Bumbershoot 2011: Loud Fast Rules (Photo Gallery)

Bumbershoot 2011: Loud Fast Rules (Photo Gallery)

I’m cutting a broad swath here, mostly as an excuse to post some of my favorite Bumber-shots. Witchburn’s call-and-response traditional metal, Valient Thorr’s Warner-Brothers-cartoon-on-crystal meth groove rock, Red Fang’s brainiac metal, The Jim Jones Revue’s turbocharged Little Richard riffing, Thee Oh Sees’s garage punk, My Goodness’s stripped-down blues rock, Whalebones’s narcotic grind, and You am I’s hard-rocking power pop really only shared one commonality during Bumbershoot weekend: They all cranked their guitars to 11. Thank god. Continue reading Bumbershoot 2011: Loud Fast Rules (Photo Gallery)

The SunBreak’s Roundtable Bumbershoot Analysis

The SunBreak’s Roundtable Bumbershoot Analysis

Audrey: Bumbershoot earned a Like this for this year’s experience. The weather was perfect, the mood was laid-back, and, I don’t care if it hurts the bottom line, but I appreciated a not-too-crowded festival.

Josh: Although they were “only” the opening act for the mid-festival headliner, this really felt like the festival of Macklemore. I knew that he was popular, but the swarms of kids lining up and snaking throughout the festival grounds two hours before doors to Key Arena opened blew away my expectations of his fanbase. Continue reading The SunBreak’s Roundtable Bumbershoot Analysis

How I Spent My Bumbershoot (Plus a Photo Gallery)

How I Spent My Bumbershoot (Plus a Photo Gallery)

All in all, I find myself wishing Bumbershoot had more to offer me this year, but maybe I’m just being selfish. While I agree that my music taste is quite a bit outside of the majority, I can still usually find a full day (at least one) of Bumbershoot to enjoy. This year I was lucky to find four artists on Sunday that I was stoked to see. But it isn’t all doom and gloom–I did get a chance to check out a few that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Continue reading How I Spent My Bumbershoot (Plus a Photo Gallery)

An Open Letter to One Reel, and/or Bumbershoot, and/or CenturyLink

An Open Letter to One Reel, and/or Bumbershoot, and/or CenturyLink

The worst thing about Bumbershoot this year: AT&T coverage at Seattle Center has been so spotty. Don’t tell me that the network is overloaded. Just “use the network less” doesn’t cut it. This shit can’t stand.

So it’s time that wifi was included in the ticket price and as part of the Bumbershoot experience. It’s time that Bumbershoot provide wifi to the masses all Labor Day weekend long. And this is where you come in, Qwest CenturyLink. Continue reading An Open Letter to One Reel, and/or Bumbershoot, and/or CenturyLink

Bumbershoot Day Two (Photo Gallery)

Bumbershoot Day Two (Photo Gallery)

Sunday at Bumbershoot got hot (over 80 degrees!) and packed in a larger crowd than Saturday. Hordes lined up over three hours early for Seattle rapper Macklemore’s (and Ryan Lewis’s) appearance at KeyArena. Once again, if you didn’t line up for the Level 3 stage at EMP, you couldn’t get in. Once again, the Bagley Wright Theatre was filled to capacity for a dance performance, this time for the Trey McIntire Project, visiting from Boise, ID. Is he the Aaron Copland of modern dance? Yes, why not. (Monday, Bumbershooters can catch McIntire’s troupe and Whim W’Him, making it a banner day in up-and-coming choreography.) Continue reading Bumbershoot Day Two (Photo Gallery)