Sasquatch 2008 Day One

For the first time in it's seven-year history, the Sasquatch Music Festival stretched over a full three days. Memorial Day might not sound like an appropriate excuse to party, but with nearly 100 artists and comedians sharing three stages, our American neighbours and hosts did a fine job of demonstrating how to properly celebrate a long weekend.

I arrived at the Gorge in time to catch Dengue Fever, who were finishing their early afternoon main stage set. The band's '60s garage-inspired tunes weren't especially fresh, but Chhom Nimol's vocals — delivered in her native Khmer about 90 per cent of the time — added an interesting international twist.

Sticking with the worldly theme, Beirut followed on the main stage. The band were tight, but Zach Condon's eastern European-flavoured melodies are better suited to a darkened nightclub than an enormous stage under a blazing sun.

Kathleen Edwards was the first in a run of Canadian acts on day one. Taking to the Wookie stage, Edwards' sweet-sounding songs are best described as Americana, but she still represented her home and native land via some mid-set banter (and accompanying lyrical name checking) about former pro hockey player Marty McSorley.

Destroyer hit the Wookie stage next. The absence of anything from 2006's Rubies may have disappointed some fans, but following a selection of the best tunes from the recent Trouble In Dreams, with a raucous rendition of "Hey, Snow White" wasn't such a bad way to craft a set.

Dan Bejar proved that in addition to being one of the country's finest songwriters, he's a hell of a sprinter. Mere minutes after he finished fronting Destroyer's Wookie stage set, the wild-haired troubadour joined the rest of The New Pornographers — who had already been rocking the main stage for a solid 40 minutes — to lend his pipes to a run-through of "Myriad Harbour." Bejar's last-minute appearance was impressive, but it was a cover of Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down" that made the set. In fact, if it weren't for the next main stage act, the tongue-in-cheek homage might have made the entire day.

M.I.A. , who was blocked from her Sasquatch debut last year when U.S. Customs denied her entry into the country, made up for her previous absence with what may have been the performance of the weekend. It's often difficult for artists to connect with sprawling festival crowds, but the Sri Lankan songstress ensured that at least some fans were able to get up close and personal, and invited about 50 of them to join her on stage for the last part of her set. While she couldn't cram everyone up there, the crowd participation factor was in full effect, as thousands of hands mimed along to the gunshots from the chorus of closer "Paper Planes."

As M.I.A. cleared the main stage for Modest Mouse, Okkervil River were doing their thing up on the Wookie stage. They finished with the one-two punch of "For Real" and "Westfall," both of which were much heavier sound than their recorded counterparts.

The Breeders closed the Wookie stage and pulled fairly equally from their four LP catalogue. While their new material wasn't quite as compelling as the classics from Last Splash, the oldies were more than enough reason to stick around. "Cannonball" was one of the festival's highlights.

Overcast skies loomed over Sasquatch for almost all of Saturday, but they mercifully refrained from opening until the end of the first day. The heavens apparently have a beef with R.E.M. , because they decided to dampen the mood for the veteran band's headlining performance. The weather didn't stop Michael Stipe and company from proving they've still got it, though. Diehards were rewarded with live rarities like "Ignoreland" and "Life And How To Live It." The more casual fans in the audience were treated to hits like "Orange Crush" and "Losing My Religion" between tracks from the band's most recent offering, Accelerate. And, a little rain couldn't possibly drown out the crowd-pleasing and set-closing "Man On The Moon."