Sasquatch Festival is well worth the effort
<p>Actor and comedian John C. Reilly showed up at Sasquatch wearing another hat: country musician. He and his band kept their performance on the serious side, playing tried-and-true traditional country music. (Photo by CAMERON RASMUSSON)</p>
SANDPOINT — The first thing you notice when you arrive at Sasquatch Music Festival is the noise — and the bands haven’t even started playing yet.
It began with engine rumbling, horn honking and chattering conversation in the line of cars awaiting entry into the Gorge Amphitheater last month. As my friends and I established our campsite around 11 p.m. or so, amateur DJs and shrieking crowds continued the clamor for another hour. And another. And another.
Earplugs are a must at Sasquatch if you want any sleep.
At its essence, Sasquatch is really just a 96-hour series of noises, some good and some bad. Whether or not the festival is for you largely depends on how much you love the good noises and hate the undesirable ones. That’s an easy question for me. My Memorial Day weekend will likely be a highlight of the year.
Only a few hours’ drive from Sandpoint, Sasquatch Music Festival takes places every year at the Gorge Amphitheatre, located in George, Wash. That makes it an attractive option for Panhandle residents seeking to take part in an internationally-recognized event not very far from home.
Music festivals aren’t a foreign affair to most locals. After all, they have a great one every year in the Festival at Sandpoint. While I found that Bonner County staple relaxing and comfortable, however, Sasquatch is by constrast an exercise in endurance.
Sure enough, the great Sasquatch demands sacrifices for three-and-a-half days of excellent music. You will lose sleep due to the 24-hour activity and noise in the campgrounds. You will lose stamina from the miles of walking every day. And the thousands of twenty-somethings surrounding you combined with general weariness will lay siege to your immune system.
Just like with the Festival at Sandpoint, however, the music and atmosphere more than make up for the crowds and lines. The first thing you notice when you walk toward the largest stage is the sheer beauty of the Gorge, which opens up into a breathtaking panorama of cliffs and snaking waterways.
The bands make up the other half of the equation, filling the beautiful scenery with beautiful sounds. With the sometimes-exception of headliners, the line-up targets rock, hip-hop and electronica acts signed to small, independent labels — if at all. That allows for a terrific range of experiences, from Trampled By Turtles’ blazing bluegrass to Shearwater’s powerful, folk-infused rock to actor John C. Reilly’s take on traditional country.
Like all good things, however, the weekend came to an end. When I staggered dirty and disheveled into the office Tuesday afternoon, my coworkers might have marked me the victim of some horrible mugging.
Close, but not quite. Although the experience lightened my wallet and taxed my body just the same, I can’t rightly say I ever complained.