Kings of Leon / Photo by Alex Crick
A three-hour drive from Seattle, Washington, up over the Cascade Mountains and through at least three ecosystems (oceanic to tundra to desert), is the Columbia River Gorge, a gigantic canyon around one of America's biggest rivers, formed by a cataclysmic flood at the end of the last ice age. It looks like a nuclear bomb exploded here -- it's a violent crater of twisted, mangled land in the middle of the desert. And it's where 70,000 folks gathered for the eighth annual Sasquatch Music and Arts Festival Memorial Day weekend.
(For a photo gallery of the event, click here.)
Headlining the show? The view. It's what everyone is talking about. Or, in Karen O's case, would be talking about -- if she wasn't too awestruck to utter a sentence.
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The Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer is backstage, clenching a chain link fence and looking out over a 200-foot cliff at a vast plateau, which then drops some 400 more feet to the river. She mouths "WOW," and stands solemnly, enjoying the scenery. The sun is setting, the beer is free, the food is good (and free), and the vibe at the Yurt, the circular backstage tent where most artists have gathered to booze and cavort, is friendly.
Zach Galifianakis and the boys from King Khan are posing for photos at the edge of the abyss. Seth Kasper, the drummer from Wild Light, who's sitting on picnic table pounding beers, is boggled: "Dude, this is fucking crazy. Seriously, what the fuck is this place?" YYYs guitarist Nick Zinner, holding a quickly-melting chocolate ice cream cone as his Sonic the Hedgehog-like 'fro wobbles about, looks confused.
He's forgiven. It's a odd collection of folk -- over the weekend Dave Navarro will walk around shirtless (does he even own shirts?), Etty Lau Farrell (Perry's wife) will sip white wine with her girlfriends, Jane's drummer Stephen Perkins will chat with TVOTR sticksman Jaleel Bunton, Trent Reznor will stomp past en route to his bus (presumably to continue Tweeting), and Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold and Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste will hold what appeared to be one very intense conversation.
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And the backdrop is ridiculous.
But what's a view without an apt soundtrack? Sasquatch had a pick-your-poison selection for your party at the edge of the earth. And really, if this is to be the site of the Armageddon, as one can certainly begin to think when gazing into the frightening chasm, Kings of Leon want people to remember them in the afterlife.
Frontman Caleb Followill has made it okay for critics from the Northwest music scene -- the DIY, K Records-lovin' peeps with highfalutin tastes -- to scream "your sex is on fire" with 20,000 other people as four dudes who look like models for Wal-Mart's latest "hip" clothing line rock onstage. These Southern kin are THE American band. Their Saturday night set was tight, nearly two hours, and showed a band at their best. "This is the end of our tour, so we're gonna let loose a little for ya," said Caleb. The girls swooned. The dudes sort of wanted to, too.
And that was just the first night. Here are eight more highlights from Sasquatch '09:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs:
Karen O jumped and bounced around the main stage like a kindergartener during recess. Her '80s-inspired gown -- speckled with brightly-colored shapes -- flapped about as she circled the stage, winked and smiled for the crowd, and spat "you're a zeeeeeerrrrrrrrooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!" like a possessed 5-year-old. Zinner, ever the straight-faced serious guy, even shook his head and smirked at Karen's wild antics.
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NIN:
If this is indeed Nine Inch Nails final tour, it's sad, sad, sad, sad thing -- this band puts on a spectacular show. Trent Reznor commands his mic stand like it's a freakin' boa constrictor trying to strangle him, while guitarist Robin Finck stomps around the stage in big black boots, jerking his part-shaved, part-ponytailed head around like he's being electrocuted. The band members look like extras from Waterworld. And when the menacing drums and static-y bass of "March of the Pigs" kicked in, it felt like they were chasing you on a Jet Ski armed with machine guns.
Bon Iver:
Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon's shrill whimper and acoustic ditties about lost love have certainly found many a fan in the indie rock community. But it's the electric cuts he busted out Friday night that had Sasquatch talkin'. With Vernon manning the axe and a steady wind whipping his long hair into the air, the band livened-up tracks off For Emma, Forever Ago and the newer Blood Bank EP with pissy angst -- their delicate Nick Drake-like sound turned all Crazy Horse on us. Let's hope they keep it up.
