Well with all the crap that happened that week, things went much differently than expected.

First was the news about the RV having a leak, then came the big hit with Pablo’s fathers passing.

So with the change of everything I ended up having 4 more tickets to Sasquatch, 2 more for Saturday and 2 for Sunday. I had not bought tickets for the Sunday shows and was not planning on going so I put those tickets up on craigs list and had the Sunday tickets sold in under 15 min.

The original plan was for Meg and I to go on Saturday with Pablo and Jan, all camping at Quincy. Pablo and Jan would be going to Sundays shows. Now with the 4 Saturday tickets I could take Stacy, Meg and Sammi along for the day.

We left Spokane by noon and made the little over 2 hour drive to The Gorge. We were parked and getting our stuff together to head for the lines by 2:30. There were lots of people walking around the cars asking for extra tickets. I had remembered seeing something about kids 5 and under being free, so if that was the case I would have a spare to sell. I made a bee line for the ticket booth, talked with a nice gal who confirmed my thought. 5 and under were free so Sammi did not need a ticket. I ran back to the car and started to look for the guy who had asked me if I had an extra. I wanted to find this one guy because he had made a comment about the Phish shirt I was wearing. He said he had been to a couple shows and loved them. I found him after a little searching and made him a sweet deal on the extra ticket I had. That worked out well because I had forgot to hit an ATM for cash before we left town. So now I had some cash to get the kids each a t-shirt.

Now we were off to the line to get in the shows. The line was not too long, nothing compared to Phish lines, so I felt a little spoiled. The lady searching our bags was trying to do too good of a job, trying to make me throw out bottles of water which are allowed. So I quickly put her in her plan and she just pushed us on through. At last we were in, now the fun could begin.

The Gorge was packed, and this was my first time being at a show where they had 3 stages setup. 1 stage was up top in what they called the meadow. Stage number 2 was over in the area that was usually designated as the beer garden. Then of course the main stage we are all used to. We headed right for the main stage, seeing how packed it was I wanted to try and get a good piece on the lawn. Most of the good spots were gone. I noticed that no one had grabbed the little patch in front of the far left fence line. I snagged a hand of each kid and started cutting the crowd to get that spot. We made it over and laid out our blankets. This spot was ok for a while, but then people stated standing behind us, which was ok but it made other people start walking in front of us to get by. That was not going to cut it. We had to move our blankets and such a bit closer and that soled the problem of people walking in front, now they just walked behind us.

There was a good band playing as we were getting situated. Ozomatli was the band and the grove was nice, as it had us shaking our booties as we got prepared. This was a big band, tons of guys up on the stage. There were a few guys with Brass instruments and then the usual keyboards, drums and guitars. Lots of energy in the music, they had the little pit area in front of the stage just rockin, they even jumped down in the pit and kept playing while the next group was getting ready.

Some gal played next set, she was rather boring so Meg and I hit the merch stands. We picked out a couple Bjork shirts for each of the girls. Red shirts one with the image from the Volta album, the other is flames with Bjork on it. Nice use of the cash we got for Sammi’s ticket .

Citizen Cope was on stage next. I liked what he did. It got me interested in him so now I have some downloading. It had a nice mellow grove to it. Sammi liked to dance to it, so it must be good.

M.I.A was having issues with customs so was unable to make the show. Instead they got some bar band from Seattle to come down. was not very impressing. I think the guy would make a better Val Cilmer impersonator than leading this band.

Thank god it was time for Meg and I to head up to the meadow stage. We got there and there was no room on the lawn, you could sure tell everyone was waiting for Beastie Boys. The program said that this was going to be in instrumental funky show by B-Boys. Not quite…. Right off the bat we hear Were the fuckin Beastie Boys from fuckin Now York! Megan just rolled her eyes. Kinda glad I never censored her much, so it was not a big shock. There was standing room only and Meg couldn’t see, so we walked around a bit and found a little better spot. We watched for a couple songs then headed back to the spot on the grass.

Manu Chao Radio was playing now on the main stage. Man I wish I knew some Spanish, but it really didn’t matter because the music was so fun. They were full of energy and had the whole crowd dancing. They played as the sun set, well what we could see of the sunset behind the clouds anyways.

Next up was Arcade Fire. I am not so sure how I feel about this band. The had a kind of modest mouseish sound to some of the songs, and then others were what seemed to me like just a bunch noise, I couldn’t not understand a thing the singers were saying because everything was unbalanced, some instruments were much louder than others. They need a new sound guy. Sammi Jo slept through their whole set so she would be ready for Bjork.

It’s dark as they setup the stage for Bjork. 3 big monitors are rolled out onto the stage, a small stage with music stands for the brass section. They start putting up these beautiful banners. Florescent colors, pinks and greens, some short some long. They hoist these banners up to the top of the cage but the wind is blowing so strong that the banners are almost horizontal as they blow. So they end up taking them down. All that hard work for nothing, damn the wind! Because of the wind issues it took a bit longer for Bjork to come out.
Slowly her stage started to fill, first came the brass section that she is touring with. They are an Icelandic all female brass section who were wearing bright florescent jump suites that are very baggy and blown up. They kinda reminded me of willy wanka when the girl blew up like a blueberry, but these were bright pink/red, blue, yellow and green. Then come the keyboardist, drums and electronic guys. With the keys layed out in front of the Brass section and the drums and electronics over on stage right. One thing that I really got a kick out of was looking at the electronic cuys setup and out of the darkness glow an apple icon from the Macbook Pros that they were each using.

Sounds of Earth Intruders filled the air, out from the darkness of stage left comes this little figure in a light colored gown. She does a little run in front of all the members of the band, then with a bang and a flash of light she jumps to life and starts to perform.

She is wearing a Yellow dress with what looks like a crème colored shawl over the top, and little black shoes which I like to imagine were penny loafers. The sound is simply astonishing and the beat is shaking the ground, it helped that we were sitting next to a speaker pole.

Lets get right to the setlist.

01. Earth Intruders
02. Hunter
03. Pagan Poetry
04. Dull Flame Of Desire
05. All Is Full Of Love
06. I See Who You Are
07. The Pleasure Is All Mine
08. Jóga
09. I Miss You
10. Five Years
11. Army Of Me
12. Innocence
13. Mother Heroic
14. Wanderlust
15. Hyperballad
16. Pluto

encore
17. Oceania
18. Declare Independence

What an awesome setlist for my first Bjork Show. The only song I wish I had heard is Venus as a Boy, which is my favorite Bjork song.

Earth Intruders was great live. She worked up a sweat on that one. Before she gets into Hunter she donned the shawl and shoes, both of which I think were holding her back from shaking her groove thang! Man can that girl dance, all 5 feet of her. It amazes me how she can bounce around that stage and still belt out the songs as though she was standing still. She was very interactive with the crowd; at least it seemed so from my vantage point. I wish I would have been down in the pit, but sitting up with the family was just great. I looked over many times to see Sammi dancing her little heart out, Megan was grooving with the music but not so free spirited as Sammi, she was too self conscious to dance. Stacy was even getting into it. I heard her yell out on a few of the songs.

She kicked on the lightshow when Army of Me started. Green lasers were shooting in all directions, lighting the tree line behind the crowd. Some of the other things I enjoyed were the 3 big monitors on the stage, they were being switched between shots of her feet dancing across the floor and the hands of her electronic guys working their magic. I liked the still shot across the stage; it would show her feet when she ran by, and also the lights and spot light when it hit the floor where the camera was aimed. It was very interesting.

Bjork is a phenomenal artist, and in my opinion she is an extremely sophisticated performer. I think they way she put the show together was top notch. It seemed like all the slow, if you can call them slow, songs were in the right places to let the peoples dancing feet have a short rest before they start hopping again.

There was only one song that I thought could be better. Dull Flame of Desire was good by herself, but I would have loved to see Anthony sing it with her, or at least have his voice dubbed in. That song is lovely when she sings it, but I think Anthony adds a nice contrast to the tune. Oceania was great with the brass section I had a hard time recognizing the song at first. But it took that song to a whole new level. I am impressed.

To end on Declare Independence was fitting. I view that song as a cry out to the USA to declare independence again. Maybe I’m wrong, but that what is so great about music, each person can interpret each song differently. Anyways, now I am hooked. If I could I would follow Bjork around the world. I hope we don’t have to wait too long for her to come back to this neck of the woods.

Sorry I don’t have the pix up yet. They are coming……

TTFN.