Sasquatch! Campground Beer Drinking Game

Not that you need an excuse to drink at the Sasquatch! Campground, but here is the "Often Debatable Semi-Official Sasquatch 2010 Campground Drinking Game" (all rights reserved).

Drink one if.... (dedicated to our northern friends)

- You hear someone refer to themselves as Canadian.
- You hear someone talking about hockey. This would have been huge had the Habs made it to the finals.
- The phrase "washroom" is used to refer to a honey bucket (which is hilarious).
- You witness the game of beersbee.
- You hear someone talking about how they've never listened to one of the headliners.
- You see a Canadian flag (bonus drink if it's in tattoo form).
- You hear "Canadian" used to describe a band.
- You see the honey bucket cleaners (in tribute). It is usually a highlight of the day, especially for the ladies.

Drink two if....

- You see a stupid clever tee shirt that actually makes you laugh.

- You see people dancing on top of an RV or truck.

- Dancing Man or the Decemberists Sex Scene is mentioned.
- You see someone taking a picture of themselves. If you are attracted to the person, offer to take the picture for them. I shouldn't have to tell you this.
- Someone tries to sell you something you don't want. "Hey man, check out this cheerios necklace I made."
- You hear a song/album that makes you think, "OMG, I love this song/album, I haven't heard this in years." You'll know it when you hear it.
- You see someone fall down. Take a bonus drink if they fall down with someone else, and laugh out loud because of it.
- You have to ask someone their name for the fourth time.
- You hear MGMT's hit single Kids.

Drink three if....
- You see someone taking way too long to set up their tent. If you are taking way too long to set up your own tent, pound a beer, start over, and thank me later.

- Someone asks you for directions. If they are obviously lost, but not asking for directions, offer them a beer. They'll need it.
- You see a shirtless man who is a bit too overweight to be shirtless. If the offender is female, refer to the drink five tier.

- You hear the phrase, "I can't believe how drunk I am?" or something very similar. If this occurs before noon, start drinking.

- You see a tent blow away.
- You witness a Frisbee or football hitting a stranger's car, followed by the thrower laughing hysterically while offering an unsympathetic apology.

- The hail storm is mentioned.
- You meet a fan of City & Colour. Give them a hug, and take three drinks of their hard lemonade instead.
- You fall down.

Drink four if....
- You witness someone vomiting. Then offer them a beer. They'll have some catching up to do.

- You hear the phrase, "That show changed my life" or a similar comment. Life changing event is key here though.

- You see someone doing a headstand (just seeing if I can coerce people into performing tricks for the sake of getting their neighbors drunk).
- You hear the pronunciation Dead-mau-five
- You see someone light a cigarette backwards.
- You witness someone blaring death metal. Their attempts at showing everyone how different they are should not be ignored. Offer them a beer, only toss the beer to them overhand with heavy force when they are not looking.


Drink five if....
- You hear two people arguing who are both wrong.
- You see nudity. Take an additional drink for every picture you intend to post online.
- It hails again or snows (you might need to drink more to cope with it).
- A Kia owner is blaring, "How You Like Me Now."


Shotgun/pound a full beer if....
- You meet someone from a different continent who came to the the states specifically for Sasquatch. Have your neighbors join you, because that's just cool.


Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes only. None of this actually happens at the campground. The Sasquatch Blog recommends that you drink responsibly and do everything possible to ensure a good time is had by all. Do not, I repeat, do not attempt to actually follow this drinking game, because the presence of MGMT's song "Kids" alone will get you way too drunk to appreciate what the campground and festival has to offer. Please do not throw anything at anyone. Women who are pregnant and/or nursing should not consume alcoholic beverages. The legal drinking age in the United States is 21. It is not permitted to make fun of 19 and 20 year old Canadians because of this. Have a great weekend!

Tallest Man On Earth Live Review

Mission Theater, Portland
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Not a surprise to anyone, but the guy is not extremely tall. This was way too evident since the venue is a movie theater, and the stage is only raised two feet. When he first started playing, I could barely see his face, and thought he was sitting in a chair. After he wandered around stage, it was clear no one could actually see his guitar unless they were stage front. It still sounded great.

Not that any of us debate Sasquatch acts are not allowed to play Seattle near Sasquatch, but after the first song, a female fan lamented about having to drive from Seattle to see the show. He immediately responded that he wasn't allowed to play in Seattle because he is playing Sasquatch. So there's that. For all you Portlanders, he stated he would be back in September, which is when MusicFestNW is held, so if there aren't any strong MusicFestNW rumors floating around, this is a big one.

The highlight of the show, and the highlight of his repertoire, is the song "Love Is All." He prefaced the song by saying it would be the highlight, and was noticeably perturbed after the song because the crowd wasn't completely silent. I agree, it's crap when such a beautiful song is nearly ruined by chatters and gigglers. He even busted out the electric guitar for this gem. He also played the electric guitar on the next song, a cover called Graceland, by some dude whose name escapes me.

If you have never listened to the Tallest Man On Earth, it won't take you more than one song to realize what he is all about, he is just a guy playing guitar and singing (albeit with a unique vocal style). By the time the gigglers near the back realized there was no drummer, bass, electronics, and cheerleaders, they left to blare Nickleback sing a longs in their Subaru Outbacks. The awesomeness of the show increased exponentially then, and the place was literally dead silent for the last few songs.

Going back to "Love Is All", this song obviously means a lot to him, and he implied it was written about an ex-wife. Twenty years from now, this song will still be one of the highlights of his catalog, so do him a favor and try to remain silent when he plays it at Sasquatch, even if you have to deal with sound bleed from the Yeti Stage. Then again, it's a moot point trying to ask a festival crowd to remain silent.

It would be easy to imagine a man singing such "sad songs" (as he referred to them), to be equally sad/serious in between songs, but he was actually hilarious, cracking jokes, and replying to the crowds comments with quick wit. The Natasha Bedingfield cover dedicated to the opening band the Nurses was another highlight. The lyrics to this song repeat the phrase, "I love you." Picture a spoof of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to JFK, because it was cool, but funny as hell.

Not only would I recommend you catching his set at Sasquatch, but you should get to visually see him, since the Wookie/Bigfoot stage will be raised much higher than two feet. By the end of his set, he will truly seem like the Tallest Man (in your eyes, babe).


Set List: 10:11 to 11:22
1. The Wild Hunt
2. Thousand Ways
3. I Won't Be Found
4. The Gardner
5. Love is All
6. Graceland (Boyz II Men cover)
7. Pistol Dreams
8. Where Do My Bluebirds Fly
9. You're Going Back
10. Troubles Will Be Gone
11. These Words (Natasha Bedingfield cover, a tribute to the opening band the Nurses)
12. Burden of Tomorrow
13. King of Spain

Encore:
14. This Wind
15. New Song (he said he wrote it at the beginning of the tour)

Phantogram Live Review

Doug Fir, Portland
Monday, May 3rd, 2010

It's not rude to stare when you are watching a performer on stage, right?

When the two piece band first took the stage, I was already intrigued by Sarah Barthel's appearance, and her burst of energy on the first song added to her persona. When she pointed near me early in the set, I got a little light headed and weak in the knees. However, she must have been pointing at a guy standing near me, who promptly passed out. Props to the crowd for immediately rushing to his aid, and getting help. He was up soon after he fell, and was able to walk out of the venue with help, so hopefully he is alright.

I'm not a big fan of the "play button" bands push to get things started, but there is a lot going on musically on Phantogram's album, which would be impossible to pull off live with just two people. Therefore, their songs sounded a lot like the album version, but they did have more energy than I expected, and a couple electro jams near the end of the songs. Call me old fashion, drummers need work.

For a show that wasn't sold out, the place was crowded, and they were the opening band, so they are rising. I won't be the first, or 12th, or 154th person to state this, but this band is going to be big, and it's not just the beats that stick to the back of your brain after the third listen. They both sing well, play well, and look well, and that's a pretty tough combo to beat.

They held the crowd's attention, which is always a plus, except for the couple with no volume control talking about their Facebook pages near the back of the venue. I realize a concert is a social experience for many, so standing around listening to a band play music might bore you, but I could name about 82 better places to talk about your Facebook page other than a concert; coffee shops, restrooms, the break room at work, church, or easily the best place to talk about it, $@#*ing Facebook! I'm not going to be that guy who shooshes you at a show, then shakes his head in sarcastic disappointment, so I'll just rant about it instead on a blog.

I originally attended this show to cross Phantogram off my schedule and avoid Monday conflicts. But, I'm definitely catching their set again, and I apologize if this sounds like a massive crush (wiping the drool from my chin). Having seen them in a dark small club, a midday festival setting seems more intriguing. I dare you to walk by their set without wanting to stay. Hearing the synth on "You Are The Ocean" blasting through the aisles of cardboard pizza, confused patrons staring at their schedules, and $10 beer stands is something I already day dream about as a defining Sasquatch moment. And if you are one of those confused patrons, just stick around.

Set List (9:19 to 9:56):
1. As Far As I Can See
2. Let Me Go
3. Mouthful Of Diamonds
4. Running From the Cops
5. You Are The Ocean
6. Make A Fist (Bonus track from their vinyl)
7. When I'm Small

New Addition and Cancellation

Brad is taking over for Wale, and will be playing the same time slot Wale was scheduled. With Wale's cancellation, there might not be Pretty Girls at the festival after all.

Also, the main Sasquatch page posted their schedule today. It is cool that you can log in Twitter and such, and create your schedules, but if you want to see a typical top to bottom side by side stage comparisons, check out the links below.

Schedule Is Out!!!

While the schedule is not yet listed on the main Sasquatch Schedule page, it was released this morning on the Iphone App. You can get the set times for each band at the main site here.

Thanks to invisiblerobots from the Coachella board who transcribed the schedule, which was later added to the Sasquatch Web Board here.

This is a really cool schedule doumak created on the Sasquatch board. If the schedule on the main site is the same format as last year, I'm guessing you'll prefer doumak's schedule.

As posted in the comments, this is just awesome. Thanks clumsy342.

Bigfoot Late/Lower Tier Rankings

UPDATE: According to Travis Hay/Earcandy, the Bigfoot Late shows will be 11:30pm - 12:30am Saturday and Sunday night, and the schedule should be out in a couple days.

A couple words about the BigFoot Late stage, which Deadmau5 is playing on Saturday night, and Booka Shade is playing on Sunday night, according to the Sasquatch main page. In the past, the Bigfoot/Wookie was scheduled to end around 10pm, even though it has gone later based on delays. With additional slots on the Bigfoot/Wookie this year, we've already discussed a Deadmau5 10:30pm to midnight show, so this may be the definition of Bigfoot Late, since it is much later than any other year. It could be later though.

Bjork was scheduled to play until 12:30am at Sasquatch 07 on the mainstage, which is the latest anyone has been scheduled. There have only been a couple instances when music was still playing around 1:00am, and one memorable occasion was weather related. There is a county noise curfew, and the campground has always had a 2:00am noise curfew, so you shouldn't expect a late show approaching 2:00am, but it's very possible we see an act scheduled past Bjork's 12:30am ending slot three years ago. We'll soon find out.

On to the Lower Tier Rankings. As I mentioned with the Middle Tier Rankings last week, I've spent a couple hours listening to each band on the lineup, so here is how I would rank the lower tier. The lower tier is defined as the 30 lowest billed acts on the lineup. I'll list the other 15 after the top 15, so you know which 30 I am pulling from. If you have a couple bucks burning a hole in your pocket before the schedule is released, why not give one of these bands a try?


1. Tallest Man on Earth
2. Nurses
3. Local Natives
4. The Very Best
5. The Heavy
6. Mumford & Sons
7. Phantogram
8. Martina Topley-Bird
9. Cymbals Eat Guitars
10. Avi Buffalo
11. Langhorne Slim
12. Fool's Gold
13. Yes Giantess
14. Shadow Shadow Shade
15. Booka Shade


The other 15: Damn-Funk, Neon Indian, Hudson Mohawke, Fresh Espresso, Jets Overhead, Tune-Yards, Shabazz Palaces, Morning Teleportation, Past Lives, Dinosaur Feathers, Jaguar Love, Seattle Rock Orchestra, Z-Trip, A-Track, The Dawes.

Agree, disagree, hate, like, anything else?