If you haven’t been to Pickathon before, each stage is very carefully curated and matched with each artist to push for a larger narrative. Then the stage is shot with a variety of cameras to create almost an independent film. It’s an unusual way of thinking about a music festival and helps account for the nearly two hundred videos that Pickathon releases between festivals. With that in mind, there are some very special surprises in store this year!
Check out the full schedule HERE.
Phil Lesh & the Terrapin Family Band have some special moments in mind for Pickathon this year. Thursday is traditionally the early entry day at Pickathon, a time to arrive before the main crowds, set up camp, and get a sneak preview of the music to come. This year, Pickathon’s opening the doors a bit wider and Phil Lesh will hold court Thursday night at the Mt Hood Stage.
Friday night, Phil Lesh & the Terrapin Family Band will close out the Woods Stage, nestled deep into the forest, for a full three hour double set unprecedented in Pickathon’s history!
Headliner Nathaniel Rateliff will also be bringing two very special sets to Pickathon! Saturday night he’ll be playing with the Night Sweats, bringing in material from his most recent material with the full band. Sunday night, he’s got a whole other band made up close friends to play an acoustic roots setting of his earliest material to close out the Woods Stage and end the festival.
The mainstage at Pickathon rolls along underneath one of the largest transient tension fabric sculptures in the world, and the stage itself is ringed with a living garden. Except some heavy psych waves emanating from the stage with key sets from Houston experimentalists Khruangbin on Friday and Turkish pysch rockers Altin Gün on Saturday. Mt Hood will host headliners Mandolin Orange on Sunday, Tyler Childers on Friday, Lucius on Saturday, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band also on Saturday.
Formed and twisted from hundreds of branches, Pickathon’s Woods Stage has historically been the site of some of the most viscerally powerful performances. Nestled into a natural amphitheatre, this fantastical venue will light up with the likes of Pickathon beloveds Fruit Bats on Friday, country revivalist Tyler Childers on Saturday, Northwest songwriter Damien Jurado on Sunday, Polaris prize winner Lido Pimienta on Saturday and more. Of special note, Northwest doom metal heroes YOB will fire up the Woods Stage later Sunday night before Nathaniel Rateliff’s acoustic set.
A wild petri dish of mayhem, the Galaxy Barn at Pickathon is a sweaty whirlwind of rock n roll, a place to let it all out. Nighttime sets from Mississippi hill country bluesman Cedric Burnside on Friday, DC electro minimalist Sneaks on Saturday, and Swedish dirtpunks V••gra Boys on Friday will show the power of the barn. Plus of special note, Saturday will host The Richard Swift Hex Band for a special tribute to Swift after his tragic passing.
An annually changing architectural marvel, the Treeline Stage has won multiple awards for its innovative design and community impact. It’s also the spot for surprisingly intense sets that run just a little farther from the madding crowd. Stirring up some dust this year: folk supergroup Bonny Light Horseman on Thursday, Northwest powerhouse songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews on Friday, and psych rockers JJUUJJUU also on Friday.
Drenched in neon and only up very late at night, the Starlight Stage induces a spaced-out feeling of music in warpdrive. Very special sets on the Starlight this year will include folk headliners Mandolin Orange on Saturday, jazz spaceologist Makaya McCraven on Thursday, North African guitar god Mdou Moctar on Saturday, and harmony kingpins Mountain Man on Thursday.
On the mellower side of the Pickathon barns, Lucky Barn plays host to in-depth interviews between renowned journalists and festival artists. In between songs, sets in Lucky Barn dive into the inspiration behind the music. Lucky Barn interviews let the audience get to know each artist on a deeper level, like Nashville alt-country original Lambchop on Saturday, Portland folk star Laura Veirs on Sunday, and Portland hometown hero Black Belt Eagle Scout on Friday.
