Saturday, June 07, 2008

Sasquatch!

Memorial Day weekend we drove to the Gorge for the Sasquatch Music Festival. Saturday, we caught Beirut, MIA, Kathleen Edwards, Okkervil River, the National, the Breeders, one Modest Mouse song, and REM. Seeing the National was far and away the highlight of the day; they were supposed to play the main stage in the afternoon, but bus trouble kept them from playing in their original time frame, so they played later on a smaller stage (which is why we missed most of Modest Mouse). The smaller stage without the usual time limit made for a longer and more intimate set; I felt like the entire crowd was totally into the band and the band seemed to really respond to the energy of the crowd. We did leave about half-way through the REM set. They were terrific and the new stuff is all that everyone is saying, but since it was raining, cold, and late, we got to a point where it just wasn't fun anymore.

After the horror of camping in a muddy cowfield with drunken teenagers and overflowing port-a-potties after a hail storm that was Sasquatch 2006, we decided to ditch camping and get a motel room. It was a good call; a good night sleep, short run, hot shower, and amazing brunch helped set me up for a second long day of festival crowds and craziness.

Sunday, we saw the Blue Scholars, Presidents of the United States of America, Sera Cahoone, Michael Franti (just the last few songs), Death Cab for Cutie, and the Cure. I'd never heard Sera Cahoone or Michael Franti before, and both were terrific. Death Cab had a great set; very polished. The Cure was incredible. My best friend in high school was a hugh Cure / Robert Smith fan, so I've been listening for almost 20 years, but I never really realized what a great guitar / arena rock band they are. We were pretty blown away.

We stayed for over 90 minutes of the Cure set before heading out. We got home a little before 3 am. To think that I used to be able to do this and then catch a 5 am ferry to the ship for work the next day... Anyway, it was an amazing experience and worth the lighter wallet and sleep debt.

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