Due to budget (wife and kids) and time (starting school last week), I was only able to attend one day of Bumbershoot this year. It beats years past when I was completely unable to attend though!
Started off the day with some Pharcyde. The sound in Memorial stadium (where we were seated anyway) was not good at all during their show. Far too bass heavy, it robbed the act of clarity. Plus, with only two MC's, it was a far cry from when I saw them with Face to face in Oly with the original lineup. So we (my dad and I) headed over to Flatstock, which is kind of like a convention for gig poster artists. Some of the artwork was truly stunning, and some of the shows they had advertised would've been must see's! After killing time poking around the art displays, we headed back to the stadium for some Talib Kweli. Much better sound this time (we sat in much the same place). He had a DJ with him and two female back up singers/ass swingers. The DJ tore it up with some sick X-Men style behind the back scratching while juggling 99 Problems. Kweli tore it up too. That guy has got an enormous brain to store all those rhymes! We watched most of his set and then headed over to the opera house to catch Bo Diddley. The line was back almost to where the Bagley Wright theatre was! Anyway, he filled the house to capacity, and it was great to see a living legend at work. After Bo Diddley and some snacks, we headed to see The Locust by way of the Gospel Hummingbirds. Most of the ten mins. we stood there they were stroking eachother's egos with windy introductions of the band. They weren't my cup of tea when they started so we bailed. On to the Locust which was actually in the Exhibition Hall. No cavernous echoes there though. The sound was tight (though extremely loud) and they were in top form. Just as spastic and brilliant as when BP and I saw them with Dilinger in October. My only complaint was-they had these huge patch bays (feet tall) so the emphasis was definitely on the synth sound-more atmospheric and boring for me, but they had to fill 45 mins so I guess they did what they had to do. That drummer is something else!
So pretty much the whole day the spectre of rain loomed over us, and we were not left dry for more than about two hours at max. After the Locust there was some downtime until the Posies, during which we were blessed with an absolutely torrential downpour. We hid in various vendor tents waiting for it to pass. Stopped in the Kettle Chips booth and we were able to try two new flavors that won't show up in stores until next month. Thai something and Cheddar Beer. Both are of utmost flavorosity and will be stocked in my house in the coming months.
There isn't much I can say about the Posies. They are hands down one of my fave bands, and damn do they put on a great show! Leave it at this.......the harmonies were great, the performance was great, and Ken Stringfellow ended up in his underwear (on stage!!). A great time.....
Just thought I would try my hand at field correspondant.........
Bumbershoot 05
Moderator: enderzero
Boo, down with synths!!! Booooo!!!My only complaint was-they had these huge patch bays (feet tall) so the emphasis was definitely on the synth sound-more atmospheric and boring for me, but they had to fill 45 mins so I guess they did what they had to do.
Why do the synthesists always take a back seat to the wacky, string-twanging front-men?