2008 Sasquatch! Music Festival - Day Two

After a great start to the festival with a outstanding first day filled with solid performances from REM and MIA, day two continued picked up right where it left off the night before, rain and all. Luckily the rain subsided just before the first acts of the started and gave way to some beautiful weather that lasted throughout the day.

The lineup was heavy on the alt/indie rock with So Cal's own Cold War Kids bringing their bluesy-rock sound to the northwest. Also delivering, as they did at Coachella, was the sister duo of Tegan And Sara. And the lone hip hop act on the main stage, Seattle's own Blue Scholars, held their own with their brand of conscience hip hop.

One of the true standout performances came from Death Cab For Cutie. Playing in the sunset spot the little local favorite, Death Cab For Cutie, who's recent release Narrow Stairs debuted at #1 on the charts, continued their upward musical expanse. Many of the new tracks off Narrow Stairs feature deep, layered melodies that sounded great in the Amphitheater setting. Before playing the dark, expansive single "I Will Posses Your Heart," Ben Gibbard shouted "I am so fucking excited to see the Cure..."

And finally, as most everyone shared Gibbard's adoration, Robert Smith and the goth/mop/pop rockers took the stage. It has been about 4 years since the Cure last toured, yet the bands lineup (as it has the majority of it's existence) has once again changed. With this change, has come a new sound, a new almost hard rock sound, which is especially evident on the new material from their forthcoming double album. Now without a keyboardist, the style of some of their staples has changed as well, many of the old keyboard melodies are played on the guitar now, giving them a heavier feel. The massive two and a half hour set included songs from every era of the band, heavy on tracks from Disintigration, and the band even closed with a rare performance the song that started it all, "Killing An Arab." Robert Smith, no matter what he looks like on stage, can still sing, he may not have the range that he used to but you know it is Robert Smith singing. As a band, the Cure, showed that even so deep in a career with so many hits they can still deliver and put on a memorable show.