9 Great Moments from the Sasquatch Festival

Kings of Leon / Photo by Alex Crick

Hockey
Like MGMT? How about CSS or the Klaxons? Well, meet your new favorite band: Portland, OR's Hockey. These youngsters' Sunday afternoon set on the festival's smaller "Wookie" stage showcased dance-tastic funk with bright synths, Kool and the Gang bass, and frontman Benjamin Grubin's sly croon. Get to know these guys -- they'll be around a while.

Of Montreal:
The psychedelic crazies put on one hell of a visual spectacle -- they dressed up in animal costumes, multi-colored capes, and headdresses, and played before a huge overhead screen, which showed images of everything from tigers to rotary telephones to lipless women. But their cover of Prince's "Computer Blue" was the real standout. Frontman Kevin Barnes barked the lyrics about the Purple One's love life, bounced along to the rhythms, and shredded through the tune's crunchy, fuzzy riffs, leading the band in the song's many twists and turns. Forget the visuals, this was without a doubt the trippiest moment.

Fleet Foxes:
Their Sasquatch set in '08 was gorgeous, and a year later, even without new music to showcase, their show was just as impressive, if not more so. Frontman Robin Pecknold, who usually sits in a chair while performing, even took the opportunity to stand. His voice was spot-on and the band handled their instruments with the comfy confidence of old time rockers. Pastoral, folky music, plus the stench of weed smoke, plus a gigantic, mountain vista with rivers, cliffs, and a glowing skyline equals perfection. Eat it up hippies.

St. Vincent:
"Really, it's not you. It's me." Brooklyn's waif guitar virtuoso St. Vincent, a.k.a. Annie Clark, was apologizing to the crowd. It was her fourth attempt to start "Marry Me," and she's already instructed her fans to clap in 2/4-time, asked them to stop, then started the song by herself, but stopped because she "was playing just wayyyyy too fast." She's determined to get it right. "Okay, okay, okay, here it goes. I'll get it this time, then you guys start clapping." Everything the girl does -- even her onstage fuck ups -- are cute. She's the Tinkerbell of indie rock.

Erykah Badu:
She was the lineup's odd one out. And by the time she took the stage late on Monday night, the crowd on the hillside looked to be about half what it was the night before. But that didn't stop Badu, whose smoky cool on tracks like "On and On" was a treat to those who stuck around. Also, props go to her crack band, which included jazz guitar and four backup singers. Their swagger got the remaining concertgoers dancing -- including a dreadlocked girl who spun in a glow-in-the-dark hula-hoop for the entire set.