All Hail the Sasquatch Festival!

Shame on all the people that missed the Sasquatch Festival this year. The weekend was full of good people, cheap beer and great bands. Despite being stuck in a 30 min. hail storm on Saturday (see what I did there with the title?), a good time was had by all.

Saturday, we were able to catch Architecture in Helsinki, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine and Ben Harper. The hail caused some scheduling problems, so I missed The Tragically Hip's set, which is regrettable. We were given reprieve between the storm and the second half of the concert to tend to our tents. I was happy to find that my new tent was one of the only tents in the immediate area that had survived dry and intact, which was a nice feeling. Anyone up for camping later this year?

Sunday was much more relaxed than the previous day. The weather had cleared up and we had all morning to ready ourselves for the day's bands, which included the Arctic Monkeys, the Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie and Beck. The Queens of the Stone Age fans were the most annoying of the bunch and Matisyahu's set served well for nap time. Apparently, this was the Arctic Monkeys' first time at an outdoor theater, but they didn't show it, and put on a great set. Decemberists on the other hand, are more suited for a small venue than a rock arena. For me, the highlight of the show was Death Cab, and they were much more energetic on stage than their music belies. Beck was, well, Beck.


The only large outdoor venue, other than various stadiums for HFStival, that I've been to is Nissan Pavillion. The Gorge is at least 20 times better than that. Weather rolls in from the West the whole day, and you can literally watch it be wisked away by the winds of the Columbia Gorge (unless it's hail, apparently). The campgrounds are nice enough, considering there are thousands of people in attendance, but I was not aware that one could pile shit up that high in a port-a-potty. Next year, I'm thinking of renting an RV.