Sasquatch music festival diary (part 2)

Here are days three and four of the Sasquatch diary. Much more coming in the next couple of days.

SUNDAY

4:09 p.m.

Just got done interviewing Grouplove. I really like this band and think they have lots of great things coming their way. Interview went well. Really easy people to talk to.

4:15 p.m.

Standing in the 107.7 The End acoustic tent waiting for The Head and The Heart to perform a quick set before they take the Sasquatch Stage later today. This feels like last year all over again.

4:45 p.m. till 7:30 p.m.

In this block of time I had a pretty amazing adventure with Seattle rocker Reignwolf. I won’t get too far into it now but I will say it involved two performances, a really popular podcast and a ride in the Reignwolf RV.

More on this very soon.

7:49 p.m.

I only caught the last two songs of The Head and The Heart’s set, but I heard it was incredible. From what I saw it sure seems like it was. I can’t count all the times I have seen this band, but I have never heard Charity absolutely crush the end of “Rivers and Roads” like she just did.

Now that their Sasquatch performance is over, I fully expect to see The Head and The Heart added to at least one more summer music festival. Bumbershoot or maybe Capitol Hill Block Party?

8:17 p.m.

Sitting in the grass watching Beirut. I still can’t believe how great Zach Condon’s voice sounds live. It doesn’t seem like it should be possible to sound like that. This is just so great.

11:21 p.m.

Just spent the last hour and a half dancing the night away in the Banana Shack during James Murphy’s DJ set. That was amazing. The former LCD Soundsystem front man played amazing dance jams all night. Murphy would play good dance music for 10 minutes, then he would build the beat way up and drop amazing dance music for the next 10 minutes.

Being in a room with James Murphy, the singer of one of my favorite bands ever, was a perfect way to end the night. The best part was that he looked like he was having a great time. He bounced to the beat, pumped vinyl in the air as he pulled it from the crate, and thanked the fans a couple of times for sticking around late to see him play records.

Lots of people are going to hate me for skipping Bon Iver, but I think I made the right choice.

Just as I was starting to run out of steam for the weekend I feel recharged. One day to go. Bring it on!

MONDAY

3:10 p.m.

Started my day with one of my favorite Seattle artists, Damien Jurado. He sounded great and brought more energy than I think I have ever seen from him. Not that Jurado is typically lacking, it’s just not really his style.

3:35 p.m.

Just watched Grouplove perform an End Session in the 107.7 The End acoustic tent. These guys are so much fun live. The happiness on their faces is contagious.

4:12 p.m.

Decided to go check out some comedy at the Banana Shack because Nick Kroll was performing and I love his character “Ruxon” on the show The League”. Big disappointment. His stories weren’t even entertaining let alone funny.

Should have gone to see Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah instead.

5:30 p.m.

Fun. is this year’s band that the Sasquatch didn’t see coming. They really needed to be on the Sasquatch stage. The crowd was huge.

“I have a confession to make. This is the biggest crowd we’ve ever played for” said Fun. singer Nate Reuss.

The crowd was so large it was overflowing into other nearby stages and you were lucky if you could even see the big screens on the side of the stage.

7:08 p.m.

Decided to leave the Feist show on the Sasquatch stage to go check out actor John Reilly’s band. This guy is so talented. His band sounds great and the quality of his voice really surprised me.

9:44 p.m.

Tenacious D just finished. I don’t even know where to start. Maybe the best show of the whole weekend. As soon as Jack Black and Kyle Gass walked out on stage in all white robes they were very much in control. Everyone near me in the crowd knew all the words to their songs.

“This has got to be the most beautiful of all the festivals” said Jack Black and the crowd went nuts. Was this the best show of the weekend?

11:46 p.m.

Just got back to the car. Just finished watching Beck perform. I had never seen Beck before and have wanted to for a long time. Maybe I built it up a little too much in my head but the performance wasn’t as awesome as I had hoped. The band seemed a little out of sync and I’m pretty sure Beck forgot the words more than once. All is forgiven though because he brought Jack Black and Kyle Gass out on stage for the encore.

All things considered, this was a fantastic weekend. I am still trying to wrap my head around all the great performances I saw. Sad it’s over but I can’t wait to get home and go through all the photos and listen to these interviews.