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Gorge concert season begins this weekend
Over the past eight years, music lovers have watched the Sasquatch! Music Festival evolve from a one-day event in its infancy to the hulking weekend-long engagement that it is today.
For its ninth coming, the behemoth shows its maturity more than ever.
In the past, Sasquatch! has relied on a dazzling array of headlining acts to draw crowds to the 20,000-seat Gorge Amphitheatre. Main-stage performers have included Coldplay, Beck, Nine Inch Nails and the Cure. This year’s acts, although touting great appeal, are decidedly humbler. Veteran groups such as Pavement, Ween and Massive Attack get top billing in 2010, as well as up-and-comers Vampire Weekend and MGMT.
Even while Lollapalooza has Green Day, Soundgarden and Lady Gaga headlining and Bonnaroo has Jay-Z, Weezer and Stevie Wonder, tickets for this year’s toned-down Sasquatch! Festival, to be held this weekend, still managed to sell out by April — two months before the big weekend.
Along with the fresh approach to lineup, a few more changes arrive with this year’s event.
Of the festival’s three stages, the Gorge unveils its overhauled main stage at the season-opening weekend. Construction at the venue began earlier this year, and is expected to be complete by Saturday. The changes enhance the stage’s safety from the elements as well as its performing conditions (i.e. sun and wind protection).
In addition, the Sasquatch! comedy and dance tent, featuring stand-up comedians and live DJs, has been issued a theme-appropriate name. Now festival-goers can let out their chuckles and shuffles in the Rumpus Room.
