2011 marked the 10th anniversary of the Sasquatch! Music Festival, one of the most beloved and well-attended of its kind in America. Held at the breathtaking Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, Sasquatch mixed indie rock, folk, punk, hip-hop and experimental music over the course of four full days. Selling out all 25,000 daily tickets in a mere couple of days, the popularity of the festival is only eclipsed by the consistent strength of its annual lineups. This year, headliners the Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse and Wilco in no way embody the flashy, the opulent or the minimal; however, their solid rock-based performances were heartfelt, powerful and undeniably compelling.
Sasquatch features three satellite stages beside the main stage, which is situated overlooking the majestic Columbia River, granting both artists and audience members phenomenal panoramic views of the river and the Columbia gorge canyon. This year, the Yeti Stage held mostly up-and-coming bands with a folk bent. The Banana Shack is essentially a large tent that housed acts ranging from comedy stars to electronica acts with wild light shows. Lastly, the Bigfoot Stage featured mostly rock artists with a sizable following– in many ways an auxiliary Main Stage.
While the camping situation still is very much rudimentary, it did not seem to detract much from the overall experience of the weekend. There was ample space for car camping, with the overflow lots aiding in giving all attendees the chance to live and breathe Sasquatch for four days. With no designated (and enforced) quiet hours, parties often raged deep into the night, while campfire gatherings and music circles gave refuge for those looking to connect with others from all over the greater Pacific Northwest. With an enormous Canadian contingent, Sasquatch is a fascinating cross-section of the 18-35 (mostly white) demographic. Despite the lack of apparent diversity (there’s certainly plenty of “bro”-ness to go around) the Sasquatch concert-goers are some of the most relaxed and friendly to be found. For a weekend filled mostly with sunny skies and just enough clouds, it turned out to be pretty much magical.
FRIDAY
While gates opened on Thursday for campers, most didn’t arrive until Friday, creating an enormous line for entry and campsite assignment. In typical festival fashion, people spilled out of their idling cars, miles from the gates, and started blasting music and dancing. It was the first indication that the weekend would be full of joyous interaction. Some were dressed as Bigfoot, after which the weekend is named, prompting a wave of photo ops and high fives. By the time most made it onto the grounds, there was only enough time to pitch the tent, have a quick dinner and head down to the main stage to catch the last of Death From Above 1979, who warmed the stage for the massive Foo Fighters headlining gig.
The Foo Fighters certainly brought the largest crowd of the weekend to the main stage, for a variety of reasons. They had very little competition (only one other act– DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid— was playing concurrently), people were eagerly anticipating the entirety of Sasquatch so they wanted to start off strong, and Dave Grohl, being from Nirvana and rooted in the Seattle rock culture, always draws a huge audience when playing in the Pacific Northwest. While the Foo Fighters certainly delivered on their promise of putting on a strong show covering the breadth of their catalogue, it seemed somewhat safe. In general, they’re on the more conservative side of many of their contemporaries, and that’s to be expected from a Foo Fighters show. However, with the main stage grounds completely packed with people from stage to the back of the lawn, it would have been exciting to see the Foos dig in deep and put on more than their typical (and boring) festival show. Still, Grohl’s rockstar wail, the searing guitar lines and the vigorous drum solos definitely satisfied the crowd.
SATURDAY
While it’s treacherous to claim any one day as belonging to a certain style of music, the Saturday lineup at Sasquatch undeniably gravitated towards guitar-driven indie rock/folk. But, as is festival founder and programmer Adam Zacks’ wont, the diversity of acts and the selection of fantastic musicians made it difficult to stay at any one stage for too long, in fear of missing an incredible set elsewhere. That’s one of the main weaknesses of Sasquatch (in that it’s also one of their greatest strengths)– there’s simply too much good music to see. Still, these are the sets that made a real impact during the Saturday lineup.
The Secret Sisters were recently nominated for an Americana Music Award, and it’s definitely deserved. Their harmonies are silky smooth and solidly on pitch, and when matched with slide and acoustic guitars, the result is pretty lovely. They played in the heat of the midday sun, but their music was catchy and inviting. Then, on the main stage, local Seattle favorites The Head and the Heart exploded onto stage, offering a stirring fifty minutes of neo-Appalachian folk/rock. While the sound got a bit distorted from gusts of wind, Charity Thielen’s fiddle played excellent counterpart to frontmen Josiah Johnson and Jonathan Russell’s exquisite melodies. While the band can often veer into solemn territory, they kept the afternoon set buoyant and thrilled the main stage audience with their anthemic offerings. 
Local Natives played one of their remaining shows before heading back into the studio to record their next album. Many who came to Sasquatch were specifically anticipating their set, and while it was a bit more subdued than their usual shows, they had many dancing and most singing along. Across the grounds on the smaller Yeti Stage was Dan Mangan, an outstanding Canadian folk/rock singer-songwriter who brought a large band to play highlights from his catalogue. His last release, Nice, Nice Very Nice (2009) is a strong collection of songs that was shortlisted for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize, and Mangan brought many of those songs alive on stage with his band. He also had many of the women (and some men) in the audience swooning over his good-boy looks and charm.
Sharon Van Etten played in the afternoon on the Bigfoot Stage, and while her gentler folk/alternative sound seemed it may get subsumed by the size of the stage, she held her own and delivered one of the most compelling sets of the weekend. Focusing on her recent album Epic (2010), Van Etten caught the attention of many audience members who were unfamiliar with her work. It’s evident she’s on the path to discover much of her potential for greatness, and to watch an artist grow in such a beautiful way is quite moving. Meanwhile, Wolf Parade played their penultimate show on the main stage, bringing fans to many emotional peaks as they ripped through their fifty-five minute show.
Jenny & Johnny played as the sun began its golden late afternoon turn. In many ways their sound matched the breezy sunshine, very reminiscent of their Southern California roots. While their album I’m Having Fun Now (2010) is solid, when they launched into Jenny Lewis’ solo offering “The Last Messiah” from Acid Tongue, it was clear how inferior their work together is to Lewis’ solo career. The crowd response was present, but not necessarily passionate. Many drifted to get ready for Wye Oak at the Yeti Stage, or Pink Martini on the Main Stage, who brought their Portland-vetted international flair to the festival, providing a nice jazz sound to warm up for the long night ahead.
Wye Oak received one of the warmest and most enthusiastic responses of the day from their set at the Yeti Stage. They drew mostly from their latest record Civilian (2011), which continues to hold rank as one of the finest albums of the year. Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack were in fine form, taking in the crowd and reveling in their natural surroundings. As one of the most hyped up-and-coming bands at Sasquatch, they were surprisingly relaxed and radiant. There was hardly any space left during their set for more to watch the show, as people squeezed in to catch Wasner and Stack tear through their songs.
Just next door on the Bigfoot Stage were Brooklyn lovelies The Antlers, whose most recent record Burst Apart (2011) has garnered rave reviews from all over. They played to their strengths and put on a fantastic show, despite the size of the Bigfoot stage. It’s clear they’re a band worth seeing in a small club, since their sound is so entrancing. Many drifted to see Washed Out play at the Banana Shack, but most headed back to the Main Stage to catch Iron and Wine play an early evening set.
For a band as hyped and anticipated as Iron and Wine, they delivered a fairly disappointing show. It started on a good note, with a revamped version of “Boy With a Coin,” one of the highlights of 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog. Joined onstage with a fleshed out band consisting of a vibrant horn section and sultry backup singers, Sam Beam brought the song to new heights by injecting it with neo-soul bass and horn lines. Actually, the best part of their set were the three songs from The Shepherd’s Dog, with “House By The Sea” and “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog)” sounding brilliant in their new incarnations. Unfortunately, this experimentation was less successful on other offerings by the band, namely “Free Until They Cut Me Down” and “Woman King.” Also, new songs “Tree By The River” and “Walking Far From Home” fell flat and didn’t hold up against the older work. In general, Beam seemed disinterested in playing for the Sasquatch audience, as if he would be more pleased staying home and jamming in the Sharon Jones-ian vernacular of the redesigned Iron and Wine.
Whatever disappointment had set in from Iron and Wine was soon washed away by Swedish pop star Robyn, who played on the Bigfoot Stage. Stagehands and the tech crew spent twenty extra minutes trying to fix many of the sound issues for her show, which clearly were bugging her at the beginning. It appeared that she couldn’t hear herself in the monitor, but even so, she didn’t let it get to her. It seemed also that many of the audience members were on the fence about her at first, and in many ways they were justified in their ambivalence. For a festival so rooted in the indie-rock paradigm, Robyn represents so much that exists outside of that world, in terms of being rooted in pop. However, Robyn’s comeback success comes from going indie on her own Konichiwa Records label and producing superlative dance-pop.
Robyn is in a class of her own, outside the Lady Gaga/Katy Perry/Britney Spears pop world, because Robyn truly dances to the beat of her own drum. She was joined onstage by her band (two on keyboards, two on drums), but that’s it. No backup dancers, no crazy laser show, no theatrics that would do Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips proud. Robyn just sings heartfelt, perfectly crafted songs that range all over emotionally but always end in thrilling catharsis. By the end of her hourlong show, everyone was dancing along to “Call Your Girlfriend” and “Hang with Me,” wanting her to continue on and on into the night as the cold descended. By the end of her show, the crowd was enormous. Thousands and thousands came to witness her spectacle and were utterly mystified and entranced by her singing and dancing. She simply took an already incredible day and turned it into an unforgettable one.
Sleigh Bells played in the Banana Shack after Robyn’s set, so many went to catch the noise pop duo play in the tent from their self-titled EP and last record Treats (2010). It’s clear that Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, the two members of the band, have intense onstage chemistry, and it’s one of the reasons their shows are so electric.
The Saturday headlining act was Death Cab for Cutie, who are major darlings of the Pacific Northwest. Despite the heavy gusts of wind, the band drew a huge audience on the Main Stage for their two exceptional hourlong set. Opening with the sprawling “I Will Possess Your Heart,” also the first single from their excellent last album Narrow Stairs (2008), the band immediately caught the audience’s attention and had them rapt until they finished at 11:45 PM. Their set consisted of songs from their entire catalogue, but with the focus being on newer works featured on Codes and Keys (2011), which came out the following Tuesday. Fans were very receptive to the new material, as “You Are a Tourist” and “Home is a Fire” had been released for a while and already had a legion of adherents. Other new ones like “Doors Unlocked and Open” and “Underneath the Sycamore” sounded like classic Death Cab, while “Codes and Keys” and “Portable Television” proved more experimental and genre-defying. Still, the most fervent response came for tried-and-true favorites like “Soul Meets Body,” “Title and Registration” and “Company Calls.” Ben Gibbard also took a moment away from the band to play the haunting ballad “I Will Follow You Into The Dark,” which turned into an endearing and heartwarming sing-a-long. They finished with their massive hit “Transatlanticism,” and it was really the perfect closer to the evening. As the band raged and built in intensity, Gibbard’s plaintive refrain of “I need you so much closer” was especially poignant. For a festival based and rooted in the enjoyment of live music, you couldn’t express it any more simply or beautifully. The band signaled the end of the evening with the gigantic cathartic build of the end of the song, and soon the festival goers retreated back to their campsites, where they either rested for Sunday’s offerings or continued the party. Still, Gibbard’s line “I need you so much closer” was felt, and lived, by all.
