Bumbershoot 2011

Friends, the links to the MySpace pages of the bands mentioned below are in my Bumbershoot Preview column.
The Dog couldn't go to Bumbershoot.
Saturday
First up, Vetiver in the Bumbershoot Music Lounge (intimate, unplugged, 40 minute sets in a 100 seat theater). Unfortunately I had no tickets for Music Lounge show, there was a huge line to get into the festival and the food court (excellent idea One Reel) near the entrance compelled B to peruse because he was feeling puckish, truth be known, so was I. Once we’d knocked back the first of many gyros from St. Demetrios (a slice of heaven on a pita for $6) we proceeded to the KEXP booth to join the queue for the tickets. Our prospects looked bleak, but we got in. Vetiver played a mixture of new songs from their latest, The Errant Charm, and some from their previous four releases. It was the first performance of their new tour. I had hoped to hear More of This, but was denied that pleasure. I spoke to the lead guitarist after the Music Lounge set and he assured me that they’d play it during their performance at the Fountain Stage. They didn’t. In spite of that hollow promise Vetiver was great.
Next up, Kris Orlowski at Level 3, one of the two EMP stages. Unfortunately it was full. Note to EMP and One Reel, the Sky Church performances had room all weekend even after moving the barriers at the back of the room closer to the stage (WTF, four security guys need 25% of the floor space?) However, every Level 3 show was filled long before performers took the stage and huge lines continued to build outside. I’m just saying…
B and I made our way back the Mural Stage and proceeded to consume the first of many, many free Starbucks beverages. Howard, your plea to corporations to refuse to contribute to campaigns until Congress gets its collective head out of its collective ass, sponsoring one of the best stages at Bumbershoot and sharing free drinks with Bumbershooters are improving my opinion of you. Just get an NBA team to return or even better an NHL team to come to Seattle and we’re good.
We rendezvoused with J, D and R for Wagons, an Aussie C&W band with a great sense of humor. Good music and the front man’s between song banter reminded me of Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords.
While at Wagons my buddy T sent a text asking if we wanted in for the Bumbershoot Music Lounge show for Trombone Shorty. Since Shorty was on my list of must sees, I quickly replied ‘yes’. We sat three rows back, center stage. T and I got to catch up a bit during the sound check. Trombone Shorty came out with his band, none of whom looked to be over 30, and proceeded to melt our faces off with one of the tightest, sharpest sounding Jazz-Funk-R&B/Soul performances I’ve ever seen. The man channeled James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Dizzy Gillespie at various times throughout the show. They were fabulous!!!!! I bought their CD Backatown.
We walked the grounds a bit. T showed us the (hopefully) new home for KEXP. We grabbed a Starbucks, listened to a bit of Nortec Collective at Fisher Green and PS I Love You at The Fountain where two nice ladies gave us passes to the VIP beer garden where we enjoyed a tasty beverage and watched Shabazz Palaces. We couldn’t get in to see Pickwick or Jayme Stone, the previously mentioned Level 3 factor nixed those opportunities, but did see Trombone Shorty a second time and got another gyro from St. Demetrios. Our last act was Ray LaMontagne in Key arena. The Music was great, but I dislike the venue. It’s inside, the seats are not comfortable and the sound is sub-par. I appreciate the need to “weather-proof” the festival and understand that Memorial Stadium costs more, but the Key sucks for music. Once again I’m just saying…
We left Ray after four songs and made our way to Mavis Staples. Mavis did not disappoint. We arrived just as she was getting into The Weight. Mavis has a great voice, greater stage presence and always has a tight band. We missed her last couple of songs as we hustled to the ferry.

Sunday
I was lucky to have my Brother and my life-partner along for the day. Once through the gates we went straight to get comedy stage passes. We opted for The Improvised Shakespeare Company in Bagley Wright later that day. The comedy shows are so popular that you have to get passes to guarantee a seat and they “sell out” early. On the way back we caught a bit of Kore Ionz at Fisher then got another gyro from St. Demetrios and on to the Mural for the remainder of Kasey Anderson and the first of our many, many free Starbucks beverages of the day. Massey Ferguson, a good old Southern Rock band from Snohomish, was next at the Mural where we were joined by my old shipmate J.
The Improvised Shakespeare Company (at Bagley Wright) is a five man improvisation troop from Western Washington in Bellingham. They ask the audience shout out topics, they select one and create a one act play on the spot in Shakespearean tradition. The Unintended Mustache was brilliant to say the least!
I should mention that due to various construction projects on the Seattle Center grounds Bumbershoot was forced to move some stages and eliminate others. In addition the art installations, some of B’s (B the life-partner not B the brother) and my highlights, were smaller this year, but worth seeing nonetheless. And we always enjoy Flatstock, the poster art show next to the Fisher stage. This year was no exception. We made our way across the campus to EMP for Kaylee Cole, alas, the Level 3 factor was in play once again so we were denied. We returned to Starbucks and listened to Jessica Lea Mayfield at the Mural. She has a great voice, but her songs sound the same and she really didn’t talk much.
Let me be perfectly clear on something. I don’t expect a musician to perform like a wind-up monkey with an organ grinder. However, a little bit of between song banter, an effort to connect with the people who bought tickets (and maybe a CD) would be appreciated. If you’re Van Morrison, you can get away without talking to the crowd, but most of the performers at B-shoot aren’t Van. I’m just saying…
I got another gyro from St. Demetrios then back to the Mural Stage for several more tasty Starbucks drinks and Leon Russell. Leon played all his hits and then some. Most of the hits were reworked, for example Back to the Island was done a bit more up-tempo, so much so that I didn’t recognize it until the chorus. He’s a great showman with excellent musicians and the show rocked.
After Leon we tried to get into see Macklemore at the Key. As we spoke to security at the entrance we could see people coming out of the exit, but due to a lack of communication between the entrance and the exit, security was convinced that the building was at capacity. My only disappointment of the day, I didn’t get to see Pickwick in the Music Lounge.

Monday
Very tired. We didn’t get to sleep until 3:30 AM and rose at 5:45 AM to drive J to the airport. I met B, A and my old friend A at the ticket booth. We bee-lined it for the KEXP booth where we met R and queued up for Music Lounge tickets to see Charles Bradley. While in line for Charles, B went to get comedy passes, but they were “sold out”. We got in to the Music Lounge show. Wow! Charles Bradley has been around a long time and is one of the hardest working men in music, ‘nuff said! Denied for Fitz and the Tantrums show in the Music Lounge as the line we so long, but R got in.
Got another gyro from St. Demetrios, saw a bit of Quadron at the Fountain, Head Like a Kite at Fisher, and Grand Hallway at the mural. All good, Quadron was the best of the three, in fact I bought their CD and have been playing it a lot.
Dennis Coffey at Fisher was very good and he wasn’t even on my list. You Am I, a marginally talented, extremely profane gang from Aussie was at the Fountain. I left for more Starbucks and Ian Moore at the Mural.
Greensky Bluegrass followed Ian. The five man Bluegrass band from Michigan opened with Traffic’s Light Up or Leave Me Alone and proceeded to jam away like they’d been playing together since birth. Great stage presence, excellent musicianship and for Bluegrass, the tunes Rocked! No Ravenna Woods, once again the Level 3 factor, aka no room and long lines at EMP. I finished with Fitz and the Tantrums at the Key. By the time they took the stage I was running on fumes. I caught the first half of the set and boogied with Stu to the ferry.

Highlights:
Vetiver, Trombone Shorty, Massey Ferguson, Greensky Bluegrass, Improvised Shakespeare Company, free iced mochas and $6 gyros from St. Demetrio.

By the way, Dave Matthews still sucks a fat baby's ass for playing the Gorge opposite Bumbershoot.

2011 Bumbershoot Lineup

The dog and I have been into pulled pork from the crock pot lately. There’s nothing like dry-rubbing a pork shoulder, letting it spend the night in the fridge, adding the BBQ sauce (we make our own) in the morning and slow cooking it until it falls off the bone. Shred that baby up, stick it on a roll with the sauce and you have a party!

We’ve been listening to a lot of live Grateful Dead from the Internet Music Archive.
There are a ton of soundboard recorded shows to stream as well as some very good quality, free downloads.

With the exception of the final Harry Potter, which B and I both liked, most of our recent viewing has been underwhelming so we’re revisiting Friday Night Lights via Netflix, beginning with the season one pilot. I happen to think it’s one of the most underrated shows in TV history, a great glimpse into small-town family life. The dog misguidedly thinks it’s just about football. It was filmed with hand held cameras. There’s scene structure, but no scripts and many non-actors. Sure some of the characters can be bit over the top, but what rose is without thorns?

The dog has been after me to read Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Cameron, a high school student who doesn’t quite fit in, gets mad cow disease and in the company of a dwarf and a lawn Gnome takes a journey to find a cure. Reminds me of early Tom Robbins.

We’ve been pouring over the MySpace pages of the bands who are coming to Seattle for Bumbershoot on Labor Day weekend trying to assemble our schedule. As usual we got our 3-day passes way back in March and thanks to Washington’s new service animal law, the dog can legally go (I had to sneak her in the past few years and it’s hard for her to walk on her hind legs for the day). She’s on pins & needles with anticipation. I can’t say as I blame her.
So our predicted Highlights for Bumbershoot 2011:
Ray LaMontagne
Trombone Shorty
Vetiver
School of Seven Bells
Fitz and the Tantrums
Greensky Bluegrass

And our sleepers, hopefully:
MarchFourth Marching Band
Jayme Stone: Room of Wonders
Charles Bradley
Legendary Oaks
AgesandAges
Kris Orlowski & The Passenger String Quartet
PS I Love You

Bumbershoot 2011 Lineup
Saturday 9/3
*Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs
I love this guy’s smoky tenor!

Minus the Bear
Reminiscent of the mid/late-80’s Post New Wave, retro-Pop

*Mavis Staples
Mavis will take you there, no doubt!

Little Dragon
If Bergman had been a songwriter instead of a filmmaker...

*Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Funky, R&B from NOLA. Oh Yeah!

STRFKR
Portland Electronica quartet, pleasant beats
Shabazz Palaces
Hippity-hoppity from one third of Seattle’s Digable Planets

Warpaint
LA girl group. Somber and slow, yet surprisingly appealing.

Vusi Mahlasela
South African Folk music.

*MarchFourth Marching Band
Sounds more like the Crescent City than the Rose City. John Phillip Sousa would be proud

Eyehategod
New Orleans metal.

Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich + Fussible
Disco-Pop with undertones of Mexican restaurant mood music.

Väsen
Swedish Folk music performed by very good Swedish Folk musicians

Champagne Champagne
Seattle Hip-Hop

Astronautalis
Seattle Hip-Hop

#PS I Love You
Ontario duo Rocking in the free world.

Yuni in Taxco
Seattle Pop-Rock, more Pop than Rock

#Campfire Ok
Seattle Pop-Rock, more Rock than Pop

Meklit Hadero
Jazzy, Funky Folk

Craft Spells
Smooth, Electro-Pop, strains of Style Council

Caleb Klauder Country Band
Mandolin centered Country and Bluegrass from the Rose City

Valient Thorr
Chapel Hill Metalish Rock

*Jayme Stone: Room of Wonders
Innovative Canadian banjo picker teams with a singer from Mali and plays Jazz

#Pickwick
Soulful caucasians from Seattle

Red Fang
Heavier Rock and Roll tunes from Portland

Scribes
Seattle Hip-Hop

Wagons
Country Rock from down under

Shelby Earl
This is the Country KMPS and The Wolf should be playing

Free the Robots
Techno with elements of Jazz, Rock, Classical

Witchburn
If the Wilson sisters had played Metal this may be what they’d sound like

Emancipator
Instrumentals with a Worldly feel

Nice Nice
Rose City duo with a very nice approach to Psych Rock

#Kris Orlowski & The Passenger String Quartet
Sounds a bit like Colin Hay, Folky

Tomten
Mostly catchy Pop Rocks from Seattle

#Pezzner
Syncopated, electronic bliss in the House

LawnChair Generals
More House

Natasha Kmeto
Technippity-Hoppity with an R&B feel

The Great Mundane
There’s a lot of Techno this year

DJ Nordic Soul
There’s a lot of Techno this year


Sunday 9/4
Wiz Khalifa
Oh Boy, another Rapper boasting of insignificant conquests

#Broken Social Scene
Interesting Pop/Rock with depth and range

*Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Seattle Hip-Hop with a conscience

The Kills
Punkish Rockers from London

Butthole Surfers
I had no idea they were still around and still loud

#Carbon Leaf
Virginian Indie-Folk-Rock

*Leon Russell
A musical legend

Toro y Moi
Mostly somber Techno-Pop with a little Soul.

Anti-Flag
If you can’t tell by the name, snarling, guitar driven Punk Pop

Das Racist
From their Myspace: Weed edge/hare krishna hard core/art rap/freak folk music trio based in Brooklyn, New York

*The Lonely Forest
Great stuff from Anacortes, WA, the Mecca of NW Rock.

**Vetiver
Jazzy, Folky, great music, great lyrics, I need more of this!

Jessica Lea Mayfield
Slow, somber Folky.

DåM-FunK + Master Blazter
Rap, Hip-Hop, Funk, Techno, nice beats.

NOmeansno
A spare approach to Metal with a Punk influence.

Atari Teenage Riot
Bands whose music blasts you as soon as their MySpace page loads are in the same category as white collar criminals and people who talk during movies. C’mon people...

Tennis
Upbeat, Pop Rock with an early 60s retro sound

Thee Oh Sees
Fairly simple songs dolled up with lots of effects, toward Punk-a-Billy Pop

Mad Rad
Electronic Hip-Hop

#The Jim Jones Revue
Sounds like good ole Rock’N’Roll to me

*School of Seven Bells
If the B-52s were starting today (and Fred didn’t sing any lead), this is what they’d sound like

#Joe Pug and the Hundred Mile Band
Very Dylan-like, but a much better voice.

Davila 666
More Pop with a Punk sound.

#AgesandAges
Folk Rock with some chorus work reminiscent of Grand Archives or Fleet Foxes

*Wayne Horvitz Cafe Paloma Band
If you’re a cool enough musician you don’t need to put your music on MySpace and this Jazzy, Bluesy stuff is really cool. It’s Grunge Jazz.

#Kore Ionz
Sweet Reggae Music!

Sol
Seattle Rapper with nice background music.

Whalebones
Rockers sound sometimes like Dylan and sometimes like Neil Young.

Allen Stone
Rather R&Bish

*Massy Ferguson
American Rock’N’Roll, nicely done

#Tycho
Ambient Techno, very pleasant

Thomas Marriott’s Human Spirit
Sounds like Jazz to me.

Kaylee Cole
Piano and voice, singer/songwriter

Com Truise
Techno

Lusine
Techno, nice enough

HTRK
Techno with vocals

Gail Pettis Quartet
Jazz vocal, What a voice!

*Kasey Anderson and The Honkies
Rock on Garth

Shigeto
Techno with some interesting percussion

The Sight Below
Techno

#DJ Justin Timbreline
Ambient Techno, nicely done


Monday 9/5
*Daryl Hall & John Oates
Sure we called 'em the Philly Fags in high school, but these two have a great R&B sound.

*The Presidents of the United States of America
Rock as it’s meant to be, up tempo and sweaty

*The Reverend Horton Heat
Twangy Western Swing leaning a bit more toward Rock

*Fitz and The Tantrums
They borrow the R&B sound of Hall & Oates and make it their own

#Over the Rhine
American roots

Phantogram
Kinda Techno Rock

Grant Lee Buffalo
Folky

Urge Overkill
Rocky with no Bullwinkle

*Charles Bradley
Old school Soul music from Brooklyn

Vendetta Red
West Coast Rock

Sharon Van Etten
Singer-song writer, nice enough

Brite Futures
Techno Pop

Dennis Coffey
Soulful, Funky and a bit on the trippy side.

Head Like a Kite
Shoegazer, I love that term.

YACHT
Pleasant Techno Pop

**Greensky Bluegrass
New Grass! Their version of Pink Floyd’s Time is brilliant!

#Quadron
Soulful R&B

#Ian Moore & The Lossy Coils
The one song that MySpace actually plays is a soulful Rocker.

#Grand Hallway
Seattle’s own Melodic Rock

You Am I
Pop Rocks

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside
Jazzy, C&W influenced Pop

My Goodness
NW Rockers

LAKE
Reserved Pop-Rock

Beat Connection
Techno-Pop

Purity Ring
Techno-Pop

Truckasauras
Punkish sounding, been around since the Dead Sea was sick

#Ravenna Woods
NW Indie Folk Rock

Lemolo
A slower, somber sound with great voices

SPLATINUM
Techno-Pop

*Legendary Oaks
NW Folk Rock, very nice

Mash Hall
NW Hip-Hop

The Horde and The Harem
NW Folk Rock

Curtains For You
NW Folk Rock

#214
NW Techno-Poppy, Hippity-Hop, nice beats

WD4D
NW Techno-Poppy, Hippity-Hop

Ill Cosby
Techno-Pop, Huxtable style

DJ Introcut
Techno

*Must See
#Maybe