Beers. Brats. Bumpin’ tunes.
This seemed to be the theme of the night in Woodinville on Saturday night – where fans of all three met at Redhook Brewery for Sausage Fest 2012.
Kicking off at 2 p.m. the festival served up delicious craft beers and sausage-centric cuisine (crispy corndogs, foot-long dogs and succulent brats), before turning into a full-fledge concert venue by late afternoon.
This year’s bill, which seemed to cater to a younger crowd than years past, featured local acts the Black Whales and the Moondoggies, as well as Portugal. The Man and the Cold War Kids.
Ripping into a number of cuts from 2011’s “In the Mountain In the Cloud,” Portland-based act Portugal. The Man took the stage at 5 p.m. to the most lively crowd of the night (up to that point). Known for their dance-friendly indie pop of the psychedelic persuasion, lead singer John Gourley impressed with his high register, sing-song vocals.
On “So American,” the act brought the slow roller to the next level – trading the mellow instrumentation of the recorded version for bigger percussion, harder guitar hits and more feral vocals. The more boisterous rendition had the entire crowd swaying, screaming and singing along.
The fest proved to be a welcome home of sorts for the act – which hails from Alaska originally – as vocalist Gourley noted part way through the set that their dads were in the crowd.
“We’re really excited about that,” he said. But the real high point of the set came in the extended instrumental jams that found bassist Zachary Carothers and guitarist/tambourine/bongo extraordinaire Noah Gersh attacking their instruments, whilst dancing spastically across the stage.
Closing the night was Los Angeles-based act Cold War Kids, whose most recent release, 2011’s “Mine Is Yours” has garnered them a larger fan base and even more acclaim. Led by vocalist Nathan Willett, the men of CWK are true showmen in the live setting – playing their upbeat, dance rock tracks to a wildly responsive (and loyal) crowd.
Pulling tracks from all three of their previous releases, the stacked setlist included hits “Something Is Not Right With Me,” “Audience,” and “Louder Than Ever,” – among many, many more.
Bassist Matt Maust and guitarist Dann Gallucci (originally of Issaquah-bred act Modest Mouse) were enigmatic on stage – leaning in to one another, plucking excitedly as they moved from one song to the next.
While the entire set proved remarkable, a special moment came on “Hang Me Up To Dry,” – a grimy, blues-rock track from 2008’s “Robbers and Cowards,” that had Willett wailing passionately over a potent bass line and a messy (but satisfying) concoction of keys and drums.
Though the food lines were long, and the beer a tad pricey – things I overhead being talked about on more than one occasion – the music delivered. And by the time Willett and Co. returned to the stage for an encore that paired “Hospital Beds” and “We Used To Vacation,” all seemed to be forgiven.
If the brewery can keep with this trend in years to come, it’s sure to be something to ‘cheers’ about.
