There’s always been a reason for the exclamation point in Sasquatch! Music Festival, especially this year.
For its fifth installment, which kicks off Friday at The Gorge, the festival stretches its musical festivities into a Bigfoot-sized three-day event for the first time. Those three days pack a wallop of big-name bands and fast-rising stars, including Nine Inch Nails, Beck, Arctic Monkeys, The Flaming Lips and dozens of others.
This puts Sasquatch! in the ranks of other destination festivals nationwide such as California’s Coachella Festival and Tennessee’s Bonnaroo Festival.
A crap shoot pays off
Destination festivals have been a growing trend in the concert industry. The festivals are a one-time-only billing of multiple acts as opposed to the touring festivals of the 1990s such as Lilith Fair and Lollapalooza.
The idea for a destination festival at The Gorge came when touring festivals were becoming less culturally relevant, said Adam Zacks, booker for House of Blues, the promotions company for The Gorge.
“It was a crap shoot to begin with,” said Zacks, who came up with the initial idea for Sasquatch! “When we started out we had no idea what to expect. We just wanted to put together something that would reflect the culture of the region and give people a reason to drive out to the Gorge.”
After the first Sasquatch! in 2002 sold out, House of Blues knew they had a hit on its hands. That sell out has led to top-notch talent being booked for the annual Memorial Day Weekend event that marks the opening of the summer concert season at The Gorge.
“We always intended for the festival to grow organically,” Zacks said. “After last year it was evident people would enjoy being at the festival for at least two days.”
So what lead to the decision to stretch it to three days?
“We looked at the lineup of all the bands we had and it just made sense for three days. We always try to capture what’s fresh and interesting and this year I think we pulled together a really great lineup,” Zacks said.
Forging an identity
Since destination festivals are becoming more and more common, Sasquatch! had to find a way to distinguish itself from its well-established peers. To do that, House of Blues drew from the wealth of regional talent to help give Sasquatch! a distinctly Northwest feel.
More than a dozen of the 53 performers have Northwest ties. Several of those regionally-based acts will be performing on the main stage. Zacks also cited the name of the festival and its side stages (the Wookie and Yeti stages) as little things that give Sasquatch! a Northwest touch.
Another way the festival has forged its own identity is by putting together stellar lineups annually.
“There is no real science to it,” Zacks said. “It’s a lot of instinct.”
Two artists Zacks is especially excited about having for this year’s event are Sufjan Stevens and Beck. Zacks has wanted to book Beck since the first festival.
Planning for next year’s Sasquatch! will begin a few days after this year’s festival comes to a close, Zacks said. He said Sasquatch! will only be three days again if the right lineup can be put together.
“It’s a lot of what’s hot and what people want to see. If we can come up with enough talent to do three days next year then we will,” said Zacks. “If not, it’s likely we’ll do two.”
Sasquatch! time line
2002 – The inaugural Sasquatch! Festival is a rousing success. The concert sells out and features Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, String Cheese Incident, Maktub, Galactic and others.
2003 – Having gained notoriety from the previous year’s success, Sasquatch! books Coldplay, the Flaming Lips, Jurassic 5, Jason Mraz, Liz Phair, Death Cab For Cutie and others. Although Coldplay headlined, the highlight of the night came when the Flaming Lips amazed the crowd with massive confetti-filled balloons, dancers wearing furry rabbit and tiger costumes and singer Wayne Coyne dousing himself with fake blood while singing “Happy Birthday.”
2004 – The Roots, Postal Service, Black Keys and Thievery Corporation provide the musical highlights for the day. The festival date was one of the only performances by The Postal Service in 2004.
2005 – Sasquatch! once again puts together an top-notch lineup which included Kanye West, Wilco, Pixies, Modest Mouse and Matisyahu. The success paves the way for this year’s three-day event.
