Sasquatch 2016

SASQUATCH 2016

Sasquatch is something to look forward to. This 4 day music festival takes place in the beautiful environment of the Gorge. Winds were high on the drive up. The first day we caught a great performance from Andra Day.

We got lucky setting up camp, having the right neighbors means everything at this festival. We followed in a similar vehicle to ours, and met a mom and grown kids camping together. They shared camper tours and stories. Camping is about ½ hour hike from the venue. Water, restrooms, food, and showers are within a short distance. There are food vendors near the stages, and cheap beers this year were $11.50.

Outdoor bar

Party bus

As far as you can see

This is always great people-watching. People bring elaborate tents, canopies, games, and drinks. For many, this is the first big campout of the season. Over 11,000 people attended this year. This is about half of last year’s numbers.
There was a fire just 3 miles away. My Aunt actually called me about this, very concerned. The wind must have been about 45 mph that day, but luckily was blowing in the other direction. Some boaters started the fire at a campground. That must have turned into a very expensive fishing trip. There was no way a mass exodus of settled, partying campers was going to happen. It was good there was no evacuation, we had already decided we would head toward the water if we had to.

Purity Ring always give an amazing show of sound and lights. Vince Staples knew how to work the crowd. Major Lazer knew how to work the crowd into a frenzy.

Alabama Shakes were truly humbled and appreciative.

We love our friends Kaleo.

Andra Day did this great song Nina Simone civil rights classic you’ll find on the album, “Nina Revisited : A Tribute to Nina Simone.”

Luckily, we had Leon Bridges in-studio in Boise. I missed his acoustic show on the grass, because the day it was windy, there was no communication about what was happening on the main stage. Let me just say, this gave me an enormous appreciation for all the techs who work on Boise’s Treefort app. They let you know how long the wait in line will be before you get to your show! By word of mouth, we learned Leon was playing. We ran to the grass just in time to miss him. We had a montage video up of his performance, before it was shut down by management, we received this comment :

“He played this acoustically on the hill at Sasquatch Music Festival and it was incredible! I was in the second row and it was like having an NPR Tiny Desk concert right in front of me.”

Sometimes, dinosaurs have too much fun.

During the days, people make great barbecues and blast music from the Sasquatch app. They fly kites, and play lawn dart games with cans of beer. It’s very communal, and fun to know your neighbors.

We followed in a vehicle similar to ours, stalked it so we could camp next door and figured they might be cool. That hunched turned out to be right. This mom was camping, and her sons were on the other side. We shared stories, beverages, and our favorite Co-Op cheese. Ben gave me a tour of his new-to-him Toyota camper, which he is remodeling. It was awesome.

There is nothing like evenings at The Gorge.

Here’s a better idea of the scale of concerts at The Gorge.

We saw some great performers, but weren’t sure who a few of them were. It would be great to have signs near the stage of who is playing at the time they are on. It was hard having to miss Florence and the Machine, as she played at nearly midnight the final day.