Sasquatch! Music Festival
Sasquatch! Music Festival | |
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Genre | Indie rock, experimental rock, singer-songwriter, electronica, alternative rock, underground hip-hop |
Dates | Memorial Day weekend |
Location(s) | The Gorge Amphitheatre, George, Washington, United States |
Years active | 2002–present |
Founders | Adam Zacks |
Website | www.sasquatchfestival.com |
Sasquatch! Music Festival is a music festival held annually at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. It is presented by the House of Blues. There is an emphasis on indie rock bands and singer-songwriters, although there are also alternative rock and hip hop acts. The festival features three separate stages (Sasquatch! Main Stage, Wookie Stage, & Yeti Stage) with the Yeti Stage dedicated exclusively to artists from the Pacific Northwest. Headliners from past festivals include Beastie Boys, Beck, Björk, Coldplay, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Nine Inch Nails, Pixies, The Postal Service, and String Cheese Incident.
History
The Sasquatch! Music Festival was founded in 2002 by Pacific Northwest-based concert promoter Adam Zacks. Prior to the inception of the festival, Zacks booked and managed shows at the Roseland Theater in Portland, Oregon. After moving to Seattle, Washington to be closer to friends and family, Zacks began considering the creation of a music festival in the Pacific Northwest. In an interview with Seattle Weekly in September 2007, Zacks described the birth of Sasquatch!:[1]
Sasquatch was an idea born on a hunch that there was untapped demand for a certain kind of festival that catered to the eclectic tastes of music enthusiasts. It started in 2002, which was shortly after a number of the touring festivals (Lollapalooza, Lilith, Horde) had petered out and the beginning of the wave of regional festivals that started with Coachella and now is a dominant force on the music landscape, with Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, etc.
2008
The lineup for the 2008 Sasquatch! Music Festival was announced on 25 February 2008. Headliners for the event include R.E.M., The Cure, and The Flaming Lips. The event took place on Memorial Day weekend, 24-26 May 2008. Tickets went on sale on March 8, 2008 at 12 PM P.S.T.
Lineup
Saturday, May 24
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Sunday, May 25
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Monday, May 26
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Comedy Lineup
The 2008 festival features the first ever Sasquatch! comedy tent.
Saturday
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Sunday
Monday
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Christmas on Mars
The The Flaming Lips' long-awaited film Christmas on Mars premiered on Sunday, May 25 at the festival.
2007
The 2007 Sasquatch! Music Festival was hosted by Sarah Silverman, Michael Showalter, and Aziz Ansari.
Lineup
Saturday, May 26
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Sunday, May 27
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M.I.A. was scheduled to perform but cancelled.
2006
The 2006 Sasquatch! Music Festival marked the first time the festival ran for three days. The event began on Friday, May 26 and lasted until Sunday, May 28. The second day was marked by an afternoon hailstorm, which forced Neko Case and her band off stage and threatened to shut down the show entirely. Fortunately, the storm subsided and the festival was able to continue as scheduled.
Lineup
Friday, May 26
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Saturday, May 27
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Sunday, May 28
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2005
The 2005 Sasquatch! Music Festival took place on Saturday, May 28.
Lineup
Saturday, May 28
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2004
The 2004 Sasquatch! Music Festival took place on Saturday, May 29. The event was hosted by David Cross.
Lineup
Saturday, May 29
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2003
Lineup
Saturday, May 24
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2002
Lineup
Saturday, May 25
Performers that have played more than once
This list does not include the upcoming 2008 festival.
- Four times
- Neko Case - 2003, 2004 (with the New Pornographers), 2006, 2007
- Three times
- Blue Scholars - 2005, 2006, 2008
- Death Cab for Cutie - 2003, 2006, 2008
- The Flaming Lips - 2003, 2006, 2008
- Modest Mouse - 2003, 2005, 2008
- Visqueen - 2004, 2005, 2007
- Two Times
- Aqueduct - 2005, 2007
- Arcade Fire - 2005, 2007
- Blackalicious - 2002, 2007
- Common Market - 2006, 2007
- The Decemberists - 2004, 2006
- Ben Harper - 2002, 2006
- The Long Winters - 2004, 2007
- Maktub - 2002, 2003
- Matisyahu - 2005, 2006
- Minus the Bear - 2003, 2007
- Sam Roberts - 2003, 2006
- The Shins - 2004, 2006
- Smoosh - 2005, 2007
References
- ^ Aja Pecknold. "Adam Zacks: Mother of Sasquatch!". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved 2008-03-08.