Bumbershoot 2009 (Seattle's Music & Arts Festival) PART 2--September 6 & 7, 2009
Posted by Brian Berry on 09.10.2009
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Patton Oswalt, Todd Barry, and No Age highlight the very rainy, final days of one of America's best festivals!
If you missed the review of Bumbershoot Festival, Day 1 you can check it out by clicking here. See why Sarah Silverman is upset with me (no joke).
Planning on visiting Bumbershoot in next year? Here’s a few tips to help you maximize your fest:
-Do some research. There are hundreds of bands playing at this and you probably haven’t heard of 2/3 of them. You will find a handful of musicians that you’ve never heard of before that are awesome. Trust me.
-Pay the extra money for a premium 3-day pass. You get to cut in line, you get complimentary food and beverages, and you get special access to stages that are off limits to the general public.
-Check out as many comedy shows as possible. The best stand-up comics in the nation are at Bumbershoot. It’s amazing what an excellent job the comedy organizers do to get such great talents.
-Bring food. You’ll save a ton of money. If you don’t bring food, get the $6.50 Philly Cheese Steak. It’s awesome and weighs damn near a pound. I ate 3 in the first two days and plan on two more today. They’ll fill you up.
-Be prepared for cancellations. Bands and comedians will cancel at the last second. Trust that those running the festival will find suitable replacements. The people at One Reel Productions are pros.
This is how the rest of the festival looked…
Bumbershoot Festival (Day 2)—Sunday, September 6
Rain poured throughout the day, as expected. Ponchos and oversized umbrellas were as popular as American Apparel hoodies today.
1:45 pm=Brooklyn all-girl trio Vivian Girls (and my #15 Album of 2008) took the stage at the exclusive KEXP Music Lounge. There wasn’t a single tune off their critically lauded, self-titled debut but that’s fine. The tracks off their newly released 2nd full-length are just as messy, infectious, an melodic with clear similarities to ‘60s girl group The Shangri-Las and even Bleach-era Nirvana. This is the kind of band, like Bikini Kill before them, that could give young girls the confidence to start their first band.
2:15pm=My only trip to the main stage was for Yeah Yeah Yeahs far too early in the day set. At the blink of an eye, the weather would switch from a heavy downpour to bright sunny heat. The jarring conditions didn’t seem to phase lead singer Karen O, as she moved like she danced like she was at a Native American ceremony for the majority of the set. Her attitude stayed positive and gracious throughout with much pandering to the Seattle crowd. The large audience sang along to singles like “Maps” and “Zero” but the highlights came from their older, post-punk leaning tracks like “Miles Away”, “Date With the Night”, and “Y Control.” The trio has surely graduated to rock stardom since I first saw them as an opening act seven years ago: confetti, inflatable toys, big lighting rigs and elaborate costumes were all part of the set. Aside from flat sound out of the guitar, the set was definitely worth catching.
3:00pm=The most welcome surprise performance came from Toronto’s Holy Fuck, who killed for 30 minutes in the KEXP Music Lounge. The quartet consists of a drummer, bassist, and two multi-instrumentalists who twiddled nobs, made noise out of film projection equipment, and had set ups that looked not unlike a ham radio set up. The band’s unusual time changes and futuristic Krautrock sound is reminiscent of ‘70s artists like Can, Kraftwerk, and Neu but with modernized subtleties (think Trans Am without the irony).. “Hypnotic” would be the most accurate word to describe their amazing live show.
4:00pm=Extra Golden performed a set of Soweto rock outdoors. They sounded a little like Vampire Weekend…if there were real African musicians in that band. Very good band worth checking out if you are open to pseudo-World music.
5:30pm=The stand-up comedy show I was least looking forward to turned out to be exceptionally funny from beginning to end. Opener Reggie Watts is one of the most insane, otherworldly performers I’ve ever seen. If you can envision a crossroads where Zach Galifianakis, Larvelle Jones from Police Academy, and The Ernie Kovacs show (go to YouTube and do your homework kids) meet you’d have a loose idea of what to expect from the large afro’d perfomer. Matt Braunger, formerly of MadTV, followed with a stronger than expected physical comedy set including bits criticizing Taco Bell’s marketing strategies, lifting weights to The Smiths, and Mexican gangbangers who love Morrissey. The always funny Todd Barry (The Wrestler, Flight of the Conchords) did his low spoken, snakelike set railing against Tom’s of Maine deodorant, Facebook relationships statuses (“It’s complicated? Really!?! That just means you’re fucking more than one person”), and bringing infants to a music festival. See him if you haven’t already. He’s one of the best around.
6:45pm=There are tons of security officers at the Exhibition Hall. I guess that’s why they try to pack all the punk and metal shows in there. Los Angeles duo No Age exceeded my expectations with a noisy yet melodic run through the majority of last year’s Nouns album. Their lo-fi, distortion heavy sound could’ve come from Seattle; a logical evolution from early ‘90s grunge. It’s a good thing this show was indoors to trap all the energy of the young crowd. Security got a little out of hand here, manhandling some kid who was just dancing in the crowd, which prompted the singer/drummer to spit on the patrolman. Outside of that, the set was awesome and a highlight of the fest.
8:00pm=After Tony Camin and Tommy Johnagin opened the show, Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille, King of Queens, Comedians of Comedy) came out to a standing ovation for his only comedic appearance at Bumbershoot this year and the most anticipated performance of the festival. Many people were turned away for the max capacity show, which featured almost all new material. For my buck, he’s the smartest, and perhaps one of the best comedians walking the Earth. His best bits were about the Los Angeles wildfires happening now (“looks like a Dio album cover”), spreading buzz about fictitious Bumbershoot bands (must sees include “Ginseng Knapsack” and “The Chaos Dragons”), and a new Kentucky Fried Chicken prototype that enlarges the chicken leg to gargantuan proportions. People were yelling out requests for bits like they were at a Rolling Stones concert. Catch him on his new tour if you can.
9:45pm=Former Tony! Toni! Tone! and Lucy’s Pearl vocalist Raphael Saadiq tore up an outdoor stage with a large live band, amazing singing, and one of the best homages to ‘70s soul that you’ve heard in a long time. If you’ve given up on r&b, check out Saadiq.
Bumbershoot Festival (Day 3)—Monday, September 7
Rain was pouring hard for the final day so I didn’t stay long. Here are a few notes:
12:00pm=Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears are a tremendous young band. You wouldn’t think six White guys with glasses and two Black dudes would sound like James Brown and the JB’s but these guys nail it. Energetic, almost punk in delivery, and with more soul than most of the crap you’ll hear on r&b radio nowadays. Highlights included the single “Sugarfoot” as well as “Big Booty” and “I’m Broke” off their debut album Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is. Check out a video of their performance here (video courtesy of Tacoma Rock City):
12:45pm=Female fronted Seattle band Visqueen performed outdoors during a heavy downpour with a good set of Cheap Trick influenced power-pop. They’re likable and write really good tunes but the banter was too heavy for the weather.
1:45pm=Portland’s Point Juncture, WA played indoors (thank God!) with a listenable set of dream pop, not unlike Lush or any other British shoegaze band from the mid’90s.
2:30pm=Akron/Family brought their freak-folk to the KEXP Music Lounge for slow building jams that flowed from one song to the next without any stops. The trio nearly hypnotized the packed crowd. Imagine going to a campfire with three multi-instrumentalist hippies with great voices, that lack the self importance of hippies. Kind of like a cool Crosby, Still & Nash.
3:45pm=I escaped the rain by seeing Aziz Ansari and the Red Wine Boys again (check out the other article for a review of their first performances). Ansari’s set was cursed with hecklers while Red Wine Boys set was made better by hecklers.
5:30pm=The last show I caught at Bumbesrhoot (I missed Modest Mouse and several others due to the horrible weather) was Metric in the KEXP Music Lounge. There were so many people trying to get in and organizers didn’t know what to do with all the overflow. People were literally running past security, arguing, and forming mobs to try and get into this rare, intimate performance. The set was short—less than 20 minutes-but the acoustic versions of their synth-pop songs are made even more impressive with Emily Haines’ bare voice. A good set that was well worth the long wait in line to get into.
Top 10 Highlights of Bumbershoot 2009
-Holy Fuck
-Patton Oswalt
-No Age
-Reggie Watts
-Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
-Os Mutantes
-Akron/Family
-Telekinesis
-Vivian Girls
-Todd Barry (solo and with The Red Wine Boys)
The 411: Without the terrible weather, Bumbershoot 2009 is nearly flawless. Patton Oswalt's performance was spectacular as was live music by underground acts No Age, Holy Fuck, Akron/Family and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. Go next year...you deserve it!
