Thursday, September 5, 2013

MFNW, Day Two Summary


It's late, I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow, and despite a late start to the day, I'm tired, so I'm going to try to keep this quick.  I may update this with post-scripts tomorrow as the day allows.

MFNW 2013 doesn't really get into full swing until tomorrow, but today had no shortage of choices to make.  After an afternoon of not doing anything much in particular, a much-needed rest, I started off the evening by taking the No. 20 bus across the Willamette and going to the Doug Fir Lounge to see the new band Eyelids.


Eyelids are a super-group of sorts, consisting of sidemen from The Decemberists, Guided By Voices, Stephen Malkmus, Loch Lamond, and others.  Accomplished musicians all, they put on a very pleasant symposium on the many varieties of guitar rock, and even brought Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate, The Baseball Project) and a vocalist I didn't know on stage for guest spots at the end of their set.

Clarifying Post-Script: I read in Willamette Weekly that the guest vocalist was Jerry A. of the band Poison Idea, the the closing song was a cover of Gun Club's Sexbeat.

After their set, my transfer pass was still valid to take a bus back downtown to the Roseland Theater without paying anything more (see how nice it is to have a functioning public transit system, Atlanta?).  The site of last evenings's hip-hop night, the Roseland once again had a dj on stage when I entered, this time the very talented XXYYXX, who played a mind-blowing set of slow, nearly ambient, trip-hop electronic beats and bleeps.    


The headliners for the evening were the Scottish band Chvrches.  The Roseland was incredibly crowded with a very young and adoring crowd, and I was on the floor near center stage about five rows back. Chvrches are obviously going to have a very big year next year, and I'll probably never get this close to the lovely Lauren Mayberry again (or will I?).


After Chvrches set (40 minutes, no encore) I once again walked down the block to Dante's, just like last night, and got in just in time to see the insanely exuberant string-band punk of Larry & His Flask.  This was probably the unexpected highlight of the evening, a totally insane and raucous, high-energy rave with banjo and trombone.  I don't usually mosh, in fact I religiously avoid the mosh pit as much as possible, but the high energy, feel-good vibe, and the open, fun-loving attitude of the Portland audience lured me into the pit, and before I knew it, I was slam-dancing and pogoing with the best of them.  To paraphrase the world's most interesting man, I don't often mosh, but when I do, it's to Larry & His Flask.


The headliners for Dante's, Murder By Death, took the stage rig at their appointed hour of 12 midnight.  One of the nice things about MFNW is that the promoters run a pretty tight ship, and most of the shows start right on time and end at their appointed hour, so participants can keep to their schedule (Redd Kross started a little late last night, though).  I briefly saw Murder By Death earlier this year at the rain-sodden Shaky Knees festival in Atlanta while I was getting some food before The Antlers' set.  I liked their sounded and would have gone to see them, but I wanted to eat and then see The Anters more, and besides, there was a small ocean of mud between the food stalls and the stage at which they were playing, and I saw several more-intrepid fellow travelers than I fall face-down in that mud trying to cross the field.


So this evening was my chance to finally see a full set by Murder By Death.  They sounded much as I remembered, with murder ballads played at various tempos, but I was still hot and sweaty from the moshing. They started right on time, but continued on and on, even past the hour mark at which they were supposed to have wrapped it up.  When the singer announced at the 70-minute mark that "the next three songs" were particularly fun, I left for the night.  It was 1:10 am, and as I said at the top of this post, I'm tired, it's late, and I want to get up early.  Murder by Death was becoming Murder By Marathon, and while that might have been a good thing for the large and faithful audience in attendance, it was enough for me.  There's still a lot more MFNW to go.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

MFNW, Day One - Redd Kross at Dante's


Redd Kross' performance was one of the most buzzed-about events at last year's MFNW, and after taking just one look at the line that had formed, I gave up on even trying to get into their KEXP show at the Doug Fir.  So tonight's performance at Dante's was a chance to make up what I missed.

Redd Kross are a veteran band, having been around for some 30 years now.  They sound to me like the quintessential LA band, and one can hear traces of so many Los Anglocentric trends in their music, from early punk, to skater punk, to glam rock, to hair metal, and so on.  They play loud and fast (punk), but retain pop structures, melodies, and harmonies (glam), and are not shy about engaging in a little guitar pyrotechnics (hair metal).  There's a documentary film out about the Sunset Strip and the music scene that's developed around it which documents all of the disparate trends mentioned above.  These trends are far from my favorite musical genres, but to people who do like those genres, Redd Kross are a favorite.  At Dante's tonight, they played a long, 60-minute set without once ever letting the energy level drop despite the heat, and eventually won everybody over out of sheer force of willpower.

After a weekend at Bumbershoot, seeing "only" five bands in one day seems a little anti-climactic, but today did include an Amtrak trip from Seattle to Portland  ("Jump Day").  Also, MFNW used to start with only one venue on Wednesday evenings, but it's now expanded to starting on Tuesdays with events at two venues (hip-hop night at the Roseland and high-volume night at Dante's).  We're just getting warmed up, and tomorrow includes the first of two sets by Chvrches.

MFNW, Day One - Black Bananas at Dante's


I had heard of, but not actually heard, both of the openers at Dante's, and found myself really liking the first opener, Summer Cannibals.  However, I was in for a real disappointment with Black Bananas.

I don't know how to describe this train wreck of a performance.  The lead singer was obviously drunk - not in some glorious sex-and-drugs-and rock-and-roll kind of way, but in the stumbling down, incoherent manner that makes you want to avert your eyes.  Not only that, but she kept on drinking while on stage.  I often got the impression that one of the poor unfortunate homeless persons you see on Burnside outside of Dante's waiting for the Mission to open had somehow wandered into the club and up onto the stage, but it wasn't even that glamorous.

This may sound a little priggish, and I've seen plenty of musicians in various states of inebriation on stage before, but the music was incoherent and excessively loud (they seem to be one of those bands that's assumed that if you just play loud enough, it won't matter how poorly you play).  The vocals were rarely audible and garbled when they were, and the stage banter between songs was even worse, consisting of slurred words and sentences that just trailed off into nothing. ("Really?. . . I just . . . you . . . whatever . . .").

I don't like writing bad reviews and generally try to avoid being negative here, but I almost feel like some sort of intervention is called for in this case.  Some close friends and family of this band needs to sit them down and tell them to "Stop" right now.  Not stop drinking - that's cool, go for it.  But stop making music.  You're awful.  Just stop it.  

Maybe they just had an off night.  Maybe I just don't "get" their sound.  Portland's generally reliable Willamette Weekly described Black Bananas as "some of the most unhinged, funky rock around, akin to the work of ’70s icons like Betty Davis and Parliament."  I didn't hear it, but maybe it was just the heat in Dante's that was just getting to me.

Vindicating Post-Script:  A reviewer in the generally reliable Willamette Weekly who covered the show wrote, "I split at the halfway point of Joey Bada$$ to catch the last few songs of Black Bananas. I find what looks like the cast of Workaholics grinding out an incomprehensible racket, while Jennifer Herrema ambles around the stage in a junkie stupor. The album is loud and funky. Live, it’s just loud. I’m kind of disappointed."

MFNW, Day One - Summer Cannibals at Dante's


From the Roseland, I walked about a block-and-a-half down Burnside Street to Dante's.  I've never been to Dante's before but I liked the place - a small club, but with a sufficiently elevated stage to allow most everyone to be able to see the band.  The club has these old exposed brick walls with "doorways" that literally consist of holes in the wall.  There's even a separate bar on the other side of a wall from the stage for theose who want to drink with some sort of barrier between them and the din of the band.  The only disadvantage is that as it filled up, the temperature inside rose to what felt like about 95 degrees.

Anyway, Summer Cannibals played first.  They're an impressive, obviously well rehearsed band consisting of three women (guitar and vocals, bass, and drums) and one guy (guitar).  They play a bluesy brand of what used to be called alternative rock, and sounded alternately like The Breeders and The Kills.  I liked them a lot, and look forward to hearing more from them in the future.  For me, they were easily the highlight of the evening.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

MFNW, Day One - Nacho Picasso at Roseland Theater


Rapper Nacho Picasso didn't seem to connect with the young Roseland audience.  The kids were there primarily to see headliner Joey Bada$$ (between opener Gang$ign$ and headliner Joey Bada$$, the Roseland was really throwing down the cash money), and apparently didn't consider anyone else worthy of their attention.  Nacho forged on as best he could, and finally just walked off stage when his set was over and Gang$ign$ resumed his set (he appeared to be the house dj for the evening).

I didn't stay around for the headliner, however.  It's MFNW, after all, and there are many options.  I can't hang out at hip-hop night all evening, so I left after Nacho's set. 

MFNW, Day One - Gang$ign$ at Roseland Theater


So Bumbershoot is now in the books and over, so it's on to MFNW.  The Portland, Oregon festival began this year with hip-hop night and the dj Gang$ign$ laying down beats to a mostly adolescent audience at the Roseland Theater.  I watched the set from the 21-and-over balcony above the teenage crowd.  Gang$ign$ mixed complex, glitchy electronic beats for a full hour, greeting the audience with his sounds as they entered, and playing right up until rapper Nacho Picasso and his dj took over the stage. 

Bumbershoot, Day Three - The Joy Formidable (Part 2)


The final set at Bumbershoot 2013 (at least for me - others may have chosen other stages) was the second set of the day for The Joy Formidable, this time on the large Fisher Pavilion stage.  The set was marred by some sort of technical difficulty involving either the drums or the drummer - I couldn't tell which - that caused the band to stop the set for over 10 awkward minutes after the second song.  But they finally resolved things and completed their set in fine form, including an epic version of Wolf's Law from their new album of the same name.  This was the fourth time seeing the band, including this afternoon's performance and a set at MFNW 2011 at the Wonder Ballroom, Music Midtown 2011, and the rain-soaked Shaky Knees Festival last spring.  Overall, I have to say that the afternoon Music Lounge set today was the best I've heard from them, but the awkward delay this evening may be the only thing keeping tonight's performance from taking first place.

So that's it for Bumbershoot 2013.   The time will come to wax nostalgic about what was good and what could use improvement, etc., but for now I can unequivocally state that this year was the best Bumbershoot yet, at least for me.  

Bumbershoot, Day Three - Deerhunter


Atlanta's own Deerhunter headlined the Fountain Lawn stage, and did the city proud with a mesmerizing set of psych-rock.  The confrontational Bradford Cox criticized the crowd early on for being too wound up and excitable, and told everybody to just chill out a little.  Later, after finishing a song, he said, "Thank you for your polite applause.  Here's a polite song."  There would be no winning for the audience, especially after he left the stage at the end of the set and refused to come back out for an encore.  His persona is now part of his art, and makes it all so much more interesting, IMHO.

One more set to go for Bumbershoot 2013.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Bumbershoot, Day Three - Ivan & Alyosha


Seattle's Ivan & Alyosha gave a wonderful performance to an appreciative and adoring hometown audience. Video sample below.


We're coming down to the final stretch.  Only two more acts to go.

Bumbershot, Day Three - Zombies


By the way, I may have forgotten to mention it, but there were zombies all over the place throughout the festival.

Bumbershoot, Day Three - The Joy Formidable (Part 1)

Photo by KEXP
In the intimate confines of the KEXP Music Lounge, The Joy Formidable's already enormous sound is, well, beyond description.  The Germans called it sturm und drang, Bono calls it rattle and hum, the Bible refers to fire and brimstone. Hopefully, you're starting to get the idea.

Bumbershoot, Day Three - Trampled By Turtles

Photo by KEXP
Trampled By Turtles played some bluegrass-inspired tunes in the Music Lounge, full of sweet country picking and soothing melodies.  Musically, we've traveled quite a distance from The Men, the transition facilitated by Lissie.

Bumbershoot, Day Three - Lissie


I wasn't really quite sure what to expect from singer-songwriter Lissie, and was quite pleasantly surprised to find her rocking pretty hard and jamming on guitar during her Starbucks Stage set.  Her set included her song I Don't Wanna Go To Work, an appropriate-enough song for Labor Day, but also Today's Top Tune at KCRW.  The transition from The Men to Lissie was not as jarring as I had anticipated, and she provided a nice segue into the next act.

Bumbershoot, Day Three - The Men


If Superchunk was an early-afternoon kick in the pants, The Men's set at the Fountain Lawn was like getting punched in the face, repeatedly, for a full 45 minutes.  But in a good way.  Loud, uncompromising, confrontational, and fun, this Brooklyn band lives up to its hype.

I actually skipped Alt-J for this.  With all due respect to The Men, the main reason I skipped Alt-J was because I would have to have been on line from the time the gates opened at 11:00 am to get into Key Arena to hear their set.  I heard there were actually lines to get into the line for the Key Arena performances, and unlike Death Cab For Cutie last night, there were no live simulcasts of the Alt-J performance at any of the busy stages.  

It's all good though, because I have tickets to see Alt-J with Lord Huron later this month back home in Atlanta.

Bumbershoot, Day Three - Superchunk

Photo by KEXP
North Carolina natives and Merge Records stars Superchunk drew on all of their 20-some years experience to deliver a kick-ass set in the Music Lounge that included Me and You and Jackie Mittoo and other songs from their new I Hate Music album.

Bumbershoot, Day Three - BellaMaine


BellaMaine is from the small, northwest Washington state town of Anacrtes but have nonetheless perfected the indie rock sound with harmonies, synthesizers, and shared vocals.  The sun was shining and the day already heating up, but the band's chill remained unaffeted by the weather.  I would have stayed longer than I did, but I had to hustle back to the KEXP Music Lounge for the set by Superchunk.

Bumbershoot, Day Three - Cascadia '10


Last year, Bumbershoot Monday began with a set of jazzy afro-pop.  The band that was supposed to play that set, Cascadia '10, had to cancel for some reason so someone called the Jefferson Rose Band filled in for them. Still, afro-pop's afro-pop, so all was good.  This year, though, Cascadia '10 themselves were able to perform, and gently shepherded the day in with their breezy, jazzy set.

Bumbershoot, Day Two - Matt Pond


One more nice surprise: after the Death Cab For Cutie broadcast, as I was leaving the festival, I passed the Plaza Stage and was still able to catch the last couple of songs by the fine singer and songwriter Matt Pond and his band.

Bumbershoot, Day Two - Death Cab For Cutie


One of the highlights for this year's Bumbershoot was going to be the opportunity to see Death Cab For Cutie perform arguably their greatest album, Transatlanticism, in its entirety from beginning to end.  However, due to their popularity, the set was held in Key Arena, the Sonics' former basketball arena, and although it's large (I saw M83 there last year), it does have a finite capacity.  Bottom line is if you wanted to see Death Cab's 9:45 performance, you pretty much had to get in line starting at 6:15 am for the opener, Ra Ra Riot (last year, I saw Best Coast prior to M83).  That would have meant passing up on Tamaryn, one of my must-see choices for the festival, as well as Broncho and Beats Antique, another must-see.  So I was resigned to missing the Death Cab set.

Imagine my surprise, then, when immediately following the Beats Antique set, the festival began projecting the in-progress Death Cab For Cutie set on the screen behind the stage.  I was able to take a seat on the Fountain Lawn lawn and watch the set without the hassle of Key Arena's lines and crowds.  

What a nice solution, and what a nice set. 

Bumbershoot, Day Two - Beats Antique


Beats Antique are sort of a next-level Thievery Corporation.  Whereas the latter uses a lot of guest musicians to provide exotic, global sounds, Beats Antique accomplishes much the same using hip-hop sampling techniques and a dancer with a truly impressive array of wardrobe options.  This at times crossed the line from the exotic to the surreal, and it wasn't at all surprising to hear that they had played the Burning Man Festival just the night before.

For obvious reasons, they drew a large audience and I wasn't able to get anywhere near the post position of the previous two sets.  But, still, this set may have been the high point of the day, and I am so glad that I caught that second wind and stayed to see these performers.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Bumbershoot, Day Two - Broncho


After Tamaryn, I got the rail position again to see garage rockers Broncho at the Plaza Stage.  Musically, their gritty sound was miles removed from Tamaryn's previous dreamy sounds, but the transition was bracing in a good way.


Bumbershoot, Day Two - Tamaryn


From where I had been sitting, it was easy to walk on over to the stage where Mates of State had been playing and take a position at the rail to wait for New Zealand's Tamaryn. More shade, more time out to recuperate.  When Tamaryn took the stage, I was finally in the right frame of mind and body once again to enjoy their dream-pop-meets-shoegaze sound.  Their singer's sultry and glamorous stage presence didn't hurt, either.

Bumbershoot, Day Two - Mates of State


There actually was a fairly large-sized crowd at the Fountain Lawn stage to see Mates of State, but the stage was set in the shade, so it was the best compromise to be found on the festival grounds.  I've seen Mates of State before - they headlined for one of my favorite bands, Other Lives, at the Drunken Unicorn a year or so ago, and frankly I wasn't that impressed.  Maybe their stripped-down dance pop wasn't the best choice to follow the emotional and musical complexities of Other Lives, but I found myself similarly unimpressed today as I stood listening in the Fountain Lawn shade.  

At that point, I realized that I had been to four separate acts (David Bazan, the band filling in for River Giant, the rapper filling in for Charlie XCX, and Eric Burden and the Animals) and was dissatisfied with them all (see entry below).  I've come to realize that when this happens, it's usually not the entire rest of the universe that's off, it's usually myself.  Maybe it was time to just chill out a little bit and regroup.

I found a clear spot of grass in the shade where I could sit leaning back against a picket fence, and rested my eyes (and legs) for a little bit.   I could still hear Mates of State, but they already sounded better when I wasn't standing in a crowd trying to force myself to enjoy them, but just allowed their music to waft over me. I may even have nodded off for a few minutes.  But after a very short time - just the rest of the Mates' set - I found my second wind and got back up reinvigorated and ready to start enjoying the festival again.

It's nice to be reminded that "time outs" still work occasionally.

Bumbershoot, Day Two - Eric Burden and the Animals


Here's where the day started to get a little dicey for me.  After the FIDLAR set, I had planned to see David Bazan, but by this time it was 3:45 in the afternoon, and first I had to get something to eat and some liquids into my system.  I found a nice little Thai kiosk that sold me a plate full of vegetarian pad thai, which I washed down with a cold Sprite.  But after that, I couldn't get anywhere near the stage where Bazan was playing - it seemed like about 100,000 had just parachuted into the festival while I was eating, and most of them were lounging around the perimeters of Bazan's stage making it difficult to get anywhere near where he was playing.  

So I wandered around a little, but even that was difficult due to the sheer number of people.  I eventually wound up at the Plaza Stage for what I thought was going to be the band River Giant, but after one or two songs the band announced that they weren't River Giant  but were, in fact, Seattle's Midday Veil.  I kind of liked them, psychedelic drone metal ala Om, but the stage was right out in the sun, which was getting quite warm, and I could feel my bald head starting to sunburn (I had been standing in the sun for the entirety of The Mowgli's and FIDLAR's sets as well).  

By this time, Bazan's set was over, so I wandered back over to the Fisher Pavilion stage where I had earlier seen FIDLAR to watch the next act there, Charlie XCX.  But once again, I couldn't find a place in the shade from which to watch, and once again someone else came on the stage, some white rapper chick from Seattle, and announced she would be playing in place of the scheduled act.  

So I left there, too, and wandered over to the Starbucks Stage to see British Invasion veterans Eric Burden & The Animals.  The Starbucks Stage is located in a small, natural amphitheater, and apparently the 100,000 people who had parachuted in had all left Bazan's stage and were now waiting to see Burden.  The place was ridiculously crowded and totally devoid of any shade except for a Starbucks pavilion (naturally) that only allowed in people who had some sort of Starbucks' pass.  I have no idea how or where you were supposed to get a Starbucks pass (Starbucks probably), so I squeezed into a spot out in the sun and wound up somehow inadvertently pissing off the person standing behind me ("I was sitting there"), and then not one but two women squeezed right in front of me, totally pissing me off.  But then Eric Burden took the stage.

For some reason, Burden decided to dress in a sweatshirt and full hoodie for his set (see above), despite the sun, despite the heat.  I don't know, maybe he was shy, maybe he wanted to be remembered as the young singer of the Animals and not as his 72-year-old self, maybe it was a tribute to Trayvon Martin.  Beats me. From where I was standing, though, I just had to trust that it really was Burden underneath that hood, although the voice sounded about right.  But the crowd and the sun (I now could feel my ears sunburning) really started annoying me, so I made a slow and difficult exit through the crowd, accidentally stepping on some people's lawn blankets and ticking them off (a lot of people there, including myself, seemed to be suffering from a low annoyance threshold) as I weaved my way around and out.  

I only got to hear about two or three Animals songs, and for the life of me, I can't remember which ones now.  But my priorities were to find someplace a little less crowded and a little more shady, and allow myself to recuperate until I was ready to enjoy some music once again.

Bumbershoot, Day Two - FIDLAR


FIDLAR. Loud, obnoxious punk, and just about perfect.  I didn't want to go anywhere near the rail for FIDLAR, though, due to the very aggressive moshing at the front of the stage.  Still, it was fun to watch from a safe distance.

Bumbershoot, Day Two - Ramona Falls


Ramona Falls cerebral sounds on a sunny afternoon at the Fountain Lawn stage. We last saw Ramona Falls at the godforsaken Masquerade, and the Bumbershoot stage today showcased the band much better than the Masquerade.  Bonus points for getting the rail (position at the front of the stage by the security barrier with no one else in front of me except security and the band) and for the drummer's hilarious commentary throughout the set.

Bumbershoot, Day Two - The Mowgli's


L.A.'s The Mowgli's played fun, likable folk pop at the Fisher Pavilion, something along the lines of Milo Greene.  Lots of singalongs and lots of hand-clapping, but with less of an emphasis on acoustic string instruments and more on electric guitars.  If you like the up-beat enthusiasm of folk-rock, but have heard enough banjo-and-mandolin duets to last a lifetime, then The Mowgli's are the band for you. Plus everyone n the band takes a turn at lead vocals.

Bumbershoot, Day Two - Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside


Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside kick off the day in the KEXP Music Lounge.  Sallie's main set was last night, but she stuck around to play this early set today.  I'm glad I didn't have to miss her, as she sounded great at this early hour.

Bumbershoot, Day One - Crystal Castles


The long day of music closed out with a completely insane set by Crystal Castles.  Washed Out's set didn't end until 10:00, when Crystal Castles were scheduled to begin, and I expected to miss at least part of their performance, but I was able to make it to the Fisher Pavilion before the band began.  However, like during the final set of the day at Bumbershoots past, the audience was massive, and I couldn't get close enough to the stage to even see the performers, just their video-screen projections until well near the end of the set.  But with all of the dry-ice fog on the stage and Alice Glass' tendency to dive into the audience every few minutes or so, I don't know if I would have seen things much more clearly even if I were in the front row.  Glass is a legendarily reckless performer for her stage diving antics - the woman must have an incredible threshold for physical pain, or just gets so psyched by Crystal Castles' aggressive beats and shrieking synth lines that she doesn't notice the abuse her body must experience.  Several times, she was actually able to stand upright on the arms and shoulders of the audience, so that rather than crowd-surfing, she was actually crowd-walking, a pretty impressive sight especially while still shrieking her vocal parts.  She doesn't actually "sing" most of the time, at least not in a traditional sense of melody, but screams into the microphone with the line run through an echo-box, reverb, and synthesizers where it's treated and distorted to almost beyond recognition as a human voice, all while loud club beats fill the space below.  The vocals are so heavily processed, at times Glass just dragged the microphone across the stage floor and was able to produce similar sounds to her vocal effects.  While all of this may not sound appealing - and to some it may not to be sure - but it all adds up live to a thrilling and exciting performance if one allows oneself to be immersed into the experience.  But it almost by definition has to be the closing set as it was last night - I'm not sure what could possibly follow as aesthetically and physically a daredevil performance as that.

So that was it for Day One of Bumbershoot 2013 - over 11 hours of music and 10 bands.  One new discovery (ZZ Ward) and one newly-appreciated performer (Watsky). The stand-out performance of the day has to go to !!!, and the most over-the-top experience to Crystal Castles.

We're off to a great start.

Bumbershoot, Day One - Washed Out


There was a HUGE audience of Seattle teenagers at the Fountain Lawn Stage to see Georgia's own Washed Out, but with a little perseverance, I managed to work my way to a semi-decent position on the crowd.  The time between the end of Watsky's set, the last performance at the stage, and the start of Washed Out was a full hour, one of the longest intervals between performances of the day, but it still took them another 20 minutes for some reason to finish their sound check and  start their performance.  But once their glimmering synths kicked in and the band's big washes of sound began emanating form the stage, all was forgiven.  This is a band I've wanted to see live for a while now, and although they've played Atlanta many times, they've either sold out before I could get tickets, or I was somehow otherwise engaged at the time of their sets, so this was a nice, make-up set for me at Bumbershoot.   

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Bumbershoot, Day One - Gary Numan


Oh, dear.  The first disappointment of the day, and I lost my endorphin high.  Back in the 80s, after nearly a decade of listening to Eno's early, pre-ambient, minimalist rock, krautrock bands like Kraftwerk, and Bowie, both Gary Numan's made-for-MTV appearance and synth-pop hit Cars seemed derivative.  However, I'm not sure I heard much by him other than the MTV staple Cars and I certainly never saw him live.  So, I was surprised by his performance at the Bumbershoot Fisher Pavilion, where he sounded darker and gothier than anything Cars would have suggested (even during his inevitable cover of Cars).  I used to think Numan was a copy-cat of Bowie and Kraftwerk - now I think Numan is a copy-cat of The Cure and Nine-Inch Nails.  But I always like to say something positive, and I'll add that the years have actually treated Numan well - the gaunt, ethereal appearance of his MTV days have given way to age, but he now looks more both healthier and more fleshed-out.  With his newly robust body and Robert Smith hair, he actually resembles his new musical influences - The Cure and Trent Reznor.   

Bumbershoot, Day One - Watsky


Another festival breakthrough - I didn't expect to like white rapper Watsky - the songs I've heard on Spotify sounded puerile and obnoxious, and I almost skipped his set.  But I was pleasantly surprised by his exciting and life-affirming set. Maybe it was the fact that he was backed by a full band, including a female back-up singer, a scorching guitarist, and a powerhouse drummer, rather than just a dj.  Or maybe I'm just still on an endorphin high after !!!.

Bumbershoot, Day One - !!!


Up to this point, I had stuck with my game plan for the day.  However, after Beat Connection, I deided to skip the rest of the already-in-progress set by Gus & Scout and instead hang out at the Fisher Pavilion to get a better position in the audience to watch Sacramento's !!! (pronounced Chk-Chk-Chk).  Their music can be described as acid space groove funk rock, and they boast the most flamboyant and entertaining singer since Mick Jagger. He even wore a pair of shorts with the Some Girls cover on them on stage.  This was a terrifically entertaining set, with the singer frequently leaping into the audience to crowd surf or just cause general mayhem (in a good way).  I can't believe I missed these guys at The Earl earlier this summer.  Anyway, if your brain functions anything like mine, you get a serious jolt of serotonin from an outlandish but seriously funky performance like this. 

Bumbershoot, Day One - Beat Connection


Icona Pop had called in sick, but this Seattle dance-pop outfit filled in very nicely at the TuneIn Stage (Fisher Pavilion).  They also had a horn section (not pictured above) - a three-man ensemble called The Butternut Horns who added some nice oomph to their already funky sound. It remains to be seen whether or not Icona Pop recover in time for their MFNW date.

Bumbershoot, Day One - Thao (Part II)


Thao & The Get Down Stay Down's second set of the day, this time at the Fountain Lawn. This was my first set of the day outdoors among the Bumbershoot gen pop, and I'm glad I saw her Music Lounge performance earlier, both for the intimacy of the small room and because the first three songs of the set were seriously marred by way-too-heavy bass in the PA System.  But, then, I'm glad that I saw her Fountain Lawn performance because she had a larger band, including violinist Alex Guy, whom I had recognized as Led To Sea from her performance at The Earl in 2010 opening for Laura Veirs, and a two-man horn section, and the sound got back into balance after the third song.  

photo from Tumblr

Bumbershoot, Day One - Charles Bradley


The Screaming Eagle of Soul.  I saw Charles Bradley perform during Bumbershoot 2011 (my first), but it was even sweeter seeing him perform in the intimate confines of the KEXP Music Lounge.  This was the third show in a row I had won tickets to online. Despite the small room, or maybe because of the small room, Bradley still gave it his all, singing, dancing, and entertaining the audience with his old-school, James Brown-revived style of soul music.  He even came intot he audience at the end of his set and worked his way row by row to give each member of the audience an individual, if sweaty, hug, your humble narrator included.  No one refused.

Bumbershoot, Day One - ZZ Ward


ZZ Ward rocking the Music Lounge. This is what festivals are all about - the opportunity to discover new bands and performers of whom you most likely otherwise might never have encountered.  ZZ Ward's blues rock is hard to describe - she calls it "dirty shine" - a bone-deep wall of old-fashioned blues crossed with the big city gloss of cutting-edge hip hop.  If Tina Turner had a baby with Ricki Lee Jones, and that baby tricked Robert Johnson at the crossroads that she was the devil herself and bought his soul, and then was raised in a 21st Century, urban setting, that baby might sound like ZZ Ward.  Another great set.

Bumbershoot, Day One - Thao (Part I)


Great start to Bumbershoot for me with a noontime Music Lounge performance by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down.  And Thao herself was as charming as ever in the intimate confines of the indoor KEXP studio.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Seattle Bound



It's finally time.  Today, I'm off to Seattle, Washington to check out the newly legalized marijuana attend the Bumbershoot music festival, my third straight year at the event.  This is one of the strongest schedules yet, and I've done pretty well getting signed up for the KEXP Music Lounge performances, so if I stick to my tentative schedule, it looks like I'll be seeing 34 performances by 32 artists over the weekend, including Thao & The Get Down Stay Down (twice), The Joy Formidable (twice), Death Cab for Cutie, !!!, Washed Out, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Crystal Castles, Deerhunter, and Ivan & Alyoshi.  What's more, the weather is forecast to be excellent most of the weekend, with only Labor Day Monday even slightly questionable. 


However, I've probably eliminated any possibility of rain when I went to REI earlier this week and bought an expensive raincoat, one I really can't afford but also the kind that I had wished I had at Shaky Knees. Packing the raincoat and a sturdy pair of rain pants will likely ensure that I won't encounter any rain.  


After Bumbershoot, I'm taking Amtrak down to Portland, Oregon for MusicFest NW, a 6-day event beginning Tuesday evening.  So far, the forecast is looking about as good as one could possibly hope for in the Pacific Northwest:  


Performances at MFNW are almost too numerous to mention, but will likely consist of about 50 sets by 45 or so bands, including Thao & The Get Down Stay Down (again), !!! (again), Chvrches (twice), The Head and The Heart, Animal Collective, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Love Language (twice), Sonny & The Sunsets (three times), Pickwick, Neko Case, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and on and on (On An On will also be playing, as will Ages and Ages, but I probably won't be crossing paths with either one of them).

There will be updates here, but their timeliness and coherence will probably depend on several factors including the schedule, high-speed internet access, and fatigue or lack thereof.  You can also follow me on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube over the next week and a half to document in real time my inevitable mental collapse and descent into dementia and madness.

This will be fun.