Bento Box

Longest Saturday ever. The adventure began when Jerry and Karma flew up from SF Thursday evening. Sasquatch was the goal but they wanted to see Seattle too so they flew up a day before Guru. This time we were more prepared for Sasquatch. Last year we were jealous of those with lawn chairs and their preparedness for anything; so on Friday we hit up REI to stock up on chairs and towels, then hit up a grocery store to make enough food for the entire day. Many thanks to Karma for splurging on groceries and preparing all the food for the day.

Saturday morning we woke around 6am and left around 7. I overestimated the drive and we got there at 9:30am. The gates opened at 11 so we had plenty of time to relax beforehand. Being first in line has its perks: choice seating and random freebie crap. There was some kind of interpretive dance before these howling girls gave away cds, whispering “A gift from the pack…” o…k.

Onto the music - random pics later. I’ll write about the acts I care to remember. I have lots more pictures on my flickr photoset; there were a few bands that were forgettable.

Mix Master Mike started it off with his turntablism - not really my flavor because he changes tempo and style so often that rhythm is barely established and understood before he moves on. I appreciate turn-tablism and beat juggling but his set did not move me. Just because you can mix System of a Down over a break beat doesn’t mean you should.

I was very glad to discover another great local hip-hop artist like last year’s Blue Scholars. Gabriel Teodros rocked the tiny Yeti stage. Very energetic posse and thoughtful rhymes that could actually be understood. At the same time on the mainstage the Saturday Knights were a lackluster hip-hop/metal band with horrible acoustics.

I’m still kicking myself for missing most of The Slip’s set, but I’m glad that while I was walking there I was able to hear them finish out Even Rats.

Ah yes Ozomatli! The band I was most looking forward to seeing. They had so much energy that I wish more of the crowd was at the main stage to appreciate them. I love them even more now and will definitely be blasting them in the car. After they finished their set, they brought down their percussion and trumpets into the crowd and had fun playing around with the crowd while roadies were getting the stage ready for the next artist.

Aqueduct was a fun discovery. Energetic rock with funk flavor, with songs the length of a typical pop song. Seemed like 2 minutes or less per song. Sasquatch never disappoints when it introduces me to new music. I stacked five chairs on top of each other in the beer garden for this pic.

Manu Chao and Radio Bemba Sound System gave an incredibly energetic performance at dusk. We thought each band member looked like someone famous: Colin Farrell, Robert DeNiro, and Steve-O. Another great introduction to Latin rock - although most of the lyrics (from the English parts I understood) seemed to be mainly “world go crazy~~~” and “marijuuuuuuana”

Many times I listen to a band before seeing them live and then afterward develop a much larger appreciation for the music. Arcade Fire is one such band - I wish I could see them again to cheer even louder than before. They have incredible talent and an awesome sound - very impressive ability to sound tight and appear chaotic at the same time. I listened to their album again today and thought the sound of the live performance was a million times better. The instruments sounded much more alive and not flat like on the album.

Bjork is another artist I did not have an appreciation for until after I saw her live performance. I admit I was whining to leave early because I was exhausted during her set (it was past 12:30am), but I was able to hear some songs that caught my ear. Guru later informed me that the live performance she gave that night is nothing like her albums because of the addition of the French horns on the stage and the remixed sound. Bjork warmed everyone’s hearts every time she said “thank you very much” in her accented nymph-like voice.

With 12 hours of music comes lots of downtime… some random pictures

Many many more pictures of more acts in my flickr set