Bumbershoot Day Two: So Very Tired
Jose Gonzalez - Seattlest managed to find entry into the KEXP's live broadcast area featuring Bumbershoot artists. Jose Gonzalez's set was absolutely perfect, the smaller crowd (~30 people) and intimate staging perfect for his one man, one guitar formula. It was funny to watch some of the ladies get swoony over him, and we have to admit we were getting pretty starry eyed ourselves.
Crab Cakes - It sounded like such a good idea at the time. Come midnight though, the crab cakes would have their revenge, leaving Seattlest walking home with a very upset stomach (we're blaming the crab cakes because there's no way that a combination of Red Vines, cookies and potato chips would steer us wrong).
Trapped In the Closet - In case you still haven't caught R. Kelly's masterpiece, this is a good way to get caught up, with a "panel discussion" featuring notables from the production, yesterday including David Cross as the closet. Funny stuff, especially once the crowd gets involved via Q & A. Be warned that the line is long.
Best Week Ever - One of the many reasons VH1 kicks ass, Best Week Ever pokes fun at current events in pop culture. Three of the show's personalities do standup then a rendition of the show, closed out with a vote on who's having the best week ever. Also funny stuff, although the standup was better than the show itself (we're pop culture junkies though, so it's hard to surprise us). Again, long lines await.
Thee Emergency/Lusine/Synth Club - We caught about 10 minutes of each of these acts in our wandering. Thee Emergency was fun, but the crowd's enthusiasm wasn't quite up to that of the music. The lead singer had the best cleavage at Bumbershoot. Synth Club engaged a full house, with Reggie Watts' afro hypnotizing them as it bounced along with his dancing body. Lusine (and later Deadbeat we've heard) suffered from playing at the same time the other headliners were performing, with the Sky Church crowd trickling away to other parts of the festival.
Kanye West - Kanye sweats a lot. The performance was fine enough (the excited crowd was better than most of what happened on stage), but the string section put it over the top in terms of spectacle. Kanye brought along Lupe Fiasco to perform a couple of songs, but it was really all about Kanye, who performed his hits, hits he produced, and at moments songs he just liked ("Sweet Dreams?" Uh OK.). We spent a lot of the show fixated on his sweat though. Shouldn't he have an undershirt? Why weren't there any shirt changes? This wasn't his first show, so why would you choose a shirt where the sweating is so obvious? Seattlest thinks Kanye needs to invest in some Dri-FIT apparel.
Pic from bumbershootonereel on flickr
