This weekend we’re headed back out to Happy Valley, Oregon for the 18th annual Pickathon. Besides having some of our favorite artists–Ty Segall, Mac Demarco, Jeff Tweedy, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down just to name a few–the small 3,500 capacity festival has been a pioneer in the festival world in creating a sustainable, waste-free environment and sprawls out across six stunning stages on a quaint farm southwest of Portland. If it’s not a bucket list festival for you yet, check in with us all weekend as we bring you on-site coverage. We’ll be having artists takeover our social media accounts, interviews with real Portlanders, and of course plenty of photos and short videos (whatever the hell instagram just turned into) right here on Allston Pudding.
In addition, the kind folks at Pickathon will be streaming live webcasts from select sets throughout the weekend, so if you’re into doing the whole couch tour thing click the link here. And since it’s summer and nobody feels like doing math, we’re going to transpose the west coast set times for you and pick six sets we feel you should tune into this weekend. See the full webcast schedule below but remember to add those three hours!
1. PALEHOUND: Saturday @ 3:00 P.M. EST! @ the Galaxy Barn: Do we feel a little bit possessive about the lone Boston artist being represented at Pickathon? Yep. That’s why Palehound is on the top of our list. Their set is right in the middle of the day inside an air conditioned barn on Saturday which will be respite from the legendary August sun that scorches the main concert field. This might not be as visually stunning as her Sunday set at the famed Woods Stage (that’s right, every artist plays two sets at Pickathon) but we’ll be there for you to capture that as well.
2. TY SEGALL and THE MUGGERS: Friday Night, but technically Saturday 4:20 A.M. EST @ the Galaxy Barn. Are you the type of person that would set your alarm for 4:20 a.m. to wake up and catch one of the freakiest, crunchiest, scariest rock n’ roll bands out there? Then this set is for you. The Galaxy Barn is notorious for being difficult to get into late at night when most of the other stages are shut down. With a capacity of only a couple hundred people, (think Newport Blues Cafe for all you Newport Folkers, except even smaller and sweatier) the Galaxy Barn becomes the place to be if you are still up after the midnight hour. Nonetheless, we’re going to do our best to pile in there, and lucky for you you’ll probably get the best seat in the house if you wake up in time to watch the webcast from bed.
Photo by Nick Raygun
3. ALVVAYS: Saturday 10:40 P.M. EST @ the Woods Stage. We haven’t yet mentioned how the Woods Stage is the hook, line and sinker that gets so many of the artists on this festivals bill to reroute their entire summer schedules to come out and play the fest. This year they’re boasting a brand new Woods Stage that is essentially, as the name suggests, in the woods and constructed of branches and sticks. Last winter destroyed the original, so check out this set from Canada’s Alvvays on Saturday to see what all the fuss is about.
A view from last years Woods Stage with Vetiver
4. JEFF TWEEDY: Saturday 11:40 P.M. EST @ Mt. Hood Stage. The Mt. Hood Stage is essentially the main concert field which kind of makes Jeff Tweedy somewhat of a headliner. However we’re still not sure if this is going to be Mr. Tweedy alone with a guitar or the project Tweedy that he toured alongside his son Spencer with not too long ago. Either way, we’ll definitely be catching this set that is sure to be chock full of Wilco goodies and you can too!
5. EZRA FURMAN & THE BOYFRIENDS: 12:15 EST @ Starlight Stage. The Starlight Stage is well… under the stars, which means it’s only used at night. There is no roof cover and it’s pretty much just a stage plopped in the middle of the main concert field that isn’t used during the day. Last year King Tuff delivered a legendary sit down duo set here after their bassist Magic Jake got sick, but Ezra Furman’s five piece band is bound to get all the booties shaking with their classic rock and R&B sound. We couldn’t be more excited for this one and if you’re still unfamiliar with how great Ezra Furman is check out our interview with him from back in March.
Photo By Corwin Wickersham
6. MAC DEMARCO: Sunday->Monday 1:00 A.M EST. @ Treeline Stage. Much like many of the artists that play Pickathon, Mac seems to return to the festival every couple of years. Some of his past performances here live on in legend and thankfully on Youtube, including one where he crowd surfs across the Woods Stage concert field, and another one with a super heart-melting walking singalong of “Salad Days” from back in 2014. This years webcast set is at the Tree Line Stage in front of a stage design put together by the Portland State University School of Architecture and who knows what might happen. I can only imagine someone yelling “get down from there!” a few times.
Photo by Michael Chan
Follow Allston Pudding all weekend long at Pickathon on your favorite social media accounts:
Twitter: @allstonpudding
Instagram: allstonpudding
Snapchat: allstonpudding
you get the idea.