Bumbershoot 2006- Seattle Center, Seattle WA 9/2-9/4/2006

At Bumbershoot, as is the case with all the good festivals it seems, many dilemmas arise when it comes to choosing which bands to see and which bands to skip. With no fewer than nine stages to see music (and another two for comedy and still a few other platforms for poets and performance artists), naturally one must make choices, such as between the upbeat rhymes of megastar Kanye West and the swampy New Orleans funk of Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk.

Bumbershoot has been a Seattle fixture for 35 years now, and promises to be a mainstay for at least that long going forward. In a city that prides itself on its artsy, liberal sub culture, this is the one time a year (albeit for three action packed days) it really gets to let those colors shine as brightly as they are able, which naturally brings out the beautiful individualism in all of its people, ironically in what is essentially a group setting. But there’s something for everybody here.

For me, I started out with indie pop sensations, The New Pornographers. After getting a palatable dose of heavy guitar riffs, I ventured from the main stage to one of the many side stages and caught a few tunes from Dengue Fever. According to the official program, “Dengue Fever has created their own eclectic mix of American and International styles. Echoes of Bollywood soundtracks, Ethiopian soul, ‘60’s Cambodian pop, American R&B, Spaghetti Western weirdness and girl group angst are all in the mix.” After reading that, you should be able to almost hear in your head exactly what the band sounds like… no? Well, yeah, me neither, which is why I had to see/listen for myself. Truth is, after a good hard listen, I regret to announce that I can come up with no better description.

Though Dengue Fever got my hips shaking and yearning for more international music, I could not pass on indie rock veterans, Spoon, who were going on back at the main stage. After a few classics, the band invited comedian David Cross (who performed at the festival with a three man comedy group called Tinkle) to the stage to offer some “sign language” for the hearing impaired on The Beast and Dragon, Ignored. If you know Cross’s comedic tendencies, you can imagine how this could create some downright hilarious moments, if you are unaware of his genius, you are truly missing out.

On the way to catch Matt Costa, I stopped in and caught a few notes from Gokh-Bi System, a hip hop group from Dakar, Senegal. Because Costa was playing one of the smaller side stages, I figured it would be a good idea to make it to the stage a little early to get a good spot. So did everyone else (read: all of the teenage girls in attendance). Unable to navigate my way to a satisfactory vantage point, I settled for just listening to the singer/songwriter while putting down a plate of pad thai. Though overpriced and usually accompanied by ridiculously long lines, the food and drinks offered at the festival naturally cover many cultures and is generally very good.

As the majority of the crowd thinned out at this particular stage after Costa finished (presumably some of them were lost to curfew), the great Luther “Guitar” Johnson graced Seattle with a short set of stinging blues to a somewhat modest crowd—surprising considering his accomplishments and storied career. Johnson may boast the largest award collection if anyone at the festival (yes, even bigger than Kanye’s perhaps) yet his name may unfortunately be lost on most of the crowd here, which was surprisingly young.

As the darkness rolled in and the late summer sun set, those who chose to boogie enjoyed the vibe laid down by Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk. Though they have never released a record, the son of Aaron Neville and his band (which on this occasion included the ever-busy Skerik on sax) have been pumping out the funk in New Orleans for a few years. I would have felt a little odd had I not at least caught part of Kanye West’s set—he was the festival’s headliner after all. Much to my chagrin, my curfew hypothesis was disproved as I descended on the main stage. Seemingly half of Seattle’s youth was throwing their hands in the air as if they just didn’t care to the bouncy rhymes of Mr. West. As he ended his set, so ended the night of music at Bumbershoot with another to go.

The next morning I decided to check out Brett Dennen, an artist I had never heard of but was intrigued by what I had read in the program, which compared him favorably to Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Bob Marley. He was very good, a great lyricist (assuming he writes his own songs) and accompanied by a superb rhythm section, though I can’t comfortably lump him in with the same legends as the program did-- worth checking out nonetheless.

Jamband heroes Particle were next, and their non-stop instrumental madness was definitely too “out there” for some of the festival goers. I was able to leave their set before it ended as a good seat for the comedy team known as the Upright Citizen’s Brigade was a high priority. Led by Matt Walsh (Dog Bites Man) and Horatio Sanz (SNL), the comedy group had the theater crowd in stitches as their improve comedy routine was wildly funny and a nice break from the music.

The comedy was such a nice break, that following that show and a few refreshments, I made my way over to Tinkle. This comedy show featured David Cross, Jon Benjamin and Todd Barry riffing about the festival and other things that came to them on the spot which included a heavy dose of what must be every comedian’s favorite thing to do: making fun of members in the audience. Half way through their set, they introduced a surprise musical appearance by Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) who played two songs (one on piano and one on acoustic guitar). After that Tinkle invited some other comedians to join them, including Zach Galifanakis (Dog Bites Man) before they said goodnight.

After the comedy portion of the festival, I headed over to catch part of Feist’s set. Some know her from her membership in Canadian indie rock group, Broken Social Scene, some know her from her solo work, some do not know her yet, but it is starting to seem that everyone will know her soon.. Her one of a kind voice is silky smooth and her band, on this night, matched her step for step, providing a peaceful prelude to the night’s headliners, A Tribe Called Quest. Beginning a run on the road for the first time in almost a decade, ATCQ was welcomed back to the scene by the faithful fans in attendance at the festival’s final act. Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi reminded us what smart hip hop and the diversity of the Bumbershoot festival is all about.