The first day of Bumbershoot 2008 was packed full of
great music and interesting people—some of which we inadvertently stumbled upon.
One of the great, but frustrating, things about festivals like Bumbershoot is that they’re just too big to see everything. I had a schedule for myself, which I plugged into my iPod so I could attempt to stay on track. This idea was brilliant in theory, but proved to be unrealistic. While Page and I wandered the grounds, there were just too many things that grabbed our attention. After chowing down on some fish and chips in the Center House we noticed a huge crowd gathering to watch two drummers. They were great talents but it was their stamina that impressed me more. We walked by that same spot about two hours later and they were still there—only now their crowd had grown so large that no one could walk on the path.
Bumbershoot is the most diverse music festival I’ve been to thus far. While Sasquatch is mostly filled with teens and young adults and the Capitol Hill Block party draws mostly 20-somethings, this gathering draws everyone—young, old and in between. During Beck’s headlining performance Saturday night there was even a young couple trying to get through the pit with a tandem stroller.
Between beer-breaks and aimless wandering, we checked out Barcelona, Band of Horses, Saul Williams, Nada Surf and Beck. While I’d only every heard one Barcelona tune prior to the show, they sounded pretty solid and drew a substantial crowd over at the Rockstar stage. Band of Horses opened with “Is There a Ghost?” and chose more of their slower ballads than upbeat tunes which I always tend to think is a bad move when playing a festival. The crowd wants to get pumped up—especially when Beck is following close behind.
The onslaught of people was clearly noticeable at around nine for Beck’s show. Although this performance didn’t measure up to his puppet-accompanied Sasquatch show a few years back, he definitely delivered. His stage presence screams rock-star and he delivers a show that audiences want. His set began with the 90s hit “Loser” and continued with a mix of tunes from multiple albums. “Guero” sparked impromptu dancing and head bobbing from the audience, and his live “Modern Guilt” sounded even better than the studio version.
Today’s vibe should be pretty different. I predict a crowd of late 20s and up for tonight’s Stone Temple Pilots show. It will definitely be interesting to see if they can draw the huge crowd Beck did last night. The band’s been MIA for quite some time but us older folks certainly remember them well.
great music and interesting people—some of which we inadvertently stumbled upon.One of the great, but frustrating, things about festivals like Bumbershoot is that they’re just too big to see everything. I had a schedule for myself, which I plugged into my iPod so I could attempt to stay on track. This idea was brilliant in theory, but proved to be unrealistic. While Page and I wandered the grounds, there were just too many things that grabbed our attention. After chowing down on some fish and chips in the Center House we noticed a huge crowd gathering to watch two drummers. They were great talents but it was their stamina that impressed me more. We walked by that same spot about two hours later and they were still there—only now their crowd had grown so large that no one could walk on the path.
Bumbershoot is the most diverse music festival I’ve been to thus far. While Sasquatch is mostly filled with teens and young adults and the Capitol Hill Block party draws mostly 20-somethings, this gathering draws everyone—young, old and in between. During Beck’s headlining performance Saturday night there was even a young couple trying to get through the pit with a tandem stroller.
Between beer-breaks and aimless wandering, we checked out Barcelona, Band of Horses, Saul Williams, Nada Surf and Beck. While I’d only every heard one Barcelona tune prior to the show, they sounded pretty solid and drew a substantial crowd over at the Rockstar stage. Band of Horses opened with “Is There a Ghost?” and chose more of their slower ballads than upbeat tunes which I always tend to think is a bad move when playing a festival. The crowd wants to get pumped up—especially when Beck is following close behind.
The onslaught of people was clearly noticeable at around nine for Beck’s show. Although this performance didn’t measure up to his puppet-accompanied Sasquatch show a few years back, he definitely delivered. His stage presence screams rock-star and he delivers a show that audiences want. His set began with the 90s hit “Loser” and continued with a mix of tunes from multiple albums. “Guero” sparked impromptu dancing and head bobbing from the audience, and his live “Modern Guilt” sounded even better than the studio version.
Today’s vibe should be pretty different. I predict a crowd of late 20s and up for tonight’s Stone Temple Pilots show. It will definitely be interesting to see if they can draw the huge crowd Beck did last night. The band’s been MIA for quite some time but us older folks certainly remember them well.
