Quadros 4: Bassnectar, Wolf Parade, The Head & The Heart, Foster The People

Bassnectar

Bassnectar will be serious entertainment, and may be remembered as the highlight of the festival. I don't spend much time listening to him, so I'm not going to suggest tracks. You don't need to listen to his albums to know what he is all about. It's electronic dance music, and if you are smarter than I, you already guessed his music is heavy in bass. The first time I bought a ticket to his show, I didn't know how to pronounce the name of the band, so I incorrectly pronounced the first part like the fish (bass). It was a hippie friend who talked me into going, so why would I guess he likes bass beats more than nature's fish (which he may or may not smell like)? He's also a big Phish fan, go figure.

The friendly folks on the Sasquatch Message Board have organized "Glowpocalypse" for this set. That means there will be a lot of glow sticks bouncing around, or something like that. I'm not talking about people bringing 20 glow sticks, I'm talking about people literally bringing 1,000 glow sticks. They should be unleashed in unison near the beginning of the set, so you don't want to miss that. Bassnectar also has a crazy visual show with giant monitors displaying weird stuff. If glow sticks wars aren't your thing, you'll still have plenty to see.


Wolf Parade

When festival lineups come out, there are always four or five highlights that stand out for the die hard music fan. Wolf Parade's final show is one of those highlights for Sasquatch 2011. As strange as it sounds, sometimes "I was there," is much cooler than seeing a band you might be more interested in. Shoot, I prefer weather in the mid 80s with sunshine, but the hail storm at Sasquatch 2006 will always be one of the most memorable moments of my life. "I was there."

It can be tough connecting the dots to who is who in the music world, so I'll fill you in. Wolf Parade has two lead singers, Spencer Krug on keyboards, and Dan Boeckner on the guitar. Krug also fronts Sunset Rubdown, and is a member of Frog Eyes. His lesser known solo project is called Moonface. Boeckner, along with his wife, comprise the Handsome Furs. Guitar/Bass player Dante DeCaro started out in Hot Hot Heat.

Just writing this short piece made me realize how excited I am for this. It won't be like the hail storm (it should be much more comfortable) but if they never get back together, I'll be bragging about how "I was there." Live review of their show in Portland last summer here.

Suggested Tracks:
1. Shine A Light
2. California Dreamer
3. You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son
4. Kissing the Beehive (Probably their best song, but not the best introduction if you are new to the band. It's really long, but potentially the last song they will ever play live.)
5. This Heart's On Fire (the sensitive song, "You're my favorite thing, I tell it everywhere I go.")
6. Cave-o-sapien (A lot going on in this song)
7. I'll Believe In Anything
8. Ghost Pressure (They'll turn the synth up loud for this one)
9. Cloud Shadow on the Mountain


The Head & The Heart

This sextet includes a male vocalist with a guitar, another male vocalist with a guitar, a female vocalist, bass, drums, and piano. The female vocalist also plays violin. The three singers create some pretty rad harmonies. The heart of the band is the lead vocals, which has a singer/songwriter feel to most of their songs. I meant the head of the band is the lead vocals which stand out. Wait, did I just say the heart of this band is the head? Or is the head the heart? Now I'm confused.

Their self-titled debut will officially be released April 19th. I had a tough time picking my favorites, but had a tougher time eliminating the songs I didn't like. It's a really solid album album top to bottom. A couple of the songs near the beginning show off their folky zany side (Ghosts, Cats And Dogs), while the rest of the album is much mellower. This album will make my year end top 50.

Suggested Tracks:
1. Rivers And Roads
2. Down In The Valley
3. Lost In My Mind
4. Cats And Dogs
5. Ghosts
6. Sound Like Hallelujah


Foster The People

Where did this band came from? Oh, L.A., thanks smart-ass. They played in town recently, so I was planning on strolling up to the venue the night of the show to pick up a ticket. Ten days prior, I noticed on the venue's website the show was sold out. The venue hasn't been around long, but I don't recall a show selling out there (capacity 300). Checking Foster the People's upcoming schedule, their next six shows are all sold out.

The main reason I wanted to go was to see how they would fill their set. They only have three songs in existence, under 12 minutes worth of music. Were they going to play the same three songs four times each? Were they going to do an extended 15 minute jam for each one? Were they going to play 30 minutes worth of covers? Maybe they just play for 12 minutes, then leave? I need to know the answer to this?

Their debut album is set to be released May 24th, a couple days before the festival. I guess that means they play a lot of new material live, which is less exciting than my earlier speculation. They are currently listed as playing the Yeti stage, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are playing the Bigfoot when the schedule is officially released. They are going to have a huge crowd. Whenever I think of Foster The People, I think "the next MGMT."

Suggested Tracks:
1. Pumped Up Kicks (Where all the hype starts)
2. Houdini (I actually dig this song more, but it's not their hit)
3. Helena Beat
4. (yet to exist)