It may have been rainy, but a solid lineup didn’t ruin the parade of great music at Bumbershoot Festival 2009

September 5-7, 2009, at the Seattle Center

By Bree McKenna
Published: September 10th, 2009 | 12:02am

Floating on the chilly vibes of an early fall in Seattle, summer signaled its official end with a drizzling blast at the 2009 Bumbershoot Festival, held over Labor Day weekend. The three days of this annual festival are a staple of music, arts, and comedy, spread into 14 different stages around the downtown Seattle Center. Event programs are scrutinized in order to carefully plan and utilize maximum fun, as each person maps out the quickest route to dash to stages with corporate namesakes (“Starbucks Stage to the Rockstar Energy Drink Stage to the Samsung Stage”). Ominous clouds and increased ticket prices warded off festival goers earlier in the weekend, but crowds filled in to brave the unpredictable rains on Days Two and Three.

Day One shows off the best of Seattle’s scene and closes with a Gang Gang Dance

Day One kicked off early on Saturday with Seattle local Kristen Ward, backed up by her band of silky alternative folk rock. Often compared to Neko Case, the sleepy jams were a suitable fit to the early bird crowd who were spread out on the wet grass outside the Starbucks Stage.

Next up was another local favorite, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Providing a much-needed alarm clock for Friday night's hangover, NPSH treated the early festival goers with a silly brand of seriously danceable electro pop. Irresistibly catchy camp songs like "Sophisticated Side Ponytail" deservedly won over any true fun lovers among the 2:30 p.m. crowd. While L.A.-based Low vs Diamond delivered a predictable and solid set, they failed to stand out one way or another in a day jam-packed with more exceptional acts.

For example, while Carrie Rodriguez ravenously tore up the crowd with a fiddle and smoky-voiced tales of unfaithful ex-lovers, Brooklyn party starters Matt and Kim followed up with their guaranteed ass-shaking sounds. Their only tools being drums and keyboard, the duo’s state of perma-excitement was contagiously spread throughout the crowd. As Kim jumped onto her drum set, kids crowd surfed and piled up on each other with total abandon.

Still sweaty from the first and secondhand sweat of Matt and Kim, Eleni Mandell was a welcome break. Pleasant indie rock charmed the smaller crowd that had gathered around, coming from a front woman who describes herself as, “A cross between Hoagy Carmichael and Leonard Cohen; or small, strong coffee with cream and one lump of sugar; or filet mignon and mashed potatoes.”

Afterwards, I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of Gang Gang Dance which proved to be an unexpected festival highlight. Vocalist Liz Bougatsos, who resembles some sort of modern psychedelic high-priestess, warped noise, loops, echoes, and beats into an orchestration as beautiful as it was bizarre. The crowd was hypnotized and swayed heavily to everything that the band served up. Safe to say, I am completely converted into whatever kind of strange cult of noise religion that GGD is trying to start.

Meanwhile, the more clear-cut, danceable outfit Uh Huh Her was on another stage and managed to produce a consistent line of synthy fun — not at all unlike their label mates in Ladytron. Sheryl Crow headlined the main stage around 9:30 p.m., but the chilly rains of the day seemed to ward off most of the would-be curious spectators; the vibe was comprised only of enthused Crow fans, but considerably smaller then expected.

Day Two offers up a solid set from Dutchess and the Duke but proves Karen O is still queen

Sunday kicked off indoors with the endearing indie pop of the Kindness Kind, as well as a welcome break from the rain. After watching their set, it’s evident how the combination of wistful instrumentation and lead singer Alessandra Rose’s enigmatic vocal presence has made the band a local favorite.

Heading outdoors, rain boots sank into the Astroturf at the Samsung Mobile Stage during a set that featured the satisfying clamor of the bluesy, indie four-piece Cold War Kids. Singer Nathan Willett claimed that the drizzling cold was a welcome change from the still brutal September heat of their hometown of Long Beach, California.

Towards the end of the Kids’ set, the crowd multiplied as excitement built for one of Bumbershoot’s highlights — the ever appealing Yeah Yeah Yeahs. A few glitches in sound and an early 2:30 p.m. time slot could have hampered the NYC art-rock trio’s set, but charismatic Karen O delivered her all, accessorized with inflatable eyeballs that were tossed into the crowd amidst a shower from confetti cannons. As new and old favorites were played, YYY fans in the front trampled each other to try and envelop themselves in the metallic robes of Karen O.

Two local favorites followed: the Dutchess and the Duke and Sera Cahoone. The last-minute Bumbershoot addition, the Harry Nilsson-esque style of the Dutchess and the Duke, could be interpreted as the best that Seattle has to offer. Next up was ex-Carissa’s Wierd drummer, Sera Cahoone. While crossing her fingers to ward off the rain, Cahoone carried out incredibly charming and originally smooth, straightforward country songs that made you feel like life was just starting to slow down. Cahoone’s vein of alt-country is not so very different from her old Carissa’s Wierd band mates, who went onto form Grand Archives and Band of Horses.

In a graceful follow-up, Brooklyn’s punk trio the Vivian Girls delivered lo-fi, dream-crafted pop. “Tell the World” and old favorites off their self-titled debut were played alongside songs from their newest release, Everything Goes Wrong. The girls are decidedly controversial for the substantial buzz they’ve received since their inception — but after hearing their reverb-drenched wall of noise, I can only conclude that it is well deserved.

Day Three is taken over by the alien Janelle Monae and ends with a perfectly-calculated set from Metric

Witchy-sounding strings and vocals started Monday’s lineup under the guide of multi-instrumentalist Anomie Belle. Soon after, it proved to be well worth it to brave a torrential downpour to catch the Seattle super group, Visqueen. Guitarist/vocalist Rachel Flotard offered an incendiary live performance, and the group had an especially energetic flavor since being joined by new bassist, Cristina Bautista of Connecticut Four. The band’s new album Message to Garcia was played live in its entirety, and was totally worth the drenching rains early in the day.

Having seen Mirah several times over the years, I am always pleasantly surprised by her ability to keep every show fresh and enjoyable. At Bumbershoot, Mirah played old favorites including “C’mon Miracle” and “Advisory Committee,” along with newer material from (a)spera which, upon hearing live, makes me want to go straight home and get more familiar with it.

As the weather started to get particularly nasty again, the last thing to expect was the weirdness of experimental space diva Janelle Monae at the Fisher Green Stage. The tuxedoed, former OutKast accomplice by far delivered the most visually dynamic and most straight up fun performance of the day. Despite a sudden bout of bad weather, onlookers had jaws dropping at her arty, sci fi funk and bizarre, unrestrained dance moves. “I’m an alien from outer-space,” Monae announces on her first album, Metropolis — and after witnessing it for myself, I’m inclined to believe in her cosmic powers.

Next up was a combination of guitar, drums, and a half a dozen or so cellos that made up the appropriately named Portland Cello Project. Serious and softer original numbers were mixed in with covers of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and Super Nintendo video game themes: “Maybe next time we’ll play the castle level for you guys,” they teased.

Teal-stockinged, Australian front woman Lenka surprised all as an enchanting, sugar-coated pop star. Although her brand of syrupy sweet pop wasn’t something that would normally be my cup of tea, Lenka and her equally adorable gave an enthusiastic performance that won me over for the hour. Not to mention the band’s gear and stage was covered in cardboard mushroom cutouts for an optimistic, positive vibe that might be something more suited to my younger sister judging by the crowd of mostly 12-16 year-old girls who were lip-synching every song and starting cell phone waves.

Afterwards there was a splice of buzz band Audrye Sessions who proved why they are garnering so much attention for a Coldplay-esque mass appeal. Everyone in the crowd seemed very enthused, but were quickly drawn to wait for Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand on the main stage. The quartet mostly played familiar like “Take Me Out” and “40 Feet Deep,” that offered non-jarring bits of familiar fun. Unfortunately, the crowd was visibly less familiar with their newer stuff. At last, the band closed shop with an extended, nearly twenty-minute jam on “Lucid Dreams.”

Finally I made my way in the dark to Metric, who were headlining the Broad Street Stage, and found that singer Emily Haines is impossibly infectious live. Haines can take a tambourine and a massive stage and find a way to consume the entire space with her charismatic presence. The band took a bit of a backseat to Haines’ onstage presence but still achieved a perfect delivery of dark, cathartic dance music. As Haines switched between keys, guitar, and percussion — her torn-up street clothes and blur of blonde hair directly below the lit-up space needle, she left the impression of a picture perfect rock star, an ideal close to the end of summer festival.

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For more photos from Bumbershoot Festival 2009, see Venus Zine's Flickr page