As a gnarly looking storm boiled in the sky behind the Main Stage, Rodrigo y Gabriela matched the oncoming doom with their wicked and amazingly fast guitar mastery. The duo played an intricate set, revealing their impressive knowledge of multiple styles. Dueling, they were something fierce, and managed to take my breath away more than once with their blend of Hispanic and world music. Gabriela played in a percussive style, intensely flapping her hand against the guitar, adding a needed second kind of sound to the guitar-only songs. Now, don’t get me wrong–this band is in no need of any other type of instrument or vocals--but having a second dimension to their music made for a much more rockin’ set for the two.
Right around the time the sky opened and drenched thousands of Sasquatch! revelers, Rodrigo y Gabriela did a funky cover of Young MC’s “Bust A Move.” It was one of many songs they chose to cover, one of the most fitting being that of the intro to a Metallica song. Rodrigo even had his body leaning back, and foot propped up on a speaker, in the exact way James Hetfield would have done.
After Gabriela left the stage, for what felt like the end of the show, Rodrigo continued to crank out song after song to the cheering crowd. It would’ve felt annoying in their delay of the next set, if he hadn’t sounded as absolutely badass as he did. Gabriela then returned for the last three songs, and to close, the duo faced each other for a rapid-fire guitar-off. It was spectacular, just as the rest of their show had been, and seemed to essentially tell the impending storm to back the hell off.
