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<\/a>The four-day Sasquatch Festival, taking place at the picturesque Gorge Ampitheatre two hours east of Seattle, has grown into one of the premier events in the northwest. Thousands of fans come from Canada and further to take in a veritable cornucopia of music, mostly in the indie rock, folk and hip-hop veins. And, as Zacks points out, there is a bevy of developing artists. Death Grips, Reignwolf, Killer Mike, Japandroids, Akron\/Family, and many more will have extra eyes on them when they play this year’s Sasquatch.<\/p>\n
Another such band is Florida\u2019s Torche, one of only two heavy bands playing Sasquatch this year (the other is Seattle locals Red Fang). Rooted in the all-ages hardcore and metal scene, Torche released their latest album, Harmonicraft<\/i>, in 2012 and have been embraced by a larger audience due to the popularity of stoner metal and shoegaze, two subgenres that the band flirt with heavily.<\/p>\n
Torche\u2019s rise from the underground has found them playing larger festival like Sasquatch and riding the wave of new kinds of crowds and different audiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really excited about the fest and we’ll just be excited to be back out on the road seeing all of our friends, making new ones, and rockin’ the fuck out,\u201d says Torche vocalist\/guitarist Steve Brooks.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Sasquatch lineup announcement, which we told you about recently<\/a>, features a lot bands that have been labeled as \u201chipsters,\u201d leading some to adorn the festival with the same tag. Zacks is quick to point out that Sasquatch is not about labels, but rather bringing people together to bear witness to great music.<\/p>\n \u201cLabels are nonsense, but criticism is welcome nonetheless,\u201d says Zacks, \u201cit keeps us honest and tests the courage of our convictions. I think what some people may mean by \u2018hipster\u2019 is really trendy, self-conscious conformity, which is not the spirit of the festival at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooks says for bands like Torche, who are more genre-specific, playing a festival that\u2019s even remotely \u201chipster\u201d is a welcome shift from playing festivals and shows with strictly metal or underground bands.\u00a0\u201cI like all kinds of music so it will be a nice change of pace to see some hipster, indie-type bands,\u201d says Brooks. \u201cWe will still crush them with our sonic bad-ass-itude though.\u201d<\/p>\n Festival attendees will arrive at the Gorge Ampitheatre grounds beginning on Friday, May 24 and will spend the next four days seeing as many bands as they can handle. Indie rock, hip-hop, electronic, folk, rock, comedy, and much more will be represented on five stages covering the festival’s outdoor grounds. And although it sounds like it could be a logistical nightmare, the biggest challenge isn\u2019t scheduling the hundreds of bands; rather, it\u2019s creating an identity for Sasquatch that rivals other music festivals.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hardest part is keeping it fresh and maintaining a distinct identity among a growing field of US festivals,\u201d says Zacks.\u00a0\u201cThe bigger the ship grows, the harder it is to steer.\u201d<\/p>\n A big enough ship to land international recording artists Sigur Ros, an Icelandic band considered one of the world\u2019s best live bands, and one that Zacks has been eyeing a long time for Sasquatch\u2019s main stage. Now, after years of hoping and trying for Sigur Ros, Zacks will have a chance to see the band play at his festival on the night of Saturday, May 25.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve imagined Sigur Ros playing at the Gorge for a long time now, so it will be a bit of a dream come true for them to finally be providing the soundtrack for that jaw-dropping landscape,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n So, as tens of thousands of music fans converge on his festival from May 24 to 27, Zacks will be able to celebrate another year of exposing new bands to eager and enthusiastic music fans. The role of Sasquatch Festival founder is one he accepts wholeheartedly and doesn\u2019t take for granted.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud and grateful,\u201d says Zacks. \u201cIt\u2019s a responsibility I take very seriously, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>