Sasquatch Festival

Who: The Pixies, Modest Mouse, Wilco, Kanye West, The Arcade Fire, Ray LaMontagne, Jem, Matisyahu, Smoosh, Bloc Party, U.S.E., Aqueduct, AC Newman & more
When: May 28, 2005
Where: The Gorge Ampitheatre, George, WA

I have been meaning to get to this mini-festival since its first year of existence, but never before could I scrounge enough motivation (or accompanying friends) to make it to the Gorge on Memorial Day weekend. Even the stellar lineups of past years weren’t enough to get me there. This year, however, I had no excuse. With a bill as strong (and as eclectic) as this was, I had to get to lovely George, Washington for what has quickly become a nice little younger brother to the bigger, better Northwest summer festival, Bumbershoot.

The organizers of these events would probably disagree with me, but these two events complement each other well, and form nice summer holiday bookends for the indie/hip-hop/alternative fans of Seattle and beyond. Non-profit Bumbershoot has a lot more going for it, with a wider selection of artists, four full days of programming and the convenience of downtown Seattle, but Sasquatch has a growing reputation for a diverse slate and strong focus on Northwest acts. I’ve been attending Bumbershoot for years, but only this year finally drove out to the Gorge for this year’s Sasquatch.

There were a lot of big-name indie and alternative bands on the bill drawing buzz locally, nationally and beyond that I wanted to see: Jewish rapper Matisyahu, pop-tart sisters Smoosh, British new wavers Bloc Party, Seattle dance-pop transplant (by way of Oklahoma) Aqueduct, mountain folkie Ray LaMontagne, Brit alterna-pop star Jem, hometown heroes done good Modest Mouse, the venerated Wilco, electro pop dance collective United State of Electronica, egocentric rapper/producer Kanye West and of course alternative legends The Pixies (who incidentally headlined last year’s Bumbershoot). These are all great acts worth seeing in their own right, but the one band that got me to travel halfway across the state came all the way from Spain a day before—Montreal’s The Arcade Fire, the most talked about band of 2004.

I had hoped to arrive in time to see Smoosh, the now famous preteen sister duo, but sadly was still waiting in the will call line during their 2pm set. I caught pieces of it from the distance, but it doesn’t do justice to their funky alternative to the usual bubble-gum teen music. The first act I did catch in person was the tail end of Jem’s main stage set. In front of a small but growing crowd, her Beth Orton-like alternative “folktronica” couldn’t quite fill the magnificent space provided to her. I really enjoy some of her songs, but she always appears to be a few steps away from Dido territory.

Beyond some of the earlier acts, I wasn’t much interested in anything not on the main stage, so the next big act was Ray LaMontagne, the rugged-voiced heir to Van Morrison’s throne (sorry, David Gray). Performing with two backing musicians on drums and upright bass, Ray performed most of the songs of his remarkable 2004 debut Trouble. Sitting up on the lawn in the bright (and hot) sunshine, his voice was both soothing and uplifting simultaneously. LaMontagne turned in a performance that might have been my favorite of the day if not for the band that followed him half an hour later.

After wandering the grounds in search of some water for our parched mouths, I convinced my friend to head down to the pit for The Arcade Fire. I don’t recall being this excited to see a band play since the first time I saw Dave Matthews Band when I was 16. (Yes, that’s the first time you’ve ever heard Arcade Fire and Dave Matthews Band in the same paragraph).