Sasquatch! Music Festival Day 2

Sasquatch! Music Festival Day 2 Sunday, May 30th at the Gorge Amphitheater

Day two started with Caribou on the main stage and as we walked down the hill we came down to a dancing whirlpool of people. The first thing that stood out was how Caribou was super close on the stage together, and there was so much extra space. I dug how they would play off each other. Secondly they were working it fast and steady, it was cool to see all the hands moving and bopping of the heads. They sounded great and I am so glad I came in early to catch them. I also love that there was a small disco ball towering above them on the main stage. Today will be all about the dancing. From Caribou on there was steady gusts of wind but I love that the wind never stop the dancing!

We moved over to the Yeti stage to catch Martina Topley Bird and she was looking beautiful in a red strapless prom dress and a pair of the 2008 1-800 Quit Smoking Orange Sunglasses that all the kids were wearing. I even had my pair on… they fit so well, now only if I didn’t get weird looks when I wear them year round. Martina had these soft unique vocals. This was her first year at Sasquatch, she was here in 97 for Lollapalooza. Martina struck my attention when she started looping vocals, clapping, and smaller wooden instruments. It looked cool and sounded really clear, that is such a talent because it’s live if you mess up you have to stop and start again. A kid yelled that it was his birthday so she responded with a fucking happy birthday to you man, this one goes out to you. She rocks.

This was Local Natives first year at Sasquatch as well. They thanked the crowd for coming out early to see them play; there was a fairly large crowd too. Not only does the singer sing he was on keys and drums; he was all over the place looking like a complete rock star. After seeing them play a song or two I realized how bummed I was that we didn’t see them in town on Tuesday at the Empyrean. Lame. They even covered “Warning Sign” by the Talking Heads. Anyone who likes the Talking Heads is cool in my books.

The Long Winters had one of the more funnier moments in the day. He told the crowd they were from Seattle and everyone cheered, then he said the next song is about Portland and the crowd cheered. Then he said the song was called “Not moving to Portland.” It was crickets. I was laughing so hard. I adored the singers charcoal blue western wear. They hadn’t played at the Gorge since their last album came out but they do have a new album that will be out next year! Thanks to the Long Winters we also learned the Music Cares who is one of the Sasquatch Festival sponsors. Oh and that they helped the singer get braces! I guess its like health insurance for rock stars, that is awesome!

Tune Yards were my favorite band on the Yeti Stage for day two. The female singer who had white face paint on across her eyes and wearing a bright yellow shirt asked the crowd …can you dance to it?…are you sure you can dance to it? At first I would say half of the crowd was dancing as she looped her vocals then the drums and a ukulele that had tape across it. She started as a solo, a one lady band, and then later was joined by a few guys. It sounded so cool, and I wasn’t expecting the sound of her vocals to come out like they did. She was conducting the crowd to dance, taping her feet and creating a one of kind indie world music. We left for a second and came back to twice as many people and everyone was dancing.

Cymbals Eat Guitars said “Hi were Cymbals Eat Guitars and this a new song,” then they went right into fast paced indie rock. All the way from New York, they had us all stunned with the song “And the Hazy Sea.” Very catchy band that has this alternative pop grunge sound that I know I will be listening to again and again.

They Might Be Giants had an electronic puppet show, I loved it! There is also no compromising at a They Might Be Giants show. They played songs like “We Live In a Dump,” and sound checked an accordion because they were excited and hopped on stage early. They also played a song about a worm. They were super quirky and had us laughing and singing along. I really enjoyed their set and the opportunity to catch this band live.

Worst Sasquatch cover is all of the kids playing Green Day Rock Band… as Trucker Dave said “Can’t Anyone Finish the Song?”

We thought Vampire Weekend had the kids dancing; um no dance tents aside LCD Soundsystem had everyone and I mean everyone dancing. As James Murphy said “thank you for doing what you are doing.” The hill looked like massive tidal waves of people just shaking their asses and moving their arms. LCD Soundsystem didn’t mess around either they played all of the jams and they looked like complete badasses. I love how much stuff they have on stage too, just cords and instruments everywhere! During Drunk Girls, a drunk boy dumped beer all over my leg… wasn’t very cool. Maybe they can make a song about Drunk Boys too! That aside LCD Soundsystem probably the highlight of the day for us! Maybe every band should drink a case of champagne before they play the main stage!

It was Stephen Malkmus’s birthday in Pavement so who better then the Ice Cream Man to come out on stage and ask the entire Gorge to sing him happy birthday then throw out free ice cream! Pavement opened right up with “Cut Your Hair” and tried to play “Rattle By the Rush” two times but there was some bass guitar issues. The third time’s a charm though! The last time they were at the Gorge was in 1995 and they played in between Cypress Hill and Sinéad O’Connor. Now they are in-between LCD Soundsystem and Massive Attack. As they said “they just fit us in anywhere.” During their set a kid got to come up on stage and play with them, I thought that was really cool. I am guessing it may have been a son? They thanked everyone, seriously, and especially all of us fucking Northwest Kids.

Caught Public Enemy for a few songs, and they are not happy with Arizona or the government at all. But Flava Flav still rocks a wall clock around his neck. We didn’t get any photos because it was pouring down rain; however we bopped side to side in our ponchos! We heard “Fight the Power” and “Bring the Noise” and the rain didn’t scare off anyone, if anything it brought them closer to the rap celebrities of Public Enemy.

We went to the top of the hill and you could hear Public Enemy while we waited for Massive Attack to start. The main stage got a little behind so they took the stage at 11pm. When all of the lights went out everyone cheered as the stage lit up with black light purple lights. There were strobe lights, and light bars behind them. It was dark and they used a lot of fog. You couldn’t see them, but it looked cool far away like ghost silhouettes. They also had a girl come out in a red dress and sing a song; it looked badass because you couldn’t see her face but her red dress stood out like Where’s Waldo. We left after two songs because it was late, we were cold and tired. I know lame; however we listened to them all night from our tent. Love the Gorge for that reason, something about putting on PJ’s and sitting in a lawn chair while overlooking four stages at the Gorge and listening to the music at night. So cool! Who needs sleep.

All photos taken at the Gorge Amphitheater by Matt Auclair.