I have previously
put forth
the hypothesis that
Pickathon (in its current state) may be the perfect
music festival: perfect size (3,500 festival-goers), great line-up vs size, perfectly
accessible and yet it feels like it could be a big festival, perfect balance of
family-friendly vs escape-from-reality
festival. Very well thought-out and well planned. Excellent food and beer choices,
at reasonable prices. And the list of how they are doing this right, goes on
and on. Having returned this year for Pickathon 2016, I feel more confident that
this festival may just be the perfect festival.
Again the food was awesome, supplied by Portland’s excellent array of restaurants and food-trucks. The beer gardens are each supplied by a local brewery, offering a variety of delicious microbrews, which differ at each stage to keep your taste-buds stimulated, to match your other sensory inputs.
The festival has upped-their-game on these lanterns that light the path into the woods. I loved the prior iteration of these, but this year’s were absolutely stunning. I seriously want to high-five whoever designed these, because they are incredible.
Here is a video of the lanterns being amazing, to a soundtrack of a live version of Wolf Parade's great song,
Dinner Bells. There is no visual trickery here, just an awesome LED lantern being awesome, and my shaky camera-work (sorry for the shaky video).
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| Dramatic Skies over Pickathon |
The 2016 Bands
This band is a major throw-back nostalgic band for me, and has been on my
to-see list for a decade since their
Apologies
to the Queen Mary album.They have been on an "indefinite hiatus" for the last 5 years,
shattering my hopes of seeing them. But Bam! They kicked-off their new
tour at Pickathon! Their inclusion on the
line-up sealed the deal for my ticket purchase.
Their 1st
show on the main stage focused mainly on their new material which has promise, (as
it sounds just like the old-stuff!), just not as familiar to me. I look forward
to delving further into the new album. But during that 1st show I was
worried that they wouldn’t be hitting all the tracks that I so desperately needed
to hear. Someone shouted-out the title of one of the hits, to which Dan Boeckner
responded “We’ll be playing that one
tomorrow!” and I knew juuust where I would be on the next night.
Their show at the Woods Stage was awesome. I caught the show from the back to take advantage of the nighttime visual appeal of the Woods Stage. It was a cool show. I was in just the right vibe, and they delivered all the favorites, fulfilling my needs.
I was also
stoked to see Beach House, a long-time favorite of mine. They did their standard
mysterious dimly-lit, wet-blanket stage-presence, but I didn’t expect anything
else, and wouldn’t know what to do if they did do anything more energetic. They
also hit many of the hit tracks and it was a very enjoyable show for patiently awaiting all of the little perfect nuances that make-up their
hauntingly beautiful music.
While I
never have gotten into Wilco (for no reason in particular), I did recognize a few
Wilco songs, and it was a good set. The setting: chillin on the grass with a
view of Mt. Hood in the background; looking nearly too picture-perfect to be
believable. Good vibes in the grass.
This set
seemed very lack-luster. It was his last set of the festival, and maybe he was
worn-out from partying, but I thought this set was kinda tame. It was nice to
hear some of my old favorites, as well as some of the new tunes I like.
This is
another band that I sadly have never gotten into, mainly because of their
massive discography spanning … what … a century? But this show was also
enjoyable, and there were several songs that sounded like they should be some
of my favorite songs, and I just don’t yet know it (?). Good tunes and good
vibes. I was talking with some of our crew at the show, and they confirmed that
they need to delve into the Yo La Tengo catalogue atleast annually to fulfill a
mental quota. As far as musical critiques go, that’s a pretty damn good one. Depressingly,
that still does not help me find a launching-point into their daunting discography.
I don't recall. but here is a picture.
After a recommendation
from a friend to check this band out, I studied-up and found it to my liking,
so I was excited to catch this band. Their 1st set was 45 minutes
late, due to a thorough sound-check. They sounded great after all that, but
only played 4 songs, so that was a huge let down. But my prep paid-off in grooving
along to those 4 songs. I think I caught their later set, from the lawn outside
the Galaxy Barn.
I only know
this band by name, but I caught this set from the lawn outside the Galaxy Barn,
and it was decent.
I caught 2
sets by this band, and while they were overall enjoyable, there is nothing that
particularly stands out about this band to me, so I think I’ve met the capacity
at which I have for them. What did stand out to me was the odd way he stands
and holds his guitar, which kept cracking me up.
I am a big
fan of Dan Deacon, having loved his
Bromst album, but fallen out of touch as of
late, mainly due to seeing him perform live a few times, which has been, in my
experience, lack-luster and cripplingly awkward due to his annoying insistence on
crowd-participation. Sooo, given that history, I timidly caught his first night-time
show from outside the Galaxy Barn. Which to my surprise turned out to be really
great!
Since the
festival vibe at Pickathon is much more…. (how to put this…) of an easy-going, participatory vibe, the
antics worked, and worked incredibly well. At one point he started a high-five
war, challenging everyone to see who could achieve the most high-fives during
the song, which went ok inside the
Barn for a bit. But outside, completely
unbeknownst to Mr. Deacon himself, the high-fiving spiraled out of control into
a wild torrent of high-fives that went on-and-on spreading like some kind of
mania. I know that probably sounds lame to read, but it was wild to see in
person.
He even
managed to successfully pull-off some very difficult emotional pleas (Black
Lives Matter) and many political rants (Healthcare, etc, and a funny rant about
the Metric System) which bordered on over-the-top banter. That type of stuff is
difficult to deliver without totally killing the vibe, but most of it went off
without a hitch, to which I give props. (Although I would have preferred a
dialed-down version.)
The apparent word-of-mouth about that 1st show, led to another high-participation
successful show at the Woods Stage, which was also fun. Oh, and some of the new
material sounds pretty good, so my interest in Dan Deacon has been restored!
I like the
Small Town Heroes album by this band, so
I was excited to see them. The set was good and the performance was good. Even
made me feel emotional at one point during “The Body Electric”. But somehow I
left after this show feeling like I am kinda over this band, and I don’t really know
why. Didn’t expect that. haha!
I’ve been
wanting to see this (previously-from) Seattle band for a while, and they
delivered! Surf Rock is hard to not enjoy, but they really nailed it.
Supported, of course, by the stunning visuals of the Treeline Stage’s lighting
effects. A beautiful visual and auditory treat. Their latest release,
Weirdo Shrine, is a great album.
Caught this
set. She and her lyrics were dark, morbid, and comical at times. It was odd in
a novel way, and surprising in the shock-factor. If her intention was to get
people’s attention, it worked. (or maybe that is just the way she is?). Either
way, I’ll be checking out this music some more, to try to understand what is
going on here. haha.
I have since found her album
Beyond The Bloodhounds to be an enthralling and impressive 1st album. Check it out! Seriously good.
I caught at least
some of one of these sets, and I remember thinking it was alright, but it didn’t
really make an impression either way, so I dunno what that really says.
Since this festival I have had the
Singing Saw album on heavy rotation, and love it. I wish I had known this album prior to catching this show, b/c it would have changed everything.
I caught
this late-night set, and thought it seemed really lame.
I caught
this late-night set, and thought it sounded lame and more lame. This is not my
type of music. I gave it a try and reaffirmed that I don’t need to give this
band any more of my time.
An Aside About the The Feral Children of Pickathon
Another thing that I was marveling at this year is the absolutely fascinating co-existence of the festival-children along with the average festival-goer. This is a very family-friendly festival; the kind of festival that a previously unencumbered veteran festival-goer would frequent once they have spawned offspring; toting the whole family along for a magical weekend of camping in the woods with thousands of weirdos. Therefore this festival has a fair share of dirt-covered feral children that litter the sides of the wooded trails, peddling wares, busking for change, and generally running completely wild. The entrepreneurial spirit of these kids is incredible. Someone should do a documentary on these kids and there money-making schemes. I don't mean any of this in a negative way. It is seriously fascinating. The level of freedom that the parents grant their children is astonishing and honestly refreshing.
Most impressive is that those kids can coexist amongst thousands of other festival-goers who have a completely different experience, but who share a common goal: a childlike carefree appreciation for uninhibited fun.
These two groups exist together seemingly uninhibited by one another. It's as if they exist on the same plane, but as if they are on different dimensions, which don't overlap. (the interaction of the parents and the kids is likely a different story).
A festival weekend must be an amazing weekend for a kid, and it must really have a major impact on them. I imagine that once grown-up, festival children must look back and marvel at their naiveté about the goings-on around them during their childhood music festival attendance. haha.
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| The Hammock area at the Woods Stage |
Another rave about the Treeline Stage Design
While 2014’s Treeline Stage was really cool, this year’s Treeline Stage was really aesthetically pleasing, especially when lit up with colorful kaleidoscopic lights. The structure was built of 1,280 2x4 pieces. Major props to this year’s Portland State University’s School of Architecture for designing such a brilliant structure and having the forethought to consider how the stage-lighting would mesh with the texture of the structure to make a beautifully visually-rewarding experience for my brain. Thanks! This rendering shows that they had thought the visual appeal through.
“Like its two eponymous predecessors, the structure will leave no trace once the festival is over, except in the memories of the attendees who will have the chance to experience its beauty. All its components will be re-purposed and reused, making minimal to no impact on the site or on the waste stream.”
Anyway, in summary, another great festival! The best festival!
