The Sasquatch! Music Festival wrapped up yet another installment of drawing a massive overflow-campground, sold-out crowd.
I'm still trying to understand why.
I remember when it was a lowly one-day event. Kanye West rocked the stage with a white-on-white sports jacket and suit combo, lavender shirt and white Keds. Arcade Fire opened my eyes and ears. Modest Mouse played sober. The Pixies were a wave of rock royalty.
I've gone every year for five years, now. Each year progressed with its setup and lineup. This year was the worst.
Kings of Leon rocked a mostly-packed main stage and lawn, but part of that has to be due to the recent radio and MTV success of "Only By The Night." Compared to other headliners, they fall terribly short. Consider this year's headliners: Jane's Addiction and Sasquatch veteran-Ben Harper and Relentless 7. 2008 saw R.E.M., The Cure and The Flaming Lips. 2007 had the Beastie Boys and Björk. Nine Inch Nails, Beck, Coldplay and The Postal Service all headlined, too.
The show wasn't entirely a bust. The Wookie stage saw unprecedented success given a new location and more energetic performers (see Girl Talk). The Dance/Comedy Tent was genius. Finally the producers discovered a way to filter out the movers and shakers from the shoe-gazers.
There was even something about Ben Harper's show that was off. It may be his new blues-rock band. They rocked, but, at some point the 10-minute jam session after eight hours of standing, heat, sun, dehydration and movement became tiresome and boring. Part of Monday's problem can be attributed to being the last day of a three-day event. Another portion of the problem was it fell on a weekday, albeit a holiday. Both of these whittled the sold-out crowd down to a more manageable but less exciting size.
At the risk of being cliché it needs to be said that a $9 tall-boy of Coors Light is heinous.
Like volunteer writer Fernando Sioson wrote in an earlier op-ed, the sun is our enemy. I saw too many burned bodies, and even more it's-hip-to-be-un-hip sunglasses courtesy of 1-800-QUIT NOW perched just above a lit cigarette, smoke wafting around the lens and rims.
Speaking of hip-un-hip sunglasses, one of the largest problems with the Memorial Day weekend festival are the hipsters. People at the show don't wear tie-dye normally. But then they transform into Sasquatch hippies/hipsters. If they don't wear tie-dye, sling a hemp bag over the shoulders and wear ridiculous sunglasses to compliment their ridiculous red-and-white striped bodies, they look like they robbed American Apparel and stole the clothes off of a mannequin from Urban Outfitters.
Some of these problems won't and can't be fixed: hippie/hipsters, overpriced food and drink. Which artists the promoters book is a fixable problem. Get a real headliner, a performer or band who earned the right to be at the top of the bill, command the entire Gorge and keep visitors enthralled all the way out of Memorial Day weekend. Then, maybe I'll become a six-year veteran of the legendary Sasquatch and put up with the hellish heat.
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