It took my girlfriend, a friend and me a day and a half of driving and about 1,100 miles to make it to the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington state. We set up our campsite and got right to what we were there for: the Sasquatch! Music Festival.
Over the course of the four-day festival, I learned a couple things. It was totally worth surviving through a fever and throat infection in the days leading up to the festival. And the caliber of music at the festival – with some exceptions – is hard to match.
Everyone knows the music of the four headliners: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (who put on one of the best shows I’ve seen in all my years of going to concerts), Sigur Ros, Mumford & Sons and The Postal Service.
But some of the best listening experiences of the weekend for me were the lesser-known bands that turned in stellar performances. So, for those who couldn’t attend, I’ll recap a couple of those discoveries.
On Saturday, I had the good fortune to listen to Bear Mountain, an indie-electronic foursome from Vancouver, British Columbia. Its sound, a mixture of catchy electronic loops, solid electric guitar, bass and drums and vocals, which sounded both vintage and progressive, was infectious, and the group quickly had a large crowd.
I had listened to some of the group’s music before. Its album “XO” is excellent and definitely worth a download. “Congo” is by far the best song on the album, but others such as “Two Step” are also excellent. This may sound cliche, but Bear Mountain’s music is honestly very hard to describe completely. Just listen, and you’ll be glad you did. Look for Bear Mountain to make a bigger splash in the music world as its career continues to evolve.
Though I could talk about any other number of bands next, I’m going to talk about a local L.A. band that made the same trip north that my friends and I made, Youngblood Hawke. You’ve heard one of the band’s songs if you’ve listened to Top 40 within the last month. “We Come Running” is anthemic indie pop at its most upbeat and epic.
And though the song is definitely great, there are plenty of other songs in the same vein for listeners to enjoy on the band’s album “Wake Up.” “Stars (Hold On)” and “Forever” are just a couple of examples. Youngblood Hawke is definitely a great band to look into with summer just over the horizon.
I’m writing this on the final day of the festival. Going to Sasquatch! was one of my bucket list events. Will I go again? Maybe, but I’m not sure. This year’s lineup was a combination of so many of my favorite artists that I had to come up to Washington state. Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky again and go another time. But come next year, for anyone looking into music festivals, make Sasquatch! high on your priority list.
Until next year, readers. I hope you’ve enjoyed “B-Sides” as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Good luck on finals and here’s hoping you find some great new music to help you study when the words on note cards begin to blur together.