popwreckoning

Monday of Bumbershoot: I would have been completely happy with two days, but no – Seattle handed me a third to enjoy. All the music, the rain, the moshing, and everything else that came with the biggest gathering of music in Seattle over Labor Day weekend could not have been the same without the thousands of people there to enjoy it all.

Monday started quite differently than the previous two days. I couldn’t find parking anywhere, but determined as I was, I drove around a 12-block radius for 20 minutes searching for parking before I found a lot for $15 at 2:15. Just in time to make it to Say Hi.

Say Hi (formerly Say Hi To Your Mom), was one of the main bands I put on my checklist when the lineup was first released months ago only after hearing all of 2009’s “Oohs and Aahs.” Soon after arriving home from Bumbershoot, I searched for all of their music. Eric Elbogen, the brainchild of all that is Say Hi, made it clear at one point that he wasn’t used to touring with the current lineup, but it didn’t show nearly as much as I would have guessed. At one point he asked the bassist, I think his name was Andy, to ask him something.

“Why did you change your name?” Andy asked.

“A question that doesn’t put me on the spot?”

“Oh, well now you’re kind of putting me on the spot.”

“Two gigs with you and you’ve already screwed up.”

They were very musically in tune, playing off each other’s vibe, with the help of the energetic drummer. They weren’t nearly as united as say, Cold War Kids from Sunday, but individually, they all supplied their own energy for the crowd to feed off of. I especially liked the short comments between songs briefly explaining what the songs were about.

“This one’s about vampires,” Elbogen said, prefacing “Sweet Sweet Heartkiller” from 2006’s Impeccable Blahs. That’s the best part about Say Hi’s live performance, deciphering the great lyrics, while keeping a low-key danceable beat underneath. It’s just the right about of energy for 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon.

After a 45 minute search for a few friends I wasn’t aware were going to show up, I trotted back to the Broad Street Stage, past the Purrrfect Pals booth with their adorable kittens, to see Mirah. She – again – was on my original checklist of performers to see. I know I said in previous articles that I dig concerts where I can dance. Mirah is one of those exceptions. The way you’re supposed to listen to her music is the exact opposite of someone like Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head. You’re just supposed to experience it, organically, with the violin, the clarinet, the sitar-looking thing, and Mirah’s beautiful vocal instrument. It’s almost magical how someone with such a seemingly small voice can captivate such a large and muddy lawn. I missed maybe the first ten minutes of her set, so I don’t know if she played “La Familia,” which is kind of disappointing, but for the most part, Mirah’s set was really low-key. The one exception was her last song, “The Garden,” which she explained as the song the Portland High School drill team used in one of their  competitions.

“Because they wanted to win!” And everyone cheered.

Mirah and her band of strings and woodwinds were a very nice change from the energy-draining past two days, and a good chill session before Franz Ferdinand on the main stage that night.

Speaking of Franz Ferdinand, my sister and I got in line pretty early for the main stage, listening to Janelle Monae on the Fisher Green while we waited. From what I heard, she was pretty wicked, and according to multiple recommendations from different people, apparently I missed out not catching her full set. But I was waiting for Franz Ferdinand.

I’ll admit it – I tend to be a fangirl when it comes to my favorite bands – Franz Ferdinand being one of them. I saw them almost five years ago at the “Deck the Hall Ball” put on by Seattle’s Original Alternative radio station 107.7 The End. They were a part of a great lineup all those years ago – including Keane, the Shins, Snow Patrol, The Killers, and Modest Mouse, ironically, since Modest Mouse was playing on the main stage right after Franz. But when I left there, Franz Ferdinand was the band that blew we away. And five years later, I was ready to be blown away yet again.

I was, quite literally.

After waiting in the mosh pit for 15 minutes or so, Alex, Nick, Bob and Paul walked on stage and the entire stadium squealed with delight. They started off the night with “No You Girls,” their current hit, then going directly into an older song, “Dark of the Matinee” (which just so happens to be my favorite of theirs). It was a perfect mix of the old and new stuff. Alex introduced the rest of the band for us to cheer for individually, and they matched the energy with their musicianship. Not only did they pump us up, they sounded great. As the set went on, the crowd got closer and closer together, to the point where the security guards all sprayed us with hoses to get people to chill out. It didn’t work very well, because halfway through the set, after mega hits “Take Me Out” and “Ulysses,” Alex and the gang broke out into “This Fire,” another of their hits from the first record. This got the crowd jumping all together; I couldn’t even get a good photo of anything. I was too into it. Then as people got tired of jumping, I felt a sharp thwack on the back of my head and then could barely make out a floating body above my head as I grabbed my throbbing skull, and tried to dodge the rest of the crowd surfers making their way towards the stage. Immediately, I wanted to get out of the mosh pit, but this was Franz Ferdinand – the one band I had come to see. So I toughed it out for awhile. I shunned the pain and danced along with everyone else, but then it got too crazy for my head to take. I had to get out of there.

And let me tell you – I was heartbroken that I had to leave the mosh pit. I wanted to stay there for the rest of the set, as Alex traipsed around the stage, singing the undeniably infectious lyrics with his seductive Scottish drawl. But I found my way out of the sweaty mosh pit and cooled down for a bit and had some water, and found my friends, as I’d been the only one to venture into the mosh pit. But even far away from the stage, Franz Ferdinand shined across the entire stadium. It was mesmerizing. Especially in the finale, when they played a drawn out version of “Lucid Dreams,” which already includes a long, electronic outro, but this live version made the wide-open area I was dancing in feel like a rave – and I’ve never even been to a rave.

But, it also could have been the contact high.

Whether you were in the line of fire in the mosh pit or secluded out in the middle of the stadium, away from the mayhem, Franz Ferdinand lived up to my expectations, then surpassed them. They were so good, I didn’t even care that I couldn’t stay for Modest Mouse (my sister’s 17, and she still had school in the morning, and I was driving her home).

Now that was the way to end Bumbershoot.

Bumbershoot: website | day 1 | day 2

Arriving in the Seattle Center on Sunday proved that people don’t give a shit about the weather when good music is involved. It reminded me of a movie I recently saw – “Taking Woodstock,” where the famous Woodstock festival was almost put to a halt because of a terrible rainstorm.

We’re Seattle, it doesn’t affect us much.

But in defiance of the sky’s will, the rain did stop and start during various times during the day – the most ironic one actually was during the Cold War Kids set on the main stage when they started playing their hit “Hang Me Up To Dry.” Seriously. Everyone had just put on their hooded raincoats, and the sun came out all of sudden. It was magical. Even the front man Nathan Willett noticed it – “clothes are just coming off all over the place.” For being the first set on the main stage, the Cold War Kids rocked Memorial Stadium. Guitarist Jonnie Russell brought a lot of the charisma to the stage, switching instruments, and beating a cymbal with a maraca. It took a little while for the crowd to build up their energy, seeing that it was early in the day, and wet, but the Cold War Kids didn’t really give a crap about the rain. They played some old songs and some new songs, but since I was pretty close to the stage, I noticed that the crowd sucked compared to Saturday. But it was early yet, so I didn’t mind.

And they were great warm up for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who were next on the main stage.

Holy crap, I’m so glad I had a second chance to see them. They came to the Sasquatch Festival back in May, and I missed them because Bon Iver played at the exact same time, and when I saw that they were playing at Bumbershoot too, I jumped to joy.

Let me tell you – that is one live show you can’t afford to miss. Karen O came bounding on stage in this multi-colored stringy, almost harness-like get up, with a equally colorful cape, and Nick came out with his ridiculously awesome hair and dark pair of wayfarers, and they killed it. The rain had started again by then, but I couldn’t count how many people crowd surfed in that hour-and-a-half. A few people around me actually were dropped because people weren’t paying attention to them enough to remember to hold them up. Karen said over and over how awesome the crowd was – and I couldn’t argue with her. We were singing along to slower hits like “Runaway” from It’s Blitz! and frantically jumping and dancing to older heavy hits like “Date With A Night.” Karen O is the epitome of a front-woman, with her melodic singing, fantastic shrieking, and something that sounds almost like an orgasm, especially during “Date With A Night” as she shouts “I’ll set you, I’ll set it off!” At this point, I was thinking to myself, “why are they playing at 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon?” The scheduling for Sunday didn’t make much sense, having Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the early afternoon and Jason Mraz being the headliner at 9:30 p.m. But that’s a testament to how great a show Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on.

During the last half of “Skeletons,” where Karen O wasn’t singing, and it was just a powerful keyboard solo, a huge gust of wind blew in and tossed the tarps lining the stage around like sails on a boat. I might have been the only one who thought it was cool, but it fit perfectly into the song. But the best part of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ set came when Nick switched to an acoustic guitar and we all knew “Maps” was coming.

“This is a song about love. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Seattle – Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Seattle – love.” And Karen O put her hand on her heart. Her stage presence reminds of Freddie Mercury – with her wild outfits and insurmountable amount of energy. It’s amazing. And on this day, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs could feel the love from Seattle, and Seattle – for sure – could feel the love from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

After my sister and I left the main stage, trotting through puddles and slowly ascending the wet stairs, we took a breather to have some lunch and shop around to give my sister’s back a rest. At 6 p.m., we headed over to the Broad Street Stage to catch the Vivian Girls. The audience was quite a bit smaller than Matt & Kim or Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head from the previous day, but the crowd they did have were really into it. But I think the Vivian Girls music is more fit for smaller clubs than large festivals. I haven’t heard much of their music, but oddly enough, they were very reminiscent of late 90s indie chick rock, but with a little more grungy edge. I’d like to think that Kurt Cobain would enjoy their music. That’s basically how I can describe it, with everything from their vocal stylings, fashion, and stage presence. My sister made some odd comparison as, “the less poppy Donnas.” I personally wouldn’t go see them again live, as I like my live shows to be slightly more energetic, but I listen to their self-titled record a lot. I’m a 90s kid, so the Vivian Girls are my kinda nostalgia.

At that point, the batteries in my camera died, so I had to run down the street to OfficeMax and pick up some more AAs before we got in line for Patton Oswalt at the Charlotte Martin Theater. I’ll just say this – I haven’t laughed that hard in…well I don’t remember the last time I laughed that hard. And I’m so glad I got to see him Sunday, because his set on Monday is during Franz Ferdinand – which is the one band I’m not missing for anything.

The last act of the night – Jason Mraz, I went merely to appease the wishes of my sister. I own one Jason Mraz album from when I was 14, and since then, my musical taste had changed a bit, so I wasn’t nearly as excited to see him as the thousands of girls and frat boys packed inside Memorial Stadium. It’s almost insane how much ladies go crazy for Jason Mraz. He has the appeal of a younger Dave Matthews, certainly with the instruments he works into his live performance. Even though it took me awhile to warm up to him, he’s awesome live. He’s way better than on his record, without a doubt. But it took him a long time to get to the more upbeat, crowd-pleasing songs. At the beginning, I was almost bored, as the songs didn’t fit the enthusiasm of the crowd and the greatness of the venue. This is where I questioned the scheduling again.

His beachy, surfer-dude, chill persona didn’t fit at 9:30 p.m. Chill music doesn’t work well with people who are already tired. But once he got to the second half of the show, and busted out with some Lionel Richie, everyone sang along to “party, karamu, fiesta, forever!” It didn’t make much sense to me, but I sang along as well. He played some more upbeat songs, “The Remedy” and “Coyotes,” which kept the energy up. By then, I was having fun, but what made me and the rest of the people around me extremely frustrated were the constant stream of people leaving. Now, we were towards the front of the crowd, and people who were much closer than we were left 20 minutes in. And they kept leaving throughout the show. I ask you – why squeeze your way to the most crowded area of the venue if you’re just going to leave halfway through? I don’t get it. The father with his 3-year-old standing right in front of me stayed all the way through. And it was adorable, especially during “I’m Yours,” when the 3-year-old sang all the words. That’s how big a spectrum Jason Mraz appeals to. You’ve got middle-aged women, frat boys, boy-crazy teenage girls, and fathers and their young sons.

By the end of Jason Mraz’s set and he played a wicked version of “Butterfly,” I was dancing along like the uber fangirl standing right next to me. From starting slow, to picking up the tempo and getting the crowd more involved, and ending with a bang – Mraz did not disappoint me. At that point, the scheduling made more sense having him as the headliner – because his fans love him.

I’ve still got one more day of this. Yes.

Bumbershoot: website | day 1

Written by: Abby Williamson