Review: Watershed Day 3 was hot and full of rock-focused heavy hitters

For those who could beat the everlasting heat, Watershed’s final day was one full of heavy hitters.

Josh Ross kicked off Sunday’s main -stage action at the music festival at the Gorge. Like most of the weekend, the first act was stuck with the heat and smaller crowds,but all provided a solid show. Ross’ deep, grainy rasp took a second to get used to, but it fits his sound well – especially the slower songs that I enjoyed more than the more radio-esque tracks. His rasp fits the covers of classics, like Creed’s “Higher” and Goo Goo Doll’s “Iris.”

He embraced the earlier set by talking to the crowd and noticing those who knew his music word for word.

I missed a portion of Pecos and the Rooftops to interview Kassi Ashton, but what I did catch was impressive. The band rocked, in a very literal sense. Full of electric guitars and heavier drumming than we heard through most of the weekend, Pecos and the Rooftops came to liven up the crowd enduring an onslaught of heat. Lead singer Pecos Hurley isn’t as mobile as other performers, considering he usually plays guitar while singing, but he sounded great and has a voice truly fitting for their almost dark take on country-rock. I’ve only heard a handful of singles from the band, but I’ll be looking into them.

The Cadillac Three continued the rocking. The band brought a sense of intensity unseen this weekend with their heavier themes and sound – that of a modern day, alt-rock Lynyrd Skynyrd. The trio arrived with energy and carried it throughout their late afternoon set, firing up the inner crowd immediately – a perfect set for a crowd finally experiencing some cool down and in need of a pick-me-up.

The second-to-last set and my final of the weekend was Koe Wetzel, probably my most anticipated artists of the festival. Although Wetzel claims he and the band are “just a bunch of drunks from Texas who love to play music,” they put on an outstanding show. Wetzel manages to sound eerily similar to his recordings while adding a sharp edge of intensity that can only be found in a live setting such as Watershed. The anti-hero of Texas, red-dirt country-rock came and put on an absolute show – loud, unserious and heavy-hitting. My personal favorite of the weekend.

Unfortunately, I left before Hardy could play his headlining set, the heat having finally caught up to me after three days, but overall it was another solid day of festival action that featured a more rock-focused lineup than the days prior.