Bumbershoot 2010: Audrey’s Monday Preview

It’s Bumbershoot this Labor Day weekend (see our takes on Saturday and Sunday‘s lineup), and before we get to the acts, let’s recap on strategery:

• Daily tickets are $22 (no mainstage) or $40 (mainstage). The $22 Saturday tickets are already sold out. Buy in advance, ’cause at the gate it’ll go up to $30 and $50, respectively. All adult-accompanied kids 10 and under get free festival admission (doesn’t include mainstage).
• You can meticulously plan an electronic schedule ahead of time using this online whirlygig or keep your options open by stocking your pocket with a printed PDF version
• Driving anywhere near the Seattle Center will be a pain, slightly less if you get there very early. Any number of buses will drop you there, including special festival shuttles. From Capitol Hill, it’s the mighty #8. From downtown, you take the Monorail and arrive in style.
• Check the weather before you go and dress appropriately (or not, what the hell, it’s your life). For the pack: water bottle, something blanket-y to sit on, sunscreen, sweater. On Monday, you’ll probably want to bring an umbrella and waterproof jacket, just to be safe. 

By the time Bumbershoot reaches Monday, everyone is pretty damn tired. But if you’re still able to summon up the energy to make it to Seattle Center early, there are plenty of good options, in the form of rootsy Bobby Bare Jr. (12:30), country and banter care of Brent Amaker & The Rodeo (11:45), the big pipes of Nouela Johnston in People Eating People (12:30), and JEFF the Brotherhood (1:15), who are neither brothers nor named Jeff.

---

Monday is also your last chance to check out those things you’ve been meaning to do all festival, like hitting up the short films in SIFF Cinema, the Counterculture Comix retrospective (curated by Larry Reid and our good friends at Fantagraphics), or seeing some dance, theatre, or comedy. Especially if it’s raining outside. We’ve been giving shout-outs to comedy throughout the festival, but I’d like to give a special mention to Kumail Nanjiani, who specializes in the fish-out-of-water humor of being a Pakistani in America. (I also went to college with him–jealous?) He’s performing as part of a comedy nerd lover’s dream showcase with the also-very-funny John Mulaney and Nick Kroll (3:45).

---

Once again, the Broad Street Stage is killing it all day, closing with the one-two-three punch of Japandroids, Surfer Blood, and The Thermals back-to-back-to-back (5:45, 7:30, 9:15). So just camp out there for a while. There’s also Anvil (6:30), the washed-up metal band made good via 2009 documentary, the multi-culti beats of Colombia’s Bomba Estereo (5:45), lovely local lady Laura Veirs (8), and Loch Lomond‘s pop orchestra (6:15). Don’t forget about those harmony-loving Moondoggies (5), the boy-girl cooing of Jenny and Johnny (6:45), classic new wave/ska band The English Beat (9:30), and the legendary Booker T, sans MGs (8:30).

On the Monday Mainstage, you can see child star turned Canadian rapper Drake (7:30). (If he’s not there, there will be a riot.) And Mary J. Blige closes out the Bumbershoot Mainstage (9). But we don’t need no haters, so please leave the hateration and/or holleration at home. ‘Cause there’s no more drama in your life. Especially once Bumbershoot is over for another year.