Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sasquatch! 2009: Gaslight Anthem, AA Bondy, Blind Pilot

One of the best things about Sasquatch! is the ease with which we can move from stage to stage. I was able to catch a bit of these three shows:

The Gaslight Anthem:

Their punked-up Springsteen steez is easily more energetic than anything else happening this early in the festival. This is a lot of emotion to take before most people have secured drinking bracelets.

A.A. Bondy:

Driving in, Alan and I agreed A.A. Bondy would have been a great fit for the early morning hangover recovery set the way J. Tillman of Fleet Foxes soothed everyone last year. Bondy laid down some dusty, gentle southern sounds to a handful of quasi-hippies who looked on mildly stunned. He was good, but it looks like this was a day early.

Blind Pilot:

Blind Pilot are a 7,873 piece band (rough estimate– I have trouble counting past four). They’re one of several bands giving Sasquatch! a distinctly folkier flavor this year and, given the setting, this is probably a good shift. Good weather and an incredible view of the cliffs around the Columbia river lend themselves much more nicely to gentle strums than aggro riffs; at least during the daytime, anyway. People unashamedly yelped along in the first few rows of the crowd. We need more of that.

Jeff Reguilon

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