sasquatch!

oh
my
hell.

SASQUATCH was a brilliant investment of summer time and money. I loved the experience and I saw My Morning Jacket / Vampire Weekend / The National / Deadmau5 / Broken Social Scene / OK Go / Miike Snow / Brother Ali / Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros / Minus The Bear / WHY? / Portugal. The Man / Mumford & Sons / Nurses / Laura Marling / Morning Teleportation / Dawes / MGMT / Band of Horses / She & Him / Passion Pit / Drive-By Truckers / Mayer Hawthorne & The County / Jaguar Love / Phantogram / Past Lives / Neon Indian / Seattle Rock Orchestra . That's 28. More than a quarter of a hundred. Makes a girl think.

Of the bands I saw, I'll rate a top 3.
THIRD goes to
Phantogram



photo cred myspace.com/phantogram

I had never listened to Phantogram before, but I was very impressed. They sounded great, and they talked little and grooved much. All good things. They are a DJ woman and a guitarist man, and they both sing. My expectations were low because of the crowd that went (90% bros with shirts off) but as I listened I realized that this music is for more than just the dogs. In fact, afterward, I was somewhat questioning what the dogs were doing there. Bronze for pleasant surprise.

SECOND goes to
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros



I knew it was going to be awesome. It was awesome. Alex and Jane are great and everyone in the band was happy and they added to the Sasquatch spirit of community and free friendship and lovedrunk smiles. Their sound was better than recording, which doesn't happen so often. Last time that happened was at Regina Spektor, which had the same type of doting audience and very, very happy performers. I loved the spirit of the event. Silver for reaching high expectations.

FIRST goes to
Deadmau5



photo cred iateyourbaby.com
(He wasn't wearing this mousehead. The one he had at Sasquatch was all white with no eyeballs and the whole mask was a screen which played images thematically consistent with the lightshow on his cube and on the stage. Fabulous and hard to describe.)

I wasn't sure what to expect with Deadmau5, because I've never been to a rave. I've seen Bloody Beetroots in concert, but that was definitely a thrashy moshy concert, not a rave. The crowd was a good mix of ravers and non-Deadmau5-fan Sasquatch audience, which was good, because I was expecting a lot more bros. Ugh, and it was SO GOOD. I was SO IMPRESSED with the light show. It surpassed Ladytron and even Muse. The whole thing was a masterpiece. The music was great, and it was a little bit mixed and different from the album, but just as catchy. MAN I love his buildups. Gold for sure.

Honorable mentions: MGMT (better than expectation), Portugal. The Man (awesome as expected), and Laura Marling (never heard before and awesome)

So I saw 28 bands in 24 hours over 2 days.
I didn't go to Sasquatch on Sunday, but I went and visited my cousins who live in Wenatchee, which is an hour away, and I went to their mostly-old-people congregation and then came home to a hot game of Quiddler and a lot of visiting time with Grandma and Grandpa, who were visiting. I was so tired that day because camping was extremely cold and I had no insulation in the bedding I brought, however comfortable it was. I went down for a nap but Justin called me while I was about to sleep and, well, obviously, I talked to him instead because talking to him is my favorite activity lately, despite lack of sleep and all that. Grandpa walked in on me when I was laughing on the phone and he asked me about it later. When I told him I had a boyfriend he was sure that THAT BOYFRIEND MUST BE A WINNER. Says Grandpa: "Is he blond?" Yup. "Is he tall?" Mnyeah. "Figures." Everyone is happy for me and my pre-missionary. I am so much.
Grandpa and I had a lot of quality time together. When I sat down in the couch with him, he told me how much of a treasure it would be for him to have any memories visiting with his grandfather. His died when he was very young, and I am very fortunate to still have mine as a young adult. He's fading now, though; he speaks slower than he used to, for example. He's still just as affectionate with Grandma, though. When we were looking through a photo album, he pointed at a picture of Grandma and said, "Now there is a beautiful woman. Doesn't she look like a movie star? Wow." I want a husband who talks like that about me when we're old.
I also had some great visiting time with my Uncle Steve. He picked me up from the camp ground ten minutes early, and then he brought me to his house, where he and his wife pampered me. They fed me excellent food from scratch, gave me a toothbrush, welcomed me to stay the night and lent me an air mattress and bedding, gave me sunblock, and did everything excelling hosts would do. Steve and I had hour-drives to and from Sasquatch to chat, and we filled each other in on our families and then he teased me for studying/caring about environmental science but then having priorities of energy over wildlife. That doesn't make sense, sorry. Let me explain. We were talking about the dams by Wenatchee and how they supply a lot of hydroelectricity to the area, but liberals want to shut them down because they're damaging the marine plants and wildlife. I say they should screw the fish, but I'm also studying to consult people on how they can stop being so selfish and start helping other species and the environment. See, there's conflict.
WELL, STEVE, Geologists don't care about fish unless they're fossilized and present a connection in evolution. WE ALL KNOW THAT.

When I came back to Sasquatch, Rebecca and Brian were happy to see me. I hadn't seen them for 48 hours. I separate myself from friends when I go to concerts because it's easier to get myself in good standing spots. But additionally, I was a third wheel, so consequently I didn't see a whole lot of Rebecca and Brian anyway. And even though Brian brought a small tent for himself, Rebecca was there every night and I slept alone in the four-man. It was lonely. And it was COLD. I would wake up at 2am freezing, and I would readjust all my layers and still not be able to settle, and then I'd cry myself to sleep and wake up again at 7am, just as I did at 2 but this time my face would be all wet. Needless to say, I needed that sleep in Steve and Vicky's airbed on Sunday night.

The loneliness of the occasion wasn't all that unpleasant. I got to enjoy the bands more. It was kindof like watching conference alone. Just me and the orators, so much more personal and therefore special. When I did feel lonely, though, it was for missing Justin. I texted him the entire time, but that's not anything like hanging out or talking, and while it was always great, it made me miss holding his hand and the simple things. I see him on Wednesday, and now that I've run out of texting until it resets (June 14), I talk to him on the phone once or twice a day. We're tragidorable.
Today he called me while my phone was still in the car. I went to fetch it at 12:03 and I had JUST MISSED HIS CALL saying he was at work now so he can't talk but he misses me and other nice things. Sad.
Now I'm enjoying the interwebs on Lauren's computer while Rebrian sleeps. I want to hit the road, but I can't with people who haven't slept in four days. Not everyone has Washington cousins with an airbed.

Anyway,
Vegan propaganda!