great artists that made it hard to choose which stage to see. Of course, my plan of attack was to stay near the main stage the whole day since I had already seen most of the bands playing on the plaza stage. You really couldn't go wrong either way, but with this lineup I was destined not to leave.
The day started with local band Aveo. Playing a number of songs off their newest CD, Battery, Aveo got the fans going. While Maktub put me to sleep last year as the first band, Aveo had me bopping my head on our choice terrace location. Harvey Danger followed with a mix of their old songs and some new ones that will be making an appearance on a new record due out soon. Of course everybody was curious as to whether or not they would play their hit sing "Flagpole Sitta", but that curiosity ended when Sean Nelson announced, "We're playing this next song to settle a bet." After which he said, "Now that that's over with let's play some music."
As usual, Visqueen was their entertaining and funny selves. Rachel, Kim, and Ben always seem to be having a good time when they're on stage and that definitely comes through. Thanks to some strong winds, Kim was obviously worried about the swaying lights above asking the crowd to "Let me know if those lights fall on me." The wind was also doing a number on Rachel's microphone stand, prompting her to ask for help from the crew. "Dude, my mike stand is blowing all over the place, I'm not going to do a cartwheel!" With sandbag firmly in place they continued to bring it. Is Ben Hooker the hottest guy in show business? Well, the band thinks so.
Cat Power was surprisingly disappointing. I love Cat Power and Chan Marshall, but it just didn't feel like she wanted to be there. The songs they played were beautiful, but it's hard not to have it sound good when you have Chan's voice. Between songs, in the place of banter, all you heard was "WAZZUP!" and "Is Maggie here?" After about 25 minutes a Smoosh song came on with someone lip-synching and dancing to it on stage as the rest of the group left. Then it was done.
So, I'm sure you're asking, isn't David Cross supposed to be MCing? Well, yeah but we hadn't seen him until this point in the festival. With a lot of time to fill between Cat Power and the New Pornographers, David was tasked with entertaining the crowd. He apologized for being late and his explanation invoked the word "pubes" more times than I usually like to hear on a Saturday afternoon. His thanking of fake sponsors and announcement that Third Eye Blind was stuck in traffic got a chuckle out of the hypothermic crowd. Oh, did I mention that it was cold and windy? Well, it was. Also during this time, they tried to set up DJ Cherry Canoe's gear so he could spin some tunes for us, but that wasn't very successful. After some more adlibbing, the New Pornographers took the stage earlier than scheduled.
The New Pornographers took the prize for my favorite set at Sasquatch. I was taken by how great they sounded and you could tell this wasn't their first time. I did wonder a few times if they could have used Neko Case better than just having her play the tambourine, but her vocals were absolutely breathtaking. After the disappointing Cat Power set, it was nice to see a group that really enjoyed being up there and had a great interaction with the audience. Announcing they were Canadian got a nice cheer from the crowd. Of course Neko had to clarify that she was from Tacoma, that also received a good amount of applause. With all the extra time they had, Carl and Neko fielded requests from the audience.
Next up was Sleater-Kinney. A personal favorite of mine and I was excited to see them. They didn't disappoint. S-K provided a good mix of songs with a good number coming off their most recent album, One Beat. This was the last show on their current, albeit brief, spring tour. What really caught my eye was Janet's orange drum kit. My long wait to see them perform live was worth it, because they rocked.
Being a comedian sometimes means making stuff up to entertain the crowd. So introducing Boise, Idaho's Built to Spill as being from Maui brought a little smile to my face. Boise is definitely not Maui. Seriously, have you been to Boise? I like the city, but it's a desert, not a tropical paradise. But anyway, back to the music. What can I say about Built to Spill? They rocked. Doug's vocals beckoned festival goers as they slowly filled up the standing room area in front of the stage. Part of it may have been a mass huddle to keep each other warm, but I think the music had a lot to do with it.
If some of my reviews of a band's set seem to be too brief, a lot of my memory is of me trying to stave off hypothermia and staring amazed at how quickly my French fries cooled off in the frigid wind. The Shins, however did provide a memorable set. David Cross introduced them as being voted the best dressed of 2000 and 2001. Martin greeted the crowd with, "Hello Gorge dwellers! Today is my Elevendy-Twelfth birthday!" In the middle of their set, The Shins were joined onstage by their very own streaker. Of course, one could argue that a frigid day is not the best idea for a guy to dance around a stage naked.
Mysteriously our MC, David Cross, disappeared after introducing the Shins. But honestly, the next band didn't really need much of an introduction. Ben introduced the group as "the imaginary band." But they looked and sounded very real to me. With Ben handling the duties on guitar, drums, and keyboard, the Postal Service provided one of the best and most highly anticipated performances of the evening. Of course, since they aren't really "a band", this would be their only show of the year. Ben was joined onstage by Jimmy Tamborello who kept the electronic soundscape going while Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis pitched in with vocals, guitar, synthesizer, and just general merriment. With a limited musical library to play from, the audience was well sated with all but one of the songs found on their album, Give Up.
Next up was the lone hip hop entry of the day. The Philadelphia based The Roots provided a high energy performance, while not taking a breath between songs. They deftly weaved through their lyrical assault on our ears and bodies, their hour long set kept a good segment of the crowd warm as they danced to the never ending beats. Their performance ended with the hit single off the Phrenology album, The Seed (2.0).
The final act of the night was Thievery Corporation. I must admit, that the day of wind and cold had taken its toll on us at that point. One song into their set, we decided it was time to go. As we ventured back to the car we could hear the sound of Sasquatch slowly fading away. When we pulled into the I-90 Inn, we were exhausted at having just listened to 11 hours of live music. We quietly exchanged our high and low points of the day as we drifted off to sleep. Sasquatch 2004 was now over. The day proved the Seattle Times' Patrick MacDonald's claim that this year's festival would be "a dud", wrong.
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