dirtyDogStink

Bumbershoot '08

Wednesday, September 17 2008

Last year was my first time attending Bumbershoot.  The BTG and I went for a single day and thoroughly enjoyed it.  So much so, that when tickets went on sale in the spring for this year's event we decided to get 3 day passes.  It was well worth it!  Here's what we saw...

Saturday:  I was eager to see Ian Moore.  I've followed his music for a decade now and he didn't disappoint.  While we were in the beer garden, we caught Asylum Street Spankers.  They were funny, but not really my thing.  Wandering over to the Rockstar stage we saw Man Man and this is exactly what I picture true band geeks to grow up to be [that' s not a derogatory statement either].  Getting bored with them [no offense intended] we checked out Apocalypse in Coney Island: A Bumberlesque Cabaret.  Wow.  I mean wow!  Then back to the other side of the park to see M. Ward.  He was pretty much what I expected...mellow, casual and enjoyable.  We had wanted to see Band of Horses that night, but got there to late to get main stage passes.

Sunday:  Having arrived to late to get passes for Band of Horses on the main stage the previous day, we made certain to get there earlier [about 1 PM] today.  We scored passes for the main stage, but unfortunately that still wasn't early enough to get passes to the comedy shows.  We hoped to see Janeane Garofalo, but no luck.  So we spent the afternoon walking around from stage to stage listening to bands neither one of us knew.  This is the awesome thing about Bumbershoot...introduction to a multitude of new music!  The Black Keys were another of the bands I had to see so we went to the main stage early to get good seats and they didn't disappoint [aka: they kicked ass].  At that point we were undecided about seeing Stone Temple Pilots on the main stage or Tapes 'n Tapes.  It couldn't have worked out better since we decided to just stick with our awesome seats in Memorial Stadium and see STP.  They played nothing but hits for 2 hours straight and Scott Weiland put on a hell of a show.

Monday:  Once again, we tried to get there early enough for comedy show passes, but no luck [again].  There weren't many bands that we were determined to see in today's lineup, so the afternoon was spent walking around listening to various bands and of course some shopping for the BTG [chicks..haha!].  We were going to hit Death Cab For Cutie, but the BTG started feeling sick and we decided to head home so she could relax on the couch.

Great moments:

• Meeting Ian Moore.  He started out on the Austin music scene in the early 90s and I've followed him since before I moved out of Texas [1995].  Talk about a nice guy.  We spoke to him for 5-10 minutes and he was extremely pleasant, not the arrogant attitude you might expect from someone who's been in show business for awhile.
• Seeing Stone Temple Pilots.  We almost went to see Tapes 'n Tapes, but I'm glad I got to see STP.  They rocked!

Lessons learned:

• Get there early.  If you want to do anything [comedy, ballet, bands, etc.] then get to that venue/stage very early!  BTG really wanted to see Band of Horses, but there weren't any main stage passes left by the time we went to get them.  Also, we had ballet down as one of our optional things in case our first-choice didn't work during that timeframe.  We got there 5 minutes before it started and there must have been over 100 people in the stand-by line, meaning that they were waiting for people already in the venue to come out so they could take their place. Ouch.
• Bathrooms.  People were standing in long lines for the Honey Buckets [yuck, even I think they're nasty], but there was one group of regular bathrooms hidden behind some of the food vendors.  Not only were these regular toilets and much more comfortable/clean than the porta-potties, but faster!  There was never a line.  It took less time for us to walk across the Seattle Center grounds and go to these rather than wait in the porta-potty lines.

Of note:

• M. Ward.  On Sunday we were sitting on the lawn listening to a band and I noticed the guy in front of us.  He was alone and just enjoying the music.  Eventually I started thinking "that looks like M.Ward."  Consulting my better half, we concurred that I have an overactive imagination.  The next day I checked out the photos on his site and I'll be damned if that wasn't him!
• The other STP.  I mean a local radio personality named Steve the Producer (his blog).  He used to be on the Andy Savage show on 107.7 The End and is now on the BJ Shea Morning Experience on 99.9 KISW.  On Monday we were sitting on a curb eating lunch when I looked to my left and saw a guy that I thought looked like Steve the Producer.  I wasn't sure so I didn't walk up and say hi, but after a few minutes a fan walked up to him and made a bit of small talk.  After that I didn't want to be 'just another fan' so I didn't say anything.  Oh well.
• No, I am not stalking these people!  I just seem to have an eye for catching them in public.  :)
• Kids and families were everywhere.  Next year, we're planning to take my daughter at least one of the days.  Of course, with ear protection.

All in all, a great weekend.  We'll definitely be back next year!

~tod