bumbershoot
friday, august 30 - sunday, september 1, 2002 • seattle center, seattle wa • review & awful pics by janice


review: So, every year here in Seattle, there's the Bumbershoot Arts & Music festival, where for a low, low price, you can cram in as many bands as you want to see! Mike and I went last year and had such a great time!! Dare I say, this year's was even more fun! Here's what we did and who we saw:

kristin hersh • friday, august 30th
Dang, sorry my pictures here look really bad...

So seeing Kristin Hersh is always a joy! As many of you already know, she is/always will be one of my favorite singers ever! Thanks to her songs, I met one of my best friends (Hi Andrew!) and then eventually met my husband! So, in my eyes the woman can do no wrong...not that she ever could despite all that stuff!

So Kristin waddled out on stage, and by that I mean, she's totally pregnant!!! : ) Her husband, the infamous Billy O, told us it's a boy, and he's due in early December. Kristin looked adorable in a purple floral dress and a vintage white cardigan with these big platform shoes with embroidered flowers on them (Oooh, are those from Rampage?). She carefully sat down on the stool with her acoustic guitar sitting on her lap in front of her belly, and she then proceeded to charm and enthrall the audience for a good hour and a half set! Yay!

She played "Spain", "Gazebo Tree" and even some older Throwing Muses numbers like "Rabbit's Dying". When she started playing "Hook In Her Head", that's when I got kinda weepy, 'cause Throwing Muses songs just bring back high school memories so strongly for me! I listened to "Real Ramona" over and over again in my walkman during art class. : )

She also told some *great* stories! The best one was about her son Wyatt who's now 5 years old!!! : O That's so crazy, 'cause when Andrew and I were in Boston to meet her thanks to "Vorld of Music" magazine, Wyatt had just taken his first steps like the night or two before we met him! : O But so anyway, as Kristin put it, she was raised by hippies and has spent her life trying not to be "groovy." But when Wyatt's pet fish died, and he asked his mommy what he could do, the best thing she could come up with was, "Well, maybe you could send him some loving vibes?" So Wyatt sat down in front of the tank, staring intently at the upside-down-floating fish. Hours passed. Kristin and Billy realized he was still sitting there! So finally Kristin went to Wyatt to give him the death talk. She sits down next to him, and suddenly, the fish turned over and swam around! And Wyatt responded, "Oh good! It worked!" : )

I love Kristin. Love her love her love her. And Billy, too. The nicest people around! Just really!

jenny toomey w/ franklin bruno • saturday, august 31

Eep, another bad pic.

So, as I've mentioned before on the site, Jenny Toomey has changed. Not only is she friendly and happier than I've ever seen her, she's also tremendously stylish now! : O Gone are the old boyish thrift-shop wears of her Tsunami days! : O Instead, she had on these really cute flared jeans, a pretty oatmeal-colored sleeveless knit top with a sewn-on flower (ver-rr-ry chic these days!) and then when the weather got cooler, she threw on this stylish cranberry-colored blazer with another chic flower on the lapel! : O WOW! She looked sooo great!! (Well, she looked great in her old men's vintage shirts and cropped shorts too!)

And by her was an amazing violin player, and on the piano was the legendary Franklin Bruno! I wish the newspapers would make a bigger deal about Franklin playing shows with Jenny, 'cause I know lots of Nothing Painted Blue fans who would've been there if they'd known he was playing!

So anyway, again, they got to play for a good long hour and a half. And Franklin and Jenny were totally cracking me up! They have such great chemistry! Jenny looked over at the nice expensive grand piano waiting for Franklin and said, "Oh, wow! We've never gotten to play with a real piano before!" and Franklin is like, "Sure, we have!" and Jenny's like, "Shhhhhh...."! Franklin played along and was like, "Oh wow! A real piano!" Hee! Those two!

She played my faves "Patsy Cline" and "Breezewood, PA", and also played quite a few tunes off her upcoming album Tempting which is a cover album of, hey guess who!, Franklin Bruno songs. Later, she and Franklin played some songs from his musical about a tech guy who has a fling with a data entry clerk at the company picnic when she gets drunk on some grenadine. (Jenny really likes that stuff, huh?)

As the sun went down, it brought the temperatures with it, making the intimate outdoor setting very chilly! And the wind was a little fierce. Franklin's sheet music was being anchored by a cup of coffee, and sadly, a sharp breeze hit, and the coffee went flying over his lap! But, the consummate professional he is, Franklin just kept playing! A tech ran up on stage with a towel, and Franklin took it and ran it across the piano keys, totally in sync with the song! It was so cute and clever!!!

modest mouse/sonic youth • sunday, september 1
photo: r. dugdale ©OneReel

So, I don't really like Modest Mouse. Every once in a while I'll hear one of their quieter songs, and I'll think to myself, "Oh, they're really not too bad..." but then I'll hear one of their screechier songs and think, "Oh, wait. Yes, they are bad..." We only got a few of their last songs, and they were of the unpleasant screechy variety! Ick.

So this show is being held in the enormous Memorial Stadium, and really, we can't see much of anything. This is a little disappointing, because when I was younger, I had the biggest crush on Sonic Youth adorable drummer, Steve Shelley. Oh well, even from our far-off distance, and even though he's behind a drum kit, I can see he has the same haircut he's had since I was in junior high. I can also see a bright flash of pink that I know is Kim Gordon.

We're so out-of-touch with Sonic Youth, that none of the songs are familiar. But they're still good in a fierce rocking-Memorial-Stadium kinda way. Kim is doing these hysterical punk-rock jumping jacks on stage. I can't help but crack up and then feel kinda bad.

the shins • sunday, september 1

We leave Sonic Youth early to run and see our boys, The Shins. We love them so much! In fact, I think they're up there on my list of bands I've seen the most live! (Guided By Voices easily hold the number one spot.) It was so great seeing them pack in the Key Arena. In fact, there were more people there for them than for the aforementioned Ohio rockers. And honestly? I got a little misty-eyed seeing the boys playing to such a packed house. Awww.

They seemed a little blown away when they walked out on stage. But they sounded sooooo good!!! And I was afraid that when they kicked into the quiet ballard "New Slang" the audience might be restless...BOY was I wrong!!! Instead, the audience roared in glee, holding up lighters, swaying and singing along to the "oooh ooh ooh"'s. It was such a beautiful thing.

They played one of their new songs that I don't know the title of, and Marty, that lovable rascal, asked the audience to please do the biscuit wave along with the song...AND THEY DO! It was hysterical to see all these hands pumping into the air, rapper-style! And thee-een Marty asks if we can do the wave for them...AND WE DO! TWICE!!! : D It was so exhilarating and just plain hysterical! Oh, Shins! We love you so!

death cab for cutie • sunday, september 1

After dinner (yummy calzones with strawberry lemonade, and then shiskaberries for dessert! yum!), we went back to Key Arena to see local boys Death Cab for Cutie. Now if seeing The Shins play this huge arena was weird, seeing these local kids playing the venue was even weirder! I think they felt the same way. I'm sure they never imagined they'd someday play the local hockey arena. So, I'll just chalk up their awkward and annoying on-stage banter to the fact that they were overwhelmed by the crowd. But frankly, they were kinda getting on my nerves...I kept thinking, "Shut up and play a song or something!" Sheesh! They need a "Marty"-esque guy in their line-up to charm the masses.

So sitting across the arena from us was a large group of older folks who I'm going to guess were Death Cab Parents. They were cheering wildly and standing up and waving at the boys. It was pretty cute! : )

But I'm tired, so we sneak away as they're playing their last song. Then we get on the bus to go home, and I swear the woman sitting next to me made a drug deal right before my young, naive eyes.