This Summer in downtown Seattle the "Out To Lunch" concert series has free shows on Wednesdays and Fridays. Last Friday my daughter and I walked over to Harbor Steps from my office for lunch and watched Hey Marseilles put on an excellent show, the first Out To Lunch show I've seen.
I've seen Hey Marseilles several times with last year's Bumbershoot show on the Broad Street lawn probably my favorite. They did a cover of "Love Insurgent" that was brilliant, and their own material was excellent as usual.
The Harbor Steps are a nice venue for an outdoor show as long as the weather cooperates, and we had reasonably nice weather so it worked out well.
Hey Marseilles is a pretty large band with 7 people and includes a somewhat unusual variety of instruments - usually a violin, cello, accordion, bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass and drums; sometimes they throw in some keyboard or a horn, or additional percussion, and they have guests on occasion too. Their singer has a very nice voice, distincitve and clear, it reminds me a bit of Colin Meloy with a similar range and timbre.
This video includes three guests adding backing vocals - you can see them on the left, reading the lyrics from a piece of paper. The stage ends up mildly crowded.
I like the extended string section that closes out the song, nice touch.
The next video has a quiet mostly vocal intro with the acoustic guitar backing, then more instruments slowly adding in. It builds slowly, adding some drama by bringing more instruments in and playing them a little louder as the song continues without messing around with tempo.
The guest vocalists have moved over to the right on this song. The kid with the colored scarf dancing around is pretty precious too.
I'm having trouble downloading stuff form my SLR camera, apparently the flash memory is having corruption problems, so I only have videos from my Flip to post.
The last video is interesting, a couple of extra band members play percussion during the intro - one on a bass drum and the other pounding on the drum set's cymbals while the drummer pounds away too.
I actually have several more videos from the show, I've posted them to my youtube channel if you want to see them.
Fun show in an interesting setting. The crowd passing by was a little noisy and distracting on occasion but that's a small price to pay for such a pleasant setting.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Musical Strategies
I haven't gone out and seen any bands play since Sasquatch, so I sort of went from a crescendo (53 at Sasquatch, giving me 68 for the month) to a near silence for the last couple weeks.
I'm hoping to get more motivated and go catch a Vera show, that would help. Longer term, outdoor weather is here (in theory) and that means festivals and street fairs. While Sasquatch, Folk Life and the U District Street Fair are done, there are many more still to come. Free shows all over, too.
The following list of events is what I'm looking at so far for the rest of the year. Free events are prominent (have I mentioned being a bit of a cheapskate?) and a few festivals, especially Bumbershoot. Laid out roughly in chronological order, the later parts will be revised as the months pass and more events get publicized, so this is my current snap shot of interesting upcoming events.
Wednesday, June 15 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features The Moondoggies (Free) at Westlake Park at noon.
Friday, June 17 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features Hey Marseilles (Free) at Harbor Steps at noon.
Street fairs feature music, and the Fremont Fair this weekend June 18 and 19 is an excellent example. The solstice is almost here, and on top of the nude bicyclists we get four stages of live music, 30+ live acts all free, pretty cool!
Wednesday, June 22 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features Choklate (Free) at Occidental Square at noon.
Friday, June 24 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features the Maldives (free) at Harbor Steps at noon.
The Jackson Street Music History Project opening celebration is on Saturday, June 25th, 2-8pm at Blanche Lavizzo Park (free + all ages) with
3:00 DJ Seabefore & Special Guests
4:30 Wheedle's Groove
6:30 Zulu Nation Hip Hop Showcase
June 26 Seattle Peace Concerts at Gas Works Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring Shooting Star (Bad Company covers) with special guest Amber Babbit, Seattle Teen Music: Carly Calbero, School of Rock Show Band, The Whole Bolivian Army, Annie O'Neill, Jackson Sundown with the Dirties. Check out the Seattle Peace Concerts web site for more links to individual bands.
Shabazz Palaces appears (free) at Easy Street Records on Queen Anne on June 28.
The Portland Blues Festival July 1-4 is always fun. Free blues in the waterfront park with a couple of stages, boat cruises and late night sets in nearby bars, quite an experience - I can personally vouch for the boat cruise, we drank microbrews and danced our asses off to blues and rock and roll and had a great time.
July 3 Seattle Peace Concerts at Lower Woodland Park Shelter 1 INTERDEPENDANCE DAY PICNIC Noon to 6 (free) featuring Dr. Klean, The Barker Boys, Lonely Taylor, Tangletown String Band, Shamaniacs, Lost River String Band, The Bare Roots. See SPC site for band links.
Thursday July 7: Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
West Seattle Summer Fest is July 8, 9 and 10. Last year they ran 2 stages and I saw a great Shelby Earl set.
Highlight this year is the Fastbacks reunion. This is a free festival so there's no reason not to go!
The Ballard Seafood Fest is that same weekend with 2 stages (family friendly vs. grown-up) with some good bands like Verlee for Ransom, Duffy Bishop, the Moondoggies, Star Anna and Stan Boreson twice(!).
The international district's Dragon Fest July 9-10 in Hing Hay Park. The web site hints at an entertainment schedule (coming soon...).
Wednesday, July 13 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs (Free) at Waterfront Park at noon.
Thursday July 14 Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Sunday July 17 Seattle Peace Concerts at Magnuson Park Beach Area BEACH PARTY! Noon to 6 (free) featuring Master Mahan, Hey Sharon.. Hejira, At a Siding, Banzai Surf. See SPC site for band links.
The Bite of Seattle July 15-17 features 5 music stages (I've seen Verlee for Ransom, Shotty, Yogoman Burning Band but not 50 or 60 others) and is free.
July 17 - Magnuson Park Beach Area BEACH PARTY!
Thursday July 21: Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Friday, July 22 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features the Damnwells (free) at Waterfront Park at noon.
The Capitol Hill Block Party runs July 22, 23 and 24. At least 6 different performance venues including the Vera stage and for the first time both of my daughters are now 21 so if we go we can see the bar bands too. First time I ever saw Mad Rad was at last year's CHBP, the "air keyboard" song (You Only Live once) is a classic:
Not to mention the best performance in bunny suits by Steel Tigers of Death:
Their striptease to the gold lame shorts was an instant all time classic.
Good chance to see plenty of music in our own back yard with nearly 100 bands. I've seen Fences, Mad Rad, Ra Ra Riot, Thee Satisfaction, Grynch, Grand Hallway, Young Evils, Witch Garden, Kung Fu Grip, Craft Spells, and Land of Pines, 11 out of 95 or so bands, so there are still 80+ bands I've never seen. I haven't gotten tickets for this and they are running out so unless I can finesse attendance by volunteering for the Vera Project I may miss this one. Sigh.
If I miss the CHBP I'll consider consoling myself with some free music at Renton River Days the same weekend, July 22-24. Bands play all 3 days, but pay attention to the schedule, there are dances and game contests for solid chunks of time on all 3 days too.
Thursday July 28: Pickwick (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Sunday July 31 Seattle Peace Concerts at Volunteer Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring UltraViolet Uforia, Two Sheds Jackson, Randy Oxford Band. See SPC site for band links.
Thursday August 4: Jon Yamasota + hula (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Thursday August 4: Jon Yamasota + hula (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Friday, August 5 Concerts at the Mural features The Maldives, Hey Marseilles, Black Whales (free) at Mural Ampitheater
The KEXP BBQ w/Fool's Gold, Capsula, Virgin Islands, Mad Rad is a free show at the Mural Amphitheater on Saturday August 6th.
Thursday Aug 11: The Wilders (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Friday August 12 Concert at the Mural - artists TBD
Sunday August 14 Seattle Peace Concerts at Gas Works Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring Role One, Sarah Christine, Sick Donkey Showcase featuring (Essential I, Jahson Ites & DJ Sticky) Mista Chatman & special guests. See SPC site for band links.
Friday, August 19 Concerts at the Mural features Black Mountain, My Goodness, Whalebones (Free!) at Mural Ampitheater
Friday, August 26 Concerts at the Mural features Langhorne Slim, Pickwick, Drew Grow & The Pastors' Wives, Ravenna Woods (free) at Mural Ampitheater
Friday, August 26 Out To Lunch Concert Series features Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown Band (Free) at Harbor Steps
Sunday August 28 Seattle Peace Concerts at Volunteer Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring Electricity and its Double, Special Explosion, The Sidereal, Jeff & the Jet City Fliers, Jimmy Free, Tim Turner Band. See SPC site for band links.
Of course, we "end" the season with Bumbershoot - three days of too much music, lots of stages and bands, twelve hour days and a few more hours each night downloading the videos and photos. Having a good time and documenting it can be hard work. It pays off on occasion, though.
This year they are no longer using the Broad St. stage or the Memorial Stadium mainstage, instead they are using the Key Arena as the main stage and running 2 stages around the fountain instead of one. They will continue to run the new covered stage outside of the EMP, the Sky Church stage, the Mural Amphitheater stage, the Exhibition Hall stage and the NW Courtyard stage as far as I know so we'll have 8 stages of musical goodness, plus all of the comedy (Vera and other theaters), plays (at least a couple of venues) and the film festival in the basement of the opera house.
The venues are closer together on paper, we'll see how it plays out in reality. Even closer together it's still way too much for me to capture more than a fraction of it, but it's fun (and exhausting) to go and film and photograph the experience. Processing the media and writing blog posts always ends up taking close to another week to put to bed.
Sunday September 11 Seattle Peace Concerts at Lower Woodland Shelter I Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring The Babylons, Piper Stock Hill, Little Sense, Kuli Loach. See SPC site for band links.
Fremont Oktoberfest September 24-26 looks to have the most music on Saturday with smaller selections on Friday and Sunday.
Reverb Fest is a purely local October music festival. It's a bit under the radar, but it shouldn't be. This year Reverb is announcing the lineup at SW's Artopia, the annual arts happening that goes down July 14 at Coyote Central (the place across the street from EMP that used to be Polly Esthers) (Tip of the hat to the Seattle Weekly "Today Reverb Recommends" for the club guidance).
City Arts was busy promoting the first annual Heineken City Arts Fest in late October last year, a good festival focused on "indoor" performances (the only way to go in October in Seattle!), I assume the second annual fest will be gearing up in October.
Later in the year there are jazz festivals and then of course Christmas shows, I don't make it to a lot of either most years.
Thanks to KEXP's event calendar for lots of details, and to Google and the event web sites too.
I'm hoping to get more motivated and go catch a Vera show, that would help. Longer term, outdoor weather is here (in theory) and that means festivals and street fairs. While Sasquatch, Folk Life and the U District Street Fair are done, there are many more still to come. Free shows all over, too.
The following list of events is what I'm looking at so far for the rest of the year. Free events are prominent (have I mentioned being a bit of a cheapskate?) and a few festivals, especially Bumbershoot. Laid out roughly in chronological order, the later parts will be revised as the months pass and more events get publicized, so this is my current snap shot of interesting upcoming events.
Wednesday, June 15 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features The Moondoggies (Free) at Westlake Park at noon.
Friday, June 17 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features Hey Marseilles (Free) at Harbor Steps at noon.
Street fairs feature music, and the Fremont Fair this weekend June 18 and 19 is an excellent example. The solstice is almost here, and on top of the nude bicyclists we get four stages of live music, 30+ live acts all free, pretty cool!
Wednesday, June 22 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features Choklate (Free) at Occidental Square at noon.
Friday, June 24 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features the Maldives (free) at Harbor Steps at noon.
The Jackson Street Music History Project opening celebration is on Saturday, June 25th, 2-8pm at Blanche Lavizzo Park (free + all ages) with
3:00 DJ Seabefore & Special Guests
4:30 Wheedle's Groove
6:30 Zulu Nation Hip Hop Showcase
June 26 Seattle Peace Concerts at Gas Works Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring Shooting Star (Bad Company covers) with special guest Amber Babbit, Seattle Teen Music: Carly Calbero, School of Rock Show Band, The Whole Bolivian Army, Annie O'Neill, Jackson Sundown with the Dirties. Check out the Seattle Peace Concerts web site for more links to individual bands.
Shabazz Palaces appears (free) at Easy Street Records on Queen Anne on June 28.
The Portland Blues Festival July 1-4 is always fun. Free blues in the waterfront park with a couple of stages, boat cruises and late night sets in nearby bars, quite an experience - I can personally vouch for the boat cruise, we drank microbrews and danced our asses off to blues and rock and roll and had a great time.
July 3 Seattle Peace Concerts at Lower Woodland Park Shelter 1 INTERDEPENDANCE DAY PICNIC Noon to 6 (free) featuring Dr. Klean, The Barker Boys, Lonely Taylor, Tangletown String Band, Shamaniacs, Lost River String Band, The Bare Roots. See SPC site for band links.
Thursday July 7: Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
West Seattle Summer Fest is July 8, 9 and 10. Last year they ran 2 stages and I saw a great Shelby Earl set.
Highlight this year is the Fastbacks reunion. This is a free festival so there's no reason not to go!
The Ballard Seafood Fest is that same weekend with 2 stages (family friendly vs. grown-up) with some good bands like Verlee for Ransom, Duffy Bishop, the Moondoggies, Star Anna and Stan Boreson twice(!).
The international district's Dragon Fest July 9-10 in Hing Hay Park. The web site hints at an entertainment schedule (coming soon...).
Wednesday, July 13 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs (Free) at Waterfront Park at noon.
Thursday July 14 Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Sunday July 17 Seattle Peace Concerts at Magnuson Park Beach Area BEACH PARTY! Noon to 6 (free) featuring Master Mahan, Hey Sharon.. Hejira, At a Siding, Banzai Surf. See SPC site for band links.
The Bite of Seattle July 15-17 features 5 music stages (I've seen Verlee for Ransom, Shotty, Yogoman Burning Band but not 50 or 60 others) and is free.
July 17 - Magnuson Park Beach Area BEACH PARTY!
Thursday July 21: Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Friday, July 22 the Out To Lunch Concert Series features the Damnwells (free) at Waterfront Park at noon.
The Capitol Hill Block Party runs July 22, 23 and 24. At least 6 different performance venues including the Vera stage and for the first time both of my daughters are now 21 so if we go we can see the bar bands too. First time I ever saw Mad Rad was at last year's CHBP, the "air keyboard" song (You Only Live once) is a classic:
Not to mention the best performance in bunny suits by Steel Tigers of Death:
Their striptease to the gold lame shorts was an instant all time classic.
Good chance to see plenty of music in our own back yard with nearly 100 bands. I've seen Fences, Mad Rad, Ra Ra Riot, Thee Satisfaction, Grynch, Grand Hallway, Young Evils, Witch Garden, Kung Fu Grip, Craft Spells, and Land of Pines, 11 out of 95 or so bands, so there are still 80+ bands I've never seen. I haven't gotten tickets for this and they are running out so unless I can finesse attendance by volunteering for the Vera Project I may miss this one. Sigh.
If I miss the CHBP I'll consider consoling myself with some free music at Renton River Days the same weekend, July 22-24. Bands play all 3 days, but pay attention to the schedule, there are dances and game contests for solid chunks of time on all 3 days too.
Thursday July 28: Pickwick (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Sunday July 31 Seattle Peace Concerts at Volunteer Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring UltraViolet Uforia, Two Sheds Jackson, Randy Oxford Band. See SPC site for band links.
Thursday August 4: Jon Yamasota + hula (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Thursday August 4: Jon Yamasota + hula (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Friday, August 5 Concerts at the Mural features The Maldives, Hey Marseilles, Black Whales (free) at Mural Ampitheater
The KEXP BBQ w/Fool's Gold, Capsula, Virgin Islands, Mad Rad is a free show at the Mural Amphitheater on Saturday August 6th.
Thursday Aug 11: The Wilders (free) at the open stage at St. Edwards State Park in Kenmore
Friday August 12 Concert at the Mural - artists TBD
Sunday August 14 Seattle Peace Concerts at Gas Works Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring Role One, Sarah Christine, Sick Donkey Showcase featuring (Essential I, Jahson Ites & DJ Sticky) Mista Chatman & special guests. See SPC site for band links.
Friday, August 19 Concerts at the Mural features Black Mountain, My Goodness, Whalebones (Free!) at Mural Ampitheater
Friday, August 26 Concerts at the Mural features Langhorne Slim, Pickwick, Drew Grow & The Pastors' Wives, Ravenna Woods (free) at Mural Ampitheater
Friday, August 26 Out To Lunch Concert Series features Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown Band (Free) at Harbor Steps
Sunday August 28 Seattle Peace Concerts at Volunteer Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring Electricity and its Double, Special Explosion, The Sidereal, Jeff & the Jet City Fliers, Jimmy Free, Tim Turner Band. See SPC site for band links.
Of course, we "end" the season with Bumbershoot - three days of too much music, lots of stages and bands, twelve hour days and a few more hours each night downloading the videos and photos. Having a good time and documenting it can be hard work. It pays off on occasion, though.
This year they are no longer using the Broad St. stage or the Memorial Stadium mainstage, instead they are using the Key Arena as the main stage and running 2 stages around the fountain instead of one. They will continue to run the new covered stage outside of the EMP, the Sky Church stage, the Mural Amphitheater stage, the Exhibition Hall stage and the NW Courtyard stage as far as I know so we'll have 8 stages of musical goodness, plus all of the comedy (Vera and other theaters), plays (at least a couple of venues) and the film festival in the basement of the opera house.
The venues are closer together on paper, we'll see how it plays out in reality. Even closer together it's still way too much for me to capture more than a fraction of it, but it's fun (and exhausting) to go and film and photograph the experience. Processing the media and writing blog posts always ends up taking close to another week to put to bed.
Sunday September 11 Seattle Peace Concerts at Lower Woodland Shelter I Park Noon to 6 (free) featuring The Babylons, Piper Stock Hill, Little Sense, Kuli Loach. See SPC site for band links.
Fremont Oktoberfest September 24-26 looks to have the most music on Saturday with smaller selections on Friday and Sunday.
Reverb Fest is a purely local October music festival. It's a bit under the radar, but it shouldn't be. This year Reverb is announcing the lineup at SW's Artopia, the annual arts happening that goes down July 14 at Coyote Central (the place across the street from EMP that used to be Polly Esthers) (Tip of the hat to the Seattle Weekly "Today Reverb Recommends" for the club guidance).
City Arts was busy promoting the first annual Heineken City Arts Fest in late October last year, a good festival focused on "indoor" performances (the only way to go in October in Seattle!), I assume the second annual fest will be gearing up in October.
Later in the year there are jazz festivals and then of course Christmas shows, I don't make it to a lot of either most years.
Thanks to KEXP's event calendar for lots of details, and to Google and the event web sites too.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Music To Die By
Mom’s trajectory the last 2 months – shutting down social networks, quitting the bridge group after decades of active playing, loss of appetite and energy, increase in sleep, the inability to do her own chores, told us what was happening, so at a subconscious level I knew what was up.
She spent a week in the hospital while they tried to figure out what was wrong. Just as we prepared to leave for Sasquatch and I got the last minute assignment to interview the Drums the expected bad news was reported: Mom had cancer and it had spread. She was coming home to die.
I considered canceling the Sasquatch trip, but not that seriously. Mom would have felt lousy if she knew I missed something I had looked forward to and worked for due to her illness. Off to Sasquatch I went, with a somewhat heavy heart. The festival was great, Saturday and Sunday both had an amazing pile of awesome bands. Late at night as I recharged my Flip and got ready to do the last bit of taping for the evening, out back of the Vera pavilion on the grass, I would recite a rosary, praying hypnotically for Mom and easing my weary mind which was so tired from not thinking about Mom.
I left as early as I could on Monday night, cleaned up and went to bed late, then got up and headed over to Moms. She was already fading and mostly incoherent. She did recognize me, opening her eyes and smiling at me and saying “hi.” Later when she had sunk further I started playing the guitar and singing and she smiled and opened her eyes just a bit.
I ended up playing Neil Young songs for my Mom as she transitioned into death. “Hey Hey My My,” better to burn out than to fade away, rust never sleeps. Pretty appropriate, I’ve always felt that “Don’t Let it Bring You Down” has some of the most evocative downbeat imagery I've ever heard:
Brilliantly written depressive music. I played and sang some, then choked up and had to just play guitar some as Mom transitioned. We moved Mom from one side to the other every couple of hours and you could see the bruising from the tumor and realize how big it was.
"The Loner" - most adolescent males can identify with this, and older males remember being alienated adolescents when they hear it. Wonderful indirect story telling.
“The Needle and the Damage Done” is a brutally beautiful ode to loss.
"Old Man" is a classic, I can always hear the banjo part midway through in my head, even though I'm only faking the guitar and singing. It sounds great inside my head.
"Heart of Gold" is beautiful and poignant.
“Southern Man” is more angry than sad; “Love Is A Rose” is a beautiful cautionary song, I always enjoy singing and playing it.
Finally “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.” My heart’s breaking as Mom lies dying, and Neil Young’s songs help the process along. Watching Mom suffer helps me get past the loss, she needs the blessing that only death can provide now: an end of pain and suffering and disability and diminishment.
Aunts come and hold Mom’s hand and stroke her hair. Siblings come and go, grandkids and friends. We're all saying goodbye in our own ways, mostly involving crying one way or another.
We have Yeh Yeh’s Viet Namese sandwiches for lunch and Mom sinks into a deeper coma on Wednesday. She can still react a little to sounds and touch, but most of the time she won’t get her eyes open and when she tries to verbalize you can hear her vocal chords, but she’s unable to form the words with her mouth and larynx.
I’m crying more frequently, pretty much each time I go in to hold her hand or just sit with her. Mostly quite intense crying, sometimes ragged gasping breath crying, no real help for it. It hurts, but it's a necessary hurt in some way.
After calming my breathing a bit I say my goodbye: “Goodbye Mom, say hello to Dad. We love you and we’ll miss you, but it’s time to go. I’m so proud to be your son.” After she passed Thursday evening I repeated it over her cooling body, or tried to, but I couldn't complete it before getting too choked up.
Goodbye Mom, say "Hello" to Dad. We love you and we'll miss you, and I'm proud to say I'm your son.
She spent a week in the hospital while they tried to figure out what was wrong. Just as we prepared to leave for Sasquatch and I got the last minute assignment to interview the Drums the expected bad news was reported: Mom had cancer and it had spread. She was coming home to die.
I considered canceling the Sasquatch trip, but not that seriously. Mom would have felt lousy if she knew I missed something I had looked forward to and worked for due to her illness. Off to Sasquatch I went, with a somewhat heavy heart. The festival was great, Saturday and Sunday both had an amazing pile of awesome bands. Late at night as I recharged my Flip and got ready to do the last bit of taping for the evening, out back of the Vera pavilion on the grass, I would recite a rosary, praying hypnotically for Mom and easing my weary mind which was so tired from not thinking about Mom.
I left as early as I could on Monday night, cleaned up and went to bed late, then got up and headed over to Moms. She was already fading and mostly incoherent. She did recognize me, opening her eyes and smiling at me and saying “hi.” Later when she had sunk further I started playing the guitar and singing and she smiled and opened her eyes just a bit.
I ended up playing Neil Young songs for my Mom as she transitioned into death. “Hey Hey My My,” better to burn out than to fade away, rust never sleeps. Pretty appropriate, I’ve always felt that “Don’t Let it Bring You Down” has some of the most evocative downbeat imagery I've ever heard:
Old man sitting by the side of the road
With the lorries rolling by,
Blue moon sinking from the weight of the load
And the building scrape the sky,
Cold wind ripping down the allay at dawn
And the morning paper flies,
Dead man lying by the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes.
Red lights flashing through the window in the rain,
Can you hear the sirens moan?
White cane lying in a gutter in the lane,
If you're walking home alone.
Brilliantly written depressive music. I played and sang some, then choked up and had to just play guitar some as Mom transitioned. We moved Mom from one side to the other every couple of hours and you could see the bruising from the tumor and realize how big it was.
"The Loner" - most adolescent males can identify with this, and older males remember being alienated adolescents when they hear it. Wonderful indirect story telling.
“The Needle and the Damage Done” is a brutally beautiful ode to loss.
"Old Man" is a classic, I can always hear the banjo part midway through in my head, even though I'm only faking the guitar and singing. It sounds great inside my head.
"Heart of Gold" is beautiful and poignant.
“Southern Man” is more angry than sad; “Love Is A Rose” is a beautiful cautionary song, I always enjoy singing and playing it.
Finally “Only Love Can Break Your Heart.” My heart’s breaking as Mom lies dying, and Neil Young’s songs help the process along. Watching Mom suffer helps me get past the loss, she needs the blessing that only death can provide now: an end of pain and suffering and disability and diminishment.
Aunts come and hold Mom’s hand and stroke her hair. Siblings come and go, grandkids and friends. We're all saying goodbye in our own ways, mostly involving crying one way or another.
We have Yeh Yeh’s Viet Namese sandwiches for lunch and Mom sinks into a deeper coma on Wednesday. She can still react a little to sounds and touch, but most of the time she won’t get her eyes open and when she tries to verbalize you can hear her vocal chords, but she’s unable to form the words with her mouth and larynx.
I’m crying more frequently, pretty much each time I go in to hold her hand or just sit with her. Mostly quite intense crying, sometimes ragged gasping breath crying, no real help for it. It hurts, but it's a necessary hurt in some way.
After calming my breathing a bit I say my goodbye: “Goodbye Mom, say hello to Dad. We love you and we’ll miss you, but it’s time to go. I’m so proud to be your son.” After she passed Thursday evening I repeated it over her cooling body, or tried to, but I couldn't complete it before getting too choked up.
Goodbye Mom, say "Hello" to Dad. We love you and we'll miss you, and I'm proud to say I'm your son.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
May Retrospective
I finally got my Sasquatch posts written, ran out of gas a bit towards the end but that's OK.
Great memories this month!
Tea Cozies ripping it up at the Vera Project:
Aqueduct grinding out killer songs that same night:
That was an excellent show!
Turpentines were fun
Plenty of good Vera music to choose from, and I also saw massive numbers of bands over Memorial Day weekend at Sasquatch at the gorge.
Death Cab, this one always makes me think of my Dad, and now it will make me think of Mom and Dad - with the silence line it fits them as a couple even better. Give my love to Dad when you see him, Mom.
I think this is Pepper Rabbit.
The Antlers
The Globes
Got my YouTube channel going with long HD video support and improved the quality of my blogs by embedding long HD videos. Saturday Sasquatch blog has 73+ minutes of video embedded in it.
Got views of the blog up to personal record levels, over 2,000 total.
YouTube channel has 3,000 views and counting.
Knowmads interview got excerpted and posted on Knowmads web site, where it got 1000 views between the 2 sections.
I saw 15 acts at the Vera Project and at Sasquatch I saw 8 on Friday, 20 on Saturday, 19 on Sunday, and only 6 on Monday. That's 53 bands at Sasquatch and 68 total for the month.
Through March I saw 60 bands/sets/performances, 49 for the first time.
In April I saw 29, 25 first time.
In May I saw 68, 62 for the first time. Repeats: Death Cab for Cutie, The Thermals, Das Racist, Mad Rad, Iron & Wine, Seattle Rock Orchestra.
Through May I have seen 157 bands, 136 for the first time.
That works out to 31.4 bands a month. If only I could keep that rate up! 12*31.4 = 376.8, more than a band a day. Things are slowing down with family obligations and international travel taking some time and attention, so I suspect I'll end up somewhere in the mid to upper two hundred range, rather than 365+, but you never know, I've underestimated the rate before.
Great memories this month!
Tea Cozies ripping it up at the Vera Project:
Aqueduct grinding out killer songs that same night:
That was an excellent show!
Turpentines were fun
Plenty of good Vera music to choose from, and I also saw massive numbers of bands over Memorial Day weekend at Sasquatch at the gorge.
Death Cab, this one always makes me think of my Dad, and now it will make me think of Mom and Dad - with the silence line it fits them as a couple even better. Give my love to Dad when you see him, Mom.
I think this is Pepper Rabbit.
The Antlers
The Globes
Got my YouTube channel going with long HD video support and improved the quality of my blogs by embedding long HD videos. Saturday Sasquatch blog has 73+ minutes of video embedded in it.
Got views of the blog up to personal record levels, over 2,000 total.
YouTube channel has 3,000 views and counting.
Knowmads interview got excerpted and posted on Knowmads web site, where it got 1000 views between the 2 sections.
I saw 15 acts at the Vera Project and at Sasquatch I saw 8 on Friday, 20 on Saturday, 19 on Sunday, and only 6 on Monday. That's 53 bands at Sasquatch and 68 total for the month.
Through March I saw 60 bands/sets/performances, 49 for the first time.
In April I saw 29, 25 first time.
In May I saw 68, 62 for the first time. Repeats: Death Cab for Cutie, The Thermals, Das Racist, Mad Rad, Iron & Wine, Seattle Rock Orchestra.
Through May I have seen 157 bands, 136 for the first time.
That works out to 31.4 bands a month. If only I could keep that rate up! 12*31.4 = 376.8, more than a band a day. Things are slowing down with family obligations and international travel taking some time and attention, so I suspect I'll end up somewhere in the mid to upper two hundred range, rather than 365+, but you never know, I've underestimated the rate before.
Monday at Sasquatch
I started out Monday wondering if I could arrange to stay later so I could see more bands. Reality had other plans for me.
My cell phone never worked on site, so after failing to get in touch with my wife Friday night to let her know we had arrived and were fine I borrowed Nick's phone and called her Saturday morning.
On Sunday she sent Nick a message telling me I should probably head home sooner rather than later - Nick got the message and told me early Monday. With my mom just out of the hospital, I knew why; we had been waiting for some details on her diagnosis. I checked in and arranged to leave with an even earlier car - one of the screen print demo guys had to get home early enough to work the next day, so I went with him and a couple of other Vera people.
Leaving early drastically reduced the number of bands I got on Monday, and I loaned out my Flip which it turns out does a much better job on loud audio, especially loud bass.
I was also quite distracted, so I didn't get as many bands and don;t have much useful video for Monday.
Young Evils
Jaill
Noah and the Whale
or maybe this is Noah and the Whale, but if so then what was that?
Maybe one of those was Head Like a Kite, I'm obviously not sure.
Old 97s
I'm not sure who some of these are, the news about my mom was quite distracting so I got pictures but have no memory of taking them.
I may have seen more than six bands, but this was definitely the day of the show where I wanted to actually make a record of some sort, since my memory fails completely under this sort of stress.
My cell phone never worked on site, so after failing to get in touch with my wife Friday night to let her know we had arrived and were fine I borrowed Nick's phone and called her Saturday morning.
On Sunday she sent Nick a message telling me I should probably head home sooner rather than later - Nick got the message and told me early Monday. With my mom just out of the hospital, I knew why; we had been waiting for some details on her diagnosis. I checked in and arranged to leave with an even earlier car - one of the screen print demo guys had to get home early enough to work the next day, so I went with him and a couple of other Vera people.
Leaving early drastically reduced the number of bands I got on Monday, and I loaned out my Flip which it turns out does a much better job on loud audio, especially loud bass.
I was also quite distracted, so I didn't get as many bands and don;t have much useful video for Monday.
Young Evils
Jaill
Noah and the Whale
or maybe this is Noah and the Whale, but if so then what was that?
Maybe one of those was Head Like a Kite, I'm obviously not sure.
Old 97s
I'm not sure who some of these are, the news about my mom was quite distracting so I got pictures but have no memory of taking them.
I may have seen more than six bands, but this was definitely the day of the show where I wanted to actually make a record of some sort, since my memory fails completely under this sort of stress.
Sunday at Sasquatch
After a thin Friday and an awesome Saturday I got somewhat better sleep mostly because I was exhausted but partially because it didn't get quite so flippin' cold overnight.
Sleep was only so so, I just don't do that well on the ground, so I was pretty tired. Lots of good bands on the schedule though, so we headed in, found a field mouse, and setup the booths after I got the mouse in a box and took him up the hill side before letting him go.
Typhoon took the early slot on the Bigfoot stage
Caught some of Cotton Jones on the Yeti stage.
Smith and Westerns played the Sasquatch stage
The Smith and Westerns song Weekend was a standout:
The Drums put on a great set, interesting sound, fun to listen to. The lead vocalist is cute, and the keyboard player does this sort of air conducting thing that's endearing. I thought I was going to get to interview these guys, but it fell through.
Lets Go Surfing has a good hook, fun bounce, pretty much a perfect pop gem.
This one has a similar bouncy upbeat sound, but the lyric isn't as upbeat. Still has a nice hook and a good sense of play.
Got back up the hill in time to see the Moondoggies
S. Carey on the Bigfoot stage
Then over to Other Lives on the Yeti stage
Nice use of instruments, the horn and fiddle sections are nice, I always like cellos, good build and progression in the song, lots to like here. So many good bands, the details are starting to get lost in the noise almost. Yet another great song by another talented band.
I enjoy the sound and the visual appeal is good too.
Tokyo Police Club was fun, took me a while to locate my video for them though.
Reggie Watts!
I only saw a bit of his show, but it was memorable, riffing off the sandwich and other topics. Red Bull shout out is memorable. Very stream of consciousness, I hope I see more Reggie Watts, and sooner rather than later.
Sam Roberts band, no video
Archers of Loaf
I didn't find any good video from my devices, so here's some from someone else who posted it on youtube.
City and Colour, I'm fairly sure.
Mad Rad, early (Buffalo Madonna still has his shirt on)
I got video of Mad Rad but the bass overwhelms my DSLR camera's microphone so it's pretty hard to listen to.
I went to take a photo of the sunset and a dude from the premium ticket section (they have a tap of microbrew beer in there, as he helpfully shows us) decided to customize the picture. It kind of works for me in an ironic way now.
Flogging Molly was a crowd favorite.
...and I finally got a good sunset photo without the beer
Next was Das Racist, one of my favorite hip hop/classic jazz outfits
Second time I've seen them, always enjoy their shows. High energy, fast rapping lyrics with wit and something to say.
Gayngs put on a good set.
Finally I headed down to the amphitheater stage one last time for the Flaming Lips. Nobody does spectacle like these guys!
Beautiful music too.
I got some pictures of Flying Lotus on the Banana Stage.
Caught a bit of Yeasayer too
Modest Mouse was the actual headliner later that night, but I was tiring out rapidly and would end up going to bed before they hit the stage.
I managed to see an awesome amount of music on Sunday, but I also managed to miss quite a bit of good stuff too. Oh well, I was definitely wearing down as the festival went on. I counted 19 bands documented in today's post, not bad for a tired 50 year old dude sleeping on the ground. On the other hand I skipped Modest Mouse, so I'm not as robust as I once was. All in all it was another awesome day at Sasquatch.
One last night sleeping on the ground, then the plan was most of a day of shows with an 8 PM exit - missing Wilco and other good performances, dang. I asked around about possibly going later, but things outside of my control ended up pushing in the opposite direction. More about that on tomorrow's blog.
Sleep was only so so, I just don't do that well on the ground, so I was pretty tired. Lots of good bands on the schedule though, so we headed in, found a field mouse, and setup the booths after I got the mouse in a box and took him up the hill side before letting him go.
Typhoon took the early slot on the Bigfoot stage
Caught some of Cotton Jones on the Yeti stage.
Smith and Westerns played the Sasquatch stage
The Smith and Westerns song Weekend was a standout:
The Drums put on a great set, interesting sound, fun to listen to. The lead vocalist is cute, and the keyboard player does this sort of air conducting thing that's endearing. I thought I was going to get to interview these guys, but it fell through.
Lets Go Surfing has a good hook, fun bounce, pretty much a perfect pop gem.
This one has a similar bouncy upbeat sound, but the lyric isn't as upbeat. Still has a nice hook and a good sense of play.
Got back up the hill in time to see the Moondoggies
S. Carey on the Bigfoot stage
Then over to Other Lives on the Yeti stage
Nice use of instruments, the horn and fiddle sections are nice, I always like cellos, good build and progression in the song, lots to like here. So many good bands, the details are starting to get lost in the noise almost. Yet another great song by another talented band.
I enjoy the sound and the visual appeal is good too.
Tokyo Police Club was fun, took me a while to locate my video for them though.
Reggie Watts!
I only saw a bit of his show, but it was memorable, riffing off the sandwich and other topics. Red Bull shout out is memorable. Very stream of consciousness, I hope I see more Reggie Watts, and sooner rather than later.
Sam Roberts band, no video
Archers of Loaf
I didn't find any good video from my devices, so here's some from someone else who posted it on youtube.
City and Colour, I'm fairly sure.
Mad Rad, early (Buffalo Madonna still has his shirt on)
I got video of Mad Rad but the bass overwhelms my DSLR camera's microphone so it's pretty hard to listen to.
I went to take a photo of the sunset and a dude from the premium ticket section (they have a tap of microbrew beer in there, as he helpfully shows us) decided to customize the picture. It kind of works for me in an ironic way now.
Flogging Molly was a crowd favorite.
...and I finally got a good sunset photo without the beer
Next was Das Racist, one of my favorite hip hop/classic jazz outfits
Second time I've seen them, always enjoy their shows. High energy, fast rapping lyrics with wit and something to say.
Gayngs put on a good set.
Finally I headed down to the amphitheater stage one last time for the Flaming Lips. Nobody does spectacle like these guys!
Beautiful music too.
I got some pictures of Flying Lotus on the Banana Stage.
Caught a bit of Yeasayer too
Modest Mouse was the actual headliner later that night, but I was tiring out rapidly and would end up going to bed before they hit the stage.
I managed to see an awesome amount of music on Sunday, but I also managed to miss quite a bit of good stuff too. Oh well, I was definitely wearing down as the festival went on. I counted 19 bands documented in today's post, not bad for a tired 50 year old dude sleeping on the ground. On the other hand I skipped Modest Mouse, so I'm not as robust as I once was. All in all it was another awesome day at Sasquatch.
One last night sleeping on the ground, then the plan was most of a day of shows with an 8 PM exit - missing Wilco and other good performances, dang. I asked around about possibly going later, but things outside of my control ended up pushing in the opposite direction. More about that on tomorrow's blog.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Saturday at Sasquatch
After the Friday night shows and a night spent sleeping on the ground I woke up with a sore sinus and throat due to the freezing weather. There was frost all over, but it warmed up pretty quickly once the sun rose.
We trooped in and set the pavilion back up and re-chalked and opened back up for business.
After the slow start on Friday there are way more bands scheduled for Saturday, starting with the Seattle Rock Orchestra covering Radiohead.
This video of Paranoid Android got more views than anything else I posted from Sasquatch.
Next up was Pepper Rabbit, interesting band with a bass guitar + ukulele + drums approach.
Good vocal in a good song, when the backing vocals join in they get a kind of dreamy sound, tasty use of occasional reverb on the vocals too. They mix the sound up a bit, stripping it back to lead vocal and percussion for a bit, then bringing the instruments and harmonies back to finish the song up. Very nice!
Opening on the main Sasquatch stage was Alberta Cross, I only got pictures since I got there too late and/or was too busy.
Next I climbed back up the hill, getting back in time to see a little more of Pepper Rabbit.
Zipped on over to the Bigfoot stage and caught Secret Sisters next.
Nice sound, reminds me of First Aid Kit a little, more country than them though.
The blond guitar playing sister gets the lead on this nice old Patsy Cline number:
Back over to at the Yeti stage the Globes were hot.
The build into this song with the odd repetitive patterns and unusual sounds is wonderful, and as the vocal winds in the song builds to an interesting intensity before stripping back down to vocal and drum, then back again. Tasty use of dynamics and transitions, excellent performance.
The next band on the Sasquatch stage is The Radio Dept.
Two guitars and keyboard with sequenced drums. The first song is dreamy and a little dancey, somewhat spacey in an accessible way. Nice Summery pop song.
This song features the vocal a little more prominently, but it's still a bit hazy and Summery. The nice upbeat instrumentation contrasts just a bit with the slightly sadder vocals, giving it an interesting distance.
Headed back up the hill and caught K-OS doing a nice rock/hip hop/funk performance.
Good scratching, good vocal, good rhythm section, I like the live music and the guitar, and around 2:00-2:15-2:45 when the guitarist and turntablist swap leads back and forth - pretty tasty stuff, talented live crew.
Missed the Head and the Heart, heard it from a distance but didn't get to see it.
Dan Mangan had a bit of a horn section and a good sound
Trailer Park Boys were amusing, no video found of them so far.
Sharon Von Etten put on an excellent set, I like the vocal and the sound
Caught a bit of Wolf Parade, no video though.
I worked on some Sasquatch business for a bit so J. Mascis and Jenny and Johnny got past me. I was able to get Pink Martini:
Classic big band approach, strings and horns, lots of percussion, wonderful old school sound.
Next after trudging back up the hill I saw Wye Oak.
They were cool, unfortunately my DSLR did a poor job with their sound so the video isn't very good. The technical difficulties are all mine, fortunately Wye Oak sounded great and put on an excellent show, I just didn't do a good job capturing the excellence.
Next up was the Antlers who really put on a great set.
This song in particular made my day, wonderful song performed well, I'll have to keep an eye out for the Antlers, one of my favorite new discoveries from Sasquatch.
Next up was the Thermals, long time favorite Portland punk outfit I've seen 2 or 3 times at Bumbershoot plus the free Sasquatch kick off show early this year.
They put on a fun fast tight set, I always enjoy the Thermals.
Matt and Kim were fun, they were pumped up and having a great time and the audience was totally into the energy.
Next up was Iron and Wine on the Sasquatch main stage.
Around then we got a beautiful sunset over the gorge.
Saw the Glitch Mob
Saw Bright Eyes
Back up out of the amphitheater to see Robyn
I was getting seriously tired, going down to the bottom of the amphitheater, filming, then coming all the way back up and filming, then repeat.
Headed back down into the amphitheater one last time as the sunset glow faded. Time for some Death Cab for Cutie to wrap things up.
One of my favorite Death Cab for Cutie songs, heavily prefiguring mom's death of cancer within the week. I really love this song, and I really love the crowd sing-along effect you can hear in the recording.
Title and Registration is another great song with the crowd singing.
Obsessive love song, pretty unpleasant sentiment in a pretty wrapper. Very well done.
Missed some good stuff like Head and the Heart, Jenny & Johnny and Aloe Blacc but I got 19 documented and I believe I actually saw 20 counting the DJ.
Awesome day of music, all kinds of good things to watch and listen too. An embarrassment of riches, really.
Off to sleep in the tent, halfway through the festival. Sunday lineup looks pretty good too!
We trooped in and set the pavilion back up and re-chalked and opened back up for business.
After the slow start on Friday there are way more bands scheduled for Saturday, starting with the Seattle Rock Orchestra covering Radiohead.
This video of Paranoid Android got more views than anything else I posted from Sasquatch.
Next up was Pepper Rabbit, interesting band with a bass guitar + ukulele + drums approach.
Good vocal in a good song, when the backing vocals join in they get a kind of dreamy sound, tasty use of occasional reverb on the vocals too. They mix the sound up a bit, stripping it back to lead vocal and percussion for a bit, then bringing the instruments and harmonies back to finish the song up. Very nice!
Opening on the main Sasquatch stage was Alberta Cross, I only got pictures since I got there too late and/or was too busy.
Next I climbed back up the hill, getting back in time to see a little more of Pepper Rabbit.
Zipped on over to the Bigfoot stage and caught Secret Sisters next.
Nice sound, reminds me of First Aid Kit a little, more country than them though.
The blond guitar playing sister gets the lead on this nice old Patsy Cline number:
Back over to at the Yeti stage the Globes were hot.
The build into this song with the odd repetitive patterns and unusual sounds is wonderful, and as the vocal winds in the song builds to an interesting intensity before stripping back down to vocal and drum, then back again. Tasty use of dynamics and transitions, excellent performance.
The next band on the Sasquatch stage is The Radio Dept.
Two guitars and keyboard with sequenced drums. The first song is dreamy and a little dancey, somewhat spacey in an accessible way. Nice Summery pop song.
This song features the vocal a little more prominently, but it's still a bit hazy and Summery. The nice upbeat instrumentation contrasts just a bit with the slightly sadder vocals, giving it an interesting distance.
Headed back up the hill and caught K-OS doing a nice rock/hip hop/funk performance.
Good scratching, good vocal, good rhythm section, I like the live music and the guitar, and around 2:00-2:15-2:45 when the guitarist and turntablist swap leads back and forth - pretty tasty stuff, talented live crew.
Missed the Head and the Heart, heard it from a distance but didn't get to see it.
Dan Mangan had a bit of a horn section and a good sound
Trailer Park Boys were amusing, no video found of them so far.
Sharon Von Etten put on an excellent set, I like the vocal and the sound
Caught a bit of Wolf Parade, no video though.
I worked on some Sasquatch business for a bit so J. Mascis and Jenny and Johnny got past me. I was able to get Pink Martini:
Classic big band approach, strings and horns, lots of percussion, wonderful old school sound.
Next after trudging back up the hill I saw Wye Oak.
They were cool, unfortunately my DSLR did a poor job with their sound so the video isn't very good. The technical difficulties are all mine, fortunately Wye Oak sounded great and put on an excellent show, I just didn't do a good job capturing the excellence.
Next up was the Antlers who really put on a great set.
This song in particular made my day, wonderful song performed well, I'll have to keep an eye out for the Antlers, one of my favorite new discoveries from Sasquatch.
Next up was the Thermals, long time favorite Portland punk outfit I've seen 2 or 3 times at Bumbershoot plus the free Sasquatch kick off show early this year.
They put on a fun fast tight set, I always enjoy the Thermals.
Matt and Kim were fun, they were pumped up and having a great time and the audience was totally into the energy.
Next up was Iron and Wine on the Sasquatch main stage.
Around then we got a beautiful sunset over the gorge.
Saw the Glitch Mob
Saw Bright Eyes
Back up out of the amphitheater to see Robyn
I was getting seriously tired, going down to the bottom of the amphitheater, filming, then coming all the way back up and filming, then repeat.
Headed back down into the amphitheater one last time as the sunset glow faded. Time for some Death Cab for Cutie to wrap things up.
One of my favorite Death Cab for Cutie songs, heavily prefiguring mom's death of cancer within the week. I really love this song, and I really love the crowd sing-along effect you can hear in the recording.
Title and Registration is another great song with the crowd singing.
Obsessive love song, pretty unpleasant sentiment in a pretty wrapper. Very well done.
Missed some good stuff like Head and the Heart, Jenny & Johnny and Aloe Blacc but I got 19 documented and I believe I actually saw 20 counting the DJ.
Awesome day of music, all kinds of good things to watch and listen too. An embarrassment of riches, really.
Off to sleep in the tent, halfway through the festival. Sunday lineup looks pretty good too!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Friday at Sasquatch
Dropped off at the Vera Project early Friday to wait for my ride to the gorge. After a little applied tetris we got most of the luggage packed, tossed the last little bit in the bushes, and headed out.
The trip east went pretty well with some mild diversions that made us a little late but close enough to schedule. After sorting out our parking and getting colored paper bracelets we headed in to the site.
The booths got set up and the chalk came out.
...and the booth was open for business.
After a while the doors opened and the audience started trickling in, and pretty soon the music started.
Rival Schools kicked things off.
Good dramatic sound, punchy and interesting.
Next I nipped over to the Yeti stage, pretty much right next door, to see Mariachi El Bronx. Turns out it was a Mariachi set by the Bronx. This probably ended up being the most memorable music of the day, not sure what that means.
After Rival Schools I saw Mariachi El Bronx, which is the Bronx doing Mariachi, and doing it well. This performance stuck with me more than anything else on Friday.
Next up was Biffy Clyro
Fast guitar oriented power trio, good stuff.
Next was Bob Mould playing the first Sasquatch stage show of the festival.
The black backing on the stage blocks the view so you can't see the gorge.
Against Me played back at the Bigfoot stage.
The Bronx played their normal (non-mariachi) set next.
Back to the main Sasquatch stage for the two remaining acts, first up was Death From Above.
I saw them put on an interesting set, they've got a drummer all in a white with dyed blond hair and a bassist all in black with lots of dark hair and facial hair. The bass player did a fair amount of high end 12th or higher fret playing and the drummer sang, quite different and interesting. Somehow I ended up without any pictures from it so far, I'll keep looking. I did get some video, though.
The final act was Foo Fighters.
They played a fun, loud set. It was somewhat old school - overly loud, distorted, not just one but two drum solos, typical over the top rock and roll foolishness, which never gets old.
Friday has the fewest bands, but eight was enough to keep me busy checking things out well into the night. I'm not quite sure how I ended up with no Death From Above footage, but otherwise it went pretty well.
One day down, three to go. Next up is Saturday, the first full day of programming.
The trip east went pretty well with some mild diversions that made us a little late but close enough to schedule. After sorting out our parking and getting colored paper bracelets we headed in to the site.
The booths got set up and the chalk came out.
...and the booth was open for business.
After a while the doors opened and the audience started trickling in, and pretty soon the music started.
Rival Schools kicked things off.
Good dramatic sound, punchy and interesting.
Next I nipped over to the Yeti stage, pretty much right next door, to see Mariachi El Bronx. Turns out it was a Mariachi set by the Bronx. This probably ended up being the most memorable music of the day, not sure what that means.
After Rival Schools I saw Mariachi El Bronx, which is the Bronx doing Mariachi, and doing it well. This performance stuck with me more than anything else on Friday.
Next up was Biffy Clyro
Fast guitar oriented power trio, good stuff.
Next was Bob Mould playing the first Sasquatch stage show of the festival.
The black backing on the stage blocks the view so you can't see the gorge.
Against Me played back at the Bigfoot stage.
The Bronx played their normal (non-mariachi) set next.
Back to the main Sasquatch stage for the two remaining acts, first up was Death From Above.
I saw them put on an interesting set, they've got a drummer all in a white with dyed blond hair and a bassist all in black with lots of dark hair and facial hair. The bass player did a fair amount of high end 12th or higher fret playing and the drummer sang, quite different and interesting. Somehow I ended up without any pictures from it so far, I'll keep looking. I did get some video, though.
The final act was Foo Fighters.
They played a fun, loud set. It was somewhat old school - overly loud, distorted, not just one but two drum solos, typical over the top rock and roll foolishness, which never gets old.
Friday has the fewest bands, but eight was enough to keep me busy checking things out well into the night. I'm not quite sure how I ended up with no Death From Above footage, but otherwise it went pretty well.
One day down, three to go. Next up is Saturday, the first full day of programming.
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