OurStage – a brand new way to discover and enjoy the best new artists and the best new music – as determined by you.
OurStage – a brand new way to discover and enjoy the best new artists and the best new music – as determined by you.
My last day at Bumbershoot was a complete whirlwind. Kate Tucker, Blitzen Trapper, and Dan Deacon were all incredible. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I didn’t make it out to some of the biggest shows of the day, including The Offspring, Paramore, and Death Cab for Cutie. Fortunately, my friend Tiffany Sherman came through with great pictures of each of them. Here are some of her best of Paramore:
More pictures of Hayley and the guys below…
It’s hard to imagine it going any better. A packed hometown crowd, cooperating weather, and beautifully played set by Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden.
Kate won the early afternoon Bumbershoot crowd over with her infectious smile and satiny voice while Mark Isakson (as the Seattle P.I. points out) provided an essential, pedal driven texture (think Joey Santiago, but quieter). The whole band played a great set and clearly won over a new crop of fans not far from their hometown of Ballard. It’s hard not to feel like we’ll be watching this band on one of the bigger Bumbershoot stages in the coming years.
Look for a new video this coming fall, or watch their OurStage grand prize winner from this past May, “Say Love.”
As the go-to opener for Girl Talk last year, Dan Deacon built a reputation for chaotic, participatory shows centered around his experimental/electronic music. Walking into Exhibition Hall here at Bumbershoot, I sensed the frenetic energy for which his shows have become famous. The crowd looked like a human whirlpool, circling and funneling to a center point where, I had to assume, Mr. Deacon was doing his thing. It became apparent that if I wanted a photo of him, I was going to have to fight for it.
So into the crowd I roamed…
I thought I had him, but took a last-second elbow to the head and was blocked by some guy’s hand.
Finally, I got a break in the form of technical difficulties. Turns out, the crowd trampled Deacon’s equipment, prompting him to politely ask folks to spread out and give him some space. Victory!
I’ve heard a lot of buzz about Blitzen Trapper but hadn’t checked them out until today. They’re good. Really good. Heartfelt lo-fi pop/country/electronic songs with beautiful harmonies and subtle complexity in meter and chord changes. They’re shaping up to be the band I annoyingly hype to all my friends over the next few weeks (i.e. White Denim in late February, early March).
More pics:
My good friend and OurStage PR guru Jessica Morris, affectionately dubbed “J-Mo” in the OurStage offices, was so enthusiastic about Ingrid Michaelson’s set at Bumbershoot, I asked if she’d write a quick review of her show. As J-Mo always does, she took the assignment seriously and knocked it out of the park. Here’s her review (with more pictures below):
J-Mo’s Biggest Fan Experience:
“I’m at Bumbershoot for work, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from seeing my favorite artist on stage. This is my “Biggest Fan” experience brought to you by OurStage…
I Love Ingrid Michaelson… I first discovered her through Grey’s Anatomy and have been a fan ever since. I recently caught her show at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston and she did a great job engaging the audience. So, I was curious to see how she fared at a music festival where her audience isn’t quite so captive and she had to compete with many distractions. Again, she dazzled.
Ingrid’s concerts are like a buy one, get one free sale. You pay for a great concert and you get a bonus comedy show just for the hell of it!
While you ‘re watching her on stage, you come to an almost immediate realization that she is just a girl – just like everybody else in the crowd – she just happens to be the one with a microphone… and gobs of talent.
From her clumsy, yet charming strip tease, to her complaints about her muffin top waist, Ingrid isn’t necessarily helping the audience relate to her (although, we do). She’s actually doing the reverse: she is relating to her audience. She is looking out into a sea of adoring faces and seeing a group of her closest friends, at least for the next 45 minutes, and she isn’t going to hesitate to tell you all of her troubles, hopes and dreams. This time, she is so excited to tell us that Dave Matthews told her she gave him a musical woody… she’s blushing the whole time she’s telling the story.
I am definitely looking forward to her next comedy show!”
Thanks J-Mo! BTW, you can all see Ingrid’s next “comedy” show, tomorrow night (9/2/08) on Jay Leno. You should also check out her review on Daytrotter w/ free downloads. Here are more Ingrid pics from Bumbershoot:
