John C. Reilly Works Up a Night Sweat on Sasquatch! Day 2

Celebrity sightings at music festivals like Hollywood-adjacent Coachella are NBD, but at the more remote Sasquatch! fest, held at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Washington, they’re a much rarer occurrence. So when a cowboy-hatted John C. Reilly showed up Saturday to introduce Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – and execute some Reed Rothchild-worthy boogie moves onstage – it was an event.

One could hardly blame Reilly for working up such a sweat to the Night Sweats. The rowdy, rootsy, festival-ready R&B revivalists (think an American version of the Commitments) brought irresistibly skronky grooves to the main stage. Reilly stuck around all boogie night long to late introduce Major Lazer’s Saturday headlining set – this time as his Adult Swim character, Dr. Steve Brule – but the real dance party of the day took place when the Van Morrison-esque Rateliff and his crack six-piece band were jamming. The only thing that could’ve made this collaboration more awesome would have been if the Night Sweats had played a few tracks off the Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story soundtrack.

Photos: On the Scene at Sasquatch! 2016

Saturday’s wildest set, however, belonged to SoCal scuzz-rocker Ty Segall and his trashy garage band the Muggers. Segall’s confrontational, Zappa-esque, absolutely bonkers Bigfoot stage set began with him in a Unabomber hoodie and creepy, Booji Boy-reminiscent baby-head mask – and the crowd instantly whipped itself into a mad, rabid frenzy. (One guy escaped the moshpit just long enough to ask his girlfriend to examine his fresh new head wound; upon her assurance that his bleeding wasn’t too excessive, he bandaged himself with a neckerchief and dove right back into the chaos.)

Segall’s show was the stuff of rock ‘n’ roll nightmares, but it was definitely the most exhilarating and fearless, and most punk-rock, set of the day.

Also bringing the garagey vibes, albeit more pleasantly/less nightmare-inducingly, were local ladies La Luz – a jangly, Seattle-bred, psych/surf-rock quartet heavy on harmonies, reverb, and charm, and boasting a sound equal parts ‘60s girl group and ‘90s riot grrl. A dance party broke out during their Bigfoot stage set as well. “A big thanks to all our freaks!” they declared.

The dance party continued, old-school-style, on the main stage with Digable Planets, Brooklyn’s jazzy alternative hip-hop trio best known for the early-‘90s hit “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat).” The group broke up in 1995 and performed together only twice, in 2005 and 2011, before launching this year’s nine-date reunion tour, but it seemed the Planets had finally aligned: Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Mary Ann “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira, and Craig “Doodlebug” Irving shared great, easy chemistry onstage. A fun moment: When Butterfly introduced “Pacifics” as being from 1992, his mention of the year alone elicited cheers from the young crowd, prompting him to quip: “Why y'all cheering for 1992? Y’all weren’t even alive then!”

Things mellowed out considerably by Saturday evening with natty Los Angeles five-piece Lord Huron’s gentle, Theremin-laced indie-folk, followed by M83’s downtempo electronic shoegazery. But Sasquatch! will kick back into high gear Sunday, with sets by Alabama Shakes, Leon Bridges, Allen Stone, Big Grams, Yo La Tengo, and more. And who knows, maybe John C. Reilly will show up again. You can stream it all here starting at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET.