Sasquatch Music Festival, Gorge Ampitheater, Memorial Day Weekend 2012
Overall
- It’s been a few years since I braved the Sasquatch Music Festival but the lineup was irresistible this year. I went prepared with emergency rain ponchos, good friends, a flask that never made it into the festival grounds, and a hotel reservation.
- The Sasquatch and Bigfoot stages at this festival truly bring out the best in most bands. It’s an epic setting and the emotional and sometimes teary eyed performers were overcome by the energy of their fans and the location.
- This festival tested my concert endurance. No amount of previous concert going experience can prepare you for 4 days of total insanity and massive performances by countless bands. My advice: wear your drinking shoes. It’s going to require many many drinks to get through all 4 days. And good luck sneaking booze in, security was tighter than the airport.
Band Highlights
- Of Monsters and Men.
- Charles Bradley: very emotional performance.
- Girl Talk: holy party time. Never seen anything quite like it. Extra points for only use of fireworks and toilet paper throughout the festival.
- Alabama Shakes: stop and go see this band. They are worth the buzz.
- SBTRKT. Walked into the Banana Shack dance tent double fisting white wine with my friend and someone announced “The Aristocrats are here!”
- Jack White. Duh. Although I thought he was touring with an all man band and then switches to an all lady band and he only played with all man band.
- Fun.
- Tenacious D. Their set design was pretty hilarious. They came out for Beck’s last song to close out the festival and it was awesome.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.: I like any band in which the lead singer sings into an old school phone receiver.
- Head and the Heart: they surprised me and I’m sold.
- Walk the Moon in the acoustic test: this was the hottest day of the festival and they make the highlight list simply because they played in the shade.
- Beirut: even if I don’t care for the lead singer’s voice, they did a great job.
Biggest Disappointments/Bands I Wish I Hadn’t Seen
- So the hardest thing about the festival is that there are sometimes 4 bands playing all at once and you must make the tough decision of who to see. Or sometimes you are too tired to get off your Sasquatch stage blanket and get stuck listening to someone that you instantly regret.
- Metric: seen then before and this was a less than stellar performance on the main stage
- Childish Gambino. Ug. No thanks.
- The Shins: yeah I said it. It wasn’t great compared to the other amazing acts on that giant stage.
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: boring.
- Feist: double boring. Spent most of her set in the View Bar next to the Sasquatch stage. She was dressed as if she was off to a fancy cruise after her set.
Regret Not Catching:
- Hospitality
- Dum Dum Girls
- Spiritualized (although not our fault we missed them, there was a change in the schedule and it took us 3 songs and twitter to figure out that the band who played during their slot was Deer Tick doing a Nirvana set. Several drinks into the evening, we were soooooooo confused).
Ultimate Grand Champion
- Bon Iver. I was not expecting him to blow my mind. This performance was pretty magical. Best show of the year.
Fashion Report
- Fantasy creatures costumes a must (such as fraggles, bananas, unicorns).
- Lots of feathers. Face paint in bright colors. Culturally insensitive Native American headdresses.
- Girls who are in love with Lana Del Ray (lots of side braids and flowers)
- Gary Clark Jr. had a fantastic guitar strap. Super thin, looked like leather.
Musical Trends
- Brass instruments are in almost every band, with extra love for the saxophone. My French Horn playing sister is gonna love that news.
- Singing into guitar pickups (the 90s were alive and strong)
- Male and Female vocalists who share lead singing duties
- Drummers playing along with drum tracks
Fave Thing Overheard at Sasquatch
- “You guys. I’m gonna rage tonight. First I’m going to have a good meal, and then I’m going to rage.”
Wild Life Sighting
- Raccoon that was stuck on the stage before Beck came on was pretty awesome.
In Conclusion
I’m going to give this festival 460 stars, although it’s probably not fair to give an entire festival a star rating. And I’m too lazy to give each band an individual rating. There were about 160 bands, and I saw 36 of them. If each band averages about 10 stars per performance then that adds up to 360 stars. I’ll add an extra 100 stars for Bon Iver. That’s the best I can do.
xoxo A
Filed under Sasquatch Gorge Ampitheater Where's Waldo Fraggles SBTRKT Alabama Shakes Kurt Vile Jack White Tenacious D Beck Beckraccoon Girl Talk Of Monsters and Men Fun. dale earnhardt jr jr The Head and the Heart Walk the Moon Beirut Gary Clark Jr. Bon Iver Spiritualized
