Thousands upon thousands of people, Coors Light in hand, descended on the world-famous Gorge Amphitheater in The Middle of Nowhere (George), Washington for the behemoth Sasquatch! Music Festival taking place over Memorial Day Weekend, Friday to Monday, May 24th through the 27th. Many people have argued that this year’s lineup, featuring the likes of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mumford & Sons, Sigur Rós, and The Postal Service to name a very few, is the best it has ever been. Not to mention, the scenery at this festival may just be better than any other festival our fine country has to offer. Unique to the Pacific Northwest, festival goers hailing from the region come prepared for both rain and shine as both literally can occur within minutes of each other. Cans of beer cost $11, margaritas cost $14, and many, MANY people are smoking weed. Yep, it’s a festival all right. Good thing there are tons of great bands to keep us entertained.
Photos of Japandroids at O2 Academy in Leeds, U.K. on March 23rd, 2013
Photos of Japandroids at SXSW 2012 in Austin, TX
Photos of Japandroids at 2012 Beacons Festival in Skipton, U.K.
Review of Japandroids at Porter’s Pub in San Diego, CA on November 10th, 2012
Photos of Japandroids at 2012 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain
Photos of Japandroids at 2012 London Calling Festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Japandroids @ Honda Bigfoot Stage, 6:05 PM to 7:05 PM
For a two-person band, Vancouver, BC’s Japandroids have a big sound. They work really hard on stage, perhaps because they have to make up for the fact that there aren’t any other members. Save for an appearance at this year’s Coachella and South-by-Southwest (QRO photos), their appearance at Sasquatch! marked the beginning of their current tour, and what a way to kick it off. Even technical difficulties with sound didn’t keep them from having fun and getting a lot of energy out of the large crowd who trekked over to the Honda Bigfoot Stage to catch their set. Their most recent album was last year’s Celebration Rock (QRO review) off of which they played the high-energy “The Nights of Wine and Roses” and the slow-jam, as singer Brian King put it, “Continuous Thunder”.
Arctic Monkeys @ Sasquatch! Stage, 8:30 PM to 9:45 PM
Being known as an indie band, Arctic Monkeys sure are hard-hitting. They can almost be classified as a hard rock band. They have definitely set themselves apart from the slough of other indie bands out there. Perhaps that’s why they were invited to play Metallica’s Orion Music + More Festival in 2012. Either way, their day one set on the main stage at Sasquatch! did not disappoint.
Looking a bit more like a gang of greasers than a rock band, they took the stage in vintage garb and lead singer Alex Turner had a slicked-back hairstyle that made him look like he had been cast in Grease On Broadway. He even pulled out the token black comb from a back pocket and slicked it back a couple of times. Perhaps the fact that they hail from England actually makes them cool rather than make one think they are posers.
Even though the looming Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (see below) sign hanging above them lit up prematurely during their set, it didn’t stop them from romping through hits like “Do I Wanna Know?”, “Brick By Brick”, “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor”, “Suck It and See”, and “505” to name a few. It was all no-nonsense rock and the crowd loved it.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis @ Sasquatch! Stage, 10:30 PM to 12:00 AM
The Pacific Northwest’s own Macklemore & Ryan Lewis brought the house down as the headliners of the first day of Sasquatch!. “When this summer is over and I’m sitting down with my parents and they ask me which festival was my favorite, I wanna be able to say Sasquatch!” he bellowed into the microphone about halfway through his set, which, for the most part, consisted of songs from his and Ryan Lewis’ most recent hit album, The Heist.
Fans were treated to more of a tour performance rather than a festival performance in that the stage was completely overtaken by their setup. Many times at festivals, there is nothing special on the stage except the performers themselves to set them apart from the rabble of ones that came before them. But for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, it was easy to see that the stage was their domain. There were trees and cacti spread throughout and Ryan Lewis was housed on a tall platform in front of a massive video screen. Further, there was a string ensemble as well as an entire horn section that doubled as dancers.
Even featured artists from The Heist were present to sing their parts. Most notably, Wanz was in tow to vocalize his iconic part on the hit song “Thrift Shop”. Other Seattle-based artists Ray Dalton sang on a couple of songs, namely, the single “Can’t Hold Us” and the beautifully voiced Mary Lambert on “Same Love”.
Attendees really felt like they were a part of something special. “I have been working my entire life to get here and play The Gorge!” he hollered after the set’s first song “Ten Thousand Hours”, for which he surprisingly emerged from below the stage on a tall platform. Those words rang more true than they may have elsewhere because of Macklemore’s home being the Pacific Northwest and because he told a story about how he grew up coming to shows at the world-famous venue.
