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In search of Sasquatch!
By Chuck Allen
Post-Register editor
As a 40-year-old rocker, I've gone through a lot of musical stages. I loved Queen as a preteen, Van Halen and Def Leppard as a teen (Before I get a bunch of guff, just remember that I grew up as a poor child in Quincy. We didn't have record stores or alternative radio stations to listen too. I didn't even have MTV. It was mainstream or nothing.), then it was on to Grunge with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains in my 20s. And while I still love all of those bands, I've found my musical world keeps expanding and new bands are added to my playlist, including Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, the Decemberists and Flogging Molly.
So when I found out I was going to have a chance to see my new favorite bands all live in a concert venue in my backyard, well, that was just like getting a ticket to rock 'n roll heaven for me.
I don't know if anyone will get anything out of this sort of review of the Sasquatch! performances that I witnessed over Memorial Day weekend at The Gorge Amphitheatre, but I know that this will help me remember some epic music making.
Friday:
My companion and I reached the Gorge about 5:30 p.m. Just in time to get ready for Florida punk rockers Against Me!, who were playing on the Bigfoot Stage at 6:15 p.m. I heard the band open for Silver Sun Pickups in Spokane last year. They are loud, proud and sing with a smile on their faces. Their biggest hit so far is "Teenage Anarchist," which has earned radio play on many alternative music stations. The band opened their set with "Guinness Makes You Stronger," which got the swelling crowd up on its feet bouncing and cheering. Lead singer/guitarist Tom Gabel certainly has the swagger of a punk rock lead. I think this band will be something you'll hear more about in the future.
We stay for the Against Me! set until we hear "Teenage Anarchist," which is by far their most radio-friendly song. The poignant (for me) chorus, "Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?" ringing in my ears as we walk to the main stage.
Speaking of ears ringing, we reached the main stage in time to hear The Bronx (from Los Angeles?), screaming and yelling about something before finishing their set. Yeah, I didn't get it, but somebody enjoyed it. We heard one of the security guards at the front of the stage yell to one of this coworkers, "Dude, they were awesome!"
My tortured ears were practically bleeding halfway through the performance of Death From Above 1979. This Toronto duo of noisemakers were kind of fun to watch as lead singer/drummer Sebastian Grainger, clothed in all white, sat sideways banging on his drum kit and growled and screamed into a microphone. Bandmate Jesse F. Keeler, playing the Yang in all black, throttled the bass and a bunch of synths and electronic equipment to produce a sound comparable to a helicopter dogfight in a tornado.
Yikes! Since I didn't bring earplugs, I couldn't take the noise after about three songs and we had to retreat to the terraces. Now I was starting to wonder if I really was too old to rock out anymore.
Then the Foo Fighters came to the rescue. Now I have a question for you. Can you name anyone who has accomplished more than Dave Grohl in the world of rock? Consider this. He was the drummer for Nirvana, a band that certainly has to be considered as the most influential musical group in past 25 years. Then after Kurt Cobain's suicide, he takes some songs that he was noodling around with, records a demo with him playing all the instruments and doing the vocals and turns that little project into one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Can you tell that I'm a huge fan of Dave Grohl?
Well, this is the first time I'm going to see him live and, it's amazing. Grohl who sings and plays guitar, drummer Tayler Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel and guitarists Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, combined with keyboardist Rami Jaffee sooth my ringing ears with the first few notes of "Bridge Burning" then they bust into "Rope," before blasting out one of my favorite songs ever, "My Hero."
Yeah, its awesome, incredible and everything I hoped for as not only are Dave and the boys in fine form musically, but you can tell that they are delighted to be back at The Gorge after a 10-year drought. They even dressed for the occasion as the four front men are all decked out in flannel shirts. Grohl makes fun of how golden-locked Hawkins how eschewed the Northwest fashion statement for more comfortable shorts and a T-shirt. "I bet you would wear flannel board shorts if I bought them for you," Grohl jokes.
The two-hour plus set ends with a rousing rendition of "Everlong," which is indeed my favorite song ever. (By the way, the Foo played straight through, no fakey leaving the stage to come back for an encore for them. "We've got a lot of songs to play. We're going to just keep playing until we're done," Grohl tells the crowd.) Easily that was one of the best concerts I've ever been to and I have three more days to go!
Saturday:
I wake up with my ears buzzing louder than my alarm clock and my legs sore from bouncing up and down in front of the stage. Yeah, I'm feeling every one of my 40 years this morning. The plan today is to take it easy, enjoy breakfast with the family and maybe get a round of golf in before we head back to the Gorge. Breakfast was great. Don't ask about the golf.
Anyway, we reach the Gorge in time to hear Emo rocker (maybe he was just on some kind of downers) wailing about how sad it was that people cheered when Osama bin Laden was killed. "I think it's pretty sad that when a 70-year-old man is shot point blank in the face that people cheered."
A lady sitting next to us leans over and asks, "Are you guys Canadian?" (That's a safe assumption considering that about half the people at the festival came down from the Great White North.) We say no and she says, "Good, because you won't be offended if I tell you that I'm glad we killed that bastard." We both agreed with her.
Poor, sad Bright Eyes finally slumps off the stage and they prepare it for Death Cab for Cutie. Now, I knew a little bit about Death Cab for several years, I had heard some of their songs, "I'll Follow You Into the Dark" is practically ubiquitous if you listen to alternative radio, but I really didn't get into them until last year when I opened a Pandora account for the Silver Sun Pickups and realized that my favorite songs were Death Cab songs. (Oh, and don't be fouled by the silly name. That trips up a lot of people, including myself.) Singer-songwriter Ben Gibbard is one of the most talented lyricists out there. Almost all of his songs are smart and clever and relate to many people's lives, including yours truly. He's who I would want to be if I was a songwriter.
They open with the eight-minute version of "I Will Possess Your Heart" with the extended intro. Then they play all my favorites "The New Year," "Long Division," "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," "Grapevine Fires," "You Are a Tourist," "Soul Meets Body," "Cath," "Crooked Teeth," and "The Sound of Settling" and before the echos of "Settling's" Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba chorus is finished echoing off the Gorge walls, they return for an encore that includes another favorite "Title and Registration," before ending with the ethereal "Transatlanticsm" which floats us up out of the Gorge's main bowl.
Before heading out of the Gorge, we check out the madness of the midnight rave DJ'ed by Bassnector (pronounced basenector). While rave music isn't a favorite of mine it was amazing to see the guy work his electronic magic mashing up Led Zeppelin into Nirvana into "Pink Elephants" from Disney's "Dumbo." And every high point in the non-stop music prompts an avalanche of glowsticks tossed up into the air by the ravers. Yeah, it's a little bit too much for this grey-haired guy, but I could see why a 20-year-old would have a ball with it.
See photos of the festival at:
Catch this blog tomorrow for a report on day three and four.
