A Few Brief takeaways from this weekend's Sasquatch Festival:
The Good:
Ghostland Observatory: I had heard great things about their live performance and they did not disappoint. They literally blew up the stage; half way through their set the sound died. A couple minutes later they picked up right where they left off and provided one of the best shows of the weekend.
The Crowd: When you put thousands of people in one place and mix in a morning of pounding drinks at campsites and in parking lots, you usually end up with a noticeable amount of assholes causing problems. The Sasquatch crowd was peaceful and for the most part respectable throughout the weekend.
The Bad:
Sarah Silverman and Aziz Ansari: Ansari showed up late on Saturday and then delivered a hilarious bit about rape. Real funny stuff Aziz. Silverman came on stage Saturday for a half assed introduction of Manu Chao and I never heard or saw from her again. For someone listed right below Bjork and the Beasties on the bill, I would have thought we would have seen a little more from her. Given the long delays caused by the winds the comedians could have really stepped up and provided some entertainment to the waiting crowds but that didn’t happen.
The Food Service: Obviously nobody likes to pay $10 for a Coors Light tallboy but we all should be used to that by now. What I’m not used to is standing in line for an hour to get an overpriced, poor excuse for a gyro. The lack of vegetarian options was astounding. I found some vegetable lasagna on Saturday, by Sunday the choices came down to pretzels, churros, elephant ears and slurpees. The cornerstones of any nutritious meal.
The Wind:
At least it didn’t rain or hail I suppose. That being said I can’t believe that there wasn’t a better plan in place to deal with the wind that we saw Sunday. All the bands performed so kudos for that. However given last years weather issues and the fact that, oh I don’t know, it’s windy on the bluff face of a canyon, I would have thought there would have been a contingency plan firmly in place.
All in all a great weekend for music at the Gorge. Full reviews will be up shortly on several of the acts. My feet still hurt and I’m exhausted, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. How bout you?