Pilcrow

Last year at Bumbershoot 2010, The Raveonettes were one of the few bands I really wanted to see, and although I ended up missing the first half of their set, I really enjoyed what I did get to hear and was eager to hear more. So I was pleased back in late March or so when I saw them on the calendar for May 13 at Neumos, and put the date down for myself. I'd also been enjoying hearing Tamaryn on KEXP in the past few months, and was happy to get a chance to see them as well. I was not disappointed by either band at last Friday's show, and neither was my friend Gina, who came along and added her own commentary to my notes. I attended as a reviewer for KEXP, and you can read all about the show in my post (with Gina's contributions) on the KEXP Blog. Unfortunately, as I mentioned a couple days ago, my photos of the show did not come out so well, but I do have a small set up on Flickr.

A few notes on today at Bumbershoot:

I got up pretty late (again) and so only got there about 3:30, 15 minutes before I was due to start my shift at the KEXP booth. So I didn't see anything early in the afternoon, but did get to hear The Budos Band playing the Fisher Green Stage right next to us, and they sounded pretty cool.

After my shift was done, I went with some friends over to the Broad Street Stage to catch some of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. But that turned out to be a crazy standing-room-only mob, which none of us liked. We thought we'd catch the first couple songs and then leave, but 10 minutes after they were due to start, they seemed to be still working out some technical difficulty, and we just pushed our way back out of the mob and left. I didn't mind so much as I'm not really familiar with that band and just went along with my friends.

So instead we went back to the Fisher Green Stage for Balkan Beat Box, in the middle of their raucous set. There, we had a much better view, hanging out in the beer garden on top of the Fisher Pavilion overlooking the green. 

I stayed through most of that set, and then headed over to the Northwest Court Stage for Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra. Several months ago, I'd heard some cool song being played as background music while the DJ was reading a concert report, so I emailed to ask what the song was and found out it was by Shawn Lee; I've been curious since then to hear more of their music. I found the set felt a little more laid back than I'd expected, but I was not otherwise disappointed as it was a pretty cool, groovy '60s-style blend of jazz and soul. 

I then grabbed some food and sat on a small hill just behind the Fisher Green Stage for the first half of Ozomatli's set, which sounded like a lot of fun; it was certainly fun to watch from that backstage vantage. 

I had guessed earlier that the crazy packed mob at the Broad Street Stage was caused by people arriving early for The Raveonettes, as I hadn't thought Edward Sharpe had such a huge following. So I wasn't sure there was any point to going back, but the Raveonettes was the other band I'd really wanted to see today and I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find maybe about half as many people there—still a good crowd, and it looked pretty full on first glance, but I found there was actually enough space to easily walk up fairly close to the stage, and I got to enjoy the second half of their set. Their dark surf rock / '60s pop sound was a great way to end the day, and I was sorry I'd missed the first half. I'll have to pick up their albums when I get a chance; now that I'm at home, I'm listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club just because I'm still in that mood and it's the closest music I have.

Tomorrow the only band I definitely want to see is The Redwood Plan. Billy Bragg's playing, I may catch some of his set, and The Dandy Warhols are playing, I may catch them after I help close up the KEXP booth for the day.

Read about Sunday at Bumbershoot 2010.

Read about Monday at Bumbershoot 2010.