SASQUATCH

By about 5pm yesterday, the whole trip was worth it. At risk of sounding like a histrionic fanboy, everything I've heard about the Arcade Fire live is true, and then some. Their set yesterday, Saturday afternoon at the Sasquatch Music Festival in the Gorge Ampitheater, was without a doubt one of the highlight musical experiences I've ever had. In the middle of a blistering day in the desert of central Washington, these 7 Canadians in formal wear, buttoned to the neck more often than not, dressed for a funeral, went into the red from the very first notes of the opener "Wake Up." By the first chorus of Whooooooaaaa--Ohhhhh's, I knew this show was gonna hit me like a board to the head. Thwack. And it did.

It was a very very long day, but by and large the quality of shows made up for the heat and the price gouging. Early sets by Bloc Party and Ray Lamontagne were both fantastic, though the former was plagued by technical difficulties. Lamontagne may will be my own biggest discovery of the weekend, as every tune he played seemed like something I will often want to listen to at home. He's got a great voice and he uses it to full effect without getting too bogged down in it.

After the Arcade Fire blew the whole show apart, I wondered how Wilco would ever follow it. But they did, and very well. They came out and did their own thing, which is a very different thing from the Arcade Fire, and it was outstanding from front to back. Muzzle of Bees and Spiders (Kidsmoke) opened the set, which leaned heavily on the new record.

Kanye West put on a good show, though live rap to me is always a bit odd and underwhelming. But it gave me a chance to go sit down and rest up for the evening.

Modest Mouse, possibly getting the most excitement out of the crowd, kinda sucked, as they've been known to. They started late, wandered onstage after a half hour, and went through the motions on a few lame tracks--Float On, Dramamine, and a few of his Tom-Waits-impersonation banjo tunes. Crap. I made my way back up to my seat in the grass just in time for him to turn it up a bit and get serious, and the last half hour of the set was far better. Still, though, little Isaac is a bit of a petulant primadonna, and I find it harder and harder to forgive his live lameness. For fuck's sake, there are like 7 people in the band, including a totally superfluous second drummer, and they sound hollower than when they were a trio. Disappointing.

The headliners, The Pixies, however, did not fail to please. All business, they came out and thrashed our asses for a solid hour and a half, not talking, not doing anything but playing their asses off. Great set.

So Sasquatch was a great time, and I'd even consider going back again, even though I thought I was done with such giganto-festivals. A show like The Arcade Fire can change your mind about a lot of things.

Testing

We ran a beta of the BCRP webcast this weekend. I can't say for sure whether it went well or not, but I know that for a while we were on the air. Or on the web. Whatever. I've been having some machinery issues at home, so I was only able to upload a single set of tracks with no voiceovers or PSAs attached to it. Got some good tunes up there, but that's about as far as it went.

And now, in the wake of that, we're possibly changing direction from Live365 hosting our library to our broadcasting, essentially, live from a studio. Where that studio will be is as yet unknown, but Jeff is seriously looking into monitors and a mixing board and mikes and all that hardware, like for a real live studio.

Also, the acronym PD has been floating around a bit lately, pushed gently in my direction. Program Director. Thing is, I don't know what the job is all about. I'm interested, to be sure, but not sure if I'm capable. But then being capable is just a matter of learning the job and what it entails and putting the time in. Interesting, though. We'll see.

Dangerous Thoughts

What started out as a simple set of blog entries on a long weekend visit to Austin has turned into something more complicated. Basically, I had a great time down there and have been plunged into a whirlpool of doubt and second guessing about where I am now and why I ever left there in the first place.

At present, we have no plans to return to Austin permanently. But I find it interesting and a little worrying that both Cathy and I are talking about it fairly often. I think she had the same experience when she went to Austin in March for SXSW.

We love Boise in many ways. We've made a few good friends here, we have a nice house in a good spot, we both have decent jobs that pay the bills, and we have access to more of the wide-open Western outdoors than we could ever have imagined. That's what got us here in the first place. But lately, it seems, we're missing the things we gave up when we moved more than we're enjoying the things we gained. I find that in Austin I have stronger connections to people, Eric and Harlan specifically but others more generally, than I've been able to forge here. Perhaps that's my resistance, but more I think it's having common interests. Art and music are on the backburner in this town. People don't pay much attention to it except as a diversion. That's unacceptable to me.

Anyway, we're still sorting all this out. I doubt we're going anywhere, but I can't stop thinking what if. What if.

AUSTIN

Back from Austin. Brain and legs hurt. Stomach in knots.

What a fantastic time.

As expected, my visit back to wonderful Austin, TX was about as much fun as my 35-year-old body can handle these days. We ate, we drank, we rode, and we took in as much music as we could. It was exactly the trip I wanted--and more importantly, it was exactly the trip I needed. I feel refreshed, recharged. My scowl is gone. My brain feels lighter.

I'd been having a tough time of it here in Boise lately. I feel disconnected--or, more accurately, unconnected. But being in Austin for a long weekend got me thinking like myself again. Unfortunately, it got me thinking in ways that may not help me stay here in Boise for the long term, but better to realize and deal with that than to just keep making myself be happy somewhere I don't want to be. But, that's the stuff for another entry.

Now: The trip started off perfectly, rolling from the airport in Eric's car (beer and hitter handed off dutifully as ever, as soon as I took the passenger seat) to Polvo's, one of my favorite Tex Mex joints, where the parking lot and patio were jammed with beer-drinking locals and a Mariachi band was pumping the tunes out in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Perfect. Before I knew it I had a Negro Modelo in my hand and was catching up with Harlan, Eric, and Kodi, and was meeting Eric's new girlfriend Wendy.

The first food to hit my tastebuds in Austin was a tortilla chip dunked in Polvo's legendary black salsa. Appropriate, and amazingly delicious. Dinner that night, not eaten til long about 10pm, was a plate of al pastor that I'd been dreaming about eating for weeks now. And it only got better from there. The weekend included visits to Juan in a Million (Don Juan taco and machacado taco for breakfast), Hai Ky (eye of round and meatball pho), and Cooper's Barbecue (so much meat it'd be disgusting to list it here). Ate like a champ.

And drank like one too. Loads of Shiner Bock filled my belly daily, watching the likes of Rilo Kiley, The Ponys, The Gourds, and a handful of other bands. It was good to be surrounded by people who give a shit about music. It was great, actually.

Rode my legs into dust as well. Had a couple great mountain bike rides, one in Travis Country on the Greenbelt, one at Broken Oak Ranch in Valley Mills, and a long road roade around the rolling hills of Austin. Spent a good day out at Wendy's family's ranch in Burnet, driving and hiking around with a cooler full of Tecates.

It felt good to be there. To sit and read at Flipnotics, to have lunch with Harold and catch up on his life, to hang with the Yeti for probably the last time, and just to sit on Eric's front porch and be.

It's tough to adjust to being back, but I know I'm happier now, more pleasant to be around. It's been difficult since returning from our trip abroad in December to readjust and make myself engage here. I don't know what it is. I feel sort of hanging, lost out on my own in the midst of a place where I don't quite connect with people. That's not gone, but at least I feel good for now. Boise's a great place--I just wonder if it's the right place for me.

For now, it will have to be. But it's good to know that the future's not all locked up. It never is--sometimes it just takes some reminding to realize it.