Sasquatch Music Festival

I attended the first day of the Sasquatch Music Festival this year at the Gorge Amphitheater in eastern Washington. Here are my impressions of the band's I saw:

Fleet Foxes - I had already seen this band once before, but my initial impressions were confirmed by their stirring set. This band is going somewhere? Where? "Top of the Charts!" Their set was the first of the day, but it proved to be more compelling then a few of the later acts. They ended up playing the main stage twice because The National's bus broke down, which gave them even more exposure to the sold-out crowd.

The Shaky Hands - My only departure from the main stage was to watch this rollicking rock bands set. I had seen this band twice previously and each time their music is increasingly geared towards including all members of the band. I am definitely looking forward to their future e.p. and album release later this year.

Beirut - I was a huge fan of Beirut's 2006 release Gulag Orkestar, but was less enthusiastic about their 2007 release The Flying Cub Cup. They performed the best set of the day. While watching their set I was reminded of the Arcade Fire's performance at the 2005 festival despite Beirut's less soaring and anthemic songs. I'm definitely going to give this band more attention in the future.

The New Pornographers - I was very excited to see this band because of their incredible albums full of soaring pop melodies. However, their overall performance was lackluster. Dan Bejar performed a few songs with the band after finishing a set right before as Destroyer on a smaller stage. He seemed less than enthusiastic about playing with the band and none of the songs seemed to embody the intensity found on their albums. After a performance like this I couldn't help but wonder whether the New Pornographers 2007 release "Challengers" was their last.

M.I.A. - Beirut might have played the best set, but this was the most memorable. The crowd in the pit went berserk. At one point during the set M.I.A. invited the crowd on stage and over a hundred audience members stormed the stage. The security guards could not control the onslaught. I don't think I've seen so many people in one place have so much fun at a concert. The music was also a refreshing contrast to the more band oriented sound of the day. Their isn't any better way to describe her sound then "hybridization-hop." I could write quite a bit about this performance and M.I.A. as a pop-musical-icon figure, but I will save that for another time.

Modest Mouse - I saw Modest Mouse perform at the 2005 festival. What I remember the most is wandering around a lot during their set and then returning to find that they were still playing the same song. I don't mind a good "jam" every once and a while, but Modest Mouse seemed to indulge way to much in "jamming." However, this year the presence of Johnny Mar, former member of the Smith's, keeps the band more focused. There are still way too many playing in this band. What is the necessity of two drummer playing the same thing? Why three guitarists? Regardless, I was more impressed this time around.

R.E.M. - I'm not a huge fan of R.E.M., but they are definitely professional musicians. They played through the rain and were very tight, which isn't surprising because they have been around for way over two decades.

Here are some photographs from the day courtesy of pitchforkmedia.

Here are some BETTER photographs courtesy of stereogum.

-johnson!