Sasquatch A Love Connection
posted by on May 28 at 13:50 PM
First a quick boast: For the official Stranger Sasquatch! guide, Megan put together a festival scavenger hunt, listing items to look for around the Gorge over the weekend. As unlikely as we thought they were (Michael Franti’s shoes, a tuft of Sarah Silverman’s arm hair), some of these items proved prescient. There was indeed a third Gallant in the form of lead tambourinist Cody Votolato. And then there was the Incredible Bongo Band record Mix Master Mike scratched during the Beastie Boys’ main stage set. Megan, you’re an oracle.
So how about that wind? The main stage was shut down for at least an hour yesterday, maybe more, blowing fans off the massive lawn and towards Sasquatch’s smaller stages. So the Wookie Stage was packed for the Black Angels’ heavy-duty psych, which was loud as fuck. The wind threw off my schedule as well as the festival’s—bouncing between interviews and stages, I only caught the tail end of the Angels, the Spree, Common Market, and Money Mark.
The literal whirlwind that blew through the Gorge carried the potential for disaster—temperatures plummeted, sets were delayed—but attendees and production both handled the chaos with resilience. Spearhead’s afternoon main stage set was moved to the Wookie Stage later at night, a good small-setting counterpoint to the Beastie Boys’ massive main stage production. Interpol went on pretty much on time on the wind-delayed main stage and for whatever reason, people seemed to like them. Me, I just don’t get it. I hear Interpol and all I hear is guitarguitarguitar and attitudeattitudeattitude, and not in a good way. Where’s the originality? Why do people like them? Why were they on the main stage?
There were no such questions for the Beastie Boys headlining, festival-closing slot. They handled the massive stage with garroulous ease, starting out with Mario C. on percussion, Money Mark on keys, Mix Master Mike on the decks, and the core trio in their usual roles (Yauch on bass, Horovitz on guitar, Mike D on drums). They'd switch up this format throughout the set, which consisted mostly of the songs they played the night before, and, reportedly, from what they played at the Crocodile on Friday. And those songs were strictly from Check Your Head on--no "Paul Revere," no "Hey Ladies." Perhaps those mid-period junk-funk tracks (or "records," as the Boys like to refer to their songs) are better suited for the instrumental format than their more hiphop inflected stuff.
The main difference between this set and the night before was the inclusion of Mix Master Mike, who has a knack for starting off familiar tracks with the familiar backing ("So Whatcha Want"'s soul-jazz organ like, for instance) before dropping it out and blending totally off-kilter snippets from random classic rock, Dirty South, and pop songs. That's where the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache" break came in, if just for 20 seconds.
Towards the last quarter of the set, after the spaced-out soul of "Bodhisattva Vow" and Horovitz's vocoder-enhanced "Something's Got to Give," they Boys dropped the instruments and went bare-bones, just the three Beasties and Mike on turntables. Their talent comes from this kind of group interaction; none but Horovitz is a strong MC, and even he's got a repetitive flow after a while. But the trading off mid-lyric, perfectly embodied on "Pass the Mic"--that's the energy and originality that makes them so much fun, and they slammed it home last night.
"We hope you made a love connection this weekend--it's a very romantic setting," Horovitz said towards the end of the set. "We just want you to know that we love you, and we hope you love us."
The crowd roared for that one--I was pretty far down in the front, surrounded by several thousand fans--and the band launched into "Sabotage," the same way they closed out the set the night before, and still fun as hell to hear all over again.
I'm not sure what it is exactly about the Beastie Boys, why they continue to be some of my favorite performers ever, even if their last couple albums were uneven at best. They're an indicator band in my book: If you don't like the Beastie Boys, I dunno if I can trust you.
The campgrounds were raging with all the debauched heedlessness that comes with last-night-of-the-festival syndrome. With some combination of luck and skill, I encountered a generous guy from Bend, OR with a bag of high-powered homegrown and a box of keef. After 20-something Tecates and a few tokes, the night got rather wonderfully hazy, high, thick clouds backlit by a gorgeous gibbous moon. It was just the right way to close out a beautiful weekend.
I've been to a lot of festivals in my day and I have to say, Sasquatch! is really done right. The setting couldn't be more scenic, the layout is compact enough to feel intimate but big enough to encourage stage-hopping throughout the day. From all accounts--I spoke with bands, managers, and fans--the production was smooth, and the sound at all three stages was perfect all weekend. Twenty-two thousand people sounds like a lot, but the crowd never felt unmanagable. And of course the lineup was terrific. If $10 beers are its only stumbling point, Sasquatch! has a lot going for it. See you next year.
the wind at the gorge cannot be underestimated. i dj'ed the sasquatch mainstage in 2003 and 2004 and will attest to the awesome setting and good times.
that mother nature can be a real bitch, though. 2004 was the only time i have EVER experienced one of my records FLYING OFF THE TURNTABLE WHILE IT WAS PLAYING and soaring into the crowd, thanks to the strong winds whipping across the stage.
it ended my set early but i still have the record (a michael jackson 7" of don't stop ('til you get enough).
I hear Interpol and all I hear is guitarguitarguitar and attitudeattitudeattitude, and not in a good way. Where’s the originality? Why do people like them? Why were they on the main stage?
There is no originality.
People like them because they have poor aesthetics (the fans and the band).
Because a lot of people like Interpol. Most people have poor aesthetics/crap taste.
It's very simple.
yargh. five hour studio session booked saturday plus thirteen hour session on sunday = zero sasquatch for sam. luckily I can live vicariously through Line Out.
Interpol are boring as sin live, but attacking them for a lack of originality is disingenuous. They write some great songs (with not always great lyrics), and like every band they draw on tradition, history, and the works of previous artists. Two Gallants didn't exactly come up with finger-picking out of thin air. I just think it's just easier for people to deride Interpol as being derivative because the reference more contemporary sources and traditions than John Fahey. At some point, though, we're going to have to accept punk, post-punk, Joy Division, and Martin Hannet as being new traditions (or the innovators of them) and then accept more artists working within those traditions.
Whew. But then, again, they're totally a snooze live.
"We're going to have to accept punk, post-punk, Joy Division, and Martin Hannett as being new traditions."
Only if we let it happen.
After seven years of post-punk fellatio, indie guitar-based music, particularly in England, has never been more out of ideas.
I hear Interpol and all I hear is guitarguitarguitar and attitudeattitudeattitude.
I liked that band way better when they were Joy Division.once again jz: great work. i hear you about not trusting people who don't like the beastie boys. those people have no sense of fun. something i've noticed: the saturday knights answer interview questions exactly like the beastie boys (meaning they refuse to be led/goaded and generally make light of the entire interviewing process). oh, and interpol sucks a lot.
$10 beer? What is this? Woodstock 98?
Nice coverage music folks. I feel comfortable living vicariously through your coverage of this blessed event. My only regret is not seeing Mix Master Mike...and maybe Blackalicious.
I love how excited you are about the Bongo Band, Zwickel. Apache actually gets sampled a lot. I know because I changed my name to Incredible Bongo Band, so all the royalty checks get sent to me.
tonto. jump on it.
Having flown all the way from Texas to Seattle to see my favorite bands, I was blown away at how POORLY the festival went. Every artist on Saturday had a music malfunction (anyone see Ghostland Observatory?) and the fact that the show had to be cnacelled for five hours because of wind was pretty amateur. Did nobody notice the wind power farm on the next hill over?
And no re-entry? That's insane. The weather on Saturday was perfect and all of a sudden the temp plummets and we can't leave to get blankets or warmer clothes.
I wouldn't recommend Sasquatch! to anyone.
I was converted by Michael Franti and Spearhead on Sunday. It was full on magic, the winds died down, and I even felt the love from the loopy hula-hoop dancing hippie girls. Of course the premium grade Oly homegrown helped, and the fact that I had a VIP pass = nice, free buffet + no Honeybucket lines + warm place to crash.
The Gorge keeps incrementally improving facilities each year, and I always look forward to Sasquatch as the perfect kick off for summer. The only fucked up thing about Sasquatch 07 was the INSANE traffic on I-90 on Friday and Monday.
All I have to say is... Where was Sarah Silverman? Did she get too f*cked up to show up? I really liked her, she's hilarious, but her blatant disrespect for Sasquatch really disappointed me. She came out like twice throughout the whole weekend, and then Aziz Ansari took over? I just don't get it. As funny as his rape jokes are (not). There is a reason Sarah Silverman was supposed to host and she did not deliver. And I was not the only one to notice. Really, all she needed to do was 5 min between each act, but apparently that was too much for her. Other than Silverman, the whole weekend was amazing, great music, weather, and people.
yeah, i noticed sarah's absence too ... i chalked it up to too many bong hits. however, i kept seeing her bf (jimmy kimmel) everywhere.
Coming to Sasquatch, Interpol was last on my list of must-see bands. I was sick of hearing Interpol on the radio, annoyed that they haven't written anything new since '04, and have come to hate their teenage fans. But down there, close to the stage, I fucking fell in love with them. Am I embarrassed to say this? Yes. It is so uncool to like Interpol now. But fuck cool. Since when is The Stranger concerned with being cool? Interpol is not boring live. They are a simple mixture of pop-rock and post-punk and something about all of their songs made my body say thank-you. And by the way, I can't trust anyone who says they can't trust anyone who says they dont't like the Beastie Boys. Please, how have the Beastie Boys become a barometer for anything? And by the way, why the heck hasn't anyone mentioned Bad Brains?
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