There was one non-negotiable must-see at Bumbershoot Monday, and that was the Lost writers panel. Sorry Say Hi, Black Joe Lewis, Grand Hallway, and the Lonely Forest, you were playing at the wrong time; there was no way to catch any of your sets and also be back at the Leo K. Theatre early enough to snag some seats. I wasn’t alone: the nerds had shown up early, and there was a long line of folks who were just not going to get in. For those of us who made it, however, we were treated to a lively discussion between Entertainment Weekly‘s Lost guru Jeff Jensen and Lost executive producer-scribes Carlton Cuse, Eddy Kitsis, and Adam Horowitz.
The show is three weeks into filming its sixth and final season, which Kitsis claimed would be “all killer, no filler.” The writers showed the three teasers previously viewed at Comic-Con (and subsequently all over the tubes), which seem to indicate that perhaps time has been rebooted following Juliet detonating a hydrogen bomb in the season finale. Everyone will have to wait and see, as Cuse, Kitsis, and Horowitz would only give cagey non-answers as to what exactly will happen this year on (and off) the Island.
Besides that, there was talk of the presence/absence of a writers’ masterplan (it was always there, but subject to change); the difficulties of (and elaborate charts required for) writing non-paradoxical time travel; their collective affection for Ben, Charlie, and Mr. Eko (as well as Horowitz’s love of Billy Dee Williams); and who would win in a battle between Sawyer’s hair and Jin’s abs (the writers said Jin’s abs, but sorry, the correct answer is: Sayid’s luscious manlocks). Each writer picked a favorite scene which was played and then discussed, which served to give a window into the overall Lost-making process. The panel was well worth my festival time.
Phew. With Lost out of the way, I was free to explore the rest of the fest: Family-friendly Recess Monkey had the kiddos dancing with songs about chickens. Metric gave a stripped-down and languid piano-based performance in the KEXP Lounge, in direct contrast to Emily Haines’ rockin’ set later that night. Janelle Monae put on a high-energy funkdafied show, with her trademark bouffant luckily protected from the rain. Akron/Family made a lot of noise for just a little jammy three-piece. Mountain Man Pete Quirk and the rest of the Cave Singers regaled the crowd with odes to his Civil War beloved, and the sun peeked out for the Appalachian hootenanny portion of the evening. Franz Ferdinand were as tight as they’ve ever been, even in the din of Memorial Stadium. Meanwhile, Truckasaurus hosted an intimate dance party at the EMP. Surprisingly, Portland Cello Project may have had the most crowd-pleasing set of the day (playing cello versions of the Super Mario Bros theme and Aha’s “Take On Me” will do that), but Australian cutie-pie Lenka was a close second.
