Sasquatch Crowd 2009 ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

We brought you the line-up last night, now here’s the day-by-day run down of Sasquatch 2010. We’re waiting for more up and coming local (and Portland) bands to fill out the line-up, but there’s already a lot to love about Sasquatch 2010. What day are you most excited for?

Saturday, May 29th

My Morning Jacket / Vampire Weekend / The National / Deadmau5 / Broken Social Scene / OK Go / Wale / Public Enemy / The Hold Steady / Miike Snow / Z-Trip / Brother Ali / Minus The Bear / WHY? / The Very Best / Portugal. The Man / Mumford & Sons / The Lonely Forest / Nurses / The Middle East / Patrick Watson / Morning Teleportation / Laura Marling / Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros / Fool’s Gold / Garfunkel & Oates / Dam-Funk / Shabazz Palaces

Sunday, May 30th

Massive Attack / Pavement / LCD Soundsystem / Tegan and Sara / Kid Cudi / Nada Surf / Dirty Projectors / The xx / The Long Winters / Simian Mobile Disco / Midlake / Girls / Vetiver / The Tallest Man On Earth / YACHT / Booka Shade / Caribou / Avi Buffalo / City and Colour / Cymbals Eat Guitars / A-Trak / Fruit Bats / tUnE-yArDs / Local Natives / Freelance Whales / Jets Overhead / Rob Riggle / Luke Burbank

Monday, May 31st

Ween / MGMT / Band of Horses / She & Him / Passion Pit / The New Pornographers / Drive-By Truckers / Boys Noize / Camera Obscura / The Temper Trap / Dr. Dog / Neon Indian / No Age / The Mountain Goats / Phantogram / Quasi / Japandroids / Mayer Hawthorne & The County / The Low Anthem / Fresh Espresso / Hudson Mohawke / Telekinesis / Past Lives / Yes Giantess / Craig Robinson

We just walked through the door from the Sasquatch line-up announcement party featuring Fresh Espresso, Atlas Sound, and Surfer Blood. More on the party soon, but here’s what you’ve all been waiting for: the line-up and it’s a doozie. We’ve bolded the bands we’re most excited about, as well as the (few) local bands who made the Sasquatch cut.

My Morning Jacket / Massive Attack / Pavement / Ween / Vampire Weekend / MGMT / Band of Horses/ The National / LCD Soundsystem / Tegan & Sara / Broken Social Scene / Passion Pit / Deadmau5 / She & Him / Public Enemy / Nada Surf / The New Pornographers / The Hold Steady / The xx / Dirty Projectors / OK Go / Drive By Truckers / Kid Cudi / The Long Winters / Minus the… Bear / The Mountain Goats / Quasi / Camera Obscura / Fruit Bats / Brother Ali / Midlake / Dr. Dog / Caribou / Simian Mobile Disco / City & Colour / No Age / The Temper Trap / Vetiver / Miike Snow / Portugal. The Man / Telekinesis / Mayer Hawthorne / Why? / Girls / Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros / Wale / The Lonely Forest / Japandroids / Boys Noize / Yacht / Freelance Whales / Laura Marling / Patrick Watson / Past Lives / Cymbals Eat Guitars / The Low Anthem / The Very Best / Phantogram / Neon Indian / Nurses / The Tallest Man on Earth / Fresh Espresso / Mumford & Sons / Jets Overhead / tUnE-YarDs / Shabazz Palaces / Fool’s Gold / Morning Teleportation / Z-Trip / Dam-Funk / Hudson Mohawke / The Middle East / Local Natives / Avi Buffalo / Booka Shade / A-Trak / Yes Giantess / Craig Robinson / Rob Riggle / Garfunkel & Oates / Luke Burbank

More will be announced the closer we get to May and the Gorge, but that’s one hell of a start Sasquatch!

(Tip of the Hat to Travis Hay from Ear Candy who had this list up before anyone else)

Sasquatch is doing something a little different for the 2010 festival. They’ll be announcing the festival’s eagerly anticipated line-up at a free live show next Monday (February 15th) at the Crocodile. The evening will feature three bands we’d be thrilled to see at Sasquatch itself: the summer sounds of Surfer Blood, the epic experimentation of Bradford Cox as Atlas Sound, and Seattle’s favorite party soundtrack, Fresh Espresso.

It’s a line up that would sell out if The Crocodile was charging $20 a pop, so you better believe it will be a packed show with that oh-so-enticing free price tag. Here’s how you can guarantee you’ll not only see three great bands, but you’ll be the first on the block to hear who’ll be serenading you over Memorial Day Weekend.

Free tickets are available courtesy of Esurance by listening to 107.7 The End all week to win, or by stopping by either Easy Street Records locations starting Friday, February 12^th at 9:00 a.m. (limit 2 per person).

Front Row in the Rain at Macklemore during Bumbershoot ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

“I get on stage, style, share my whole life, try to reach ‘em at the bar where they’re drinkin’ Miller Light.
But the kids in the front, they bring out the passion, dude. Make noise throughout the show, and not only when we ask them to.
I watch the older cats, jaded in the back, hand clasped, forgot when they weren’t too cool to be a fan. Damn. Hatin’ at the concert, you don’t remember RCKCNDY, watching Hiero or wylin’ out to alcoholics.
I know, it’s not the same, it never will be. But hey, my, my, my, my city’s filthy.”

- by Macklemore from “The Town”

Thanks for sharing 2009 and the front row with us. Have a happy and safe New Year!
See you in the front row in 2010 Seattle!

The Ironclads’ Front Row ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Passion Pit’s Front Frow ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Maldives Front Row at Doe Bay Festival ::: video by Abbey Simmons

Sasquatch Music Festival ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

While the sunny spring and summer festival season seems worlds away right now in rainy thundering Seattle,  you can inch a little closer to those sunscreen lathered days, as long as you have 185 dollars to spend.

This morning, special limited 3-day discount passes went on sale for the 2010 Sasquatch! music festival. And while we won’t know the official line up until February 16th, we do know based on the previous 9 years of solid line ups and gorgeous festivals, it will be worth attending and the cost of tickets.

The 3-day discount passes will run you 170 dollars (plus ticketmaster fees, rounding up to around $185.00) and are available on the Sasquatch! Website (which will direct you to Ticketmaster).  While it might not seem much like a discount now, I’m certain it will when day pass prices and other 3 day pass prices come out. Not to mention when the rumblings of a truly amazing line up are announced. (Like the fact Pavement is the first confirmed headliner of the festival.)

There is only a limited number of these discount passes and the discount will only be available until December 31st, 2009.

Bon Iver ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Monotonix ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Sasquatch 2009 was filled with memorable performances and some truly stellar sets. Despite being only three days long, it’s impressive what a wealth and diversity of acts we managed to catch during our time at Sasquatch, all while largely avoiding the “headliners” of the festival. During the festival, in part thanks to an orthopedic boot, I only made it to the main stage five times, for: Animal Collective, Avett Brothers, The Decemberists, Murder City Devils, and the tail end of the Fleet Foxes. While I missed the acts that got most people through the gates, there’s no doubt in my mind that I caught the highlights of the entire Sasquatch! Music Festival: Bon Iver’s soaring set on Saturday night and Monotonix’s Monday afternoon insanity.

Bon Iver and Monotonix couldn’t be more opposite musically or performance-wise. A Bon Iver set is all about the songs and the nuance of Justin Vernon’s vulnerable vocals and lyrics, while during a Monotonix set you barely hear the songs amidst concerns of survival and avoiding Ami’s hairy, sweaty, Speedo-clad ass from landing on your face. During Bon Iver’s set everybody sang softly along as the bearded folkie sang: earnestly with shut eyes. During Monotonix’s set everybody did their best to keep Ami and the rest of the band upright as they crowd-surfed for what seemed like over half of the set. When early on, the crowd failed and Ami went crashing to the ground (and on top of the the bass drum he’d been standing on) he emerged from the crowd bloodied and with a large gash on his cheek; but completely undeterred at conquering the human wave below him. One set was pure over-the-top punk performance, while the other was staggering singer-songwriter genius.

While they may have nothing in common musically, the thing that Monotonix and Bon Iver did share was their ability to harness the epic moments possible in a festival-style setting like Sasquatch.  For Bon Iver, it was a spine-tingling set, and that sense seemed to reverberate through the entire audience when he asked the crowd to act as his chorus during “The Wolves (Act I & II).” The audience, which had been dutifully singing along to every aching word already,  happily obliged in a collective sway of song. Even the photo pit sang along. And as cheesy as it all sounds, standing there with the hairs on my neck standing on end, it felt like you were witnessing a moment of collective grace and something larger than yourself.

Monotonix’s set may not have been as profound as Bon Iver, but the band certainly harnessed the chaotic energy of the festival setting. Monotonix feeds on the thrill and fear of unexpected consequences from their performances. Out of the three previous Monotonix sets Sound on the Sound had seen, two had been shut down prematurely thanks to the band’s and crowd’s antics. When the security guard in charge of the Wookie Stage photo pit mentioned that he expected the band might be crazy enough to be shut down, and he did so during the first set of the day Monday, we fully expected Monotonix’s  Sasquatch set would face a similar fate. When Ami and the band set their instruments up in front of the barrier and were crowd-surfing before the end of their second song, we were POSITIVE they’d be shut down at any moment and that certainty continued throughout the set. But no. No matter how crazy, bloody, sweaty, and hectic Monotonix’s set became, the security and powers-that-be let them continue. A Monotonix show  is all about spectacle, participation, and a crazy communal experience — and they out-spectacled themselves with the audience’s eager help at Sasquatch – you’ve never seen anyone more thrilled to grope the Speedo’d ass of a hairy Israeli man than this year’s Sasquatch! audience.

Ultimately, as diametrically opposed as they may be, for both Monotonix and Bon Iver, we ended up sharing a sense of renewed wonder about these bands, their performance, and their ability to realize the full potential of a festival setting. When we look back at Sasquatch 2009, these will be the bands we recall most fondly and with a sense of wonder.

Bon Iver with Shara Worden ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Bon Iver with Shara Worden ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Bon Iver :::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Mesmerized ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Bon Iver ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Monotonix ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Monotonix ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Monotonix::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Monotonix ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Monotonix ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Monotonix ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Monotonix ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Monotonix ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Pica Beats ::: Photo by Josh

Over the Sasquatch weekend I had a chance to get to meet the Pica Beats and do a short get to know you type interview crouched in the shade next to a dumpster. Please excuse the brevity of this interview. Unfortunately some of the interview was lost as sometimes happens with ad hoc recordings. (Read that as: I don’t know what the hell happened. The first part is there, then it just goes fuzz.) Thankfully much of the good stuff remains.

Band leader and songwriter Ryan Barrett (far left) has developed a rhetorical pop style all his own that’s wry and personal. While anyone with a loquacious story-telling style tends to inevitably draw comparisons to fellow Sasquatch act the Decemberists, the comparison with this band pretty much ends there. It’s music that’s sadder and more grounded in reality than the fantastical imagination of Colin Meloy. That they’ve incorporated eastern and sitar tones into their music will now forever make me associate maladroit pop with those instruments. (Which, I know, is strange.)

The Pica Beats are playing a Noise for the Needy benefit show at Chop Suey on Saturday June 13 with Pt. Juncture, WA, The Black Whales and Grant Olsen from Arthur & Yu.

—

SOTS (Josh): I feel like your songs focus on awkwardness a little bit.

Ryan: (Chuckles and nods.) Yep.

SOTS: Do you feel like life is awkward?

Ryan: It’s getting better. But that was kind of my MO growing up. I was like the nerdy outsider kid. I think it was inevitable that that would make it into my songs.

SOTS: I feel like it’s a theme in probably half the songs I heard today.

Ryan: Yeah, pretty much. I had kind of a rough start I think.

SOTS: Were you in band in high school? Or A/V club or something?

Ryan: No. I don’t know. I didn’t fit in with anyone. I had friends and everything, but by high school I was in a punk rock band. Back in Vermont, where I went to high school, we were the only band in the whole school basically, so I was very much just not the in-crowd kid. Nobody payed attention to us for the most part, so we were pretty much just playing for ourselves.

SOTS: How did you guys get hooked up with Hardly Art?

Read the rest of this entry »

Girl Talk ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

There is no question that day three of Sasquatch for us was all about Monotonix’ set, their last set in the U.S. for a while before heading back across the Atlantic to release a new record. Grizzly Bear’s main stage set came in a close second. I also had the privilege sneak in an interview and a Gorge portrait with Hardly Art’s the Pica Beats after their longish very good set at the Yeti stage, so look for that later today. We ended the day with Girl Talk’s non-stop dance party, which of course jumped off an expansive conversation on the legitimacy of sampling, legally and as an artistic device. See all of our day three pictures at our flickr page.

Other Lives ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Pica Beats ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Pica Beats ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Black Moth Super Rainbow ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Blitzen Trapper ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

School Of Seven Bells ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Grizzly Bear ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Read the rest of this entry »

Murder City Devils ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

As I strolled up to the main stage, Murder City Devils front-man Spencer Moody was looking touristy, wearing a sun hat and a camera around his neck, wryly recounting a trip as a youth to Lollapalooza where he recalled Perry Farrell was headlining, and now Farrell was headlining Sasquatch, and he himself was playing Sasquatch, so it was a full-circle kind of moment. That was the monologue in a nutshell, of course minus the colorful swearing and berating of the audience (as is customary for a MCD show). After that he lost the touristy look pretty fast too, for what I’ve dubbed the “backwoods crazy” look.

Honestly it must have felt rather ironic that the Murder City Devils were playing the main stage of a festival years after their heyday, to a bunch of shirtless teenagers who probably didn’t know the words to a single song. Moody seized every opportunity he could between songs to rant about “homo’s” or scream at frat boys or to educate the crowd about Iggy and the Stooges and how they didn’t know anything about rock. Uncomfortable and hilarious all at once (at least to me), at one point Moody descended into the photo pit to berate photographers and shove a camera or two in his own crotch as protest to their presence.

The reunited band was clearly amused at Moody’s antics if not his overall musical performance. Spending numerous moments with the microphone shoved in his mouth or drunkenly writhing on the floor, Moody was letting the singing take a back seat to play the part of the rock n’ roll provocateur. As Moody stalked back and forth across stage, jumping off and back on, tripping on monitors constantly; it appeared as though he was almost intentionally trying to make work for their legendary roadie Gabe. Between providing cable and microphone replacements or attempting (usually futilely) at an untangle, Gabe spent half the show on stage with the band trying to keep things together. I say microphone replacements because Moody has a habit of swinging microphones around, and swinging microphone stands around, and this day he was doing both these things almost habitually, breaking what appeared to be  two in the process.

I don’t expect this diversion into punk negativity won the Murder City Devils too many new fans. That being said, I don’t know that they much cared anyway. This is a band that’s built to stir things up, and and that’s just what they did. That Moody had an opportunity perform to an audience full of people who embody the archetypes of his traditional nemesis’ must have just made his words that much sweeter and more necessary in his eyes.

Murder City Devils ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Murder City Devils ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Murder City Devils ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Murder City Devils ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

In the above video the Sasquatch dancing guy starts a major dance party during Santigold on the lawn at the Gorge. It’s up over 125,00 views now in the week it has been up. Another video with 80,000 views itself, remixes his dancing and explains a little better who he actually is. I just thought he was on some major acid.

We salute you Colin from Canada! Keep dancing!

That Canadian Dancing Guy! ::: Photo by Josh