The Revy Assault on Sasquatch

Sasquatch is a 4 day festival held at The Gorge in the state of Washington, which is an amazingly beautiful setting. During the winter a good few months back one or two of us had just discovered the artist Matt + Kim. When the lineup for the festival got released with Matt + Kim included we simply lost our shit!! We were sold, tickets were bought, the lineup grew and grew with amazing acts from all over, more friends from Revelstoke got tickets, 2 amazing friends from home got tickets (yeah boys!! amazing).......The festival had grown to an explosion point even before it had begun!!

So on the last Thursday of May a convoy of cars headed south from Revelstoke, down through the beautiful Okanagan and across the border into the US of A, a couple more stops to take advantage of the stupid cheap prices for many needed items, a regroup in a town called Quincy and to pick up my buddy Aids who patiently waited as we were 4 hours late, and then we arrived at The Gorge!!!

The crew of people we had for the festival really made it awesome. The energy we had was unstoppable and gaurenteed such a fun time. The beers were out as soon as we arrived, we joined the tent city and the mayhem literally begun right away.

The festival started Friday avo. In the morning energy was high, beers were out and meke was introduced to the crew. This is a basic yet AWESOME dice game which involves the loser of every round usually consuming at least one full beer. As the festival went on more rules were introduced including a jail rule which enhanced the fun......and drinking!! Fridays lineup was a bit short as it didn't start till 4 but it was epic. We got in and amongst the front for this night. The Bronx put out a banging show and started the night of jumping about and banging into others, which was followed up by Death From Above who carried the mood through. However the big feature followed this. The Foo Fighters were the biggest name on the lineup and by the pushing up the front everyone was stoked they were there. Literally for 30mins before they came on you could barely raise an arm! We managed to be about 3 rows off the front for these guys, and when they came on it was so worth it!! They led with the first two tracks off their new album. 'Bridge Burning' was the opener and it was perfect, so rocky and amping!! 'Rope' followed this which goes good too. We bailed from the front to watch the show from a bit more of a relaxed posie. Foo Fighters put on a show that was a step up from anyone else that day. They were such a rocking and professional act. Taylor Hawkins rolled about a 4 or 5min drum solo which lead straight into 'Hey, Johnny Park', an absolute favorite of mine. Definite highlight, definitely stoked!! Day one was done.

Day two promised to be the day of the festival for me, and I'd have to say it did not fail! After a few beers, and more meke to get Saturday rolling we were ready. We had an amazing spot in the camp area for pre festival prep, right next to a busy road. We had people walking by, stopping and chatting and high fiving the whole time. I don't think I saw one angry or negative moment from anyone, stranger or friend for the full four days which really made it great. Anyhow, a band a few of us recently discovered was first on the list. Local Natives put on a super sweet set. Personal highlight of the festival was them banging out thier tune Who Knows Who Cares second to last and then absolutly rocking Sun Hands for their last. If you do not know these guys then give them a go!! You will not be disappointed! We caught a couple more acts at the main stage before shifting to another stage for Matt + Kim. These two were hands down my number one act to catch. Amanda and I charged in the act before and managed to get right up the front. Matt + Kim exploded and set such a happy and energized buzz which I felt set the tone for the rest of the festival. They were amazing! Saturday night ended with an experience I will never forget. A DJ by the name of Bassnectar (good name) was up. This long haired hero built up to his first bass drop of the night, when that happened the stage lights stayed dark and I would say about 5000 glowsticks were thrown up in the air as bass ripped through the crowd! It was so electric!! His set ripped. I have never seen anything like it!! We danced, we laughed, we could barely contain ourselves! Bassnectar knows the art of one man entertainment with massive bass beats and unreal visuals. But the night belonged to glowsticks......haha loved it!

Sunday started once again with more........MEKE!!! I think the beer funnel was introduced this day, and thankfuly. I lost the biggest round of the weekend.....2 and a half beers in one go was the losers take. Took me back to my uni days. I held it together.....just! Sunday held the biggest group dance for our crew when Flogging Molly came on, and Irish punk band who have been around for years. It was foot banging and jumping chaos. The whole crew hung back and had our own party right in front of the sound tent which had become our spot. By the end we had quite a few additions jumping around with us! Following Flogging Molly were Flaming Lips who I am not even going to attempt to describe their show. If you don't know them youtube them. All I will say is HOLY SHIT! I have never seen an opener quite like it, and it didn't let up! Modest Mouse was may last show for Sunday night. So good too! Yeasayer were my only disappointment at the festival, however Kiwi buddy Jeff had the call of the festival during their set. After their opener the singer announced they were going to play some new stuff to which Jeff yells back in his NZ accent "Oh, don't do that! Play something we all know!!" Nice Jeff!

By the time Monday came around the mornings were getting a bit rough. A few, including me hung off a bit, however eventually everyone was back at the MEKE table and geared good to go!! Monday was a day of surprises for me. I discovered a very cool band called Foster the People, so rad! Rodrigo Y Gabriela are a duo on accoustic guitars who turned out to be one of my best dances. They owned maninstage!! Then we saw 2 very amazing sets to finish, Skrillex and Major lazer were 2 and a half hours of mental dancing and jumping. Fair to say I couldn't hear much after that and my feet were a wreck. yeah.

All in all an amazing time. The drive home was tough. We must have looked real ratty at the border back into Canada as we got a full search done on the car. No worries though. My first multi day festival - tick. Check this list of artists I saw, if only for a few songs for some of them:

Biffy Clyro
Bob Mould
The Bronx
Death From Above 1979
Foo Fighters
Local Natives
Wolf Parade
Pink Martini
The Antlers (yawn)
MATT + KIM
The Glitch Mob
Robyn
Death Cab For Cutie
Bassnectar
Beach House
Cold War Kids
Flogging Molly
The Flaming Lips
Yeasayer
Modest Mouse
Chromeo
Guided By Voices
Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings
Foster The People
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Skrillex
Major Lazer
Wilco

An amazing festival with an amazing crew that couldn't have bought any more coolness to the game. You all made it an experience I'll never forget!

Photos top to bottom:
+A fair chunk of the crew with some new buddies from Yorkton
+Wicked lights during Major Lazer
+Me and my amazing girlfriend Amanda who bought unbelievable energy to the four days
+Main Stage with The Gorge in the background. Unreal beauty for a festival!
+Me Adrian and Hadyn, the Queenstown trio who managed to meet in Washington. Props boys!!

Mission Out East

Two Australians, a Canadian and a Kiwi, 3000km in 11 days, was always going to be a grand time!

Amanda, Soph Rob and I left 11th April. The trip began with a stop off at Subway, still in Revelstoke when I remembered I left food in the oven at home! Good start!! But better to remember here rather than 2hrs short of Calgary! But we got going a touch late to set off on our loop. Revelstoke - Medicine Hat - Yorkton - Saskatoon - Edmonton - Jasper - Revelstoke.

I was pumped, I hadn't been further east than Calgary. Many people that came from east of Calgary told me there was nothing to see, it was going to be flat and somewhat boring. It was flat but until you have seen something how can you not be super curious to see it and experience it for yourself! The trip was miles off being boring!

The purpose was for Amanda to return her trusty winter Ford Explorer to her parents and steal a very cool and economical Ford Tempo for the upcoming summer. Great trade and very generous parents!! Along the way we were to meet friends and family and generally just scope out another piece of Canada and its lifestyle.

First pullup was in Medicine Hat. We met and spent two nights with Amanda's Aunt and Uncle Alexa and Jason and their five kids. Highlights were watching the local hockey team play one night. They were going really well in the league they were in. Not to disappoint there was biff within 35seconds, and huge biff on fulltime! The atmosphere was awesome, the beers were delicious and the Tigers won. Great night! Another highlight was the tallest teepee in the world! Medicine Hat was great. Alexa and Jason made sure of that for us!

Via Moose Jaw and Swift Current where we met up with another Auntie and family of Amanda's, and her Grandparents we eventually made it to Amanda's home town of Yorkton. The 3 foreigners on the trip were made to feel very welcome and at home. Amanda's parents Angie and Chad were amazing and such a pleasure to finally meet as Amanda had told me so much about them. Angie cut straight to the chase about our plans to go to Australia! I was a bit worried about the conversation of me taking their girl away however I think(?) it went well! We met a bunch of Amanda's friends who are a bunch of great people. Food was shared, a few drinks were drunk and a whole lot of catchup took place. We stepped out to check out the nightlife one night which was a tonne of fun, with some interesting moments........there may have been a nude run home.......! Yorkton was great, Amanda's friends and family were all so kind and lovely, and it was great to see the love that surrounds Amanda.

We had a teary goodbye in Yorkton. I'm sure it was the same for Rob and Soph but I left feeling very happy to have met such a great bunch of people. From here we drove to Saskatoon to visit our wirlwind buddy Trista! We arrived late, bbq on, drinks on, all crashed out except Rob and Trista who managed to (and I still don't know how you managed!!) to get to the bar that night. Props!!

We left Trizniz and made tracks to Edmonton. West Edmonton Mall was calling. This was a huge shopping mall which the girls loved, however what made it epic was the attachment of a water park and themepark. The girls went shopping while Rob and I managed to find some black light mini golf, followed by the movies, followed by foodcourt time! Good times! We got amongst the themepark at the end of the day. Was a rad way to finish a days shopping with a couple of rollercoasters amongst other things to get amongst!

From Edmonton we went to Jasper. Jasper is north of us from here in Revelstoke but still in Alberta, it is very close to the province line of Alberta and BC. It was quite the drive heading back into the mountains. Jasper is a beautiful town and actually became a bit of a sanctuary as we were all a bit tired and run down after some abuse via booze and shitty 'on the go' food. Was a cool place to chill for a night and rest up before the most amazingly scenic drive down through the Columbia Ice-fields and the Rockies on our way back to Revelstoke. That day of driving would easily be in the top 3 drives I have ever done, if not the best! Queenstown-Glenorchy drive possibly even got beaten!! It was a great way to finish the trip. The Rockies are so different to the mountains we have in Revelstoke so we were all noses to windows for the drive. I think we were all stoked to be back in the mountains and happy to be nearing the end of the 3000km!

East was very flat, but very cool. Good to see, good to do! Also a great trip to do right before Soph left us! Good times.