Sasquatch Musical Festival 2013
"Attend an outdoor musical festival" can now be checked off my life list.
(And speaking of life lists I really need to make a concrete one.)
Last weekend three of my friends and I caravaned to George, Washington home of The Gorge Amphitheater for the Sasquatch Music Festival (along with about 25,000 other people).
It's close to a seven hour drive from my house so we went up to Portland on Thursday night and went to a Vampire Weekend concert to start the long weekend off with even more music. Perfect way to begin.
This is my friend Amy. I've known her since my freshman year in college (just about 20 years now). If you've been around a long time you might have seen a few layouts that have included her over the years. She was my partner in crime in planning this adventure and she brought her boyfriend Jeff.
I brought Aaron.
He's a pretty big music fan - plays a bunch of instruments, writes his own music, has unique tastes - and it's cool to hear what he looks for/watches/cares about at live music events. Totally stuff I know nothing about. And I like learning. And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been going to Sasquatch if we wouldn't have been introduced late last year.
Having new friends is cool.
We went for the upgraded camping option which meant a quieter, less crowded area that had little to no lines for the bathrooms or showers, a shuttle service that took you over to the actual music venue, and free coffee and doughnuts each morning. This was totally worth it. The demographic at this event is definitely younger and crazier than the four of us and we all appreciated being able to go to sleep and not have loud partying happening all around us all through the night.
Not that we didn't have fun but, you know, we aren't as young and crazy as we once were.
Well, maybe we are all still a little crazy.
This is looking over at the camping area from the music venue.
The view from our campsite.
Once you get into the actual music venue there were a few different stages set up where you could catch a show. We ended up spending most of our time at the main stage.
The first two nights we sat up in the grass (this shot is looking up from the main stage area).
And then on Sunday and Monday we hung out down on the cement area of the main stage.
My favorite performance of the weekend was Imagine Dragons. I thought they were fantastic. The music, the energy, everything. I was so happy that I had been listening to their whole album in advance so I knew the songs. They were seriously awesome. Here's a video I found on You Tube:
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros was probably my next favorite. We got right up in the mix of people close to the stage for this one and it was so cool. This is another band I've been listening to a lot lately - being able to sing along makes it that much more fun.
Here's Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros at Sasquatch via You Tube:
Next favorite for me was Mumford & Sons. They were the headliner and I imagined they'd be my favorite and they were great but I enjoyed those other two just a bit more. Their encore was definitely one of the best moments of the weekend because they brought out Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and they all sang Fleetwood Mac's The Chain. The awesome thing about that was that Aaron and I had traveled to Tacoma last Monday night to see Fleetwood Mac - it was the perfect bookend to a week of live music.
And of course I was able to find it on You Tube. I was singing just as loud as everyone else.
I also completely enjoyed The Lumineers and The Postal Service.
Here's who we saw:
Friday:
- Built To Spill
- Arctic Monkeys
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Saturday:
- Andrew Bird
- Bloc Party (they had people dancing all over the place)
- The XX
- Sigur Ros
Sunday:
- The Tallest Man On Earth
- The Dropick Murphys
- Edwards Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
- Elvis Costello & The Imposters
- Mumford & Sons
Monday (my favorite day & in the rain):
- Imagine Dragons
- Cake
- The Lumineers
- The Postal Service
Something I so loved about the adventure was obviously the view - but more than that I loved how the weather changed, how we got to see the sunset, how it was super hot and then the rain came down. I liked the variety and just being outside no matter what the weather was doing.
Good, good times answering the invitation to find the fun again.
That is an amazing line-up. We have Coachella (though ive never been)down here but that venue looks amazing. I might put that festival on my own life list! Happy for you that you had such a fun time!
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Oh my goodness. I don't think I have seen this side of you. It's different. Hope you had fun.
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Happiness and fun become you!
There is nothing like live music - especially outdoors. :)
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Awesome!!! I love all of those bands so much. And George is a great place to see music. Oh man, The Chain! What a great encore song!! Looks like so much fun.
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So glad to see you having a good time and being the fun person you remember being. Thanks for the You tube videos.
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What a fantastic adventure! Definitely inspires me to get back in touch with the "fun" me as well.
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Fun! DropKick Murphys are a house favorite around here and Cake is our local band so, of course, we love them!
And, um...if you are old then I am ancient!
Love this part of who you are!
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I have no idea who any of these people are but I did recognize Fleetwood Mac and Chains......years and years ago I queued up at Festival Hall in Brisbane at the wee hours of the morning to get tickets to Fleetwood Mac... You look like you are enjoying it all and it's lovely to be sharing new experiences with your new and old friends. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia
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I admit, sometimes I only glance at your posts. I follow a lot of crafting blogs. But there was something about your pictures today that made me go hmmm. Ali looks like she's having fun-for herself fun. So I looked it up-yep, probably a year or so since the divorce? Good on you Ali, way to move forward.
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Looks like a fabulous time. I've been listening to the Lumineers and Mumford and Sons recently. I'll have to check out the other groups you liked. We have a huge festival in this area called the Great Hudson River Revival. It's to benefit the Clearwater boat/ organization which works to keep the river and environment clean.
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So cool! You should check out the 101 in 1001 project. It is kind of like a bucket list. You make a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. Check out dayzeroproject.com to create your list. You can see mine at http://embracingmylife101in1001.blogspot.com or http://trulymegs.blogspot.com/search/label/101%20in%201001
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Live music is the best and hearing it outdoors in the summer only makes it better. And what a great break from everyday life.
You might enjoy a documentary called "The Big Easy Express." It features Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crowe Medicine Show on a train trip from San Francisco to New Orleans, with performances along the way. Train travel and music; a fantastic combination!
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Looks like fun! This has me excited to see my favorite band, Sigur Ros, in an outdoor music festival this fall. Can't wait!
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Love, love, love The Lumineers. Saw them here in Minneapolis last summer as part of the Basilica Block Party.
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Looks lie you had a fantastically FUN time!
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Wow, this looks like the most amazing time! Great line up, too! I've never been to a multi-day music festival before!
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So glad you are having fun!!! You REALLY need to come to Austin - lots of good live music - and a free place to stay!!! love diane and ronnie
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I love this. I've thought a lot about the post where you wrote about telling people "I used to be fun." I've felt like that a lot lately and being able to watch you create more of that fun in your life is inspiring.
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Before reading your blog about this outdoor concert I had never heard of Imagine Dragons. Now today on my local radio station they were giving away tickets to see them over the summer at an outdoor theater. Had to come back and check to make sure I read and heard it right. Now I need to listen to their music. Thank you for continuing to inspire in so many ways.
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Wow, what a great lineup. I'm kind of glad I didn't know about it beforehand. (Seeing a show at The Gorge was on my life list too!) And now I'm really sad I missed Fleetwood Mac in Tacoma :(
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I think it is the GREATEST thing ever that you are attending live music shows!!!!! I LOVE music,music is a HUGE part of my life, and I love live shows. Although I don't tend to share your choice in music {I'm a bit of a metal head!} I think there is NOTHING better than live music, of any kind!!! It's good for the soul!!! GOOD FOR YOU!!!!
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I've seen a few of these bands recently too! Going to see The Neighborhood tonight in Tulsa, with 1975 as the opener! you should check them out!!
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Wow! We went to the Gorge a million years ago to see Radiohead (which was AMAZING of course), but as always my husband came semi-prepared... Sadly affecting the overall experience (given we had no... beer... toiletries... etc). I love the way you describe it; I definitely would love to get to the Sasquatch fest one day. :) Good for you, Ali!
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for your list: Dave Matthews at the Gorge, multiple nights if you can swing it. INCREDIBLE shows, he always delivers. First time, wind storm put our tent in the river. Second time, fell into the "too old for this crap" category camping at WildHorse. Third time, took our 4 y.o. son ... who got soaked in beer by some *jerkasaurus rex* while he slept on the lawn next to us. Sasquatch lineup sounds like it was amazing! <3
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[...] This was my week of music. I’d been looking forward to this crazy week for so long. It was a whirlwind of friends and live music starting with a drive to Tacoma on a Monday to see Fleetwood Mac with Aaron, my sister and her friend Jessie. Returned home on Tuesday and then left again on Thursday for a Vampire Weekend concert in Portland before heading to the Gorge on Friday morning for the Sasquatch Music Festival (you can read my post about that experience here). [...]
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