For the Sasquatch crowd, Sunday was all about the drugs.
All throughout the day, murmurs about trips could be heard, usually along the lines of, “Are you feeling it, man?”
“Ohh yeeaaahh, I’m feeling it.”
The lack of sobriety and continued Canadian pride set the stage for an odd vibe, which was most clear during Montreal native Sam Roberts‘ midday set. In the breaks between his hard rocking, yet still very sing-a-longy songs, more chants of “CA-NA-DA” could be heard.
It was a great set that due to the heavy Canadian influence in the crowd and the seemingly ideal festival music coming from Sam Roberts felt like a microcosm of Sasquatch 2011.
I spoke with Sam in his tour bus before the set, and I’ll have a full article covering the interview posted within the next day or two.
A memorable early performance was that of S. Carey, known as one of the “other guys” in Bon Iver. His atmospheric, introspective sounds a la Sigur Ros created contemplative layers under the inconsistent weather, which swayed from scolding hot to steady rain. A highlight was a tribute to the classic David Lynch sitcom, “Twin Peaks” (filmed in Washington), with the band strumming through the theme during a short break before their last song.
The energy grew as the day went on, especially notable during the surprisingly well-received set of the dirty south soul group Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, based out of Texas.
After showing up over twenty minutes late, they gutted through track after track of dirty soul, becoming progressively more intense as they went on. The entire crowd was dancing and the set peaked with a raucous cover of Louie, Louie and an unforeseen toilet paper extravaganza.
From out of nowhere came an unrelenting assault of toilet paper rolls thrown straight into the air—literally dozens and dozens were tossed over and over again. The audience was covered and eventually the stage as well, but Black Joe only played off it the excitement with more energy.
It was difficult for any artist to match that, but a couple hours later I found myself enjoying the impressive DJ work of Gold Panda. He worked the table and did not settle for any easy drops. His layered beats officially converted me as a fan.
But in terms of fan-hood, there was only one artist on my mind: Flying Lotus. One of my absolute favorite musicians, his set marked the third time I’d seen him in less than a year, and as always, he was amazing.
Mixing up his lineup, he focused mostly on hip-hop, giving the audience a spin of Tyler, the Creator’s, Yonkers, generating a full-on dance party.
Flying Lotus by Audio McSwagger
Meanwhile on the mainstage, the Flaming Lips played through their classic album, the Soft Bulletin. Due to the Flying Lotus conflict, I was forced to miss them, but my photographer made sure to attend and catch some photos.
But in the end, every Sasquatch attendee joined together to watch the late night entertainment from Ratatat.
After a slow start, they eventually started to get going, running through many of their most popular tracks. Better than the music, though, were the absorbing visuals. Honestly too difficult to describe, the video screens sent the already tripping audience to new depths.
Next is Monday, with Wilco, !!!, Guided by Voices, and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
See more photos by Matt Shanafelt from Sasquatch! 2011 via facebook.
