More Music than you can Shake a Stick at...

Marshall, Duke and I headed to Eastern Washington to see Sasquatch! this past weekend. I realized that this is the third time I've gone, and that's pretty cool. We had a great weekend--the weather largely cooperated, I managed to not get drunk and steal Duke's phone for the better part of the day, and the main stage wasn't shut down due to wind. Bonus!

My only real complaint was that the campground workers really did not have their shit together at all. It took us over an hour to get into the Premier campsite, which had no signage whatsoever and we were given atrocious directions. Fortunately, we managed to hold onto some semblance of a sense of humor until we could crack open the cooler. Good grief!

And the Premier camping? Totally the way to go.

The show was pretty damn good too. We managed to catch a few things we never expected, and I had a good time with the ones I intended to catch. So here's the rundown:

SATURDAY:
VINCE MIRA: Kid is apparently 16 years old and sounds exactly like Johnny Cash. It's eerie. And really cool at the same time.

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS: Always a good show, and I always forget just how pretty Neko Case is. And I covet her hair. A little underwhelming in such a big space, but that's probably because we were sitting so far back.

CRUDO/DESTROYER: Both a little weird. And I can't really remember which one we actually saw.

M.I.A.: I really liked her energy--she's this teeny tiny little thing who just jumps around all over the place. Marshall didn't like that they never did any close-ups of her, which I agree with. There were three girls up there and I couldn't totally tell which one was M.I.A. Good music though.

MODEST MOUSE: As usual, this band is amazing live. I saw them last summer at Edgefield and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Isaac Brock appears to be walking that thin line between musical genius and just plain bonkers. He's still on the music genius side, but the madness is a nice touch.

THE BREEDERS: The last time I saw Kim Deal, she was playing with the reconstituted Pixies and they looked like they would rather have been swallowing knives than playing together onstage. They didn't say a word to each other, or the crowd, the entire set. The Breeders, on the other hand, talked as much as they played and sounded terrific. I remembered why I wanted to be a Deal sister back in the mid-90s.

REM: Saw them as a 16th birthday present and they are easy to like. Indie Rocker is convinced that Michael Stipe is a robot, but I think he's actually an alien. A cool alien who knows how to play, but an alien nonetheless. "I wish Canadians could vote." Rad. I'll admit that I have a hard time with bands like REM because I want them to play all of my favorite songs, but their catalog is so huge that it's impossible unless they play for approximately 9 straight hours. A girl can dream...

SUNDAY
After recovering from Saturday, eating breakfast, tidying camp, and then starting to drink again, we managed to head to the show. It was awesome.

BLUE SCHOLARS: These are two dudes from Seattle, and they are awesome. Great stage presence, smart rhymes, and great DJ. Marshall and I were rocking out and having a great time. Go see them at your first opportunity--I promise you will not be disappointed.

CANCER RISING: We love these guys anyway, because we met our boy Gatsby a few years ago when we went drinking in Fremont after Bumbershoot. Needless to say, we had a blast and these guys are awesome. There are two full-time MCs, one part-time MC/b-boy and a DJ. They also brought on some b-boys and a b-girl in training and I only wish my body could do what theirs could. Amazing.

TEGAN AND SARA: I like their music, but I had not heard good things about their live show. I agree with the reviews--their music is still interesting, but their live show leaves a little to be desired. Their banter borders on insulting, since I'm not sure either of them thinks before she opens her mouth. Some of it was asinine, some of it was insulting, and some was just downright weird. They need to talk less and play more.

ROGUE WAVE: Duke and I went to check these guys out, and we were underwhelmed. I seem to remember seeing them at Bumbershoot and getting a huge kick out of them, so that was disappointing.

PRESIDENTS OF THE USA: I saw these guys when they were touring for their self-titled album in 1996, and I crowd-surfed for the first time to the song "Peaches." I absolutely love them, always have, and had a horrifying realization in the middle of their set: The kiddos in front of me were 3 or 4 years old when I first saw PUSA. Auggghhh! Other than that, the music was fun, and they played my second fave song from them, "Kick Out the Jams" and I was much happier.

SPEARHEAD: Marshall is a huge Spearhead and Michael Franti fan. I have seen them a few times and I like them, but I largely made my way down to the bowl to humor her. Imagine my surprise when I really, really enjoyed their entire set. Michael Franti is an energetic man with the ability to completely suck you into his energy. After the first song or two, I was in--totally sucked in, in the best possible way.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: Duke told a story about what assholes these guys were when he was on the same plane as them a few years back. I like their music, and one of their songs has my all-time favorite lyric: "You're so cute when you're slurring your speech/but they're closing the bar and they want us to leave." Ben Gibbard announced at the beginning of the show that he was wearing all black for two reasons: he wanted his outside to match how dark he felt on the inside and that it was an homage to the Cure, who was playing after them. It was the first part that got me--a grown, voting adult said that he wanted to look as dark as he felt on the inside. Really? I've come to the conclusion that Ben Gibbard imagines himself to be the musical genius that Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse actually is. The music was good, but underwhelming.

THE CURE: I would love to be able to say more about this, because they were quite cool. Unfortunately, I had managed to have one beer too many by this point and remember exactly three of their songs. Argh.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend spent with two very good friends. I loved that Marshall said that I was a great fifth wheel for a couple. Hey, I had a great time!

No quote--too many songs to even think about quoting from...