So, here we go:
Saturday - we got in the venue (after waiting at security for over an hour, and still managing to bring in tons of booze and party favors) just as Ozomatli was starting. I always love an Ozo show and this was no exception. Loved hearing newer stuff and danced my ass off.

Neko Case - boring as hell, singing was off key several times. Decent voice but nothing to get your panties in a bunch for.

Ghostland Observatory - Rad! Very retro, obviously don't take themselves too seriously. Loved the fuzzed out beats and the singer's got great stage presense.

Grizzly Bear - Need a new name, if you call your band Grizzly Bear you should fuckin' rawk. They did not.

Beasties - Great show, even though the sound sucked (actually the only set that sounded good all weekend was Bjork, imo, the sound techs at this fest are incompetent) Billed as an instrumental set, but wasn't, which was fine but I was a little disappointed, I wanted to hear funky shit like the In Sounds from Way Out all night. The encore was dope though, enough people left that boogie space up front was abundant.

Arcade Fire - Most hyped band on the planet. No soul, crap singing, two violins and not one violin solo? what is that about? Sound was so muddled I couldn't pick out any single instrument. Too bad we had to sit through this tirade of noise to get to the reason we came...

Bjork - I've been listening to Bjork for many years and this was my first show. I was hoping for more than she could possibly give, but she gave it all and then some. I've never seen a singer who sounds just as good live as in the studio. The stage show was sweet, and I loved being able to see the electronic wizards do their stuff. The horns were great and I loved the new arrangements of older songs. Bjork was just as adorable as always, dancing around and smiling ever so seductively. She really seemed to enjoy herself. This set was worth the trip from Eugene.

Sunday:
Tried to get in for Blackalicious, but again with lines and security it didn't happen.

Bad Brains - Loved the reggae, hated the punk. Sat down and got our drink on.

Polyphonic Spree - One of the other main draws for us, so it was a bummer to have their set cut short. Sasquatch's website had warned us of wind 2 days before we left Oregon. We were prepared, why weren't they?

Smoosh - Well, they're like 13 and sound like it, cool to see kids play, but it would've been cooler to see kids rock out. Novelty act at best.

Spoon - Only saw a couple songs, since they made the announcement that Spearhead was going to play at 9:00, they were okay, but really not much there.

Dandy Warhols - Pop rock, not too exciting, the most fun thing about their set was the impromptu jump rope blanket in the crowd.

Spearhead - Well, we wandered over to the Wookie stage and waited, and waited, and waited, missing interpol in the process. Finally left the stage before they even started so we could get a spot for the Beasties. Disappointing.

Beasties - Ummm, why do I want to see the same show 2 nights in a row? They played a few songs that they didn't on Sat. but mostly it was the same set. Fun, dancable, high energy and the crowd was diggin' it, but I was a little let down. I thought the Beasties were gonna do an instrumental set Sat. and something completely different on Sun. I was wrong.

Polyphonic Spree late night - This was unexpected and awesome. The spree are great in a smaller setting and put a huge smile on my face. A little tired after the long day, but a great way to end the weekend.

That's it for the music, here's the rest:

Sarah Silverman - WTF? I didn't see her at all, my girlfriend saw her for about 2 minutes and said she seemed hammered. Uh, if you're hosting a show, shouldn't you be on the stage? And especially during the wind induced break. It would've been nice to have some entertainment other that trying to kick a hacky sack on a hill in the wind.

$10 Coors Light - Ridiculous, is there some sort of shortage of shitty beer in Washington that I don't know about? That's the only valid reason I could see for beer being so expensive.

$4-6 water - see above. The Gorge needs to treat their PAYING CUSTOMERS with some respect.

No re-entry - Again, some respect is needed. We paid $120 to camp, let us go back and change, nap, eat, drink. 3 hours with no music on the mainstage and we couldn't even go back to our camp to wait it out. This is the only festival with camping that I've ever been to that doesn't allow you to go back to your temporary home during the day.

Communication - On the Gorge's website it states that vehicles won't be allowed to leave the campgrounds and come back. But, that's what our neighbors did both days. If we'd have known that we could leave and go swimming, we definitely would have taken advantage of it. Also, I went to get a $100 camping pass from ticketbastard like it said to do on the website and they weren't selling them anymore. Update the website with information like this. No Ice at the campgrounds was also stupid and the lady running the store even said she has asked for an ice trailer and the Gorge won't give her one. Are they trying to get us to buy more food? Every employee I talked to throughout the weekend said they were going to quit, and hate the way the place is run. Livenation needs to get its shit together.

All in all we had a fun time, but won't be going back to the Gorge until they start treating us with the respect that nearly all other festivals do. Bjork was the shit and the Beasties were fun. Wish we could've seen Blackalicious, the Slip, Helio Sequence, Interpol, Manu Chao, Spearhead, Mirah and Sarah Silverman. Seems like we paid a lot and didn't get too much in return. Oh well, in the end we got to see Bjork and that made the whole trip worthwhile.

keep groovin'
Domino Holster