So being a musician and never being to the Gorge almost seems like heresy -- prior to this last weekend, I had never been to the Gorge, Washington State's premier spot to see live music.The band I play with, Handful of Luvin' is slated to play at the Gorge this summer in early August before Phish, and I didn't want my first experience of the Gorge to be a performer, and not as a attendee. So, my girlfriend and I decided to go to the festival and experience it firsthand.
To be honest, the Gorge was all I imagined it would be: glorious and incredibly epic. To anyone that has ever been there, just the sheer size of the grounds alone is astounding -- the max capacity for the venue is 20,000 people and the view of the Columbia river and surrounding landscape behind the main stage is spectacular - Enough about the Gorge, now onto Sasquatch itself.
Originally I had only purchased a ticket for Saturday at the Gorge, since the majority of the lineup on that day I had heard of, and enjoyed their music. (Kings of Leon, Doves, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, M. Ward and others). Thankfully, my girlfriend convinced me to stay until Monday, so we were able to attend the festival on Sunday as well.
Sasquatch Lineup:
May 23, 2009
Wookie Stage 1:30 PM - Blind Pilot
The band got off to a late start (egregiously long sound check). Overall the band was a good way to start off the festival for me - they had a huge array of random instruments (lap slide, violin, accordion, guitar, bass, banjo, accordion, keyboard, trumpet) which all added lots of layers of extra sound to help liven up the relatively laid back set. On initial listen the group sounds like Wilco - with the vocals of Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski,they have a sound like a younger Jeff Tweedy mixed with Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) sugary sweet folk pop melodies with an Alternative Folk Twang.
Unfortunately after 3-4 songs, the set became quite bland (all the songs were medium tempo, and had nothing showy.) All the parts of the group were very simple (elementary rhythms; uncomplicated chord changes; and with not much variation), so the group played it safe and easy.... the main push and drive of the band was the vocals and lyrics - which at initial listen seemed pretty straightforward... definitely something I'm going to need to listen to more in the future for a more educated critique of this Portland Band.
Main Stage 2:20 PM - The DovesI came to the Doves set being familiar with their older albums (The Last Broadcast and Lost Souls). In the late nineties and early 2000's, the band had been described as 'The New Radiohead" - which isn't too far from the truth... however the band has roots in dance pop rock which bleeds through their songs and sound.
Their set at Sasquatch had a huge atmospheric sound to it - thanks to the 2 story speakers flanking the massive Gorge Main Stage. With the combination of percussive bass line drones, driving dance drums, chimey guitars, and soaring vocals lended to the Doves sound. The new Material from their albums Kingdom of Rust and Some Cities sounded great - and the older song "There Goes the Fear" was a fantastic closer for the entire set.
The band overall sounds very familiar to fans of Coldplay, U2 and Radiohead and 'Euro Sulk Rock' -- and fit well at the Main stage for Sasquatch.
3:25 Main Stage - M.Ward
To be honest, even though I own M.Ward's album 2006 Album 'Post-War' I'm not very familiar with M. Ward's songs. I actually was introduced to M.Ward's music after researching his associated act, She & Him (which is M.Ward's act with actress and singer Zooey Deschanel). The one song which I know and was looking forward to was Chinese Translation which M.Ward immediately blasted into at the beginning of his set.
M.Ward's sound is both new and old - if Jerry Lee Lewis never existed and then all of a sudden was a contemporary band - that would be M.Ward.
In the middle of M.Ward's set, he brought up the violinist from Devotchka (the next Main Stage band) Tom Hagerman, who played an impromptu song. Hagerman played it safe and didn't do anything fancy or embellish too extravagantly on M.Ward's tune... which was fine - I was just hoping for more of a show when he came out.
4:20 Yeti Stage, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
the group was loud and raucous... didn't stick around long enough to be able to fully critique or enjoy their set.....
4:30 Main Stage, Devotchka
....however, I did have plenty of time to enjoy this gem of a band, Devotchka. I remember seeing these guys years ago at Bumbershoot in Seattle, and I absolutely loved their set. DeVotchKa is a four piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble that fuses Romani, Greek, Slavic, Bolero, Mariachi (and many more styles) music with American punk and folk roots. (Imagine 'Fiddler on the Roof' in the middle of a Carnival Horror House, with 'Rancid' as your tour guide.) Their sound is quite unique, and I was pleased to see that they were giving the honor of being on the main Stage.
Here is a video I took of one of my favorite songs: Clockwise Witness.
5:50 Main Stage, Animal Collective
The set went off to an interesting start... for the longest time I wasn't sure if it was a sound check or an actual song... which pretty much sums up my impression of their entire set. Their set comprised of cacophonous noise making which to the initial listener seemed convoluted and abrasive (lots of random howling, synthetic electonic beats; twinkles, pops, etc.). I was hard pressed throughout the set trying to figure out why the group had so much hype about them... the entire blogosphere and critic circles were ranting and raving about how wonderful these guys were.... maybe I just need to get onto the band wagon and listen to this band a few hundred times and dissect what makes them tick......
The thing that frustrated me most with the group was the ever present tension that they had musically throughout the set --- it never seemed to resolve itself-- the music direction was like they were trying to get to an idea, but never reached it.... like their sound was the aural representation of the novel Ulysses (complicated and beautiful.... but god who reads it for fun?????)
-Andrew D.B. Joslyn
Their set at Sasquatch had a huge atmospheric sound to it - thanks to the 2 story speakers flanking the massive Gorge Main Stage. With the combination of percussive bass line drones, driving dance drums, chimey guitars, and soaring vocals lended to the Doves sound. The new Material from their albums Kingdom of Rust and Some Cities sounded great - and the older song "There Goes the Fear" was a fantastic closer for the entire set.
The band overall sounds very familiar to fans of Coldplay, U2 and Radiohead and 'Euro Sulk Rock' -- and fit well at the Main stage for Sasquatch.
3:25 Main Stage - M.Ward
To be honest, even though I own M.Ward's album 2006 Album 'Post-War' I'm not very familiar with M. Ward's songs. I actually was introduced to M.Ward's music after researching his associated act, She & Him (which is M.Ward's act with actress and singer Zooey Deschanel). The one song which I know and was looking forward to was Chinese Translation which M.Ward immediately blasted into at the beginning of his set.
M.Ward's sound is both new and old - if Jerry Lee Lewis never existed and then all of a sudden was a contemporary band - that would be M.Ward.
In the middle of M.Ward's set, he brought up the violinist from Devotchka (the next Main Stage band) Tom Hagerman, who played an impromptu song. Hagerman played it safe and didn't do anything fancy or embellish too extravagantly on M.Ward's tune... which was fine - I was just hoping for more of a show when he came out.
4:20 Yeti Stage, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
the group was loud and raucous... didn't stick around long enough to be able to fully critique or enjoy their set.....
4:30 Main Stage, Devotchka
....however, I did have plenty of time to enjoy this gem of a band, Devotchka. I remember seeing these guys years ago at Bumbershoot in Seattle, and I absolutely loved their set. DeVotchKa is a four piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble that fuses Romani, Greek, Slavic, Bolero, Mariachi (and many more styles) music with American punk and folk roots. (Imagine 'Fiddler on the Roof' in the middle of a Carnival Horror House, with 'Rancid' as your tour guide.) Their sound is quite unique, and I was pleased to see that they were giving the honor of being on the main Stage.
Here is a video I took of one of my favorite songs: Clockwise Witness.
5:50 Main Stage, Animal Collective
The set went off to an interesting start... for the longest time I wasn't sure if it was a sound check or an actual song... which pretty much sums up my impression of their entire set. Their set comprised of cacophonous noise making which to the initial listener seemed convoluted and abrasive (lots of random howling, synthetic electonic beats; twinkles, pops, etc.). I was hard pressed throughout the set trying to figure out why the group had so much hype about them... the entire blogosphere and critic circles were ranting and raving about how wonderful these guys were.... maybe I just need to get onto the band wagon and listen to this band a few hundred times and dissect what makes them tick......
The thing that frustrated me most with the group was the ever present tension that they had musically throughout the set --- it never seemed to resolve itself-- the music direction was like they were trying to get to an idea, but never reached it.... like their sound was the aural representation of the novel Ulysses (complicated and beautiful.... but god who reads it for fun?????)
-Andrew D.B. Joslyn
2 comments:
Great review. One thing I'd like to mention is this indy audience which is disappointing. I've been to many crazy concerts at the Gorge where the lower area in front of the stage is actually an unsafe place to be. But at Sasquatch, much like the Andrew Bird concert, people were just standing around. I would have loved to see more enthusiam for any band. And yeah Animal Collective? WTF was that?!
I went from dismissing Animal Collective as "hipster bullshit" to them being one of my favorite bands in the last few years. Strawberry Jam was the key to unlocking their discography for me, though the new one, Feels and Sung Tongs are all beautiful in their own fucked up ways. The band is really a pop group a heart - you just have to sift through the din of noise to get to the pop gems inside.
That said, Sasquatch (and Portland two days later) were my first time seeing them live and I can honestly say I don't feel the need to see them again. I feel like they try real hard to purposely obfuscate their music and appeal to their noise/drone roots. They're an incredible band, but a live show is not the best way to be introduced. Get a hold of Strawberry Jam or Merriweather Post Pavilion and give it some time. And not to diminish the music itself, but the consumption of substances certainly helps.
Tell me you didn't miss Bon Iver, Andrew. Best set of the day by far. I'd say I'm surprised I didn't see you, but there were so many goddamn people there I wouldn't have been able to find you if I tried. I feel like they must have oversold Sasquatch by quite a bit. Way more crowded than any of the dozens of other concerts I've seen at the Gorge.
Nice blog. Keep up the good work, brother.
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