This Seattlest started his carpet-bagging campaign here about ten years ago, so maybe we have an imperfect understanding of the Fun Forest and it's cultural baggage. When we heard that the City Council had elected to raze the Fun Forest in 2009 our first reaction was "What?! They're clear-cutting the Wenatchee National Forest?!" But then we caught on, as we occasionally do, and realized they were talking about the little carnivalette that lives in Seattle......

Lordy, we are getting old. Midway through day 2 of Bumbershoot, we were dragging hardcore. The crowds, the drunk white guys, the terrible fashion---it was all getting to be too much. But then we nutted up and carried on with our high-octane music intake. Our day began at the Mainstage with the New Pornographers. Even without Dan Bejar and Neko Case, the always-solid supergroup put on yet another great show. Carl Newman was left......

So we didn't make Dengue Fever. The walk to Seattle Center took just a bit longer than we'd planned. Oh well. Day two was spent in varying states of rest, the day ending up more about the festival on the whole than music. The highlights: 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......

We hate to sound cynical and old, but my god! Day two at Bumbershoot felt a lot like a tenth grade field trip to white people's rock and roll camp. We ain't dissing the kiddies, but when we head to the overcrowded, sweat-drenched beer gardens just to be amongst people our age, it's worth mentioning. That said, day two was (a) crazy crowded (we spent 15 minutes in the crossroads by the cajun salmon booth,......

We were expecting the first day of Bumbershoot to be absolutely hellacious, what with the warm temps and the large crowds. Surprisingly, neither weather nor crowd size was *that* bad. As to the music: Interest is building for local band The Purrs, and their solid set at the EMP Sky Church showed why. Their sound is straight-forward jangly rock, with heavy British influences and more than a hint of shoe-gaze. The band really took......

There's a sausage stand at Bumbershoot that is selling a gargantuan block of french fries, the lines for which increased exponentially throughout the day Saturday. Our picture of said block didn't work out, but imagine a three-dimensional brick of fries, like if you had a few hundred of the them you coulld build a french fry igloo. It's an excessive amount of fries. Blondie We're not sure Debbie Harry's outift yesterday was a function......

What a great way to close out the summer: Beer, fried food on stick, irritatingly large crowds, great music, and a slight chance of rain (remember last year?). Seattlest loves us some Bumbershoot though, and we wouldn't let some pesky weather ruin our fun. This year looks to be a good one. A couple things we are digging right off the bat are the addition of good bands on the outdoor stages and ditching the......

Decisions, decisions. This member of Seattlest will have a good friend in town for the duration of Bumbershoot weekend, so most of our scheduling will depend on him. Good thing our friends tend to have taste. Present company excluded. On Saturday, we want to check out new Sarathan psych-rockers The Purrs, but we'll also catch Jamie Lidell. We have seen him once before, but our friend has not and we think Jamie's retro-futuristic electro-soul......

1) Mercir (EMP Sky Church) - We started the day with some electro indie rock. With moody vocals, usually more atmospheric than lyrical, this three piece uses guitars, keyboards and a latop computer to create a rich wall of sound. 2) Citizen Cope (Main Stage) - We keep hearing about how great Citizen Cope is. That “Bullet in a Target” song is everywhere. Prior to Saturday, the other songs we heard by him (aka Clarence......