage and descended back to the mainstage for some MIA. Which was out of control. That girl is incredible. British of Sri Lankan descent, I bought her album on a whim at Easy Street a couple of weeks ago and was super glad. If you're not familiar with her Electro-Pop-Hiphop, check it out. Not surprisingly, it ended up being a massive dance party, and she hauled a couple hundred people or so up on the stage for a few songs, and the energy was great. She closed with Paper Planes, which is also very catchy and fun, especially with the shooting motions requisite in dancing to it. I took a somewhat lame quality video of everyone dancing to it after the party had been relocated back to the floor, which I will link to when I find the time to upload the giant file (as it isn't as lame as the ones already on YouTube).

After MIA came local indie rock powerhouse Modest Mouse, who, after over ten years, gets better live every year. Historically known for being wild and sloppy and drunk at shows, age and/or increased popularity has made them more refined every time I've seen them over the past five or so years. Isaac Brock has not lost his characteristic intenseness, and seeing him go nuts on the jumbotron is enough to... fire things up, if you will. They played a good mix of the best of the past few albums. I developed a crush on Johnny Marr (formerly guitar for the Smiths) then and there on the Jumbotron. Such style!- such wiry Britishness! Yum. Celebrity crushes aside, rocking out to MM up in front is always gratifying.

Sometime during the end of the Modest Mouse set, I think, it started misting, and it was nice, given how warm it had gotten, but it slowly increased in intensity, and rain commenced.

Next, the closer that night, was REM. I'm a big fan of their older stuff, but they were promoting their new album, and I didn't get hooked so I didn't buy it and am not very familiar, so I spent most of the time, during the rain, waiting for the classics, and that whiny bitch sitting next to me who I was stuck with sleeping to my left and hitched a ride out in my car wasn't a fan of REM, only the local indie stuff, and started whimpering from where she was curled up under the blanket that she wanted to go back, so I finally caved and got to hear them start the classics from the walk back. Bastards, you all! Salope!

And yeah, we'd thought- oh, it's so warm, and we don't want to miss Beirut, let's rush and not put the rain fly on. We came back to a tent that despite luggage and a cooler weighting it down, had levitated and shifted eight feet, and was well-soaked with water on our sleeping bags, pillows, and pooling on the floor. Awesome. Way to go, city kids (what happened to my girl scout training? surely my Cadet -yeah, that's right, I made it real real far without officially dropping out- scout leaders would not have approved of the diet heavy on Doritos, Oreos, and alcohol, and lack of light. ) It's okay, my hoodie made an excellent pillow.

Currently listening to: Grand Archives, Modest Mouse, MIA, Hot Chip, New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, Radiohead, Foals.