Suuns Photos by Matthew Thompson

Following the smoky energy of Rose Windows, the Yeti stage was taken over by Secret Canadian’s Suuns. The crowd swelled as they dove into their set. At times the trio went into nearly ambient jams, reverb heavy and almost ominous. But mostly the set was rhythm heavy, the audience waving their hands in the air while swaying and dancing along. Nearing the end of the set they reached that I consider the highlight - a drawn out and almost eerie rendition of “Edie’s Dream”. Vocalist/guitarist Ben Shemie seemed to disappear in the riffs, I watched the clouds shift over the distant hills, and the guitar droned on, until eventually Shemie pulled us back with the lyrics, “these same visions, these same visions” which seemed to meld into the phrase “ancient visions, ancient visions”. “Edie’s Dream” is about dreaming and slow progressions, though the set seemed to stay firmly on the side of reality, for that moment it dipped away from the noise of the crowds and sponsorship, and into the realm of beauty, melancholy, and long-awaited dreams.

photos by Matthew Thompson

Day two started off cool and got warm - and at the sun drenched Yeti Stage, Rose Windows started the day with their deep psychedelic mystic rock. Singer Rabia Qazi’s voice rumbled high and low as the Seattle band played through most of what we can assume comes from their upcoming album, The Sun Dogs. The only way to see Rose Windows that would be better than with the red cliffs of the Eastern Washington would be to see them in the desert, dancing and drifting through the shimmering drugged up heat. Yes, they are just as good live as their two singles suggest (hear “Heavenly Days” here) - flute wavering in, guitars playing perfectly nuanced but heavy riffs, the cymbals flaring in the background. In their live performance, Black Sabbath’s influence shines through, the heavy notes pierce through the daylight and make you before before you know whats happening. “Hard-hitting hippie” was a phrase on the tip of my tongue as I watched a fairly small crowd entranced by the music, swaying their knees and hollering along with Qazi’s exclamations by the end of the set. An excellent start to a beautiful day the Gorge - and probably one of the most location-suited sets of the weekend.

photos by Morgen Schuler

As was made our way to the mainstage for Built to Spill, slow drops of rain began to fall. The rain would never become hard or steady, instead lending the stage a golden glitter - the sun setting came in beams across the stage as Doug Martsch carefully but effortlessly lead the way through classic after classic song. My personal favorites included “Else” as well as “You Were Right”. They performed with a quiet exuberance, a confidence that comes with having written songs that will always be honest and relevant to peoples lives. Beside me two boys, one with an unironic 80s handlebar mustache the the other with gleaming smile danced, heady and happy with the guitars friendly wails blending in with the sun slowly setting behind the stage. In the distance you could see patches of rain, but at the gorge you could only see small happy smiles from Built to Spill, and dancing bobbing joyous heads of audience members.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis headline / photo by Morgen Schuler

by Tara Kelly Kearns

The first day of Sasquatch greeted me with lots of good vibes. From high-fives to hugs, and signs saying “You’re looking good” to crowd sign-a-longs, people are here not only to have a good time, but to share it with strangers and friends. Even despite the age range -- young teens to people pushing mid-40s -- the crowds blended together seamlessly, never seeming imbalanced nor tense.

I pulled into the campgrounds during the 3:30 pm rush and set-up in camp just missing Mainstage opener ZZ Ward, but in time to howl with the Reignwolf. Donned in a black beanie & black leather jacket, Reignwolf, real name Jordan Cook, started his set pounding a bass kick drum and firing electric guitar licks. He rips blues rock, reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix, and revives the genre with soulful and raspy vocals, at times reaching into his falsetto for emphasis. Though small, the crowd was glad to have him and the feeling was mutual. Cook stated he didn’t know if anyone was going to be present. After his first song, which took him behind the drum set playing both guitar and drums simultaneously, the drummer and bass guitarist (his brother Stitch), rounded out the guitar heavy songs. Reignwolf is an entertainer through and through, wowing the crowd with his one-handed guitar solos and commanding presence. At times he seemed possessed, staring down the audience, inviting them to come into his world. Every song was full of fire, and the lyrics, not usually subtle (First it’s easy, now it’s hard. I’ll put it in your backyard), light up both men and women. For his last song, he mounted a black Easy Street Records van and kicked the hell out of a bass drum and played guitar, while everyone cheered him on. The audience’s inability to follow along clapping led Reignwolf to exclaim, “You can’t be all that drunk yet, come on!” After which, the audience cheered, pulled it together and said farewell as Reignwolf took his Wolverine-like facial hair and sweaty self, and rode away on his chariot.

ZZ Ward:

photos by Morgen Schuler

Reignwolf:

photos by Morgen Schuler

Up at the Bigfoot stage, I walked into my inaugural Father John Misty set a little late. The audience was large, but Josh Tillman’s stage presence is larger. Sometimes armed with an acoustic guitar, he hypnotized us with his swivel-hips, back-bending convulsions, and the ability to be a quintessential frontman. The music is pleasant, taking from folk, country and rock genres, but the lyrics tell stories that are real and dark. Tillman counters the sinister mood seen in his face and heard in his lyrics by moving around the stage and dancing to his own music. Writhing around on stage floor and kneeling and singing to the camera (which projected him on large screens on either side of the stage), were just some of the ways he entertained us. Tillman enjoyed speaking to us as well. He informed the audience of the danger of falling in love with his beard, joked that his 5-second scat-singing earned him $10,000 from Bigfoot stage sponsor Honda, and dryly joked how his set was burning the festival to the ground. His often sarcastic comments about himself, the industry and the audience had me laughing, but went over most people’s heads. They didn’t seem to mind, and sang along with many of his songs and even danced for a few. As the set came to an end, Tillman remembered to introduce and thank his band. The final number, clearly the crowd pleaser, had the audience smiling and singing along, but I wondered whether or not they’d be smiling if they listened to what he was actually saying.

photos by Morgen Schuler

I showed up for Friday’s mainstage headliner, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, in plenty of time, as the set started 15 minutes late. The lights turned off and we waited, the darkness broken when Ryan Lewis was lit up in his 20 foot DJ station. Then, Macklemore rose dramatically from a trap door in the stage extension onto a 10-foot+ pedestal, donning a long, gold and black sparkly lounge coat. He started with a lesser-known cut, then paused before his second number. “You have no idea how amazing it feels to be back home in the Pacific Northwest!” he yelled. The audience cheered back and you could feel the energy building in the crowd. After coming on stage with a Detlef Schrempf Sonics jersey, he had the audience in the palm of his hand. The show was theatrical and featured many of the artists on M&RL’s album, The Heist, starting with Wanz from “Thrift Shop” dressed as a janitor cleaning up the stage. Of course, this song is what made the set take off, especially when he rolled out on an old-school scooter in a two-furred vintage coat. Macklemore took time between many of his songs to talk about the things close to his heart: marriage equality, sobriety, and Seattle. It’s clear that he loves his home and is proud of the marriage equality win here in WA. “Same Love” hook singer Mary Lambert joined Macklemore for the number, singing with passion and conviction. He explained how his success started with gaining sobriety in 2008, and illustrated the story and sentiment with an a capella rap. Crediting his home for getting him to where he is, he also thanked the audience for giving him the fuel to keep touring and hustling. And he certainly uses the energy he gets from his fans and gives it back full-force. With a set that included dancers, costume changes, a string quartet, a horn section, jumping like crazy, video displays, crowd surfing – and inflatable raft riding through the crowd, walking on the audience, a light show, and more, he gave it his all. The set also included “Can’t Hold Us,” Dave Niehaus tribute “My Oh My,” and more. Macklemore encored with his alter-ego Raven Bowie singing “And We Danced,” which had the wave of fans jumping in unison. Then for the final number, a lone bag-piper took the stage and “Irish Celebration” played as orange and green confetti blew out of cannons and trumpeter Owuor Arunga waved the oversized Irish flag. All performers came on stage singing the anthem together, and then were introduced and thanked one-by-one, including beat-man and kamikaze jumper-off-high-places Ryan Lewis. At the very end of the set, Macklemore asked for complete silence for a “vulnerable moment” and, after waiting over a minute, left the audience with “You are fucking awesome.”

Photos by Matthew Thompson:

Photos by Morgen Schuler:

photos by Matthew Thompson

As night came over the Gorge, people began to flock one of two ways - towards mainstage to try and catch good views for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, or toward the Bigfoot Stage to squeeze a place in for Vampire Weekend. I chose Vampire Weekend almost strictly as a guilty pleasure  - though they may come across to some as self-assured, their songs reminded me of the desire to move but not being able to, of young love during college days, of fun on the beach with a tinge of sadness. And their new album has fascinated me - the publicity leading up to it with Steve Buscemi was hilarious. Pitting apathetic East coasters against the sincere and ever funny Buscemi was a brilliant play. And their performance was everything I expected it to be and more. As they took stage a triumphant soundtrack scored the entrance. Colossal neo-classical columns had been erected to either side of the stage, andModern Vampires of the City was scrawled across the drum kit. Ezra was excited, and they started off with “Cousins”. Heads bobbed, a girl behind me yelled “marry me Ezra!” as they played some of their older songs before launching into tracks from their new album. The crowded swelled to unmanageble proportions before becoming a bit easier to navigate, and before you knew it their extra long set was over. They cleared the stage, red lights dimming, guitars turned off, and we dispersed into the evening.

photos by Morgen Schuler

After Red Fang had totally shredded the Bigfoot Stage, punk rock Vancouver-based duo Japandroids jumped on stage and after fairly minimal sound checking, started their sweaty and awesome set. Though the sound was a bit strange (it would later cut out during a Vampire Weekend song), their energy was sweaty and happy. They barreled through crowd pleasers like “Fire’s Highway”, “Younger Us”, and “The Night of Wine and Roses” before rain on the horizon began to be rain on the stage - to which they prompty responded that mother nature could get lost. And though the rain would provide a beautiful foreground of golden glitter during Built to Spill, for Japandroids it mostly contributed to the already punkish crowd surfing and dancing along.

Her Aim Is True
(Directed by Karen Whitehead, USA, 2013, 70 minutes)

Festival screenings:
Sunday, May 26, at 4:00 PM at Harvard Exit
Monday, May 27, at 2:00 PM at Harvard Exit

She’s 93, living in Seattle, and at the end of the biographical documentary, Her Aim Is True, photographer Jini Dellaccio is still creating images of musicians with her shots that sweep and gloam with love. In this case, it’s the Moondoggies at the Crocodile; when she meets Kevin from the band there, she tells him “You’re a cutie!” You can tell as she hugs him she’s crafting setting and lighting in her mind to go with his bushy, smitten looks. It’s this ability to see in love the artists she works with, to share love of their art with them, that makes her so great at promoting their work through her own art. These rockers, identified by her iconography from the earliest era of Pacific NW rock, were lucky, even if they were all excellent source material to start with.

A player from the days when she first started shooting her says, “She saw that energy in rock and roll and participated in it when everyone else was afraid of it.” Sub Pop’s Larry Reid says she brought a maturity to rock photography in a time even before it was a genre. (He had bought the iconic Sonics debut LP for two dollars, and became transfixed by her imagery as much as by songs called “Psycho” and “Strychnine.”) She herself says, “If it’s off a little bit then you fix it. And if you don’t fix it it’s going to be rock and roll.”

She was born in Indiana in 1917 in a world without much for her to eat, but a mother who wished her to thrive in music and art, and she played saxophone by the time she was 12. Eventually touring regularly with an all girl big band, she met a fellow musician named Carl, and fell in love. They were married, and he asked her to give up the gigging life when he was worried about her coming home so late at night after shows. A friend of his took her to buy a 99 cent camera, but she was dazzled by a $70 higher model brand, and spent all the money she had on it. When she had quit music, she had been drawn into a passion for visual art by standing between two stone lions in front of a museum. She wanted to capture the heavy presences of well-crafted creation as she saw them; even though that camera was so complicated she didn’t know how to load the film at first. But she learned. She shot exotic prints while they lived in Long Beach, having critically acclaimed shows, but eventually moved to the Northwest, where a friend at Etiquette Records asked if she could shoot an album cover or two. “Of course I can,” she said, though she didn’t really know how to. (But she learned.)

The Wailers was the first band to come up in the brand new rock scene of the Seattle area, and she took them out into nature to capture them. She took photos of The Sonics standing on trees; it took her a while to dig the savagery of the music, being a classical fan, but she soon found our garage rock beautiful too. “Because of the people who made it,” she says. Her work didn’t look like anything else going on in promo shots or magazines, very different from the British Invasion bands, with the artists looking strangely happy in the dark gloom of Ecotopia.

It all started at the Tacoma Armory, where teen dances were a roiling, righteous new thing to do, but as The Wailers’ Buck Ormsby put it, “it was the devil’s music and had to be played outside city limits.” Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts, Little Blue and The Bluenotes, Tiny Tony and the Statics, all were part of the scene, too. She shot them all. Rock photography demigod Lance Mercer’s dad had a copy of that same Sonics LP from this period, which deeply inspired him as much as anything by The Clash or the Sex Pistols growing up. “She seemed to be collaborating with the band” to get the photographs they needed to tell people who they were, what they were about. Another contemporary adds, “She was a musician, so she knew they would do wild things at certain points in the show, and she was ready for that.” When The Who came through town on their first American tour, she photographed them as well, giving them the same grand visage she was capturing with our local groups.

Dellaccio had never heard such music before, she says, “I could hear it in my chest.” She wanted to reflect that power, that glory. “She was a sophisticated middle-aged woman defining an unsophisticated musical milieu, from industrial neighborhoods like Bellingham and Tacoma,” Reid explains. “An elegant woman shooting raucous rock and rollers.” As probably the first woman to ever professionally professionally rock musicians, she became a hero to women like Girl Trouble’s drummer Bon Von Wheelie, who says, “She wasn’t just a woman photographer, she was just a great photographer.”

Later on, drugs would break her heart through the addictions and overdoses of people in the music scene that she loved, but she never lost her vision, which landed beautifully when she worked with Neil Young later in the 60s. She is still alive and giving much to the community, through her participation in showings like Taking Aim (which also featured Seattle’s Alice Wheeler), and speaking about the aesthetics of her craft openly and generously. As friends say about her, she defined the iconography that is a great part of rock and roll, through a certain kind of innocence, and all from an understanding of the art of music.

Please see this documentary if you are craving to see how one person capturing a few rock bands in photos can give them a scene, and raise them to international acclaim, and herself into a world very receptive to her creative and thriving works of love.

photos by Matthew Thompson

Today was spent traveling the winding road through the still snow spotted mountains, before breaking out into beautiful, cloud filled endless sky and the growing feeling of excitement. After much ado finding and pitching our tents, and a surprisingly short wait to enter into the grounds, I walked in to Sea Wolf playing right next to the entrance, and quite close to our own booth! After wandering around, getting my bearings, photographing the line-up (they ran out of fliers!), I caught Red Fang slaying the stage with their fiery rock, and on the mainstage, with that well-known breathtaking backdrop of red cliffs and sky, Reignwolf playing a smoky and passionate daytime set. Plans for this Friday night include rockers Japandroids, sultry Father John Misty, the always classic Built to Spill, Idaho’s gem Youth Lagoon, and later the epic pop of Vampire Weekend and our own hip-hop favorite Macklemore. Yeah, it’s hot, but it’s gonna get cooler, and good god if the sights don’t distract you from that bead of sweat dripping down from under your hat, then I don’t know what will. Sasquatch 2013 is well under way, and people are totally ready to dance, shout, and enjoy an amazing weekend.

Fans start filing in:

Sea Wolf starts the day:

all photos by Brittany Brassell

Yes, that is a real bill. Electronic genre-blending genius Flying Lotus (Steven Ellison) brought some of his closest associates along with him on his second trip through Seattle in support of excellent new record, Until The Quiet Comes. Thundercat has been a long time collaborator, playing all of the jaw-dropping bass lines you heard ripping through tracks on Cosmogramma and the new record. Teebs fits right along with those two in terms of vibe and substance, and produced some of the sounds heard on Ellison’s Captain Murphy mixtape Duality. While the three may seem to fit together nicely, the three are radically different in terms of delivery. The mixture of all of the above, plus the sweet sounds of Australian rising electronic act JPS made for the most consistent evening of great music (and visuals) this writer has seen in quite some time.

JPS opened the night up with an excellent set of vibes. While a bit removed from the tripped out sampling madness of the three to come, JPS manned an old school turntable setup and worked a pretty manual set, scratching all over the place and fading samples in and out to oblivion. He didn’t look up from his kit for 45 minutes, but I’m sure out of the corner of his eye he could definitely see bodies moving and heads bobbing. With a chilled out delivery and a great ending full of original work, JPS successfully got the party started and had the crowd in all smiles.

JPS:

Following JPS was Californian electronic artist Teebs, who calls Brainfeeder home along with Thundercat. Manning a Roland sampler and a simple mixer, Teebs made a lot of noise in his far too short 30 minute set, blazing through track after track of beats, sound, and atmosphere. Similar to Flying Lotus, Teebs has a gift for layering and developing a soundscape, and while his set was mellow, the crowd was doubtlessly into it.

Teebs:

After the stage was stripped of the DJ table and rearranged with front and center monitors and a microphone, Thundercat entered the stage to wild applause. Just in case his Flying Lotus affiliation is all you are familiar with, Thundercat (Stephen Bruner) absolutely holds his own. On 2011′s The Golden Age of Apocalypse, Bruner introduced us to his world of electronic soul grooves, topping his ungodly bass skills with some sultry vocals and some gorgeous jazzy song structures. This year, he will drop a new record executive produced by Flying Lotus. On this tour, Bruner brought along the only friends that could possibly keep up. On drums was the unspeakably good Thomas Pridgen, who played drums for the Mars Volta in the Bedlam in Goliath era. Watching Bruner and Pridgen jam back and forth was a delight. The two grinned like madmen through the whole set, while the crowd just stared in awe. Between the likes of those two and the excellent songwriting Thundercat brings to the table, this set was one for the ages and honestly gave Ellison a run for his money.

Thundercat:

The stage was stripped completely before Ellison’s set, leaving only an elevated DJ booth shrouded behind a clear white screen. Behind that was another screen, which the crowd learned very quickly would come in handy to create some pretty incredible visuals. Ellison walked out in front, cracked a couple jokes, then manned his setup and dropped the noise. Instantly, projectors behind him and in front of him lit up both the front and back screens separately to create a 3-D effect projecting behind and on top of Ellison. Mixed with the bass-heavy noise and the trippy vibes that Flying Lotus brings to the table, it was a rave kid’s dream. Ellison mixed his own material with that of others, bringing in some TNGHT, Kanye West, Burial, and more. The mixture spanned all the way across Ellison’s stylistic catalogue, moving from trap hip-hop to 2-step UK garage. Just like a Flying Lotus record, the mixture was overwhelming and domineering, but ultimately, a delightful trip that you wish you could revisit instantly. To mix things up, every couple tracks, Ellison would drop a beat from Duality, come up front of his light setup and rap as Captain Murphy - the guy can seriously do no wrong. After a massive hour and a half set, Ellison was cheered back on stage for an encore, where he brought Thundercat along with him for new Flying Lotus produced Thundercat single “Oh Sheit It’s X”. Hearing the two together was delightful and made for a perfect ending to a larger than life performance.

Flying Lotus:

Until The Quiet Comes is out now! Thundercat’s new record Apocalypse will be out in several weeks on Brainfeeder.

photo by KEXP

• Brooklyn rockers, Grizzly Bear, stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show back in April to promote their album, Shields, and the performance finally aired yesterday. The track “Yet Again” is a definite highlight of the album and apparently they are one of Ellen’s favorite bands. Watch the performance below. [Pitchfork]

• Prince‘s new video for his single “FIXURLIFEUP” features a pulsating mash-up of performance footage and lyrics. Prince also breaks the fourth wall quite a few times, so it feels like he’s telling you directly how to “fix your life up.” If for no other reason, check out the video to see his killer, sparkly vest. [CoS]

• Urban Outfitters has partnered with Charli XCX for her video for “Take My Hand.” It takes place at a raging party (complete with fog machines) with crowds fist pumping along to the thumping bass. Everyone seems to be having a great time and don’t seem to be bothered by the fact that some people are randomly smashing things. [Pitchfork]

• Shout Out Louds played their song “Walking In Your Footsteps” on Leno last night. Their performance starts around the 38:00 mark - after interviews with Tyler Perry and Isla Fisher. Check out the Swedish rockers’ new album, Optica, which is available now via Merge Records. [Stereogum]