Bumbershoot Best Bets

Despite what some may lead you to believe, music in Seattle is incredibly rich in its diversity. Sure, we go through obsessive periods honed in on specific genres-- last year it was all about harmony-rich folk, this year it seems to be more about straight-ahead rock—but there is certainly something here that should please every music fan.

With great music readily available just about every day of the year, what makes festivals special is the opportunity to take in more sounds and sights in a single day than an average American might see in a typical year—for music-loving Seattleites, a festival day might roughly equate to one month.

Festivals offer so many options and Bumbershoot, now in its impressive 39th year, is on the extreme end of this spectrum. With no fewer than 15 stages/performance areas, we’ve found that the most enjoyable Bumbershoots are ones in which we have pre-selected our must-sees but also allow time for exploration and general Seattle-Center merriment.

With that said, we offer you Seattlest’s recommendations. Be warned, in some/many cases suggested times overlap, so you’re on your own to best navigate when on the ground.

Saturday

Everest (12:45-1:45 PM, Broad Street Stage)
Hotels (2:00-3:00 PM, EMP|SFM’s SKY Church)
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head (2:30-3:30 PM, Broad Street Stage)
Past Lives (3:30-4:30 PM, EMP|SFM’s SKY Church)
Low vs Diamond (4:15-5:15 PM, Broad Street Stage)
Comedy Break: Eugene Mirman (5:30-6:30 PM, Comedy Stage North)
Dinner/Exploration Break
Telekinesis (8:00-9:00 PM, EMP|SFM’s SKY Church)
Elvis Perkins in Dearland (8:30-9:30 PM, Northwest Court Stage)
The Long Winters (9:30-10:45 PM, Broad Street Stage)

Sunday

The Kindness Kind (12:30-1:30 PM, EMP|SFM’s SKY Church)
Hey Marseilles (12:45-1:45 PM, Broad Street Stage)
Comedy Break: Aziz Ansari (2:00-3:00 PM, Comedy Stage North)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2:30-3:45 PM, Samsung Mobile Mainstage)
The Dutchess and The Duke (3:15-4:15 PM, Rockstar Energy Drink Stage)
Sera Cahoone (5:00-6:00 PM, Starbucks Stage)
Common Market (5:45-6:45 PM, Fisher Green Stage)
Sleepy Eyes of Death (6:30- 7:30 PM, EMP|SFM’s SKY Church)
Short Dinner/Exploration Break
Comedy Break: Charlene Yi & Patton Oswalt (8:00-9:00 PM, Comedy Stage South)
Brett Dennen (8:45-10:00 PM, Starbucks Stage)
The Helio Sequence (9:30-10:45 PM, Broad Street Stage)

Monday

Visqueen (12:45-1:45 PM, Broad Street Stage)
The Minus 5 (1:30-2:30 PM, Starbucks Stage)
Say Hi (2:30-3:30 PM, Broad Street Stage)
Grand Hallway (3:15-4:15 PM, Northwest Court Stage)
Comedy Break: Aziz Ansari (3:45- 4:45 PM, Comedy Stage North)
The Devil Makes Three (5:00-6:00 PM, Starbucks Stage)
Dead Confederate (6:00-7:00 PM, Rockstar Energy Stage)
The Cave Singers (6:45- 7:45 PM, Starbucks Stage)
Grab dinner on way to the mainstage- most FF songs sound more or less the same, so you won’t miss that much.
Franz Ferdinand (7:45-9:00 PM, Samsung Mobile Mainstage)
Metric (9:30-10:45 PM, Broad Street Stage)

Enjoy, stay hydrated, stay dry and be sure to upload your photos from the event to the Seattlest Flickr pool.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Matt Whiting in Arts & Events on September 4, 2009 5:44 PM

Comments [rss]

Matt Whiting

Another option: Metric will be playing KEXP's Music Lounge at 5:30 PM today. If interested, get there early as this limited space venue will likely fill up incredibly quickly. The KEXP both should be able to help with tickets.

Jack

@1 I recommend Metric over Modest Mouse any day. Having seen them both numerous times, I can say that Modest Mouse can be very hit or miss, while Metric always put on an amazing high-energy show.

seala

I got my 3-day pass for $60 on a pre-sale which isn't too bad. At $20/day, that probably takes me back to the year 2000 in terms of cost.

jiffxx

Even at $50/day, pretty reasonable.

Going Sunday. I only match up on Dennen. Mine and other Mthead thoughts:

http://mtheads.yuku.com/topic/2113/t/Bumbershoot.html

Matt Whiting

Certainly something for (just about) everyone at Bumbershoot...Looks like you're most excited for the folk, country-tinged acts, of which there are quite a few this year. I'm planning on checking out Sera Cahoone also, so perhaps we might bump into each other there as well.

bilco

Did you forget to mention crazy expensive, particularly compared with the past? Pretty much everyone I've spoken to about this year highlights this.

And the semi-local bands, like Minus 5, can be seen in any number of more intimate venues around town for a much more reasonable price.

Used to be BShoot was a huge bargain. No more.

cmaceachen

I really don't get the "crazy expensive" argument. Get your 3-day pass early for 60 bucks. Do you know how much the early-bird pricing for Lollapalooza is? $195 Bonnaroo? $200-$250. Bumbershoot is super-cheap and definitely worth it. How many separate cheap shows can you see for $60? Three, maybe? You'll see at least 20 acts over 3 days at Bumbershoot... and that's if you're lazy.

Matt Whiting

http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/06/27/funny-pictures-wayz-yup/

We feel your pain, bilco. Only when people let organizers know that we don't want our ticket prices inflated to pay for great talents like The Black Eyed Peas and Jason Mraz will anything change. Fire up the petition and we'll be the first to sign.

jdavin

Your schedule is pretty similar to mine. I'm sad that Metric and Modest Mouse are in the exact same time slot.

They're both good bands, but I think I'm going to go to Modest Mouse since I've wanted to see them for a long time. I guess I could do half and half and run in between main stage and Broad Street stage halfway through.

Matt Whiting

Agreed. That was probably the toughest decision for me to make. I ended up choosing Metric as I had to miss them when they were at the Showbox a few months back. Another one that gave me a tough time was Dead Confederate vs. Akron/Family. Might end up trying half and half on that one.