You know those family reunions you hate going to? With the weird cousin that doesn’t talk and the uncle that gets way too drunk and that lady who you’re not even sure how you’re related – just that she married someone in your family at some point in time? The Sasquatch Music Festival is like a family reunion, only in this year’s case, there were 100,000 people that filled the Gorge for the tenth annual festival.
It was for good reason, too. The Foo Fighters headlined the newly-added Friday lineup this last weekend. Sadly enough, being a student, I couldn’t leave the west side of the mountains until about 4:30, putting myself in the worst traffic imaginable. However, the only band I really wanted to see that night was the Foo Fighters anyway, and I got my wish.
But, as I was making my way into the festival, I overheard Death from Above 1979 playing the main stage – quite loudly – and they rocked. I just had to put that out there, because Sasquatch marked the triumphant return from Death from Above.
Friday had by far the most diverse crowd of all the four days. Not only were there kids younger than me, there were people older than my parents on the floor of the main stage. When Dave Grohl introduced a song off their first album “Big Me,” he asked the audience if anyone had seen them tour for the self-titled debut in 1995. One guy up front raised his hand and shouted, and Grohl responded – “I’m with you dude. We’re some old motherfuckers.”
My mother was so jealous of me being there that she made me call her during “My Hero.”
Yeah, so the Foo Fighters are a band for many generations, and even though they have been rocking the stage for over 15 years, I can clearly say that they’re one of the best live bands in the world. They were definitely the best at this year’s festival.
“We decided to have an all-flannel line up front here,” Grohl began as he introduced his band members, mostly clad in plaid flannel shirts. It is the Pacific Northwest, after all. “But one person didn’t wear any flannel, and it’s that fucker back there,” Grohl glared at drummer Taylor Hawkins as his familiar grin lit up the jumbo screen.
The Foo Fighters started at 9:30 on the dot, and ended at almost 11:30 exactly. And not one ounce of energy was lost in those two hours on that glorious Friday night. So many of my favorite songs were brought to life with extra oomph and drawn-out verses that I almost didn’t want to listen to them on the record again. “Times Like These” was beautiful. “The Pretender” was epic. “Breakout” was hilarious, because I’m pretty sure that I was the only person around me singing along to it. It made me feel cool, that I knew the words to every song they played that night. Even though they aren’t my absolute favorite band, I haven’t liked a band longer than I have liked the Foo Fighters. I received One by One as a birthday present when I was in the fourth grade. I’m 22 now. Do the math.
As the Foos played through old classics like “Learn to Fly,” “Monkey Wrench,” big hits like “Best of You” and plenty of new songs off Wasting Light, the Sasquatch adrenaline kicked in and I was ready for the rest of the weekend. But it all came to a fantastic high point when Grohl started strumming the chords to “Everlong.” Several people had been shouting it from behind me that night, and I’d been waiting for it as well.
You see, about a year ago I made a list of bands that I wanted to shoot, a “photo bucket” list of sorts. In this short year, three of those bands have been checked off that list, and the Foo Fighters was definitely near the top of it. And as I stood in the cold wind with sporadic clouds of pot smoke floating above my head and Grohl’s ferocious growl coming through the loud speakers, I felt my eyes well up a bit. Not kidding.
The Foo Fighters skipped the encore all together, as to “maximize set time,” as Grohl said, and stilled filled up two full hours. It was completely surreal, and everyone around me shared the same sentiment. Making our way to the exit, I overheard a couple behind me reflecting on the show.
“That was the best show I’ve ever seen, and I haven’t been to a show since Tool two years ago. That was awesome.”
“But where would Gwar be in that?”
“They’re on a completely different level of awesome.”
“Yeah, you’ve either got blood spit on you, or Dave Grohl. I think this wins.”
I think so too.
Keep on the lookout for recaps from Saturday, Sunday, and Monday coming soon!
