The Decemberists in Bend

Katie D.

June 1, 2011 - 7:03 PM

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you've already read several concert blogs. They come up pretty often, but not as often as I might like.

The Sasquatch Music Festival was last weekend. It's a weekend-long event, with dozens of bands playing in the Columbia River Gorge. Thousands of people go each year, camp in the Gorge, and listen to fabulous music. By all accounts, it's one of the best events in the Eugene area each year, placing near the Oregon Country Fair, the Shakespeare Festival, and Duck football as far as popularity and group anticipation is concerned.

I've been wanting to go to Sasquatch for years now. And, for various reasons, this was not the year. So as a consolation prize, I took myself to Bend for a long weekend to see my favorite band play. A weekend in a beautiful place, plus some fabulous music? Just the weekend I was looking for.

I have wonderful memories of Bend. My friend Nathan grew up there, and a large group of our friends have imposed on his parents' hospitality several times over the years. Freshman year, six of us crashed at his house for the full week of spring break. We camped (it was freezing and miserable), we hiked (beautiful) and hung out around his house, eating delicious home-cooked food and generally recovering from a busy term of school. Ever since that freshman year adventure, I've felt a great deal of love and gratefulness for Nathan's family. I've been back to Bend to stay with them three times over the years, and have repeatedly found them to be a wonderfully welcoming and calming option in the midst of the business of life.

So away I went! I got a ride to Bend with friends, and settled down for a weekend of hiking, reading, movie watching, and then a fabulous concert on Sunday night. On Saturday, I watched the snow come down while enjoying a slow breakfast and a novel, and then later went on a short hike near the Deschutes River. Sunday was the concert, and I was so extremely excited.

Not only did the Decemberists play, but I also have found a new band to be excited about: Rodrigo y Gabriela. They're really worth looking up. They are two amazingly talented guitar players, who play and drum at the same time. They don't sing, they just play and pound on their guitars. It was great. (check out this video, which they played as their encore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8zT_OxsDFs)

And then, the long-awaited event. I have seen the Decemberists play three times now. I saw them freshman year at the McDonald theater in Eugene for their Crane Wife tour. Junior year, they were back again with The Hazards of Love. These were two of my favorite concerts of my life. In Bend, we stood in an outdoor amphitheater and watched them perform music from their new album, The King is Dead, as well as old favorites from all their albums. I went to the concert with two sets of friends: Justin from my CRES cohort, and my buddy Grant from my undergraduate days. I hadn't seen Grant since graduation weekend. It was amazing to be there, to see this band together again, and to have a chance for another fabulous set of memories. It's strange how things change and how things stay the same. People graduate and move on, but friendships remain. New people enter my life, and I care for them and find space for a combination of humor and depth. And always, always there are the Decemberists, who arrive back in my life every two years, and fill my craving for concerts, and the music in between.

"So raise a glass to turnings of the season
And watch it as it arcs towards the sun
And you must bear your neighbor's burden within reason
And your labors will be born when all is done."
- "Don't Carry it All" by The Decemberists