Saturday at Pickathon was dominated by some stellar performances on the Woods Stage, starting off with the painfully adorable Laura Gibson. The woods provided a cool respite after a brutally hot day, and were a welcome solace for weary festivalgoers.
Gibson is the quintessential Oregonian musician. The daughter of a logger and a kindergarten teacher, she grew up in rural Oregon, fostering a love of music at a young age. Her brand of folk floats through the air on the wings of a delicate voice and some killer arrangement and song writing. Gibson, however, is first and foremost a musician, not a performer. The simple facts that her music is gorgeous and her backing band is incredibly talented were the saving grace to a somewhat lackluster performance.
Alela Diane was a high point on Saturday in the Woods. Fresh off the plane from London, Diane apologized for her lack of a drummer. Apparently, the poor guy’s flight got canceled and he was on a plane back to the U.S. at that very moment. Despite this pitfall, Diane put on a spirited performance. After the first song, she brought her dad up on stage to help on guitar and backing vocals. Her sound was rich, and rife with perfect harmonies. Between songs, she chatted up the audience a bit and her bassist even tried his hand at beat boxing. What truly won over the crowd though was Diane’s voice; it’s the type that makes everything else around it melt away into oblivion.
Breathe Owl Breathe also played the fabulous Woods Stage on Saturday evening. The set opened with Andréa Moreno-Beals’ chill-inducing cello on the beautiful “Drop and Roll.” In his soothing baritone, Micah Middaugh sang lyrics characteristic of the band’s brainy and self-reflective style. “Well I tried to wake it, I tried to break in, I tried to lay it down by the river. Even the river wondered: ‘Which side are you on?’”
Breathe Owl Breathe has some of the most thoughtful lyrics around, but the band by no means takes itself too seriously. It’s as though they’re pushing you through the darkness on a boat made of quirk. Before starting “Do You Remember Dancing on a Boat?”, Middaugh directed the crowd in the “thigh slap dance,” a throwback to the days of pre-school. The crowd slapped its thighs to make rain sounds as Middaugh sang, “Do you remember dancing on a boat? We weren’t scared. Were we?” On “Run Off,” Middaugh led the crowd in a “woo-haw” callback sing-a-long as he sang about the water rising slowly over him. Who knew drowning could be so much fun?
Never has an act achieved such poignancy while keeping everything so light. Part Penguin Café Orchestra, part Joni Mitchell, Breathe Owl Breathe gave one of the best performances of the festival.
Back in the Galaxy Barn, Joe Pug was strumming up a storm like a modern-day Bob Dylan. His music is an example of everything right with country-influenced rock today. His voice bounced between nasally growls and gentle whispers, with so much longing and emotion in between. His guitar and harmonica parts were simple, but moving. Pug himself was a riveting guy to watch and was more than friendly to his audience. He stopped to tell those watching about his first impression of Oregon and made everyone in the barn hum the Jeopardy theme song while he scrambled to change a guitar string on stage. An admirer of Elliott Smith, he did a wonderful cover of Smith’s “Angelas.” Towards the end, he was having such a good time that he handed out his CDs to anyone who came up to him to talk after the set until he ran out.
Pickathon has such a varied lineup, you’d have to hide in your tent all weekend not to discover and enjoy an act you’ve never heard. One of these acts was C.W. Stoneking and his Primitive Horn Orchestra. A tall man dressed all in white with a red bowtie, Stoneking flew the 2000 miles from Australia to perform in Oregon. His band was unable to acquire visas, so Portland darlings Pink Martini joined Stoneking on trumpet, trombone and tuba.
Stoneking’s milkman attire combined with his high and tight blonde hair portrayed an image diametrically opposed to his dark, meandering songs. We were enthralled as Stoneking picked on his banjo and mumbled his way through “Jungle Lullaby,” a song ostensibly about heat and craziness. He explained his next song, “I’m Going to the Country,” as the transcript of a conversation he had with himself while living alone in a farmhouse years back. Though a creepier vibe was expected, the song turned out to be funny and catchy.
While Dr. Dog played on the main stage, country music loyalists gathered in the Galaxy Barn to watch John Doe play with The Sadies. Doe’s songs reinforce Richard Ford’s assertion that some people are just meant to experience the highest moments of their lives in bars. His protagonists are wrecking balls and snowballs waiting for hell. Accompanied by the extraordinary Sadies, John Doe sang songs to include every type of drunk, from the lovelorn to the murderously jealous.
In “The Cold Hard Facts of Life,” a song depicting a husband’s brutal murder of his wife and her lover, Doe sang, “I guess I’ll go to hell or I’ll rot here in this cell. But who taught me the cold hard facts of life? Who taught who the cold hard facts of life?” The crowd danced and hollered along as Doe and bassist Dallas Good sang in tandem. This was country at its finest—music that puts every emotion and taboo right there on the table.
Perhaps the highlight of this set was witnessing Jesse Fiske of The Hackensaw Boys watch in awe from the wings. Not only did Pickathon provide a forum for fans to admire their favorite bands, it also gave those bands a chance to admire the masters.
DOWNLOAD: Alela Diane - Age Old Blues (MP3) or Follow us for more Alela Diane MP3s (Twitter)
Ugh. Paste’s profile of Free Energy made me kind of hate them. So does your review. It’s this unctuous defense of good-time rock-and-roll ("we’re just here to party, and we’re awesome!") that seems more self-serving than fun-loving.
by beth on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.41 pm from the entry: Foreign Born + Free Energy - The Knitting Factory (Brooklyn, NY; Mar. 12, 2010)
that inescapable feeling you are referring to, is that like when you hear something and you could have sworn you heard it before because of the nostalgic catchy quality? or is is like when you’ve heard a band exactly like said band?
great post by the way!
by paul on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 03.15 pm from the entry: The Novel Ideas - "The Sky Is A Field" - Borrow It
Whoa! I had no idea she was enegaged. You would never know with the way she behaves! Wow!
by art on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.48 am from the entry: Nikki Darlin and John McCauley: 1+1=1
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
By the way, I really liked the mp3 posted. Thanks.
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “Picture yourself coasting your bike past space funk palm trees, homeless harpists, vintage video arcades, electronic drum circles, and 60s psychedelic singers who’re waiting for the bus. Cosmogramma is kinda like that if someone suddenly tripped you just as you’re starting to enjoy the ride. But in a good way.””
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
wow pickathon looks really cool. I might have to check it out one of these years....
great shots of the Breathe Owl Breathe kids. Those capes and the Saber Tooth Tiger act sure got the attention of the folks in Juneau, AK.
I really believe that Pickathon is one of the premiere festivals in the country. While it does not have the monster-headliners of bigger fests (see Zale’s interview), nor the pure volume/variety of SXSW, it is so well run, the people are unbelievably friendly (audience and staff alike), and its setting is fun and unique, that it makes for an incredible experience. And the lineup is usually pretty sweet too.
Great pictures! Sorry I missed it. Those shots with the sun hitting the foliage in the background are beautiful.