The weather in Bend last Memorial Day wasn't ideal for being outdoors in any capacity. Actually, that's an understatement. Save a freak snowstorm, there wasn't much that could have made the weather worse than it was - cold temperatures, gusting winds, and downpours followed by a lingering drizzle erased any memory of the week prior, which saw record highs in our region.
But still, downpours and all, there was plenty of life to be found down at the Les Schwab Amphitheater where promoters had siphoned off some of the high-profile headliners of the Sasquatch Festival going down at Washington's Gorge Amphitheater to create a de facto three-day festival here in Bend.The lineup included a string of shows that included names like Michael Franti and Spearhead, Built to Spill, the Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse.
Sasquatch is taking place once again over the Memorial Day weekend, but we won't benefit from any Sasquatch run off here in Bend this time around. Promoters say that the options for bands playing Sasquatch either weren't a good fit for the Amphitheater or didn't make sense economically to produce. But they insist that the summer LSA lineup will remain strong in a time when our local music landscape-known throughout the region for the prolific amount of high-profile shows we attract despite our sub-100,000 population - seems to be in a state of flux. So far the only shows announced for the LSA are pop-country stars Sugarland (who cancelled their 2007 Bend appearance due to illness) in late July and an early September Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal gig on September 5. Monqui, however, says that two other shows have been booked and another booking - which would bring the total summer number of concerts to five - is in the works.
