The last 17 years Sasquatch Music Festival has been marked on the calendar and embedded in our minds. While most people see Memorial Day as a holiday to go camping, spend time with friends and family or visit the resting place of their lost loved ones, we would be hastily preparing for the Sasquatch Music Festival. Typically by February, you could hear our crew stating “Next thing you know we will be loading in Sasquatch”. As I mentioned in my last post-May is the time to get ready for the summer. This festival has always been a big deal for our company as we have provided audio and audio technicians for at least one stage each year and when our company was at its peak size, we provided the audio on three of the five stages. Regardless of how many stages we worked, it was always a big prep, both physically as in getting the gear ready and mentally because it was a lot of work and long days. The weather this time of year in the Pacific Northwest is always unpredictable, therefore it is necessary to be prepared for anything mother nature would throw at us. We have experienced extreme heat, cold nights, rainstorms and one year even a massive hailstorm. Fortunately, there were many days of comfortable temps with glorious sunshine and blue skies.
What is the Sasquatch Music Festival?
Rooted in 2002 the Sasquatch Music Festival was an annual staple at Gorge Amphitheatre for 17 years. The festival was similar to the Coachella Music Festival that is held annually in the southern California desert, in that it showcased a broad range of music genres. Indie rock bands and singer-songwriters were the primary emphases at Sasquatch, however, there was also alternative rock, hip hop, and EDM. I recall the occasional artists being booked on the smaller stages because they were perhaps a lesser-known artist, however by the time Sasquatch came around they had become more popular. This would occasionally bring larger than anticipated attendance to the smaller stages. Weather also played its part in bringing larger crowds to the small stages. As mentioned, we always had to be prepared for the unexpected. On more than one occasion weather would shut down the main stage for safety reasons. It was often the goal to have every scheduled artist perform at least a partial set. This would mean schedule changes and placement of main stage artists on other stages around the event. More often than not, those artists would end up on one of our stages. Near the end of this festivals era, the changes became less of a surprise as we began to anticipate the possibility and embrace the opportunity.
The Peak Years
In 2013 the festival sold out in 90 minutes. Our company was fortunate to provide the audio on two of the stages where we worked with 59 bands over 4 days. It’s no wonder everyone was exhausted upon returning. This a great example of why we spent the majority of May testing and prepping the equipment for Sasquatch Festival, when running that hard it is imperative that everything be in top operating condition. You never want to have equipment malfunctions or failures on shows period, however when there is no time between artists to troubleshoot or make repairs everything better
Even though it was a lot of work and long unpredictable days, Sasquatch was always a favorite for most, at least those that were tough enough to survive it. While everyone survived in the literal sense it wasn’t without challenges. One year there was case of shingles, the next year a tech ended up with chicken pox, and as if that wasn’t bad enough there was the year of what some called the Sasquatch Plague, where the majority of the tech crew (at least on our stage) got ill with a cold of some sorts, the following year we put together the Sasquatch Survival Kit. Regardless of the illnesses and exhaustion, the adrenaline from the very active and busy days not only kept many of our techs on their toes but charged them for the season to come. While it seemed everyone went home tired and a little beat up, once recovered most were ready to go and do it again. There was the rare occasion we would find an employee that learned that this industry may not be for them.
Is it the end of an era?
Sadly it was announced on June 28, 2018, by the event founder Adam Zach’s that “Today we take a bow and bid farewell to Sasquatch!”, he stated that he would no longer be producing the festival and that it would not take place in 2019. The day that this was announced was a sad day for those of us in the production world. However, it didn’t really sink in until we approached early spring. I’m not sure we really anticipated the void we would all feel in not having this event to meet up at and kick off our summer festival season. It was interesting to note that this odd feeling we have been having is not our own. Pretty much every show that we have worked with our Sasquatch family since March the topic would come up as to how awkward it felt that there wasn’t a Sasquatch. In the days leading up to Memorial Day, we were receiving texts from some of our friends also stating that it was strange that we weren’t building stages for the big weekend. It appears that the former event owner was not opposed to the idea of the event eventually being picked up by another entity, and I supposed only time will tell. Regardless of the future for the Sasquatch Music Festival, one thing is for certain for our Sasquatch family, we will always have the memories that this event has given us, be it epic crowds or front of house bacon, no one can take that away. If I have sparked your interest and you want to learn more about the history of The Sasquatch Music Festival or see the collection of artists that have performed you can read more on Wikipedia.
Moving On
As for now, summer is coming. The temps are warming up and kids will be out of school soon. This Thursday will be the first of our local areas Live @ 5 concert series, another event that we have worked with for over a decade. So, while The Sasquatch Music Festival is no longer in existence, the music scene is still very alive. Regardless of whether it is camping at the Gorge Amphitheatre or a family evening in the park, I hope everyone gets out and supports the music scene.
