Most groups/band/artists/musicians all seem to promote their projects the same way. They open up Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts, updating them constantly, writing about their tours/shows on their WordPress blog. But not Shabazz Palaces.
This Seattle-based rap duo let their music speak for itself. They have no social networking accounts only an official website which contains no bio.
Call them "crazy" but obviously their marketing philosophy is working because they were the opening act on the Main Stage Saturday May 29th.
They must be doing something right.
Their set up was simple, some traditional drums, a laptop, mixer, but what really stands out is how well organized, creative, and energetic they were.
The crowd loved them, and without posting over a 1000 tweets about the show, lots of people showed up and pushed to get as close as they could to the stage.
Most of them even knew the words, and sang along!
Muslim, albino rapper Brother Ali was second up on the Main Stage on Saturday.
He not only was an outstanding performer but a powerful speaker who truly moved the audience.
Ali spoke not just about fighting against the injustice of our biased gov't, but of loving oneself.
This was a surprise addition to my line-up. I caught this Washington band at the Yeti Stage on my way to see Garfunkel and Oates (who ironically got a part on the hit Showtime series Weeds and couldn't make it to Sasquatch after all).
What I liked about these guys (and what would end up being all of the bands who played on this stage) was how humble and nice they were. They frequently thanked everyone for watching their show, and every now and then their lead singer John Van Deusen (that young lad in the red sweatshirt pictured on the left) had this expression of shock on his face - he later admitted to being absolutely terrified.
There music was decent - mellow, emotional pop rock, with simple at times repetitive lyrics. Perhaps not my favorite performance, but one of my favorite bands just based on their attitude and charm.
Perhaps the best part of my day, seeing Patton Oswalt LIVE at the Rump Stage!
Recently, Oswalt has found not one but TWO people who have blatantly plagiarized his jokes. First was the "stand up comic" who claimed that not only did he not steal from Oswalt, but that he wrote for him (yeah, right). And the second was the valedictorian of Columbia University.
Oswalt began his set at the Rump Stage by simply stating, "Before I start, there is something I need to do," and he proceeded to tell the joke the Columbia graduate stole for his speech ("Physics for Poets").
The crowd (presumably filled with Patton fans) erupted with not laughter (okay, some laughter), but a riotous round of applause.
For the rest of his act, Oswalt told some of his classics ("Orgy" pictured left), but what struck me about his performance was his reactions to the music from the BIG Stage to our left.
"Who the hell IS that?!?" he finally asked. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
He proceeded to use the music as back up to his act, dancing to the left and right of the stage - truly a comic who can commit to his surroundings and can make even his old material sound new and spontaneous.
The last show I saw Day One (and before you judge, I was sleepy from travel, and didn't have it in me to push through one more crowd) but it was entirely worth it.
After a lengthy set up and sound check (and upsetting most of the very drunk and probably very stoned crowd) Why? shut up the hecklers with the first chord of their first song.
The lead singer (and his awesome hat) charmed the crowd with his funky soulful vocals, and wacky dances across the stage.
Check out the rest of the pictures I took during Day One!
Next time...Day Two of Sasquatch Recap,
and I catch up on some sleep (I hope).
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