BC BuzZ: Sasquatch Music Festival - The Music

BC BuzZ: Sasquatch Music Festival - The Music

With over 120 performers on 5 stages (6 if you include the Kokanee Acoustic Stage) the buffet of entertainment does not stop till the sun goes down and beyond.  As most paid a ticket to see many of the Main Stage (aptly named “Sasquatch Stage”) headliners like Beck, Bon Iver, Jack White and Tenacious D, it was the lesser known and more underground musicians that got us rocking and rolling all weekend long.  For my first venture to Sasquatch I kept an ear open to where people thought would be the next best show, the next big party, the next performer to blow their hats off (and sometimes those hats were very elaborate considering the great costumes I saw all weekend).  It was great to see how many people had their schedules out trying to plan around each and every stage run, bathroom break, beer run, food break and more.  My first show was Friday night with Pretty Lights.  The crowd was getting in its first taste of the midnight sun and a dance up to get the whole weekend booming. Next up after an uneasy sleep in the old VW Golf was Seattle’s own Pickwick.  I have to thank KEXP in Seattle for sending me a link to their SXSW show on YouTube that got me hooked to the amazing vocals of lead singer Galen Disston.  For me Pickwick was a perfect intro to what would be my fave performance of the weekend……”The Screaming Eagle of Soul” Mr. Charles Bradley!!  Said exactly like his organist as the soulful sun shined down on a bunch of 20-somethings on a Saturday afternoon it was like we were all at church and Charles was our reverend. Born in 1948 in Gainesville, Florida, Charles Bradley is a funk/soul/R&B singer that can belt out the best of his tracks like Otis Redding and James Brown put together.  We asked him what soul was (stay tuned to the interview coming soon)…..his answer was like he took the word “soul”, marinated it for 24hrs, slow-roasted it and then served it up like it was the best tasting word around.  He’s classic and yet so new at the same time……what a delight.  From there the sun got hotter, the music got better and Sasquatch was a thumping. From BC faves Said The Whale moshing up the Yeti stage with a sweet crowd of Canadians to Seattle’s Sol taking the smallest stage and blowing it up like he could have headlined.  From the electronic Dutch group Nobody Beats The Drum going into hyperspace in the Banana Shack with their audio & visual extravaganza to St. Vincent aka Annie Clark on the Bigfoot stage literally tearing a strip out of her guitar techs neck to “turn it up”, it was looking like another great fest. Saturday night ended with a party from the Legendary Roots Crew and as 1am hit, we all started getting ready for the next day, and the next day and so on.  Other memorable acts for me were Rhode Island’s Deer Tick (especially with their Beastie Boy moment), Seattle’s cool & funky Fly Moon Royalty, Canadian Jordan Cook aka Reignwolfwho essentially eats his guitar for breakfast (he’s nuts on stage and its beautiful) and last but definitely not least was the disco party dance up of the weekend, Mr James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem).  Its tough to pin point one or two or even a dozen acts, there’s too many to count, but what we can say is it was a great time, with great people, listening to great music.  Thanks Sasquatch, I’m looking forward to our sophomore year.

Keep your eye out for our BC BuzZ episode with artist interviews including: Charles Bradley, Said The Whale, Fly Moon Royalty & more.