The first full day of Sasquatch v10.0 offered plenty of sunshine to complement the stocked roster. With over 12 hours of continuous music (Noon-Midnight), there were plenty of ranging acts to enjoy all day. While Bassnectar’s night finale set was interrupted multiple times due to sound problems, Saturday offered many highlights included The Globes, Local Natives, Robyn & Sleigh Bells.
[All photos copyright of Live Nation]

I’m admittedly a huge fan of The Globes, who hail from my hometown of Spokane, WA. I asked them about their early Saturday sleeper set a few weeks ago, and the guys were tickled to be playing the Gorge. Their recently released debut album Future Self is one of my favorites this year, but they brought the material to a new level for the festival environment. Equally humble as excited, the band also thanked the crowd for showing up for “a band that no one has ever heard of”.
Stream the Globes’ Set

Seattle’s newly arrived hometown heroes the Head & the Heart have had an incredible year. Selling an absurd number of copies of their self-released album and signing with SubPop landed them an afternoon set on the main stage. Noting how wild the folksy-Americana band’s past year has been, Charity shared that one of the band members had received a backstage pass for Sasquatch last and vowed not to take it off until they played Sasquatch. He can finally cut that greasy sucker off.
Stream the Head & the Heart’s Set

 

Following the theme of progress within the past year, The Local Natives’ main stage performance demonstrated how far the group has come since last year. A year ago, the Natives were playing on the Yeti Stage, Sasquatch’s smallest. Global touring and the acclaim of Gorilla Manor have only added to the band’s momentum since that time. And the Orange County boys thoroughly demonstrated they are in fact an indie rock band with a commanding and incredibly enthused Saturday afternoon show.
Stream Local Natives’ Set

In what will be the band’s second to last show, Wolf Parade followed Local Natives on the main stage. Drummer Arlen Thompson’s kick drum sported a “Warf Parade” logo, which provided a light-hearted complement to the band’s poignant, synthy Canadian jams. I’ve enjoyed WP’s recorded material, though the layered synths, off-kilter guitar hooks and Spencer Krug’s unique vocals made much more sense in the live setting.
Stream Wolf Parade’s Set

 

In an interesting line-up choice for the main stage, Sasquatch organizers slated Portland’s 13-member orchestra Pink Martini for an afternoon set. Though the jazzy lounge group’s instrumental tunes felt a bit out of place after several high-energy rock bands, Pink Martini did offer a nice change of pace in the afternoon sun. The sloping lawns of the Gorge’s amphiteatre aren’t a bad place to listen to some relaxing orchestral jams either.

 

Stream Iron & Wine’s Set

For as many couped up emotional winter days of my teen years that I spent in the company of Bright Eyes’ tunes, I’ve never actually seen the live show. So the peak of my rapport with Conor may have past, I was still giddy to catch the set. Conor Oberst entered most emotionally, and rocked a very Eminem-esque demeanor for the first few songs; angsty and hooded-sweashirt clad. Several political rants in (including, but not limited too, Osama bin Laden, pick-up trucks and U.S. foreign policy), Conor schtick seemed a bit worn out. However, the music spoke for itself. And as a friend pointed out, should we have expected anything different from Conor?

Since I stumbled upon the Swedish songstresses Body Talk album last summer, it’s been an ultimate guilty pleasure of mine. In fact, it’s not even guilty anymore. Apparently, I was not the only one who felt that way, as Robyn’s night set on the Bigfoot stage was packed. Many friends have asked me to describe Robyn’s music, which I usually describe as some sort of “80’s revival, Swedish bitch-wave pop that’s super fuckin catchy”. And we got exactly that, with an emphasis on the “super fuckin catchy”. Plus, +100 points to Robyn for some of the weekend’s most original dance moves.
Stream Robyn’s Set

The most appropriate account of Sleigh Bell’s Banana Shack set is that they fuckin killed it. But seriously, the Brooklyn noise-pop duo’s set was perhaps the best of the weekend. The short-but-sweet set was charged with as much energy as I’ve seen at Sasquatch, right up their with Crystal Castles’ performance a few years back in the very same tent. Less is more here. So simply put, if you’ve got the chance to see them, do it.

 

It’s been a story book decade for the Seattle-based indie legends. From their original efforts in Bellingham, WA to their headlining performance on the main stage Saturday night, Death Cab has become an iconic representation of Pac-NW indie rock in the 00’s. Playing just three days before their new LP Codes & Keys is released, the band carried a new air of perfection. Most notably, their showed just how polished, articulate and on-spot their performances have become. Perhaps it’s Ben’s marathon running. Perhaps it’s Zoe’s charm. But Death Cab have evolved from indie darlings to a refined group very well capable of headlining major festivals.
Stream Death Cab’s Set

 

After catching Bassnectar’s set in Coachella’s Sahara Tent last year, I’d been eagerly anticipating his set at Sasquatch. The feeling was mutual, as the late-night set at Bigfoot stage was packed. Moreover, Lorin himself opened his set stating, “ever since I first heard about this festival years ago, I’ve always wanted to play it”. Vowing to warm us up, he hit the set hard & heavy with some of the best dub-step of the weekend. Most unfortunately, within about 20 minutes, major sound problems began to plague the set. This escalated into an all out failure of the speakers (minus on-stage monitors). While the problem was temporarily fixed, technical problems kept rearing their heads. Ultimately, absolute props to Bassnectar for forging on and maintaing stellar stage presence and a positive outlook through the difficulties.

Sunday Coverage