Renee McMahon

The xx played the Sasquatch! Music Festival at the Gorge on Sunday, May 30.

​Here's what we brought back from Sasquatch! 2010 on Sunday, May 30:

-- Photos of Public Enemy, Pavement, Massive Attack, and More
-- Sunday: Peeps & Scenes
-- Anyone Else a Little Taken Aback By All the Warpaint and Feathers?
-- Notes & Photos: Tune-Yards, LCD Soundsystem, Dirty Projectors, Pavment, The xx, and The Long Winters On the Dead
-- Avi Buffalo's Rough Set Not Without Promise

Check back all weekend long for Reverb's coverage of Sasquatch! 2010. And see how you can contribute to our coverage.

Here are a few more of Renee McMahon's photos from Sasquatch! 2010 at the Gorge on Sunday, May 30. Check back all weekend long for Reverb's coverage of Sasquatch! 2010. And see how you can contribute to our coverage.

Renee McMahon

Public Enemy

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Renee McMahon

Massive Attack

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Renee McMahon

​Here's a look for some more of the photos Renee McMahon has shaken out of her bag from Sunday at Sasquatch.

Check back all weekend long for Reverb's coverage of Sasquatch! 2010. And see how you can contribute to our coverage.

Renee McMahon

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Renee McMahon

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​We are, after all, in an area of the country rich with Native American heritage, and the outfits du jour at Sasquatch! this year appears to be anything related to the kind of American Indian image painted by white oppressors of Native Americans. I understand we still live in the world of Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins, but this seems like a step backward, right?

Among the responses I got when I asked those dressed up what the deal was:

"It's what we're about."

"Why not?"

"Chief Seattle, baby! Chief Seattle!"

Check back all weekend long for Reverb's coverage of Sasquatch! 2010. And see how you can contribute to our coverage.

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Renee McMahon

LCD Soundsystem played the Sasquatch! Music Festival at the Gorge on Sunday, May 30.

​Check back all weekend long for Reverb's coverage of Sasquatch! 2010. And see how you can contribute to our coverage.

The Long Winters, 2:15 p.m.(ish), Sasquatch! Mainstage: Sure, we're biased, but The Long Winters closing with a cover of the Dead's "Touch of Grey," scratched us where we itched. It was one of the sneakiest, most well-played covers in recent memory. There was something strangely appropriate about this elder statesman of indie rock wiping the floor with an (almost) straight-faced, hippie cover.

Tune-Yards, 3:10 p.m.(ish), Yeti Stage: Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus built her thick, inventive hip-hop/folk-inspired sound by looping herself singing, her drum sticks clinking against her mic stand, and banging on a floor tom, whipping the crowd into a frenzy in the process. It was an epic example of making more out of less, and is exactly the kind of ingenuity that Shabazz Palaces could do well to bring to their show.

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Renee McMahon

Avi Buffalo played the Sasquatch! Music Festival on Sunday, May 30 at the Gorge.

​Who: Avi Buffalo
When: 4:15(ish)
Where: Yeti Stage

"It's been a long tour," said Avi Zahner-Isenberg, frontman of Sub Pop's Avi Buffalo, during his mid-afternoon set, Sunday. "You could probably tell."

Actually, it felt more like the band were playing together for the first time. The festival gear and mix could have accounted for the accentuated squeek in Zahner-Isenberg's voice, but there are no good excuses for the awkward and clumsy moments that prevented the set from ever taking off. Between songs, Zahner-Isenberg fell into a grating pattern of saying, "thank you guys so much for having us" (at least 10 times), announcing the song that they were about to rip into, and then pausing, and taking a minute or two to tune. It put a stop to any momentum before it could get started.

But the band's rough set was not without promise. The highlight of the set came during the too-short jam at the end of "Summer Cum." Zahner-Isenberg's guitar playing--more like tinkering and noodling at this point-- is reminiscent of King of Leon guitarist Matthew Followill's playing on his bands first two records. KOL's ascent from playing sparse festival sets (Lollapalooza 2003) to headlining the Gorge (July 17, 2010) was contemporaneous with Followill's development as a guitarist. It would be no surprise if Avi Buffalo's career trajectory--if not pointing toward arenas--hinged on Zahner-Isenberg's progression as a guitarist as well.

Ironing out the kinks between songs wouldn't hurt, either.

Check back all weekend long for Reverb's coverage of Sasquatch! 2010. And see how you can contribute to our coverage.

More photos after the jump.

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Renee McMahon

My Morning Jacket closed out Saturday May 29 at Sasquatch! 2010.

​Here's what we brought back from Sasquatch! 2010 on Saturday, May 29:

-- Shabazz Palaces, and the Festival's First Seriously Disappointing Set
-- Your View at the Gorge Is Now Obstructed By a Huge Black Garbage Bag
-- Notes: OK Go, Edward Sharpe, Fool's Gold, and Brad
-- The National's Live Set Stands Up Against Its Records
-- Posies, Peeps, Broken Social Scene, and Other Loose Photos
-- Vampire Weekend Plays To Its Base, and a Neko Case Boycott

Check back all weekend long for Reverb's coverage of Sasquatch! 2010. And see how you can contribute to our coverage.

More My Morning Jacket photos after the jump.

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Renee McMahon

Vampire Weekend played the Sasquatch! Music Festival at the Gorge on Saturday, May 29.

​Who: Vampire Weekend
When: 8:30 p.m.(is), Saturday, May 29
Where: Sasquatch! Mainstage

Nothing more needs to be said about Vampire Weekend's set than what the kid who bummed a cigarette from me said: "Now, if you want to get a whole bunch of white people dancing like morons, that's the band. And I was in there dancing like a moron."

This kid also almost got himself thrown out for being too drunk. He said he was interrogated by some officials, but talked himself out of getting tossed because he could answer their sobriety quiz: What band is playing the mainstage tonight? (Answer: My Morning Jacket.)

Also, this kid has been boycotting Neko Case since her Sasquatch! set was rained out in 2006. He knows he'd like her new stuff, but won't listen to it. And he won't go to her shows. It's like he blames her for the storm. Or something.

After we stood up and were parting ways, I guy walked up to the kid and asked, "Hey man, can I bum a cigarette." "No," the kid says, "but Chris does."

Thanks, dude!

​Ape Machine, with Sirens Sister, Armed With Legs. Jewelbox/Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., 441-5823. 10 p.m. It's no profound observation to call Ape Machine a throwback. The Portland five-piece indulges in smoking licks and rugged riffage learnt from the most bluesiest of stoner psych, while the overdramatic reach of singer Caleb Heinze was forged from the mythological fires of classic rock. The self-released debut This House Has Been Condemned is a flat-out juggernaut, seeming to fell whole forests and cities in its path. Such monster rock can come off silly these days, but Ape Machine answers its cartoonish name with a heartfelt sound. Like Earl Greyhound and some of Jack White's ventures, the band resurrects the bluster of yesteryear's rock gods with no apologies. DOUG WALLEN

Here's a look for some more of the photos Renee McMahon has shaken out of her bag from Saturday at Sasquatch.

Check back all weekend long for Reverb's coverage of Sasquatch! 2010. And see how you can contribute to our coverage.

Renee McMahon

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Renee McMahon

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Renee McMahon

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