Somehow Seattle managed to make it through Bumbershoot without a drop of rain, so it just goes to show you that you shouldn’t assume something is going to happen. At that, I missed several of the acts I planned on seeing this weekend, but that’s okay. I saw plenty of small acts that blew my expectations away, and they were all local. Imagine that!
Literally, on Saturday I only saw one band (with the exception of STRFKR, who is from Portland) that wasn’t a Seattle band.
It began with Brite Futures at the main stage, which in my mind was ridiculous, since the first time I ever saw them they were still Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head and they played on the now dearly-departed Broad Street Stage (more of this later). Not that I didn’t enjoy their set. I really did. All the new songs they played made me that much more excited for the new album, but the main stage at 1:30 in the afternoon was just not the right venue for them.
Back to that whole venue thing. This year shall go down in my Bumbershoot history as a “building” year. A.) They moved the main stage from the awesome Memorial Stadium to the less-than-spectacular Key Arena. B.) The Fountain Lawn and Fisher Green stage were way too close together. And C.) the new EMP Level 3 stage was not nearly big enough for some of the bands that played there.
Which brings me to my next band – Kris Orlowski and the Passenger String Quartet. I love this band. I love Kris Orlowski’s music, and he’s a super cool guy. And it was great to see him in such an intimate venue. But even as relatively unknown as he is in the larger scheme of Bumbershoot, there was a line outside the EMP. Thankfully they were regulating the number of people going in and out of the venue, but it made it that much harder for people to see those local bands who were well worth a larger venue for a festival. Usually, the great thing about Bumbershoot is that there aren’t any lines for people to stand in. That changed this year.
Next up was Champagne Champagne on the Fisher Green Stage – one of my favourite hip-hop acts of Seattle. The duo is incredibly fun, down to earth, and not the least bit cocky, which is something that I’ve found with Seattle artists. They rocked the lawn with the huge group of teenagers and 20-somethings alike, and it made for a great afternoon set.
KEXP, Seattle’s local independent radio station had a couple stages up for grabs this year – the Music Lounge and the Toyota Free Yr Radio Stage housed some of Seattle’s brightest up-and-comers. At the Free Yr Radio stage I finally got to see Campfire OK, who released their first album Strange Like We Are last year, and they were just as amazing live (even better) than they were on record. Plus they made some great jokes about their band name. Frontman Mychal Goodweather said, “We’ve come up with Bonfire So-So,” and the crowd snickered.
Finally branching outside of the Emerald City, San Francisco’s Vetiver hit the new Fountain Lawn Stage (which was perhaps my favourite stage all weekend). As much as they had a jam band vibe, they still had a very tight sound, and it made me glad that I listened to several recommendations to see them this weekend.
After Vetiver’s set, I made my way to the Words and Ideas stage to sit in at a panel with Colin Meloy and his wife Carson Ellis. This panel was all about the new book the two of them collaborated on – “Wildwood” – an illustrated novel about Portland, Or. But not only was it about Portland, it was about if Forest Park was a secret civilization where coyotes walked around in Napoleon-era military outfits, and badgers walked around with rickshaws. The panel was led by former Harvey Danger frontman and current music writer Shawn Nelson, and discussed everything from the beginnings of Meloy’s collaboration with Ellis to the extent of the mythical map of Forest Park. I walked into this not knowing that Ellis and Meloy were married, but it slowly occurred to me as they kept getting more and more adorable. I almost wanted to stand in line to get a book, but I figured I’d be in Portland the next weekend and I can just pick it up at Powell’s when I’m there.
As the sun set, I was back at the Fountain Lawn stage for STRFKR, who went on quite late, and it made all the rowdy teenagers behind me incredibly anxious, and thus, more annoying. I hadn’t seen STRFKR before, and had no idea what to expect, but they were as they are on record – very loud and very fun. The vocals were virtually indistinguishable, which I’m not sure if it was intentional, but that’s just about the only bad thing I can say about their performance.
To finish out the night, I did as I planned, and checked out Minus the Bear at the Fisher Green stage. And oh boy am I glad I did. The band was celebrating ten years together, and it showed with how seasoned the guys were on stage. Playing to a hometown crowd probably didn’t hurt much either, but the pioneers of math rock hit it hard that night, with me, and with the energetic crowd that stood behind me.
Since I was completely satisfied with my Saturday, I headed home shortly after that to get some rest for Sunday. Little did I know what was to come. Stay tuned!
For more pictures from Saturday at Bumbershoot, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbigshmail/sets/72157627592015416/
