popwreckoning

Portland band (by way of Alaska) Portugal. The Man are set to release their major label LP In The Mountain In The Cloud July 19th on Atlantic Records. Stream the entire album at KCRW here.

Tracklist:

1. So American
2. Floating (Time Isn’t Working My Side)
3. Got It All (This Can’t Be Living Now)
4. Senseless
5. Head Is a Flame (Cool With It)
6. You Carried Us (Share With Me The Sun)
7. Everything You See (Kids Count Hallelujahs)
8. All Your Light (Times Like These)
9. Once Was One
10. Share With Me The Sun
11. Sleep Forever

For more information (and to purchase the album this Tuesday) please visit: www.portugaltheman.com

Casey and Bethany talked to Portugal. The Man at the Atlantic/Chop Shop Records Showcase during SXSW this year.

You can check the full interview out below:

. SXSW interview with Portugal. The Man.

Their new album In The Mountain In The Cloud will be available July 19 on Atlantic Records. Pre-order now at portugaltheman.com!

Do the best with what you got, is a good motto for bands to follow. However in the case of Portugal. The Man, not only did they do the best with what they had, they took it 15 levels higher. Their recent show in Kansas City resided at the Record Bar. And to say I was impressed would be an understatement. To say I was grabbed by the ears and taken on a mind-numbing, intergalactic journey would be more accurate.

With their seventh studio album set to release in July, their energy was high. But something tells me every show is performed at that level. Their sound felt as though it hooked onto each laser beam and leapt off the stage to pierce its way into the crowd. Surrounded by colors and notes the show began.

The fact that a new album was a couple months away didn’t really have much bearing on the set list. Selections were mixed from nearly every record they have written. A slighter heavier emphasis was placed on what could be considered their most successful album to date: The Satanic Satanist.

Songs like “The Home” and “The Woods” with their sexy beats and infectious (and even harmonious) vocals, meshed perfectly with a stage lit by entrancing green beams of light. The bass did a bit of a blues sashay, causing the audience to uncontrollably sway in time. Talk about a multi-sensory aesthetic experience.

The hint of machine smoke coated the aforementioned laser lights and created an environment of light blankets and perfect for a number like “Mornings.” A song that’s core is undeniably blues and soul. Take the intro guitar solo, it’s sultry, while nearly bringing a tear to your eye. The harmonies are soft and inviting. Set at an alto octave makes them comforting without losing any power.

One of the few new songs that made it into the night was “Got It All.” This time the tempo was set a bit faster and the vocals were a tad higher. The sound leaned closer to the Rock of a Beatles era, than the Prog Rock of a Mars Volta time.  Fancy backing vocals “prettied up” the tone, while a lead guitar found a plethora of melodies to showcase. It came complete with under tones of politics in the chorus.

Nothing about Portugal fit into the average “band mold” and this I like about them. But to push that even more, they stuck the single, [that undoubtedly would appeal to every person in that sold out show] at the second to the last spot. “People Say” easily contains the catchiest lyrics of any of their songs. Even though it’s on the less-complex level, when it comes to song structure, it was still quite enjoyable. This is one of those songs that is guaranteed to induce audience participation.

The show was unexpectedly fun, engaging, mind-blowing and all together awesome. And that’s just the live stuff; their albums are in a completely different galaxy.

Lollapalooza is celebrating its 20th anniversary and as promised, the recently announced delivers some pretty hefty acts. 

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5 and A Perfect Circle will headline the annual event in Grant Park from August 5-7, 2011.

If you missed Death From Above 1979‘s Coachella reunion, Lolla gives fans another chance. There’s also many other classic acts such as The Cars to up and comers The Naked and Famous. You can see the rest of the announced lineup below:

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5, A Perfect Circle, Cee Lo Green, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley & Nas, the Cars, Ween, Bright Eyes, Arctic Monkeys, Big Audio Dynamite, Deftones, Beirut, Explosions in the Sky, Death From Above 1979, Ratatat, Crystal Castles, Flogging Molly, Atmosphere, Cold War Kids, Lykke Li, Cage the Elephant, OK GO, Local Natives, The Kills, White Lies, Portugal. The Man, Two Door Cinema Club, Ellie Goulding, Delta Spirit, Beats Antique, Mountain Goats, Sleigh Bells, Manchester Orchestra, Smith Westerns, Best Coast, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Drums, Black Lips, Fitz & the Tantrums, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, City and Colour, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, Cults, Noah and the Whale, Sam Adams, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Tinie Tempah, Lissie, Dom, The Vaccines, Foster the People, Titus Andronicus, Mayer Hawthorne and the County, Chico Trujillo, The Naked and Famous, Phantogram, Rival Schools, Friendly Fires, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Reptar, Maps & Atlases, Fences, Tennis, An Horse, Young the Giant, Los Bunkers, Imelda May, Grouplove, Wye Oak, The Joy Formidable, Lord Huron, Disappears, Walk the Moon, Gold Motel, Iration, Ryan Leslie, Tab the Band, Skylar Grey, Christina Perri, Black Cards, The Pretty Reckless, Boy and Bear, Patrick Stump, Kids These Days, Young Man, The Kingston Springs, Lia Ices, The Chain Gang of 1974, Ximena Sarinana, Typhoon, Electric Touch, Kerli, Ruby Jane, Julia Easterlin, and DJ Mel.

On Perry’s Stage:

Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Kid Cudi, the Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, AfroJack, Modeselektor, Skrillex, Perryetty vs. Chris Cox, Chuckie, The Glitch MOb, Busy P, Joachim Garraud, Super Mash Bros., Jay Electronica, 12th Planet, Daedulus, Feed Me, JackMaster, Collie Buddz, Savoy, Kyle Lucas and Captain Midnite, Ana Tijouxana, Midnight Conspiracy, L1ght, and Lady D.

Early Bird tickets have already sold out, but you can now buy regular priced tickets for $215 while supplies last. VIP Passes and Travel Packages are also available. A limited number of
Single Day tickets will go on sale June 7. Go here to buy tickets.

Organizers are expecting over 240,000 people.

SXSW – a time to explore, see new music, and eat a ton of street food. Also a time to meet new people and hang out with friends you wouldn’t normally get to see. Amongst all of the official SXSW showcases there are tons and tons of unofficial parties, official parties, unofficial showcases, and other cities showcasing their own talent. That’s exactly what Kansas City did.

Friday: First stop of the day, the MidCoast Takeover showcase at Liberty Bar on East Sixth. A ton of Kansas City, Lawrence and Chicago bands all drove or flew or transported down to Austin for the unofficial showcase. Seeing a band from Kansas City play in Austin at this huge festival is a little surreal to me. They’re friends and people that I see night after night at bars or at restaurants having dinner.

The first band I saw was the Slowdown. I’ve been hearing their name a lot lately but hadn’t had the chance to see them yet. Even though the sun was hot and burning my skin, they grabbed my attention enough to stand outside for the set. For more information and to listen go to their Facebook.

I missed most of Auternus‘ set due to the need of food, and of course, the free Boulevard.

Apparently it was a day to see bands that I hadn’t seen before. Even though I feel like I should have. Next up, the Republic Tigers. I absolutely love watching these guys. Vocalist Kenn Jankowski‘s energy on stage combined with the rest of the band just makes me… happy. Seemed like everyone else had the same impression too, dancing along with new tunes from their upcoming EP.

Oh, Appleseed Cast. How I kick myself for not going to a show sooner. I’ve missed out on so much. They absolutely blew me away. Actually, I don’t even have words to describe how awesome it was. They’re such an influential band to every other band that I listen to now. I had friends from New York, Chicago, and all over the country at this showcase just to see them.

The rest of my day consisted of wandering around Sixth Street, eating veggie dogs and hanging with friends. Kind of a slower midday for me when it came to shows.

Tried to make it back to Liberty Bar in time for the Beautiful Bodies, but didn’t get there until right as they were loading out. However, I did get to catch Cowboy Indian Bear‘s set. And per usual, they didn’t disappoint.

Back to the west side of the bridge for Junius at Valhalla. I had never heard of these guys, but my friend convinced me to go. I’m really glad I did too. It was intense, and heavy. I loved it.

Saturday seemed the longest and busiest day out of the entire week. Woke up late, rushed to get downtown for a few interviews with the Big Picture Media group. Look for those sometime in the next week.

That hot sun burning on my skin that I mentioned earlier? It officially conquered it’s goal and gave me a pretty bad sunburn.

Now on to the highlight of my day, the No Sleep Records Showcase. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to stay for the whole day like I wanted to due to other interviews scheduled. I did, however, get the chance to see Former Thieves. I’d been looking forward to seeing their new set all week. All songs except one were off their highly anticipated album, The Language That We Speak which will be available online and in stores on April 19. Needless to say, this album will fucking slay. They’re set was so damn good. They were in sync with each other and had a great stage presence. My favorite performance of the day.

I also saw Into It. Over It. play again on the inside stage. He gets better and better each time I see him.

After Evan’s set I walked to the Atlantic/Chop Shop Showcase to do a few interviews. Watched the Republic Tigers set and I think I liked it this time around better than the day before.

Joy Formidable played after the Republic Tigers. I couldn’t get close enough to see without lifting my camera up over the crowd that formed close to the stage. Good thing it didn’t make a difference to enjoying their set. Front-woman Ritzy Bryan‘s energy swept through the crowd and picked everyone off their feet.

Portugal. The Man headlined the showcase. I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get a preview of their new album set to release sometime this year.

I ended up back at Liberty to catch my friend Sheppa (from the Nomathmatic)’s DJ set. Then danced the night away with friends! A perfect evening to end the week of SXSW.

Oh, and one more thing. On Sunday we had the most delicious crepes! I can’t decide if it was the crepes themselves or the atmosphere, or quite possible our totally awesomely French waiter.

See you next time, Austin.

For more SXSW photos check out my Flickr HERE.

Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin with Thursday’s blog. It was St. Patrick’s Day and I had originally RSVP’d to a few daytime showcases, expecting to see a handful of smaller, lesser known bands. However, without the wristbands of the day before and with the confusion of RSVP lists, I didn’t actually end up getting into anything for the first part of the day. It was a minor disappointment but it did allow me time to go find the press room and photo edit for a bit- something I desperately needed to get caught up on before I was drowning in a five day backlog.

However, this stroke of luck landed me in the line for Stubb’s about two hours before the doors, meaning I was one of the first twenty people in the door. Stubb’s tends to be one of the more popular venues (and it’s one of the few all ages venues) so it tends to get pretty full fairly quickly. Meanwhile hundreds of people filled out the outdoor venue (something this Seattle girl wasn’t used to). I planned on staying at Stubb’s for most of the evening, then wandering to see what was going on at a few other places.

Before that night, I had never even heard of Foster the People (I know this is practically blasphemy, but I live under a rock sometimes). After listening to amazing songs like “Pumped Up Kicks”, “Helena Beat”, and “Houdini,” I’m more than convinced that they will be one of the defining bands of this decade and quite possibly in the genre of indie pop. For a band that has been out about a year and a half, they are already playing Coachella and SXSW. Their first full length album, Torches, is due out May 24^th. For someone who absolutely can’t stand most mainstream indie bands, they caught me by surprise.

For me, they aren’t just another cookie cutter indie pop band. Their anthems are catchy, California summers recorded for posterity against a background of synth and some addictive drums, all layered with a dose of frontman Mark Foster’s incredibly dulcet tones. The Los Angeles based band is not just musically sound, but they are an amazing live act as well. Every single person in the crowd was dancing, clapping, and singing along, and the show was a blast. Next to Flogging Molly, they were probably one of the better shows I saw all week.  From lo-fi pop to catchy dance hits, they are going to be one of this summers greatest new bands.

Up next was Noah and the Whale, playing new tracks off their early March release, Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down. Overall they weren’t bad, but they weren’t exactly to my tastes either. An almost painfully stereotypical English indie folk band, they are classically talented and good, if that’s the sort of thing you are into. Visually, they weren’t very entertaining, but overall they had a fairly solid set. Good acoustics, decent music, and a breezy, warm summer night and you’ve got a decent show. Even if you don’t like indie folk, they are worth a listen and even maybe a gander at a live show.

The third act of the night at Stubb’s was Portugal. The Man. I had never gotten to see them live, and due to press restrictions in the photo pit, I couldn’t actually shoot the show. However, I did get to stand back and really listen- something that I don’t get to do too often at festivals. After about twenty minutes I came to the conclusion that it was minorly anticlimactic. As good as they are recorded, I just wasn’t feeling their live set. For an indie prog rock band of this magnitude, I was expecting more energy, more precision, more general enthusiasm. That just wasn’t the case for that night. I plan on catching them in Seattle at some point, but until then, I can’t really make an adequate assessment of their live set.

After two vaguely disappointing sets, I decided to hit the Velveeta Room, a tiny bar on 6^th to catch Adam Arcuragi & The Lupine Chorale Society with some friends. Surprisingly, for this infectious blend of blues, country, indie folk, alt rock, and soul, their set was pretty amazing. It was two-step at its finest and was a great way to mellow out between the other sets. Adam Arcuragi is immensely talented, but from what I could see and hear of the Lupine Chorale Society, they either needed a better sound tech or a whole new ensemble – I’m honestly not sure which. Adam’s songs are soulful, a coined “Death Gospel” of poignancy and cathartic lyrics and melodic ballads. Probably one of the more heartfelt sets of the festival, I was truly blown away by the artistry and skill that was apparent in every note of his. Some tracks could have used more piano, some a fiddle or a cello, but overall they were obscenely good to be playing a half empty venue on St. Patrick’s Day.

To round off the night, I found out that Ron Sexsmith was playing an acoustic set at the Hilton Garden at Creekside (a trek and some hunting to find, but worth it for Sexsmith). Acoustics in conference rooms are barely adequate for someone of this caliber, but with an acoustic set, I was surprised. The Canadian singer-songwriter played some of his more popular works, taking requests from the sheepish and adoring crowd. Ron played his guitar and sang his heart out, soulfully pouring passion and skill out into the waiting crowd with precision of a master of his craft. Between songs, he charmed the audience with a running commentary and some general discussion about his works and his life. Pushing the boundaries of intimacy with his fans, Sexsmith managed it with stammering grace.  One of the best acoustic performances I have seen to date and another highlight of the festival, I will definitely be checking out his catalogue and film extensively in the near future.

With that chilling beautiful set, it was time to return my gear to the hotel, a long walk to the breezy Austin night and catch some sleep before the weekend events and the upcoming long haul.

(Look for the rest of my SXSW coverage coming soon!)

Find the artists here:

Foster The People
Noah and the Whale
Portugal. The Man
Adam Arcuragi & The Lupine Chorale Society
Ron Sexsmith

SXSW

Check out more of my Day 2 photos here!
(Please note that due to memory card failure, this is a fairly small set).

Oh, Sunday. Aren’t you supposed to be a day for relaxing? Guess not. You just happen to be my busiest day of the weekend.

Let’s just say that my day started around 10:30 with interviews and giving me a break at 2:00 to catch Portugal. The Man.

Directly following, another interview! It was definitely a good time, busy, but good!

Headed to the AMD Stage to check out Yeasayer, the 2nd set that I was able to stay all the way through. They were amazing. By far my favorite band of the day; so much energy radiated through the crowd.

On our way to Band of Horses, we caught Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros hit ‘Home.’

Sat in the shade to enjoy BoH, maybe another favorite? Yes, definitely another favorite. Their interaction with the crowd made me forget the the Flaming Lips were just across the park.

Finally, a band I never thought I’d be able to see live: the Eagles. The fucking Eagles! Growing up I listened to my dad play his guitar all night, the Eagles being one of the many bands he covered.

It’s safe to say I was awe-struck by the band on stage right before my eyes. Tricia and I just sat down towards the back and just took in the moment.

After such a long day, we decided not to take the 13-hour drive back to Kansas City and enjoyed Austin for another day.

Things I suggest if you haven’t been:

The Alamo (great theater with awesome food and, of course, drinks).

Watch the bats from the bridge.

The Central Market!

Oh, and Whole Foods (the biggest one I’ve ever seen).

6th Street – duhh.

Wine in a can.

See you at SXSW Austin!

It’s time for more tickets from PopWreckoning. This time we’re giving away 2 sets (4 total) of tickets to The October 20, 2010 Portugal. The Man show at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS. The show is all ages.

Winning can be done as follows:

1. Be sure you are following @popwreckoning on Twitter and use your twitter to post the following comment: Hell yes! @popwreckoning is giving me the chance to see @portugaltheman in Lawrence!

Seriously, how simple is that?!

Contest ends at noon on Oct. 18.

Now go! Get to work! Score free things. And be sure to check back with us for more free tickets in the future.

Having not been to a proper show in Seattle in a month, I couldn’t wait to go see Portugal. The Man Friday night at Neumo’s. Not only because they rocked the Sasquatch Festival last month, but also the Builders and the Butchers were opening for them, and I’ve been really digging them lately. Morning Teleportation actually started the show, and if you’re like me, you probably haven’t heard much of them, but I strongly suggest you seek them out.

It was a night of Portland music, and all three bands rocked the house. I don’t think I’d been a show in Seattle with that much energy since January.

Morning Teleportation took the stage almost looking like they’d just stepped out of a time machine from 1973, sporting shaggy haircuts and fitted patterned button-ups, but they certainly didn’t sound like it. There are quite a few words to try and describe Morning Teleportation, but if I could think of one that might give you some idea without sounding overzealous, it would be funky. They were psychedelic, rootsy and jam band all at the same time. And normally I’m not much of a jam band kinda person, but Morning Teleportation surely put on a show. I mean, how often do you see a talk box these days? And a theremin? It shouldn’t make sense, but Morning Teleportation made me a believer. Thankfully they’ll be at MusicFest Northwest in September, so I’ll get to see them again for longer than 25 minutes. For now, head to their Myspace and listen to “Snow Frog vs. Motor Cobra.” It’s a perfect representation of their sound in hyper drive. And it’s really fun if you like to dance like a crazy person at shows.

It was nearing 10 p.m., and by that time Neumo’s was still a comfortable 75 degrees, if I could guess.

The Builders and the Butchers were up next. And on this particular night, lead singer Ryan Sollee picked up an electric guitar for the first time at a gig, because apparently his band mates had said he was getting too folksy. Either way, acoustic or electric, the Builders and the Butchers were awesome. With how many instruments they implemented on the tiny Neumo’s stage, they managed to make their banjo and mandolin-laden folk rock feel hard. But with how much power they put behind their music, I’m not surprised.

The Builders and the Butchers played for a good 45 minutes, and through most of the songs off their phenomenal 2009 album Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well. Ironically enough, they’ll also be playing at MusicFest Northwest, so that is one more show I’ll be anxiously awaiting. Also ironic – both the Builders and the Butchers and Portugal. The Man are originally from Alaska, and migrated to Portland. Fun fact!

All within their set, the Builders and the Butchers shuffled through instruments and tossed maracas into the audience. I think that there had to be at least eight maracas in the crowd by the time they finished. A couple of my favorites were the building epic “Golden and Green” and “Down in this Hole,” the latter of which turned into a grand sing-along that I’m sure everyone roaming around Capitol Hill could hear. Portugal. The Man surely had a tough act to follow.

At this point I remembered how hot Neumo’s got during the summer time, because the few open doors that the security guys guarded were like a cracked window in a hot car at noon. Thank goodness I had a water bottle, or else I probably would have lost consciousness.

It also didn’t help that the smoke machine seemed to be on overdrive.

I had a perfect spot standing up front, and right before Portugal. The Man took the stage these two guys who were considerably taller than I planted their feet in front of me and the much shorter girl to my left. But eventually the front of the crowd moved around so much I had a much clearer view. Portugal. The Man came out on stage amidst the thick fog and started off with their heavy prog rock, and as frustrated as I was with the smoke and lighting, the band sounded awesome. It was as good as I remembered from…okay it was only a month ago at Sasquatch, but the crowd received Portugal much better than at the festival.

After awhile, I forgot that I couldn’t get any decent photos and just rocked out, because it was kind of a requirement for being up front where I was. We got to enjoy some tracks from this year’s American Ghetto, last year’s The Satanic Satanist, and all the way through their five-album-five-year catalogue. I didn’t realize before that Portugal. The Man has released an album every year since 2006. That’s quite a feat.

As it’s also hard to describe Portugal. The Man; it makes for a diverse live show – with southern rock anthems like “People Say,” sexy psychedelic tracks like “60 Years” and soft ballads like “Created,” which was one of the closing songs from the night. But at that point it had gotten so stuffy in front that I had to scurry to the back of the venue to avoid passing out.

By far my favorite moment from the night was during “And I” where everyone in the crowd joined in with the “ooo ooo oos” during the chorus and danced together, if you could call it dancing. More like moving. People moved a lot. Which was part of the reason that Neumo’s was at least 85 degrees by midnight.

There is one thought that I took away from that night – of all places for awesome bands to come from – Alaska?

Apparently Alaska breeds bands the right way.

Taking the three-hour drive to the Columbia River Gorge is a boring trip. You merge a couple times from state route 16, then from I-5 to I-90, over a mountain pass and through the eastern Washington flatlands. But when you reach the Gorge on Memorial Day weekend, it’s like a dome of awesome civilization in the middle of empty Washington wasteland. It was the second year in a row that I traveled to the Sasquatch! Music Festival, but this year I’d be spending all three days at the Gorge, camping about a quarter of the mile from the festival grounds, where one could still hear the music late into the night after tucking one’s self into one’s sleeping bag.

This weekend was nothing less than glorious. The clouds defied the weather forecast, which told us that it would be cloudy and possibly raining all weekend. Only a couple bouts of rain didn’t damper the festival at all. In fact, the rain we did get was refreshing and added to the greatness of the Columbia River Gorge.

I’ll start with Saturday. After waiting in line for over an hour, I finally arrived on the festival grounds, and headed over to the newly renamed Bigfoot Solar Stage. It used to be called the Wookie Stage, but as a preemptive action against any sort of lawsuit from George Lucas, the Sasquatch organizers changed the name. Catching the second half of Mumford and Sons, I could tell that people were already crowding in front of each stage.

Following Mumford and Sons was Portugal. The Man on the same stage. I’m really glad I stayed to watch them, because the crazy psychedelic rock that you find on their record Censored Colors sounds even better live. And with such songs like “Lay Me Back Down,” the relatively large crowd could sing right along with the chorus. It was a good way to start the day. The very long day.

With my first of two steep treks down to the main stage, I was reminded how much I really love this venue. Actually, Damian Kulash of OK Go, the band playing on the main stage next, said it best:

“You know, we play a lot of these festivals, and most of the time the venue sucks and the bands blow, but this place is fucking awesome.” Or something like that. You get the gist.

As much as I love OK Go for their genius music videos, they were surprisingly good live. Fun and energetic, and it was only 3 in the afternoon. It was too bad their crowd was small though, because I’m pretty sure Kulash would have crowd surfed a lot further if he’d had the ability to. Playing through some oldies but goodies, like “Get Over It” from their 2002 debut album, as well as the funky “White Knuckles” off their newest Of The Blue Colour of the Sky, it was a joyful and satisfying set. One thing though – with how breathy and seductive Kulash’s voice is most of the time, you’d never expect him to bust out this gut-draining shriek. But he did. It was cool.

I headed back up to the Yeti Stage, the smallest of the three outdoor stages, to see one of my favorite local bands The Lonely Forest for the third time this year. What can I say? They’re really good. But I could tell that it was still a bit intimidating being at Sasquatch because they were good, but they weren’t as good as at the Seattle clubs. But that is one of the parts of Sasquatch that I really love – we get a lot of locals. Sasquatch doesn’t import nearly as many acts as other festivals do. The Lonely Forest did mention the new record they have coming out this year that they just finished recording with Chris Walla’s new label Trans. Hearing those new songs again was nice.

Back at the main stage, The National was getting ready to take the stage and the floor started to fill up. This was about when the sun started to set, and the smell of marijuana was inescapable, and the threat of sunburn in the part of your hair was no longer a worry. The perfect time of night at the Gorge. The National took the stage a bit late, making everyone in the pit incredibly anxious, but in the end it was worth it. Playing some of their best songs, including the haunting “Afraid of Everyone” off High Violet as well as a plethora of older songs, the crowd was clearly satisfied. Matt Berninger actually ventured out into the pit towards the end of their set holding up his microphone cord as to not get tangled in the jumble of fans. Some would find Berninger’s energy flat, because it is an odd stage presence. At times he seems a bit angry, but I enjoy his intensity. It’s a quiet intensity. I think without the jumbo screens adjacent to the stage, it wouldn’t have been suited for the giant amphitheatre, but this time it worked.

A stark change from The National’s energy, the lovely and adorable and so full of energy Vampire Weekend took the Main Stage at as on-time as they could have been. I was so thankful when they announced the lineup for Sasquatch this year, because when I saw Vampire Weekend back in December it wasn’t for but twenty short minutes. And that’s not nearly enough time to fully enjoy a band. It got a second chance to love Vampire Weekend at Sasquatch. Being shoved in that pit made it even better, because everyone around me was equally as excited. This guy, about 6’3”, standing next to me kept saying, “I’m so happy right now!” And that was the general consensus I gathered from the thousands of people in the amphitheater that night, as well as from the band. Frontman Ezra Koenig made the second declaration of the Gorge’s sheer awesomeness that day, and Koenig has enough energy himself to carry the entire place. It was the perfect way to follow The National, with a giant dance party to songs like “A-Punk,” “Walcott” and ridiculously quick and almost derailing “Cousins.” And it was quite magical to hear thousands of people singing at the top of their lungs “Blake’s got a new face!” during the song “One.”

It was as I hiked up the hill to the campground that I knew that this was going to be a good weekend.

Stay tuned for a recap of Sunday and Monday, which were equally as awesome.

For a full set of photos from Saturday, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbigshmail/sets/72157624061143157/

Sunday’s coverage: http://popwreckoning.com/2010/06/03/sasquatch-festival-sunday-with-local-natives-kid-cudi-dirty-projectors/

Monday’s coverage: http://popwreckoning.com/2010/06/04/sasquatch-festival-monday-with-the-temper-trap-the-mountain-goats-mgmt/