Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips / Photo by Scott Ricketts

After a much-bothersome one-year absence from Washington's not-so-hidden gem, Sasquatch! Music Festival, I arrived at the scenic Gorge Amphitheatre Saturday morning (May 24) to embark on what would (once again) be a wild and unpredictable weekend in terms of both music and weather conditions. And as it did with the pelting, golf ball-sized hail in '06, my perseverance paid off.

SPIN.com photog Scott Ricketts and I braved blowing sheets of rain -- or what Stephen Malkmus would teasingly call "crooked rain" -- during the festival's highlight, the Breeders' Saturday night set as Kim Deal's hair flailed uncontrollably in the wind, and panted during blistering sun showers (my forehead's now peeling) while the Mars Volta tore up the main stage Monday afternoon, taunting crowds by tossing debris into a swarming, vicious, and -- at times -- bloody pit. We even fended off the drizzle and plummeting temperatures as we manned our respective posts during Flaming Lips' fest-closing UFO show -- mine onstage dancing in a teletubby suit, documenting the whole experience in video, his hunkered down in the photo pit snapping away.

All in all, it was an worthwhile excursion to the temperamental desert of Washington State, and best of all, it's all on video for your viewing pleasure.

Check out video footage from Sasquatch! '08:
-- The Whigs
-- Dengue Fever
-- The Blakes
-- Built to Spill
-- Mates of State (plus baby!)
-- The Little Ones
-- En route to the Artist Yurt with the Little Ones
-- Tour of the Artist Yurt with the Little Ones
-- The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne chatting about the band's new movie, Christmas on Mars
-- Dancing onstage with the Flaming Lips
-- Flaming Lips' UFO lands
-- Flaming Lips' UFO show grand finale

Click here for our Sasquatch photo gallery!