Ed. Note: It's Memorial Day weekend. It's Sasquatch. It's good times. And Red Williamson is there. The Weekly Volcano sent Olympian Red Williamson of newspinphoto.com to Sasquatch! Festival 2013. As you can see below, it was a wise choice on our part. The photos are awesome. Williamson brought his wife, Rachel, and friend, Matt Guile, along. Rachel files the report below on Day One action from The Gorge.
Well, the time has finally come. It's the Friday leading up to Memorial Day weekend, and Team Newspin - Red Williamson, Rachel Williamson and Matt Guile - arose at the crack of dawn and drove to the other side of the state to get lost in a sea of people, and soak up the sunshine and booming music coming from all directions. You guessed it; it's none other than Sasquatch! Festival 2013, and we have arrived!
After finding a spot at the artist's campground with our friend and Seattle rapper Xperience (performing on Sunday), we pitched our tents and went out to explore the festival grounds. Our first glimpse of the festival was like the calm before the storm. Everyone was busy working with various equipment, vendors were setting up shop and occasionally we saw people who, like us, had a camera in their hands.
>>> ZZ Ward, photo credit: Red Williamson / Newspin photo
>>> Crowd at Youth Lagoon, photo credit: Red Williamson / Newspin photo
>>> Crowdsurf during Japandroids' set, photo credit Red Williamson / Newspin photo
>>> Nacho Picasso, photo credit Red Williamson / Newspin photo
We made our way to the beautiful, grassy landscape facing the Sasquatch main stage where we met Andrew Harris, a photographer who attended the last three years of Sasquatch. He gave us some great tips for interviewing artists, shooting shows and navigating our festival weekend; he also predicted that the grassy landscape in front of us would be trashed once the crowds arrived.
Sure enough, the gates opened and things changed instantly. Swarms of excited, colorfully dressed, music-loving people ready to party appeared everywhere.
Our first stop was the main stage to catch ZZ Ward, a soul singer with a blues/hip-hop vibe and a gorgeous, smoky voice. Next, we hurried over to a different stage to catch rapper Shelton Harris, who inspired us with his independent attitude and heart-felt lyrics. We ran back and forth, from stage to stage at The Gorge. Reignwolf brought down the house with a fantastic set, while Brothers From Another and Nacho Picasso kept the hip-hop energy alive on the chupacabra stage stage. Japandroids' high-energy performance was a perfect compliment to their unique sound. Strand of Oaks was living the dream on stage with bold, power rock ballads.
As the day went on, we had the opportunity to watch an up-close and personal session with Vampire Weekend in the acoustic, "End Session" tent, before their on-stage performance. The band's catchy, meaningful songs translated beautifully to acoustic. It was a real treat to watch Vampire Weekend play two very different sets at Sasquatch. Youth Lagoon's stage was running late, but they proved they were worth the wait with Trevor Powers' talented vocals and dreamy, hypnotic sound. The Macklemore & Ryan Lewis set was the perfect way to round out the night, with their unmatched energy, musical genius, and raw, heart-felt lyrics.
>>> Reignwolf, photo credit Red Williamson / Newspin photo
>>> Vampire Weekend in the end Session tent, photo credit Red Williamson / Newspin photo
Friday was a long day full of incredible music, dancing, sweating, screaming and sunshine. We can't wait to do it again tomorrow. Keep an eye on this blog for more stories and photos from our weekend at Sasquatch 2013.
LINK: Many more photos from Sasquatch 2013, Day One
LINK: Words and photo from Sasquatch 2013, Day Two