Sasquatch! 2014, Day 3: Major Lazor, HAIM, Rodriguez and more

Enter Sasquatch! 2014 day 3... people enter the festival grounds slightly tired, mostly grimy with camp for 2 nights and no showers, but ready for round 3. Things started a bit mellow Sunday afternoon as clouds parted ways for more beautiful sunshine and only 1 scattered storm that nobody seemed to mind. Sunday's music schedule was absolutely stacked, without a way to time travel festival goers were bound to be making tough choices all day long as far as who they miss and who they take the time to pile to the front of the crowd for. Sunday was host to bittersweet shows like The Lonely Forest and Rodriguez - neither of whom will probably be touring that much longer as well as many rising stars, like Haim and Parquet Courts; and then you have amazing DJ sets and dance sets by Big Freedia, Tycho and Major Lazer, and of course all-star act Queens of the Stone Age. Sunday's line up presented a great variety and set of acts - each giving 110% to their performance. Read on for more on individual performances and some great photos of the day's music.

Big Scary

Big Scary are an Australian band formed in 2006. The threesome played a solid set of groovy jams perfect for 1 PM in the afternoon. This band is making strides in Australia and it's excellent that they are finally over here to play for us. People laid blankets down in the grass over at the Bigfoot stage and listed while gazing at the clouds while others drew nearer the band and focused on the music they were taking in. Altogether a lovely start to the day. (Photos by Sally Gray Mahon)

La Luz

La Luz have long been Seattle favorites among the local scene's rising acts. This 4 piece girl band's surf vibes have a cool effect on the crowds - focusing on their interactions with the crowd and making sure their set is something to remember, which it truly was. The 60s rock influenced vocals and the fuzzy guitar made for a great warm up to the day. They got people dancing - and even succeeded in getting a soul train going down the aisle from the front to the back of the crowd as people danced their way through to the front. Check out these photos of them below. (Photos by Matthew B. Thompson)

The Lonely Forest

It was a sad moment when John Van Deusen said this was The Lonely Forest's third to last show ever, the last one to take place at Bumbershoot in Seattle this Labor day weekend. But the crowd didn't waste time being sad that the days of We Sing In Time are numbered and sang along to songs that have grown to be near and dear to many a heart. The Quartet from Anacortes, WA played a great and lively set, it was easy to tell how much love and followers they have in the good ol' Pacific Northwest. During their last song even the Sasquatch! mascots took to the stage and joined in the performance as guitarist, Tony Ruland crowd surfed his way through the entire crowd and ran back on stage to finish the track strong. (Photos by Sally Gray Mahon)

Cold War Kids

Cold War kids are one of those bands that everyone loves to sing along to. So, when they took the main stage at Sasquatch! this Sunday afternoon the crowd did just that as they played through the last 8 years of their music ranging from "Hang Me Up to Dry" to "Royal Blue" and a handful of new tracks off their latest album, Miss Lonely Hearts, and a brand new non album track called "A Million Eyes" that came out last March. Cold War Kids, from Long Beach, CA., kept things tight on the main stage, using only the very center front of the stage, their set up on the gigantic main stage took up very little room, but by keeping so close together it made for a very interactive show as musician built off his fellow band mates as well as the crowd who was 100% in it the whole time all the way through the last song, St. John, which turned into a sing-along with lead singer Nathan Willett as the chorus echoed through the Gorge. Here are some photos of their performance. (Photos by Matthew B. Thompson)

Papa

Childhood friends, Darren Weiss and Danny Presant only recently joined forces to create Papa. The recording duo were joined by a live band to play a great set at the Yeti stage while Weiss sang and played the drums. The pop-rock group played through more recent tracks like "Put Me to Work" and "Young Rut" as well as older hits like "I am the Lion King". Finishing out their set with a cover of Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" which turned into a sing-along for everyone within hearing distance of the stage. Check out some photos of their performance. (photos by Matthew B. Thompson)

Haim

As the sisters HAIM took the Main Stage the light rain subsided and the sunshine came out, only adding to the already energetic performance. Este smiled, swung her hair over her shoulder and gave the crowd her famous bass-face as everyone cheered. This was an act that many a festival goer was waiting for and it was off to a fantastic start as the band jumped into "Falling" off their album Days are Gone. Taking breaks between tracks off their debut album to banter with the crowd and harmonize a song about Sasquatch! just for festival goers, they melted faces with their instrumentation and melted hearts with their wit and charm. If you are still a skeptic about these ladies' ability to rock, check out our photos of their set below. (Photos by Matthew B. Thompson)

Rodriguez

Sunday night was maybe most special because of Rodriguez. A fantastic Mexican-American singer-songwriter from the late 60s and early 70s who was relatively unsuccessful in the USA despite having lived in Detroit all of his life. Other countries were more receptive of him from the get go, holding his 2 albums from 1969 and 1970 dear to their hearts in the likes of Australia and South Africa. After the Swedish-British documentary "Searching For Sugarman" (which details Rodriguez's story) came out in 2012 and won an Academy award America finally was paying attention. So, for Mr. Sixto Rodriguez to be playing the Bigfoot stage on sunday night to an ocean of people engaging with his meaningful folk-rock songs was, well, beautiful. It's not everyday you get to witness the past in the present and have it still sound incredible, this was one of those times. Here are some photos of his performance. (Photos by ?????)

Portugal. The Man

Originally from Alaska, now living in Portland rock 5-piece Portugal. The Man have been on a steady climb of success. After various shifts in label and producers from 2004 to the present it seems that all the hard work is indeed paying off. Their most recent album, Evil Friends, was entirely produced by Danger Mouse and has landed them much commercial success as well as broadening even more their fan base. their set at Bigfoot sunday night (just before Queens of the Stone Age went on on the main stage) drew in a wide audience as they played through fan-favorites like "Purple Yellow Red and Blue", "Evil Friends", "People Say", and a fantastic cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, part 2" which was a perfect song to demonstrate the wide expanse of musical varieties Portugal. The Man has partaken in and their obvious respect for the craft and the past as well as looking forward to the future and where else new they will go. Here are some photos of their performance. (Photos by Matthew B. Thompson)

Major Lazer

Give the job of closing Sasquatch! out for another year to anyone but Major Lazer and they would be nervous about their ability to end it with a bang. But give it Diplo, Jillionaire, and Walshy Fire - the producers and DJs behind the Major Lazer party and expect nothing but, well, a damn good time. Switching off between manning the DJ booth, hyping tracks and shooting off a confetti canon or surfing the crowd in a gigantic inflated bubble the threesome didn't come up once for air. Playing through their growing list of excellent remixes and original material, like "Bubble Butt", "Come On To Me" (featuring Sean Paul), "Jah No Partial" as well as remixes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs track "Heads Will Roll" and R. Kelly's "This is Why I'm Hot" to name just a few that were mixed into their expert set. Major Lazer is all about getting a party started and keeping it going, so there really wasn't a better way to end day 3 of an excellent festival than with this, oh, and of course the firework set that went off as they played their last song for the night. (Photos by Matthew B. Thompson)

Cheers to a great Sasquatch! weekend everyone, see you next year.