SASQUATCH 2011

On Tuesday morning, my fave concert companion Bobby & I were driving back to Seattle from The Gorge in George, Washington & we stopped at a little diner to get our 1st real meal in about 5 days. When Bobby was up at the counter paying for our food, I overheard the cashier ask him, "So did you have fun at Sasquatch?" & Bobby's reply summed up my own Sasquatch 2011 experience perfectly: "It was pretty much the greatest weekend of my life."

After flying from LA to Seattle on Thursday afternoon, Bobby & I got a rental car, loaded up on camping supplies at Walmart (some of which we managed to return before flying out on Tuesday) & made the 2 1/2 drive from Seattle to The Gorge. We then proceeded to camp for 5 nights & 4 days with some of the coolest, most laid back & most fun Canadians EVER! 

There were seriously barely any Americans at Sasquatch. 9 out of 10 people I met were from Canada &, although it's a stereotype, Canadians are all SO f*ckin nice! Most of them were even too nice to give me shit about my Sharks losing to their Canucks in the last round of the Stanley Cup playoffs which I appreciated. And I've already booked my flights to/from Vancouver so I can visit my Canadian Sasquatch crew in September! I REALLY miss them :'-(

I hate to compare festivals but, as much as I LOVE Coachella, I like Sasquatch a little bit more. Despite all the "bells & whistles" Coachella has (i.e. light art installations, fire art, lasers, fancy vegan food, celebrities, pool parties, etc), there are 2 things Sasquatch has that Coachella simply cannot beat: the view & the Canadians.

I didn't shower for 6 full days which is a disgusting all-time record that I hope to never surpass but it really didn't bother me because I managed to wash my hair with bottled water 2x, shave my legs with a cup of water 1x & take several hobo baths in my tent to help keep me from feeling TOO dirty. Every time I used the Honey Buckets (aka port-o-potties), I'd wash my hands & face with the soap & pump-able water provided &, surprisingly, there was pretty much always water to pump & ALWAYS toilet paper in the Honey Buckets! And, luckily, I never really encountered a port-o-potty that was SUPER nasty because they were cleaned regularly throughout the day. I used to be scared of camping at festivals but, after camping at Phish Fest 8, Sasquatch 2010, Coachella 2011 & Sasquatch 2011, I now feel like a vet & I highly recommend giving it a try.

Oh! And one more amazing thing about Sasquatch 2011 was...THE MUSIC!!! Highlights of the weekend included Beach House, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, MSTRKRFT, Wolf Parade, !!!, Deerhunter, Black Mountain, Other Lives (where we stood 10 feet behind Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips while he took photos of his fellow Oklahoma natives...see photo inserted below my Other Lives video!), Cold War Kids, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Foo Fighters, Rodrigo Y Gabriela (who mesmerized the crowd with their flying fingers even in the pouring rain), Fitz & The Tantrums, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse & Bassnectar.

Foo Fighters

Local Natives

Wolf Parade

Bassnectar

Fitz & The Tantrums

Other Lives

WAYNE COYNE <3s Other Lives!!!

Beach House

Cold War Kids

Flogging Molly

The Flaming Lips -> Wayne in his ball

The Flaming Lips love confetti!

The Flaming Lips

Yeasayer

MSTRKRFT - Part 1

MSTRKRFT - Part 2

Modest Mouse

Ratatat

Black Mountain

Rodrigo Y Gabriela

!!!

The Decemberists

Deerhunter


Wilco