Alright, cats and kitties, puppies and guppies...let's finish up what I done got from the second day of Seattle's tremendous Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival (click HERE for Day One, and click HERE for Day Two, Part One!) This year, it was music music music for me at Bshoot; as much as I know I would have absolutely loved to have visited all the other way cool things going on at the fest (art, films, comedy, etc.), I could not figure out this whole cloning thing in time for me to split myself efficiently. Next year, I will work harder on my science skills. Anyway, what a great way to welcome in September, seeing some of my original fave Brit bands from the '60s, several fave bands from the nows, and a couple that land in the middle of Favoriteville! Overall, a very satisfying day. (Click on the photos to enlarge and click on the Flickr links for more!)
What a treat to see
Eric Burdon play again, and this time with some of the other
Animals! I will say that I found his stage clothes to be a bit...
non-traditional, but as it was blindingly sunny at the Starbucks Stage, one can understand! I was rather moved by the sight of so many "back-in-the-day" folks there, braving the heat and humidity to see a musical hero, and lots of youngers, too. Eric without question is a standout voice of the rock era, and he and the Animals were the best of the blues-based Brits, sez me.
Mates of State were up next, a (gasp!) married couple who successfully work together! The highly-energetic indie duo appeared on my favorite Bumbershooting Fountain Lawn Stage as part of Barsuk Records 15th anniversary celebration, and not only sounded great, they looked great, too.
I hadn't seen
Bob Mould play live since his
Hüsker Dü days, so I was absolutely FOR SURE going to see him at Bumbershoot! I gotta say...WOW! So so so good! He jumped around the stage like a sugar-filled teenager, shredding like a maniac, and smiled almost the entire time, which made everyone else smile, too. I think he sounds even better now, I really do.
I had seen
Tamaryn play a superb
live broadcast set earlier in the day at the KEXP Music Lounge, and knew that I definitely wanted to see more, so I got back over to the Fountain Lawn Stage. They are so compelling, both musically and visually, and were a sweetly psychedelic float down from the thrashy crunch of Mr. Mould.
I had a real dilemma at 8PM: The Zombies, The Breeders, and BRONCHO were all playing on different stages at the same time! Oh, man, what to do? I didn't have enough youthful hustle left in me at that point in the day to run from one to the other in time to make the 3-song-limit photo limit for the former two bands, that I knew. I ended up choosing
The Zombies for the wonderful chance to see Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone perform together, as well as see dear Jim Rodford again, who played bass for the Kinks for many years. These guys are such
real pros, and really care that their music sounds
tight. What a total pleasure.
After leaving the photo pit, I could just
faintly hear that
BRONCHO was still playing over at the Plaza Stage. If I could find just a
teeny bit of hustle left in my tired camera-totin' bones,
by god, I might make it over to see them, too! It had been awhile since I'd seen them play at the Sunset Tavern here, and I lovvvvvve their album,
Can't Get Past The Lips, so off I went! Success! Very briefly realized, as I arrived during their last song. But...then they played an encore! WOO! WOO! I smiled a lot and sang along pretty loudly. Perfect way to end Bshoot Day Two! Day Three coming up!
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman