I eased into Bumbershoot yesterday with what I would term a laid-back day for an arts festival. There wasn’t too much I absolutely had to see, I wasn’t rushed, and there were moments in the day where I was not interested in a single act currently performing. And yet, I saw and did a lot for the first day of the fest. (Be sure to follow my Bumber-twatting @thesunbreak.)
I got to the Bumbergrounds a little after 1, just in time to see some of Kris Orlowski’s set in the EMP 3rd floor stage with the Passenger String Quartet. I’ve seen Orlowski before and he had a haircut for the occasion, while the quartet fleshed out some of the singer-songwriter’s catalogue. Stopped by a couple minutes of a summer party with Champagne Champagne on the Fisher Green lawn. Even a little bit of Astronautalis is too much Astronautalis, but unfortunately there was nothing else going on at 3:30 p.m. I caught the opening of Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich & Fussible, because I can only handle so much Mexi horns, but I made a point to see Väsen, because I had never even heard of a nyckelharpa, let alone seen one in the flesh.
I made sure to see Pickwick at the Free Yr Radio stage, and good thing, as their EMP show was full. The Free Yr Radio stage might soon hit the echelon of Pro-Tip, if only because it’s nice and shady, not too crowded, and an easy way to see up-and-comers play about three songs. Get yr taste with Toyota. They paid me to say that. (They did not.)
Ok, where were we? I got to the Center House Theatre early for Marya Sea Kaminski’s work-in-progress Bonnie and the Robberie, an excerpt from the upcoming Riddled, her love letter to Bonnie and Clyde, which will be at the Hugo House next year. (If you want to see a full free reading of the entire work, hie thee to Cornish Studio One next week.)
And then for a bite of comedy with the Bang Bang Podcast, which was an excuse for Paul F. Tompkins, Anthony Jeselnik, and Scott Aukerman to make each other laugh. After tearing through a gyro, I saw a little bit of bescarfed Swedish sprite Little Dragon and a tromboner band leader in Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, who gave a Seattle shout-out with a Nirvana cover (“In Bloom”).
The Sky Church at EMP was pretty empty, except for this cute kid spazzing out and doing flips to Lawnchair Generals. I stuck around the EMP for the atmospheric folk pop of Meklit Hadero. Born in Ethiopia, raised in San Francisco, Hadero has that multi-culti jazzy world feel while still being strong and breathy, occasionally in the vein of Thao Nguyen. Hadero is an expressive singer who obviously feels the music, but she’s still able to let all her accomplished accompanists–on drums, trumpet, and upright bass–shine.
And then of course, time to close the night out with a couple moments in the presence of Mavis Staples. When I got there, Mavis was taking a break while her band did a few instrumental numbers, but then she was back up and at ’em for “I’ll Take You There.” I headed home, not interested in staying for Bumbershoot After Dark, aka Exhibition Hall Basement Rave. Ready for Day 2?
