@CC: Totally agree with #1, but I don't go in for the self-defecation thing. A great line-up this year, wish I could have gone (except for the whole "three-day festivals are totally exhausting and I'm no longer 17" bit). I was glad Tune-Yards swung through town, though.
@tk: Yeah, I went in '04, '05 & '06, but I've been officially "too old" since then. By 2006, we were too old/lazy to stay in the campground, so we stayed in a motel in Yakima. Fun fact: I may have saved everyone in our car's life (most critically my own) after grabbing the wheel when my friend fell asleep just before a hairpin turn while driving back to Yakima at 2 a.m.
Now, since it's our sacred duty to tell these professionals how to do their job, simply because we have the ability to do so (anonymously):
I read reviews of stuff like this so I can get a sense of being there, now that I'm too old/cheap/lazy to go myself, and this capsule summary just doesn't do it for me. This is a fine piece length for a show in town (when I just want to know if a show was great/good/meh/bad/did they play a great version of my favorites/etc), but see the AV Club's SXSW daily summaries for a good example of what I'm after as a reader when it comes to multi-day stuff.
Yeah, I would have loved to hear anything about... I guess half the stuff going on on Sunday and Monday. Saturday had the most "meh" lineup IMO, but... Camera Obscura, Ween, Public Enemy, The New Pornographers, Bobcat Goldthwait, Quasi, Massive fucking Attack? Surely something interesting happened there.
Well, maybe I can be of some assistance. Ezra correctly described LCD Soundsystem's set as ferocious, they absolutely rocked Sasquatch and didn't break a sweat doing it.
A few other noteworthy performances were by The XX, Local Natives, Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros and Kid Cudi. Out of that group, Kid Cudi's set had the most moxie but all were very enjoyable shows from bands with real talent.
Patton Oswalt stepped in to replace a no-show Aziz Ansari in the comedy tent and proceeded to offend everyone in the crowd with sour jokes aimed at the co-gender community.
These are the bands that topped the shit list at Sasquatch - Minus the Bear, Ok Go and Vampire Weekend.
@Commenty Colin
I would have loved to write more, but I had a few things working against me: 1) Computer. My hard drive crashed about 48 hours before leaving, so I had to take a loaner laptop that I couldn't even log into until Saturday evening. 2) Internet. The wifi never worked (makes sense, considering the location) and the media trailer had sporadic access at best. I decided I wasn't about to spend two hours inside the trailer missing bands just to post more. 3) Space. It's our anniversary issue and space in the print edition was very limited.
I can confirm the spotty Internet. Here's my Pavement review below. LCD were indeed incredible but I didn't have enough AC power/internet to write about both. (And as I said on the End Hits post, great picture)
I did all my coverage via my Droid, which was getting 3G just fine all weekend. Really saved my ass.
Mucinex, I'm not sure what you mean about Patton offending everyone, I didn't get that vibe at all. He was great and everyone seemed to be loving it, especially the "I want all the ham" story. I'm also not sure why you think Vampire Weekend's set was lacking: they had some of the best sound of any of the mainstage performers, in part due to how simple their arrangements are.
Tk, Camera Obscura played a very average show. Not bad or anything, just unremarkable. Bobcat Goldthwait did better than most of the indie-set in attendance seemed to be predicting, but his set was rife with self-indulgent callback jokes about his setting the Tonight Show on fire. Of the big name comics (Goldthwait, Oswalt, Riggle, Birbiglia, and Robinson) Bobcat was easily the worst.
I agree with Ezra in that LCD and Phantogram were some of the best performances of the weekend. Looking over my shoulder from the pit at LCD Soundsystem and seeing everyone on the slope waving their hands to the beat of "All My Friends" was a fucking sight.
No mention of Ween's performance? Well it was awesome and more easily appreciated given that all the college kids in neon clothing who wouldn't even understand how to appreciate Ween's musical expertise bolted after MGMT's painfully boring performance. One exceptionally danceable cover accompanied by 2 hours of Gener's rare vocal performance, Deaner's guitar mastery and Claude's, one of the greatest drummers in rock and roll today, ability to back them up - it was a solid show. One of the best I've seen in 11 years (and I'd rather see them in a venue like Dante's so I can be engulfed in the fog machine). Epic performance boys!!
2) I would have pooped myself if I had the opportunity to hear Gold Soundz live.
Now, since it's our sacred duty to tell these professionals how to do their job, simply because we have the ability to do so (anonymously):
I read reviews of stuff like this so I can get a sense of being there, now that I'm too old/cheap/lazy to go myself, and this capsule summary just doesn't do it for me. This is a fine piece length for a show in town (when I just want to know if a show was great/good/meh/bad/did they play a great version of my favorites/etc), but see the AV Club's SXSW daily summaries for a good example of what I'm after as a reader when it comes to multi-day stuff.
Well, maybe I can be of some assistance. Ezra correctly described LCD Soundsystem's set as ferocious, they absolutely rocked Sasquatch and didn't break a sweat doing it.
A few other noteworthy performances were by The XX, Local Natives, Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros and Kid Cudi. Out of that group, Kid Cudi's set had the most moxie but all were very enjoyable shows from bands with real talent.
Patton Oswalt stepped in to replace a no-show Aziz Ansari in the comedy tent and proceeded to offend everyone in the crowd with sour jokes aimed at the co-gender community.
These are the bands that topped the shit list at Sasquatch - Minus the Bear, Ok Go and Vampire Weekend.
I would have loved to write more, but I had a few things working against me: 1) Computer. My hard drive crashed about 48 hours before leaving, so I had to take a loaner laptop that I couldn't even log into until Saturday evening. 2) Internet. The wifi never worked (makes sense, considering the location) and the media trailer had sporadic access at best. I decided I wasn't about to spend two hours inside the trailer missing bands just to post more. 3) Space. It's our anniversary issue and space in the print edition was very limited.
http://www.spinner.com/2010/05/31/pavement…
Mucinex, I'm not sure what you mean about Patton offending everyone, I didn't get that vibe at all. He was great and everyone seemed to be loving it, especially the "I want all the ham" story. I'm also not sure why you think Vampire Weekend's set was lacking: they had some of the best sound of any of the mainstage performers, in part due to how simple their arrangements are.
Tk, Camera Obscura played a very average show. Not bad or anything, just unremarkable. Bobcat Goldthwait did better than most of the indie-set in attendance seemed to be predicting, but his set was rife with self-indulgent callback jokes about his setting the Tonight Show on fire. Of the big name comics (Goldthwait, Oswalt, Riggle, Birbiglia, and Robinson) Bobcat was easily the worst.
I agree with Ezra in that LCD and Phantogram were some of the best performances of the weekend. Looking over my shoulder from the pit at LCD Soundsystem and seeing everyone on the slope waving their hands to the beat of "All My Friends" was a fucking sight.