Bumbershoot 2008 Preview

It's coming and there are some great artists!

Saturday

Mainstage
*Neko Case: Soon-to-be Alt-Country diva, channels Grace Slick. Cut her teeth with the Greater Puget Sound Punk scene and the New Pornographers.

*Lucinda Williams: Alt-Country diva, need I say more.

*Band of Horses: Rock, nice harmonies, melodic, very pleasant. They rose from the ashes of Seattle band Carissa’s Weird, whose break-up gave us Grand Archives & Sera Cahoone.

Beck: Try as I may to like him, even after Danger Mouse produced his latest release, there’s no getting around it, Beck’s music sucks a fat baby’s ass!


Exhibition Hall
Sweet Water: Seattle band reunited. Rock with a harder edge & heavier sound.

The Fall of Troy: Mukilteo’s own. Influences of 70’s progressive Rock mixed in with teen Pop & Hardcore. Some pretty wild guitar work.

Unearth: Boston, MA. Heavy, dark & angry. Manic drumming, distorted guitars, wrecking ball bass lines with primal screams and guttural vocals, all lovingly assembled for your listening pleasure. Caution; lyrics liberally sprinkled with f-bombs.

Anti-Flag: Good, old-fashioned, snarling, sneering, irreverent Punk from Pittsburg.


Fisher Green
The Staxx Brothers: Seattle Hip-Hop with some excellent, old school styled R&B grooves.

Grynch: Seattle Hip-Hop with a conscience, along the lines of Common Market & Blue Scholars.

Darondo: Bay Area 70’s R&B star who dropped off the face of the earth until recently. Reminds me a little of Al Green and Curtis Mayfield.

Estelle: Pop singer Estelle hails from London, has a great voice and is fortunate enough to have managers pair her with contemporary music icons.

Saul Williams: Rap & Hip-Hop devoid of tasty grooves.


Starbucks (Mural)
Nick Vigarino: Nimble fingers with quirky lyrics, music is funky, bluesy & soulful. Like the Subdudes without the harmonies. From Camino Island, WA

Vicci Martinez: Another fairly talented, Folk/Rock singer songwriter from Seattle.

Ian Moore: Another fairly talented, Folk/Rock singer songwriter from Seattle.

*Joe Bonamassa: Meet Steve van Zandt’s successor!

Asylum Street Spankers: Bawdy, loose, Country-leaning burlesque & cabaret Texas style.

*Nada Surf: Tightly arranged, harmonious, finely executed, melodic Rock.


Rockstar (Broad St.)
*Throw Me the Statue: Toe tapping, hum along, contemporary Rock from Seattle.

Barcelona: Arlington, VA. Sounds very much like the stuff that was blaring from college dorm rooms across America in the first half of the 80s. Makes me think of skinny ties and suits with big shoulders.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down: DC via San Francisco quartet soft-rocking under an interesting singer. I could get used to it.

The Walkmen: Big Apple rockers playing, “melodramatic popular music,” slower tempo and a bit on the somber side with lots of keyboards.

Man Man: Is this Tom Waits kids’ band? They’re from Philly, but definitely not Hall & Oates, an eclectic mix of instruments and musical styles, raspy lead vocals layered over a chorus of humming, shouts & gasps balanced precariously on polyrhythmic textures (think international orange/lime green polka dotted corduroy made of expedition-weight polar fleece.)

M. Ward: Another fairly talented, Folk/Rock singer songwriter from Portland, OR


Wells Fargo (NW Court)
Beehive: Seattle duo playing electronic pop, soulful vocals with a bluesy edge, very danceable.

Das Vibenbass: Seattle quartet approaching Jazz with undertones of nearly everything else.

Asylum Street Spankers: Bawdy, loose, country-leaning burlesque & cabaret Texas style.

The Round: A collaborative arts event featuring Damien Jurado, Jen Wood, Buddy Wakefield, Rstar, Scott Erickson, and more.

Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby: Sounds like Alt-Country to me.

Tim Finn: Kiwi New Waver, former Split Enz member, will grace audiences with his talent and wit.


Sky Church (EMP)
New Faces: Rock trio from Port Townsend. I like it.

The Girls: Nearly New Wave, next generation Punk. You know, the poppy kind sans angst and attitude.

The Valley: Harder edged Rock music from Seattle.

PWRFL Power: Great guitar playing, quirky lyrics and some interesting vocals.

Mono in VCF: Tacoma pop group with a retro sound.

***West Indian Girl: Very nice Pop-Rock from 4th & Wall.

Kinski: Local boys (& girl) rock the house with a new album.


Sunday

Mainstage
Keyshia Cole: Soulful top 40 pop, great vocals.

T.I.: Georgia Hip-Hop from an artist at the top of game.

*The Black Keys: A few years ago two guys from Ohio went down and their basement and made one of the best blues CDs I’ve ever heard! I saw them at Bumbershoot on the Mural Stage three years back, glad to see they’ve made it to the Mainstage.

Stone Temple Pilots: Can Scott Weiland keep his shit together long enough to complete a tour with one band? Time will tell.


Exhibition Hall
*The Blakes: Saw them last year at Bumbershoot and they rocked!

These Arms Are Snakes: A bit of Seattle metal with a nod to the Prog Rock of the 70s.

***The Weakerthans: The witty lyrics, tight harmonies and all-around melodic approach to Rock music does not betray their Canadian Punk roots. Very nice!

Brother Ali: Hip-Hop from the land of 10,000 lakes, nice grooves.

Fisher Green

Lushy: Jazzy, Funky, Latin and just plain fun.

Manooghi Hi: Indian music with lots of percussion and distorted guitars.

Forro In the Dark: Brazilian music from New York.

*Orgone: Funk, Blues, R&B and Soul Hollywood style.

Kid Sister: Rap & Hip-Hop with danceable beats.

Lee “Scratch” Perry: Reggae from a master!


Starbucks (Mural)
*Star Anna: Alt Country from Ellensberg.

*Tyrone Wells: Very talented, rock singer-songwriter from Spokane.

*Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses: Alt-Country from Austin.

*Dale Watson: Ain’t no Alt about this one. It’s Country from Austin through and through, sounds like Johnny Cash.

*Jakob Dylan: Former Wildflowers front man and you-know-who’s son.

*Ingrid Michaelson: Jazzy Folk. Joni Mitchell might sound like this if she was just starting out.


Rockstar (Broad St.)
Sage: Seattle band reunited from the 90s.

The Shackeltons: Rather sober & melancholy Rock from the Keystone state.

***Howlin’ Rain: Totally retro Psychedelic Rock by 5 bearded guys from Oakland.

*The Whigs: These guys from Athens Rock, nicely done!

Sons and Daughters: Scottish Rock.

Tapes’n Tapes: Rock music from the land of 10,000 lakes.


Wells Fargo (NW Court)
*Ashleigh Flynn: At first I thought, “Another singer-song writer from the Northwest,” going on about cats and their vegan lifestyle, but she writes great tunes and sounds wonderful! I have her CD right here.

Jazz Northwest: WSU Faculty Ensemble

Matt Jorgensen + 451: Matt, surrounded by some great musicians, bangs the skins in a Jazz fashion.

Hadley Caliman Quintet: Jazz from Down Under.

Tiptons Sax Quartet: Very nice Seattle Jazz.

Pacifika: Latin, Jazzy, Folky, sultry music from Vancouver, eh!

Final Fantasy: According to their Myspace page, Owen sings Pop music and plays his violin while Stephanie plays the overhead projector. Works for me.


Sky Church (EMP)
*The Lonely H: Port Angeles rockers approach music with the attitude and ability of bands twice their age.

*Shim: I’m a sucker for classic sounding, guitar based rock.

The Tripwires: Some of their stuff reminds me of the Beatles.

Ravens & Chimes: New York Indie Rock.

Speaker Speaker: Lovely, local Punk-based Rock.

The Hands: Good ole Rock’n’Roll with just a hint of Punk.

Thee Emergency: Rock! In your face!


Monday

Mainstage
Paramore: Hardcore Pop

The Offspring: Hardcore Pop

Superchunk: Rock from Chapel Hill, NC

Death Cab For Cutie: Seattle darlings doing what they do best.


Exhibition Hall
Monotonix: Tel Aviv gives us very Bluesy, Hard Rock

Dan Deacon: Mostly Techno with an edge.

Flobots: Thought provoking Hip-Hop.

Scary Kids Scaring Kids: If hair bands, back in the day, did Hardcore this is what they’d sound like.

Aiden: The lights dim, the music begins. Fog rolls over the stage, a single beam of light illuminates the lead singer as he begins to sing. The rest of the stage is slowly back-lit in blue as the band moves toward the chorus…wait is that Kiefer Sunderland biting someone’s neck? I’m sure the live show is great.


Fisher Green
Choklate: The slow, heartfelt, soulful Top 40 sound that plays on the radio of every 14 year old girl in the country.

The Physics: South Seattle’s own Hip-Hop.

***Bedouin Soundclash: A bit of Reggae, very sweeeeet!

*Cheb I Sabbah & 1002 Nights: Cool Asian sounds, leaning toward the sub-continent. Nice beats.

Del the Funky Homosapien: Hip-Hop, kinda cool.

*Xavier Rudd: Caught one of his songs on Weeds: Season 3 during the closing credits. I thought it was Paul Simon. Great songs and he has several CDs. How have I missed this musical genius?


Starbucks (Mural)
Vince Mira: Anyone remember Dick “Tombstone Every Mile” Curless, a Classic Country baritone? Vince sounds just like him.

Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands: Sometimes he sounds like Chris Isaac doing Alt-Country and at other times he sounds like very early Beatles.

Langhorne Slim & The War Eagles: Nice soulful stuff, but how in the hell can one person be from New York and California? They’re 3000 miles apart!

X Levitation Cult: Another fairly talented, folk rock singer songwriter, with a band, from Seattle.

Old 97’s: Stretching the boundaries of the Alt-Country genre!

Mike Doughty: Another fairly talented, folk rock singer songwriter, with a band, from Brooklyn.


Rockstar (Broad St.)
Chester French: This is what Pop music should sound like.

Blitzen Trapper: Portland group on the Alt-Country trail.

Two Gallants: Catchy Rock tunes.

John Vanderslice: Another fairly talented, folk rock singer songwriter from San Francisco.

Battles: Quirky, infectious beats with Munchkin vocals.

Minus the Bear: Local Rockers adept with song.


Wells Fargo (NW Court)
Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden: Somber & subdued, but man can she sing!

Joshua Morrison: Cool acoustic guitar sounds with lyrics & vocals to match.

Mariee Sioux: Another fairly talented, folk rock singer songwriter from Nevada.

J-Boogie’s Dubtronic Science: Hip-Hop with a nice feel.

Arthur & Yu: Another fairly talented, folk rock singer songwriter team from Seattle.

Sondre Lerche: Norway’s favorite son playing Jazzy Pop.


Sky Church (EMP)
School of Rock Northwest All-Stars: You saw the doc, now here’s the music.

Grieves: Local Hip-Hop

Shane Tutmarc & the Traveling Mercies: Local Rock with a nice groove.

*The Maldives: Very nice Alt-Country.

Feral Children: Rock with some Techno influences.

Velella Velella: Synthesized, Soulful Funk.

Black Eyes and Neckties: Rock with lots of attitude.

*My Picks
***Don't miss!