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Summer Camp 2005
Les Schwab Amphitheatre
Filter Grade: 84%
by Randy Torcom | 01.01.2007

One thing you have to love about the present trend in summer music festivals is the massive quantity of good outdoor shows to pick from.

Discovering a new festival can be sort of like discovering a new band, but the difference is a good festival experience can be way more rewarding in the long run. The trick is picking the one that’s right for you.

One person’s weekend festival heaven can be another person’s tear jerking emo nightmare. Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo all host crowds nearing 80,000 people, so if you don’t like crowds, this is definitely worth taking into consideration. For those who can’t handle the “wait in line for everything” stress of a weekend show, a single-day festival with a beautiful setting, modest sized crowd, and an epic line up may sound more like your cup of tea, making the Summer Camp Festival right up your alley.

A solid roster isn’t all that makes a good festival though. Geographical location and venue amenities have everything to do with how good the experience can be. Summer Camp doesn’t come up short here either. First off, Bend, Ore., is an outdoor recreational Disneyland boasting every tree-hugging activity one could imagine, sure to keep the weekend trip to Oregon an exciting one. Secondly, the amphitheatre where the festival is held borders the scenic Deschutes River where the view is dominated by a string of towering Cascade volcanic peaks on one side and gorgeously lit smoke stacks from the nearby Old Mill District jutting up into the sky on the other. All of these factors mixed into the equation makes for one memorable night.

So now that the perfect festival setting has been painted, let’s add some music to it. This is where honesty really has to kick in. In its first year out of the gate, Summer Camp arranged a congregation of the Pacific Northwest’s finest indie rock acts. A stacked (but not too stacked) roster consisting of Viva Voce, Pedro the Lion, The Decemberists, Built To Spill, and Death Cab For Cutie made for a perfectly balanced day of mellowness sprinkled with just the right amount of rock.

Every review has its flaws though, right? Go ahead and note that Viva Voce. Who actually makes it on time to see the opening band on a festival day, anyway? Maybe next year...

In an attempt at redemption, I give you Pedro the Lion. These guys are perfect for an afternoon chill session. Imagine this: while conducting your beer garden socializing skills, blades of cool green grass peak out from between your toes reminding you that days like this define your summer. Pedro set a relaxed pace for an evening that eventually evolved into something complex and beautiful. Even though the amphitheatre was not completely full yet, Pedro the Lion was able to grab the crowds’ enthusiasm with memorable songs like “Penetration” and “Discretion.”

Next up were The Decemberists, Portland’s version of a mellow Arcade Fire. The Decemberists were easily the most artsy and intricate band of the festival, boasting trombones, violins, trumpets, and a sax that easily made for one of the most entertaining acts of the day. Colin Meloy is about as original and innovative as anyone could aspire to be with his songwriting, and there’s is nothing like laying in the grass and having the music you’re listening to feel like someone is reading you a bed time lullaby.

Next up was Built To Spill, who had a really difficult time getting their set kicked off with sound nightmares galore. After the first song, “Center of the Universe,” Doug Martsch took about a five-minute intermission to determine why his voice was only coming through the speakers on the left side of the stage making it that kind of uncomfortable silence where it feels like the band is completely ceasing up. Luckily for the sound tech, Doug is a humble man, and luckily for BTS, by mid set things started falling into place.

As the sun eased its way down over the Cascades, Doug Martsch’s guitar antics started to take the crowd into a new heightened level of excitement. With the lights hitting the stage for the first time of the evening, Built To Spill layed into us with classics like “Strange” and “In Your Mind”. It was a rough start, but when all was said and done, Built To Spill was able to leave the stage with their integrity intact, and a crowd perfectly lubed for the headlining band.

The strange thing about this festival is that Death Cab For Cutie ended up as the headlining act vs. Built To Spill. It’s a debatable topic indeed. However, on this particular day, DCFC’s headlining position was well deserved. As DCFC took the stage at the conclusion of a typically beautiful and epic Oregon sunset, the crowd, which appeared to have just awoke from a summer day slumber, instantly gave DCFC the warmest welcome of the day. Embracing the moment, DCFC kicked things off in flurry with “New Year”. Then, with their new album due out in just a few weeks, they gave the crowd a little teaser of what’s to come with “Soul Meets Body”, “Crooked Teeth”, and (played live for the first time) “Someday You Will Be Loved”. Following the awesome opening it only got better with Gibbard on both knees facing his guitar amp, pounding a drum stick against and screaming into his guitar strings with “We Looked Like Giants,” which became the crowd favorite of the evening by far. Since Summer Camp was Death Cab’s only northwest appearance this summer, this crowd definitely experienced a treat and were keen to show DCFC they knew it.

All good things come to an end, right? Not on this night. For those lucky enough to be in the know (and of age), the action continued at a plush after party across the street at the Deschutes Brewery (hosted by Dakine, Filter Magazine), which pulsated all through the night until 3 a.m., as DJ’s Stanley Therapy and Beatpusher held it down on the wheels of steel. Members of Pedro the Lion and Death Cab were seen hanging out enjoying the festivities as well, showing us all their down to earth attitudes while gracefully swallowing mouth fulls of Jell-o shots like old college cronies.

This year's Summer Camp is hopefully the beginning of a festival that will be held in high regard for a long time. If the promoters can continue to congregate a roster as solid as they did this year, it will definitely be worthy of checking out in the years to come.