There was no better way to spend a late summer day than in Seattle Center at the 2007 Bumbershoot music and arts festival. The day got off to a perfect start - I found street parking less than 10 blocks away - I high-fived my girlfriend. After some wandering around the festival grounds I decided to make my way to the main stage. I plopped down at my spot about 40 minutes before the first show, the 1980s band Crowded House.
The band members took to the stage with gray or no hair and played tunes from a collection of 20 years of songs. The crowd was as varied as the band's musical catalog. Middle-aged people sprinkled the crowd with their children singing along with the smooth pop songs as kids sat on parents shoulders while their parents danced and sang along to the band as if they were 20-years-old. The shock of the first show came when Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder took the stage to sing several songs with the band. After a moment of awkward silence I asked myself out loud, "Is that Eddie Vedder?" I was quickly answered when Crowded House lead singer Neil Finn from Sydney, Australia welcomed his friend "Eddie" [Vedder] from his sister city Seattle. From that point on I was content to simply soak in the novelty of the moment regardless what the band played or sounded like. It was awesome. As soon as Crowded House ended, the older crowd members dispersed and a much younger crowd rushed the stage.
Watch Crowded House play with Eddie Vedder!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oaAVtSqZIUw
I soon found my comfortable position to the right center of stage being collapsed from all sides by teenage girls, guys with graphic T-shirts and baseball hats, and a generous mix of college students and high-schoolers. It was very cramped and not the way I wanted to spend watching one of my favorite bands, The Shins. The Portland, Ore. foursome took the to stage and set a psychedelic pace to the show with the song "Sleeping Lessons" a sparse, eerie track reminiscent of Pink Floyd, which morphed into a indie rock anthem at its finish. As I looked around I noticed few audience members reacting to the first song the way I did - jumping up and down at first with excitement and then siting back mouthing the words and enjoying the perfect execution of the song. Several lesser known, but excellent songs followed the first. The turn in the show came when the band played the first few notes of their song "New Slang." Because of the hugely popular movie Garden State (2004) that featured two of The Shins tracks, a huge number of fans, who apparently came to see the band based solely on the movie, rushed the stage with the force of a tidal wave. I twisted my ankle. A guy in a white Polo with the collar "popped", careened into my back screaming the lyrics to the song jumping up and down. I turned and glared at him and pushed him away with my forearm. He pushed forward screaming on his way, "Come on sing along, it's an awesome song!" I agreed, but I actually wanted to enjoy it. I spent the remainder of the song distracted by aerial bombardments of crowd-surfers, girls jumping around and giggling because the finally found each other in the vast expanse, and groups of guys jumping around - a mosh pit. I thought the behavior more fitting of... well, lead singer James Mercer said it best, "I feel like I'm at a Jane's Addiction concert in 1992." The band was awesome, nearly flawless, but my experience rapidly deteriorated as the overhead traffic increased and my ankle continued to throb. I wish I saw the band a few years earlier.
Watch The Shins perform "New Slang" at Bumbershoot!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FO2my9e6hS4
After recovering with some pizza and a few beers, I set off for the smaller Sound Transit Stage, which featured independent artists and a more laid back atmosphere. Menomena (buh- duh- buh- duh- buh, men-om-ena, buh- duh- buh- duh) brought many unconventional elements to a rock show: a saxophone, a choir, and two drummers. The band captured the attention of the crowd with the song "The Pelican", which began with the lead singer yelling the opening lyrics against a simple piano refrain. The piano melody picked up, and then the drums and guitar shattered the evening air. The crowd began to bob along. The song, and the concert was thrashy and disjointed, but always seemed to be backed in melody. The rest of their set mixed elements of funk, rock, jazz, pop and blues; none of it could be classified as any one genre, but somehow the band captivate the audience and myself. The final song "Rotten Hell" picked up where the first song left off - with simple piano and piercing vocals. Instead of melting into a clashing finale, the piano led the song throughout blending with the previously disjointed elements into a harmonious crescendo. Up next: Aqueduct.
Watch Menomena's video "Rotten Hell"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=t0LIBCw8syA
Aqueduct is David Terry on guitar, keyboard, and vocals, accompanied by a drummer and bassist. When Terry, opened his mouth and sang the first notes, I was shocked to hear such a fresh, almost cocky voice come from the large bearded man on the right of the stage rather than the skinnier man on the left side. The guitar in Terry's hands looked like a toy ukulele as he wildly strummed. He pounded away at the keyboard like an excited toddler. As soon as the band stepped on the stage I could tell that they were just out to have some fun, and with each song Terry let the crowd know how great it was to play for such a big crowd. He assured everyone that the show would be "Awesome." It was like a long musical joke - but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The band filled in over prerecorded beats to make up for their sound; but it did not matter that they were so small, their sound was so over-the-top, and their lyrics so sarcastic that I just had to let myself relax, dance around, and enjoy the show. They played a song about the movie The Princes Bride (1987), songs with rap inspired influence but played in their style, and a song called "Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights." The biggest laughter of the evening came, however, with their first encore song, which was a cover of the R. Kelly song "I'm a Flirt". The band was a contradiction - such a big sound from such a little band, rap lyrics from an overweight white guy, and being an indie band who didn't care if people danced and sang along at their show. It was a good way to end the night.
Watch Aqueduct's video "Living a Lie"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HG-kUrKI0fo
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