Animal Collective

An amazing show in the weirdest venue I’ve ever been to with the strictest security I’ve seen. This was inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and feature the highest stage I’ve ever seen and a whole bunch of crazy shit (advertisements) on the wall. Support was excellent (Grouper) but no one was paying attention. Also props to Animal Collective for crazy rotation of set lists, the only songs that stayed the same between shows were the MMP ones and Fireworks.

Also the stage set up Animal Collective use at the moment is pretty cool. They all have their tables of knobs and fiddlers draped in white cloth with lights put underneath them to light them all up, and then suspend a huge ball in the middle of the stage and shoot projections on to it. Also there’s a massive huge version of the Merriweather Post Pavilion album cover/wallpaper backdrop. They could really benefit from having a live drummer again. Oh and by playing the Purple Bottle 7 times.

Also happens to have the best sound of any of my Animal Collective recordings.

Setlist
Bleed
Also Frightened
My Girls
Lion in a Coma
Slippi
What Would I Want Sky
Guys Eyes
Fireworks
Daily Routine
Brother Sport
Encore
Comfy in Nautica
Summertime Clothes

Animal Collective - House of Blues, Las Vegas, 30/05/2009 - 135mb - 1 hour 36 minutes

Sasquatch! Festival Day Three

So the next morning starts with every packing all their shit up and then getting the hell to main stage with Deerhoof into Grizzly Bear and it’s the perfect combination. Deerhoof were beyond excellent and need to tour soon.

Had to get up pretty early to catch these guys after Memorial Day madness but it was worth it. They were bloody amazing, a good replacement for Japandroids considering they weren’t even on the schedule. They were also blessed by the main stages awesome sound.

If anyone could write up a set list it would be appreciated, I’ve yet to listen to Offend Maggie.

Deerhoof - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 25/05/2009 - 45.5mb - 32 minutes

Next up is Black Moth Super Rainbow who get points for being the ugliest band ever, but the music is so so good. They are followed closely by Bishop Allen and all the Kings of Leon fans come back out and everyone is bored. School of Seven Bells blow everyone away with general awesomness on the smallest stage there is and get a crowd double that of most other bands on the bigger stage.

Pow! Recording Number 100.

Pretty solid set. Nothing else much to say really. Gave me no particularly strong memories.

Setlist
Iamunderdisguise
Wired for Light
Conjur
Half Asleep
Face to Face on High Places
My Cabal
Sempiternal

School of Seven Bells - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 25/05/2009 - 58.5mb - 39 minutes

Gogol Bordello somehow manage to get the entire crowd (I really do mean the entire crowd) to mosh in 40 degree weather, I was up on the hill and it was the most amazing sight to behold. Turns out Fleet Foxes music perfectly matches the Gorge and they shit all over their performance at Coachella.

Fleet Foxes mountain music absolutely perfectly suits the Gorge. They fucked up the drums yet again though. But at least the recording survived this time. Also between these guys and Band of Horses, musicians with beards give the best banter.

Setlist
Sun Giant
Sun it Rises
Drops in the River
English House
White Winter Hymnal
Ragged House
Your Protector
New Song
New Song
He Doesn’t Know Why
Mykonos
Blue Ridge Mountain

Fleet Foxes - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 25/05/2009 - 76.4mb - 53 minutes

Beach House play on the same stage as School of Seven Bells and indulge us with their 10,000 technical problems, kinda pissed me off after what happened when they played Sydney and I had to spend the show sitting on a train without power, but I still thoroughly enjoyed.

I’ve had some pretty bad luck with Beach House, when they toured Australia in August last year, I got stuck on a broken down train on the way to the show. Finally 10 months later I get to see them and they are just having the craziest technical problems the entire show. But still they were absolutely amazing. I was pretty cut when I got home to find that the recording was corrupted, but I was able to recover all but the last one and a half songs (You Came to Me and Heart of Chambers).

I really want to see them properly one day, at their own show and without everything breaking.

Setlist
Apple Orchard (False Start)
Apple Orchard
Gila
Used to Be
Astronaut
New Song
Master of None
You Came to Me (Fade out)

Beach House - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 25/05/2009 - 53.8mb - 39 minutes

I walk over to Girl Talk and the crowd is ridiculous, at least 40,000 people and it’s kind of not interesting at all. I go to see Erykah Badu and all it is her band playing the same 4 bars over and over and over until they realise this is annoying everyone and play Lil Wayne for the next HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES UNTIL SHE FINALLY ARRIVES. I piss off to Explosions in the Sky for the most perfect end to the festival imaginable. The set list is perfect and the crowd is awesome and what was probably the best weekend of my life is over and I smell like shit, I’m 18 shades darker than what I started out like and I have a visible layer of dirt over my entire body.

Setlist
Catastrophe and the Cure
Yasmin the Light
The Birth and Death of the Day
Your Hand in Mine
Greet Death (I think)
Welcome, Ghosts
The Only Moment We Were Alone

Explosions in the Sky - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 25/05/2009 - 91.1mb - 60 minutes

Any questions?

Sasquatch! Festival Day Two

Somehow I manage to sleep right through until 10am. Wake up, eat my awesome breakfast of 3 apples, 4 museli bars and a burrito, we build shade city and generally sit around cooking in the heat and being drunk. We go see the Walkmen who were about 10 times younger than I expected but awesome followed by Calexico who I must not get or something. St. Vincent is next, it’s hot, she’s hot, everyone’s happy.

Pretty sweet way to start the day. Regretted not recording her solo show at the Spiegeltent earlier in the year. Set gets hilariously messed up during Marry Me.

Also SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON.

Setlist
Your Lips are Red
The Strangers
Now, Now
Actor out of Work
Marry Me
Black Rainbow
Just the Same, But Brand New
Marrow

St. Vincent - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 24/05/2009 - 66.2mb - 44 minutes

Aziz Ansari, now I haven’t seen that much stand up but he is STUPIDLY hilarious. I never wanted him to leave. Sat next to Dave Sitek while I watched him.

Had to run from there to see the Murder City Devils play the best show I have ever seen hands down. Spencer Moody is off his tits drunk, stumbling around and basically hurting everyone who gets in the way of his microphone stand, he spends 5 mins in between each song screaming his tits off about how he hates jocks, loves faggots, girls shouldn’t let men disrespect them and how we don’t know shit about Iggy and the Stooges, and then when they play a song it’s tight as. He continually makes out with the guitarist, jumps into the pit and makes out with whatever guy he can, chases the photographers in the pit around with his cock out and then runs back stage, takes this guys shirt off and starts sucking on his nipple. Turns out this guy is the dude from M83 when the camera finally gets a shot of him.

Cuts in during the first songs.

Setlist
I Want a Lot Now (So Come On)
Dancing Shoes
Somebody Else's Baby
Idle Hands
Bear Away
Dear Hearts
Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum
Get Off the Floor
It's In My Heart
Murder City Riot
Rum to Whiskey
I Drink the Wine
18 Wheels
Broken Glass

The Murder City Devils - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 24/05/2009 - 65.2mb - 45 minutes

Zach Galifianakis is in the Comedy Tent and not doing too well because someone is heckling him pretty bad and he’s not dealing with it very good. He does a song with Annie Clark though. I seee the Dodos, pretty much exactly the same as the last two times I saw them. I eat dinner, watch 3 songs of TV on the Radio and then go to watch M83. I don’t know what people where on about when they played the Metro because they were SO GOOD. Did not see it coming at all.

Amazing, starts off slow but turns into a pure party. Crowd was reaallly into it as well. Sound is a bit flat, this stage had terrible sound the entire weekend. Just imagine M83 on album, and then make it 10 times as epic.

Setlist
Graveyard Girl
Teen Angst
We Own the Sky
Kim and Jessie
Sitting
Skin of the Night
Don’t Save Us from the Flames
Run Into Flowers
A Guitar and a Heart
Coleurs

M83 - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 24/05/2009 - 80.7mb - 55 minutes

I run to the main stage, watch 5 songs of Nine Inch Nails and they do a Gary Numan cover. I fucking shit you not. A Gary Numan cover, I am so far away from the stage that by the time the sound travels to me the visual is like 3 seconds out of sync. It’s awesome. I go back and get a good spot for of Montreal. Dear Australia, you got jipped. Well over 40 extras, better suits, better choreography, and Kevin Barnes’ voice was like, 10x what it was in Australia, he’s doing all these crazy screams and everything is working out perfectly. They did a Prince cover but I didnt’ pay attention because someone standing two people over from me had a seizure so that was a bit more important.

Pretty big decision between this and Nine Inch Nails. But I think I made the right one because this blew me away. Only played 2 songs they hadn’t played at the Manning Bar but Kevin was so spot on for the entire show. of Montreal has only ever trashed their gear at the end of a set twice and I’ve been there both times, cliche but damn it’s exciting. Only started this time because Kevin thought Brian had smashed his when all he had done was dropped it. Also includes a Prince cover.

Setlist
Nonpareil of Favor
Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider
Sink the Seine
Cato as a Pun
Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
Teenage Unicorn Fisting
For Our Elegant Caste
Touched Something’s Hollow
An Eluardian Instance
Id Engager
The Party’s Crashing Us
Computer Blue
October is Eternal
A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger
She’s a Rejector

of Montreal - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 24/05/2009 - 86.6mb - 58 minutes

Jane’s Addiction play and give the exactly as expected rock and roll show. Perry Ferrell still jumps around like a mad man. All of TV on the Radio are standing near by and ALL getting way into it and being over excited about seeing Jane’s Addiction, was awesome. Also Jane Says live is perfect.

I expected a rock and roll show, a fucking weird Perry and a shirtless Dave and that’s exactly what I got. Eric Avery knew this was all about him and was lapping it up. Sound is excellent as you’d expect from a headliner, the show suddenly takes 10 steps up when they bust out Jane Says. If you’ve got the 90 or so dollars, see them at the Hordern.

Also some one tell Perry Farrell that George/Quincy isn’t Seattle. This is tagged as "Sasquarch" so you may want to fix that.

Setlist
Three Days
Whores
Ain’t No Right
Pigs in Zen
Then She Did…
Mountain Song
Had a Dad
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit it…
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Encore
Stop!
Jane Says

Jane's Addiction - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 24/05/2009 - 120.9mb - 1 hour 24 minutes

We get back to the Campsite and by the time we get there its memorial day, so it’s this huge party, lots of fireworks, lots of awesome. Also everyone had this habit of someone, anywhere in the campsite would start cheering and it would slowly grow until the entire campsite was cheering, repeat every 30 minutes.

Sasquatch! Festival Day One

GETTING TO FESTIVAL STARTS HERE:

My bus was supposed to leave Vancouver at 5am, as I do not have an alarm clock I had to stay up all night and then walk 2 hours to get this bus, with my rucksack, bag, tent and a sign to try and hitch hike with when I get into Quincy, as it is a 6 hour walk away from Sasquatch and there is no public transport. So I get on the bus and it turns out that these busses don’t sell out, they only add more when one gets full. So three bus loads of people, 80% going to Sasquatch get on and head to Everett 4 hours away. We arrive in Everett where we meet up with all the people going to Quincy coming from Seattle, this now means we have seven bus loads of people. The next 4 hours of the bus ride and astonishingly beautiful. I knew Washington was full of mountains and shit, but I thought they would be off in the distance, we were weaving in between them constantly beside white rapid river and all this fancy shit it was AWESOME. We also went through “Germantown” which was supposed to be like “Ye Olde Europe” except with Subway and KFC written in script on their signs. So everyone on the bus finally starts talking to one another and we all realise that none of us have the slightest plan and are as clueless as to how to get to the festival as the next person. We pull into Quincy and the bus driver is like “So you guys all going to Sasquatch?” and the bus goes mental “Well I’ll tell you what, after this, I have no more passengers, so lets go see if I can go talk to the charter manager and see if we can’t take you all down to the festival” everyone goes mental again. “Oh by the way, I am the Charter Manager.” so we go to a grocery store, I buy like 30 apples, 20 bottles of water, a case of beer and 4 boxes of museli bars and we’re on our way. We get the sickest camping position about 40 tents without cars taking up one lot, this is all done by 3:30pm, we then get drunk, play frisbee, listens to music and be dickheads before everyone realises they’ve been up for ever and goes to sleep after being exhausted from 37 degree weather.

ACTUAL FESTIVAL SHIT BE HERE:

So it turns out it’s true. At 8am we’re all up and bored and burning in the sun. We go to the general store where it turns out you can buy cases of beer for reasonable prices and burritos and then cook them in the kitchen. We go into the festival site and go watch Owl City, worst decision ever. They are terrible. Adorable even. So we decide to go check out the main stage. We get to the top of the hill and everyone who has walked in has stopped there for some reason, turns out everyone is gawking at the most amazing scenery ever. Words cannot describe the Gorge. It’s stupidly beautiful. I suggest to everyone that we roll down the hill, so about 6 of us get in a line and roll down the hill. It’s awesome. Turns out security chased us screaming the entire way down and we get a stern lecture. Gaslight Anthem play on the main stage and they are nothing special. It is now something like 40 degrees and not a single cloud. I walk around, buy some 9USD food. Urgh. Then go to see Passion Pit and the crowd is huge. HUGE. And it’s full of “KinGs of nEOn” fans. Turns out Kings of Leon fans are a world wide plague. So when everyone finally pisses off I move in for King Khan and the Shrines and it is amazing. Lots of nudity, cheerleaders, jumping around, confetti and just general awesomness. One of the best shows I have ever seen.

Probably one of the highlights of Sasquatch! Festival. They had everything, horns, a dancer, costumes, flying dicks, a crazy crowd, 40 degree heat and a guest appearance from Mark Sultan. I get crowd surfed over (somehow in a crowd that had basically 0 density) and have one of my mics ripped off (in a way that convinces me its broken forever) but it’s fine but the sound conks out for about 2 or so minutes while I fix it.

King Khan and the Shrines - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 23/05/2009 - 63.7mb - 42 minutes

I go see Todd Barry in the Comedy Tent because that happens to be the ONLY piece of shade in the entire festival, turns out he’s funny. Next I watch the first 20 minutes of Animal Collective, they seriously have the worst projections ever but they were pretty good.

Dunno what happened but I only got 18 minutes of this set, the end of the set was probably the best I have ever seen them play the the Gorge setting was perfect for them. But here is what I got of them anyway.

Setlist
Summertime Clothes
My Girls
Essplode (Intro)

Animal Collective - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 23/05/2009 - 27.7mb - 18 minutes

I leave to see Tim and Eric but everyone raves on about how good the end of Animal Collective was, I guess I’ll find out on Saturday. Tim and Eric bombed. BOMBED BOMBED BOMBED. It was so fucking terrible. The first two sketches were hilarious, but then there’s costume changes and the DJ starts doing the worst stand up ever, then after 10mins they finally come back and the next skit goes nowhere, piss off again for another 10 mins, then they kick a plug and all the backing tracks stop and they are forced to improv. Turns out they can’t. I leave and watch Sun Kil Moon who is perfect. Back to the main stage to watch the Decemberists and they were pretty good, but too bad everyone was distracted by this couple who thought they were having secret cliff side sex but instead were being watched by 80,000 people and the band. Mos Def is next who is just fun as all hell and then Bon Iver. I don’t know if he played with a band when he did Sydney Fest but the two drummer set up is just great and his voice is never ever even close to being off.

I recorded this one way off centre as the crowd for him was huge, he played a perfect slot (Just as the sun had gone down he came on stage) and the atmosphere was amazing. Crowd participation is a lot better here than what was at Bonnaroo as well. He also happened to be 45 minutes late but that was Mos Def’s (who was awesome) fault. I would love to say that this was the best set of the weekend but it’s got some mighty tough competition, Sasquatch had way too many “moments”.

But yeah, taking part in Wolves (twice) is an amazing experience.

Setlist
Flume
Brackett, WI
Lump Sum
Wolves
Skinny Love
Mercury
Blood Bank
For Emma
Creature Fear

Bon Iver - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 23/05/2009 - 72.8mb - 49 minutes

Now there are no bands playing except for the main stage so I go watch Kings of Leon who actually didn’t suck. And by didn’t suck I mean were really good. Bummed they didn’t play King of the Rodeo though. So we walk the 30mins back to camp and everyone dies from exhaustion.

kINgs of NeoN. Recording cuts in during the first song and features a minute of me pushing through the crowd to get a spot and then features probably the best sound I got all weekend. Unforunately this one came with a lot of errors and cuts out during the last song as well, it’s also in a very low bitrate and I have no access to the .wav files so what’s here is all there will ever be.

They didn’t suck. I’ll give em that. But come on. King of the Rodeo guys. You know it’s your best song.

Setlist
Crawl (Fades in)
My Party
Be Somebody
Taper Jean Girl
Molly’s Chambers
Fans
Milk
Four Kicks
Charmer
Sex on Fire
The Bucket
Notion
On Call
Cold Desert
Use Somebody
Closer
Knocked Up
Manhattan
Black Thumbnail (Fades out)

Kings of Leon - Sasquatch!, Quincy, 23/05/2009 - 72mb - 1 hour 20 minutes (?)

The Horrors

I hope you aren’t hoping for any old songs. But yeah, they were quite excellent but the sound is pretty flat. Also you get to enjoy the constant sound of the girl in front of me texting the whole time. They played in between Magic Wands and the Kills. The Kills of course sucking beyond belief, pretty bummed they got such a short set.

Setlist
Mirror’s Image
Three Decades
Do You Remember
I Can’t Control Myself
Scarlet Fields
New Ice Age
Who Can Say
Sea Within a Sea

The Horrors - Wonder Ballroom, Portland, 17/05/2009 - 52.9mb - 37 minutes

The Vaselines

Pretty bloody amazing, also quite hilarious. They also had an unnannounced support which ended up being the Tydes first show in 5 years so that was pretty sweet. El Rey Theatre is such a nice venue as well. The Vaselines backing band was comprsied of a member of 1990s and two members of Belle and Sebastien. Also they look NOTHING like the cover of Enter the Vaselines. Yep.

Setlist
Son of a Gun
Monsterpussy
The Day I Was a Horse
Molly’s Lips
Oliver Twisted
New Song
Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam
Lovecraft
Bitch
New Song
Slushy
Let’s Get Ugly
No Hope
Sex Sux (Amen)
Dying For It
Encore
Rory Rides Me Raw
You Think You’re a Man
Dum-Dum

The Vaselines - El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, 10/05/2009 - 100mb - 1 hour 11 minutes

Abe Vigoda

Supporting Spectrum out near Echopark in Los Angeles. Cuts in during the first song but apart from that a very solid set. Wish I had recorded the opening band (Called the Entrance Band fittingly enough) because they were really really good. If anyone can help with a setlist, would be appreciated.

Abe Vigoda - The Echo, Los Angeles, 08/05/2009 - 30 minutes - 45.4mb