I may have lived in Illinois for eight years, surviving summer weather of one hundred degrees and an equal percentage of humidity, but the Gorge still sucks during the day. HARD-CORE.

As for the bands I saw:

Arcade Fire: good, great songs, but I liked them better when I saw them at Neumos, if only because their energy is infectious, and I prefer dancing when I'm not undergoing heat stroke.

Ray Lamontagne: I vote meh. He sounded a lot like a better voiced Jack Johnson.

Jem: It's nice to see she can cover Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, but whatev. Her quote of the day: "I'd move around more, but I'm afraid those of you in front could see up my skirt."

Joanna Newsom: She's an elf that can play harp -- how can you not love that? Her new songs are longer and rambling, so I'm not entirely sure about what the album's direction will be, but she still managed to get the crowd completely involved.

The Frames: are fucking awesome - if you're not on The Frames bus, better get on soon. They played an hour set, and seemingly everyone in the crowd sang along to every song. If you've ever heard "Set List" then you can imagine the fervor. Amazing.

The Pixies: started twenty minutes late, played only one song for an encore, and barely addressed the crowd -- highly disapointing. If they're not in for the money, they could have fooled me.

- Tyson

out of all the people i've talked to about the show not one was there for bloc party. i think they played the main stage at like noon though, so maybe that's why.