Birthday happiness and Bumbershoot Nouvella (LONG)
Wow, this has been an awesome past couple of days. I'd even extend it to an awesome week. I'm feeling ready for school to start again, but will most definitely take advantage of the next week. My birthday was two days ago on September 4th. We decided to head to Leavenworth, a fun faux-Bavarian town. There was lots of yodeling, nutcrackers and fun shops to look at. It's always interesting to visit towns that are designed specifically as tourist destinations, like Winthrop in Eastern Wa. I got funky stuff at Archie McPhee's including plastic platypus(es?i?), a hedgehog-like animal and vegetable keychains. I tried weiner schnitzel for the first time, I was curious since my dad usually orders it when we go to Crystal. It was pretty good, less hard for me to eat than beef but a bit meaty/bready for my taste. I loved the German Potato salad and the bratwurst was good too. It's fun to try German food, sometime I need to try marmotberry's spaetzle. (I'd like to take this point to echo the awesomeness of Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2, it's one of a bunch of cds I got for my birthday. Just heard a song called Red Vines and there's one called Ghost World). Anyway, you can probably see where this is going, after Leavenworth which was an awesome fun time (I love diving to find stuff) I went to Bumbershoot.
I saw two days, got one ticket at 18 and the other at 28, both were worth it. We headed there early to see Common, it's cool that he was someone everyone liked. He was great! I've sort of started to get into hip-hop lately so I was pretty excited to see him. My sister and her friend are so short, though, that it was hard for them to see so we ended up moving around a lot. I'm glad that they came and that Go had a cool video, it's always fun to go to concerts (my first one was just april last year). Talib Kweli played before him and he sounded like he'd be pretty awesome too. I *think* he was on stage at one point, and Common gave big props to him. I like the way Common uses r&b sounds in his music, and The Corner is a great song (as is I Used to Love H.E.R.). He played all three songs I wanted to hear, so that was cool. I put my hand and down for a while and was told that I was off beat. I'm sure I was. My parents even thought he was pretty great, although they were in the stands so they couldn't hear much. I saw a few Northwest people there. I'm really glad I saw him; my first hip-hop show! We were able to get very close to the stage as it was ending. Then, it started to rain and progressively turned into a full-fledged downpour. We walked by the Locust stage and my dad, after reading a Stranger review that mentioned blistering eardrums and the spreading of an antisocial disease, was very curious. I was also intrigued by the description, but looked at the crowd and determined that it wouldn't really be a family type thing ( a gross understatement; saw someone getting arrested at he edge of the stage. We could hear a bit and the people coming out looked a bit.. well dazed I suppose is the best way to describe how they looked . The Locust will come up again in an interesting twist of events. We walked over to the Backyard Stage and saw a bit of the Duhks; it was pouring down rain, and I was just in a hoodie. They were singing in French for a bit; I think they're from Quebec. I'm just amazed by how down-to-earth and normal many musicians seem. Then, we headed to Bahn Thai, after stopping by an empty Thai Heaven. I think I walked by Caitlin and Hannah about two or three times and said hi :) Bahn Thai was really good although they did mess up our order ( we ordered a seafood dinner; I loved the soup and the shrimp, tried some squid and it was pretty good). It was wonderful to get out of the rain and sit and eat good food; I think that the chicken satay was the best I've tasted. I looked at my shredded Corpse Bride Poster and glanced at Filter mini. In a suprising twist of events the KISS booth was pretty awesome, although on Saturday I sort of stood off to the side but Sunday I got stuff (A Corpse Bride Poster). KEXP was awesome, and I still have an Arcade Fire + Fiery Furnaces postcard. Free stuff is awesomeness in so many ways. I got a caribiner, which led to much amusement and clicking. It was fun to walk around with my friend Molly, she lives right down the hill and we've became good friends over this and previous summers. After eating, my dad, Molly and I decided to head back to see Elvis Costello and whatever else before. I had thought I missed Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, but I was able to see them; they were wonderful in a sad and folky way. It's always nice to see a person who really knows how to sing. I would say their show was somewhat moving, I only saw the very end. The seats in McCaw Hall were wonderfully comfortable, and it was dry(!) inside. The rain had mostly cleared up by then and we were able to walk right in. Son Volt was very good; they had a more rocking feel, still very melodic, although incredibly loud. I'll have to check them out more. Then, we saw Elvis Costello, who of course was an interesting person to see. I knew he was a famous name, but didn't know very much about him. When my dad told me that he was a big new-wave person, I knew I wanted to see him. He played on acoustic guitar mostly the entire time, and made a very strange comment, remarking on the fact that he had seen Richard Simmons make a comment on Larry King that New Orleans was the Venice of the world. As he said, just think about that for a moment; he was thankful for a chance to get off the couch and stop watching CNN. He seemed like a very cool person, was wearing sunglasses at night. He did a great job and I clapped my hands. It would have been more enjoyable if not for the stifling smell of weed. As Becky so accurately commented, it smells like mud. It was everywhere at the festival, but I didn't really notice until the end of the day Saturday as I heard people commenting on it. I breathed through my mouth. My throat was really dry the entire time; more water would have been nice. We didn't stay 'till the very end but I was fine with that. I'm glad I stayed late on Saturday though. It was a cool day; my real birthday! Pretty good way to celebrate, if I do say so myself. (In a strange sidenote - now Broken Social Scene's anthem for a seventeen year old girl is ...somewhat relevant I suppose)
For the next giant block of text; Sunday! If Saturday was awesome; which I thought it was; be prepared for a new dimension -- of fantastic. (I can't even write that without feeling silly). I didn't sleep all that well the night before, my ears were ringing from the loudness. Still, did sleep and was able to have some coffee-chocolate. I opened my birthday presents in the morning before we left (a digital camera!! so happy). We started out with the Decemberists - who were great for the morning. I love The Decemberists, and I think the set they played was pretty much perfect. They played my favorite Decemberists song, which is also in the running for favorite song in general (The Engine Driver - I sang along). At least, it's high in my personal top 40. They also played a bunch of awesome songs from their Picaresque CD which I had gotten as a birthday present two days before hand and some older ones (The Infanta, The Tain, 16 Military Wives, and what I thought was a Belle and Sebastian cover turned out to be an orignal song called Leslie Anne Levine. I want to eventually collect stuff from The Decemberists, Colin Meloy actually has an EP out where he sings Morissey. One of their old songs, The Bachelor and The Bride, was really great, a sad song with very vivid lyrics. I loved the audience participation, of which the highlight of a great show was when they prompted the audience to scream as if swallowed by a whale. They detailed how the sound exactly should sound, a mix of scream and (squishedness)... it was so cool! The stadium was packed, I glanced behind a couple times and was amazed. I am really happy with how close we were able to get. No t-shirts unfortunately, didn't see a merchandise booth -- but I will remedy that with an internet order. So after the Decemberists we got food (yummy salmon caesar salad and split shiskaberries). This is taking a while... I'm still a bit starstruck but set on describing my memories. There were so many great artists at Bumbershoot.. and there was never a dull moment, loved looking at the booths (the bluebottle one was super cool). Saw Eva in between, said hi to her and Becky's friends. Next, is Idiot Pilot. Wow, that was an experience. We went in basically knowing nothing besides that they were being hyped on The END, but this was soon corrected as the people behind us discussed Idiot Pilot's style, describing it as screamo and praising their originality. Three imaginary girls, a great local website is hyping them a lot, check it out! Idiot PilotI had a vague idea of what that was, and was intrigued but a little sad I missed the Cops and the Charming Snakes. We were very ready to watch and had fun commenting on/observing the footwear, shirts and hair. (On that note, I'll probably order plaid converse, didn't see any like that and meh will draw with permanent marker.) Saw another Northwest student :). As we entered Idiot Pilot, I marveled at the lights (sparkly) and heard people saying I heart myspace. I was actually asked whether I had one or if I knew someone who does- looked Becky's direction. Phenomenons are always interesting, and I think myspace is pretty cool, but it's not really me. Anyhoot, Idiot Pilot was very original. I'd never heard anything like them before. It was a band of two guys and they looked like they were just out of high school, the lead singer was hot. They told people to move and I had heard that you can mosh to them from the other people. Was not enthusiastic about moshing and for the 45 minutes I saw, people were mostly bobbing. I'm proud to say I did move, for quite a few of the concerts actually. The finger tapping has not ceased but I like to do that (It was fun touching the stage at Tegan and Sara: more about them later.) At Idiot Pilot I liked the screaming, and the singer took of his shirt. Definitely a plus - I stood and watched, clapped when he balanced on the railing (it was probably difficult) and listened a bit more. After a bit of confusion about the exit we wandered back and discussed the possibility of seeing Okkervil River. I told her my impressions of For Real (check out their site - to start - here's a link to their bio). I was definitely a little unsure about going there - the Brazilian Girls were playing at the same time. We managed to see a bit of the Waybacks and they were really great, lots of people dancing. I ran into Alex and Elena waiting for the bathrooms, and they sounded like they were having a great time. But Tegan and Sara were going to be at the backyard stage so we needed to go there :D I was really glad we did. Okkervil River has a great sense of humor and wit, and the sound check before was even entertaining. A highlight was when they dedicated a song to Iggy if they played it well, and as an afterthought, to Dashboard Confessional if they did it badly. I'm somewhat intrigued by Dashboard Confessional, as I saw their tour bus with many fans as I walked towards the bus one day. It's pretty funny - the Stranger had Madlibs to Dashboard Confessional and encouraged singing along with you own lyrics. Madlibs are the awesomeness. Yeah, but Okkervil River was great. He broke one of his guitar strings on accident, the other on purpose. Very literate, a bit gothic, fun comments. The band members were all very attractive, especially (the lead singer). We saw who I'd assume are some of their biggest fans, a family who was really enjoying it. Becky agreed that she reminded us of Elaine from Seinfeld, which is in no way a bad thing.
So, for Tegan and Sara!!! Described as a "lo-fi Blondie with a sprinkling of indie pop" by the Bumbershoot guide, that description was very accurate. We were touching the stage, as close as we good possibly get. I moved up and took the place where Teagan would end up standing. We were getting pushed a bit at the beginning but I tried to be a pillar of strength. We were standing by a really nice person with layered socks and we talked with her a bit. I was so excited, even though I hadn't heard any of their songs, just had known that Becky (snig) was increasingly addicted. She brought her digital camera and snapped some great pictures. She just sent them to me and they're very cool, I think the bluriness of the Tegan and Sara pictures adds to the artsy appeal. We also got pictures of the Decemberists and Okkervil River; as for Idiot Pilot... you know where to look. But back to the greatness that was Tegan and Sara, I loved what I heard. One song, Speak Slow, off their latest CD, So Jealous, which sounds great, had a strong resemblance to a Josie Cotton song from Valley Girl. They were great, and the setlist is up at Becky's journal if you're interested. It's a great experience going to a concert with a person who's a fan because she told me about what songs she liked. She was singing along to practically every song and I was deeply impressed by the music, and waved my hands at the beginning and had a constant bobbing motion. Her smiling at Chris, the bass palyer was what guaranteed her getting the setlist - it was so cute. Tegan & Sara played a cover of Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen - I recognized the chorus and sang a bit and Tegan made sure to say that if you don't know the song, don't feel bad because that's not their goal. The stories were wonderful and I sympathized after hearing about silverfish in Tegan's apartment; my mom had dealt with them before. Sara was really cool too, and her coolness was another tidbit shared with they audience. "Cool people are always worried about staying cool." They were so friendly and I was just amazed to be touching the stage, I even tapped my hand and rested my elbow on it. But anyway, I bought a shirt and So Jealous, and ended up getting Ted C, the guitarist/keyboardist to sign my poster, and I got Tegan's signature on my Bumbershoot Ticket. Becky got everyone's signature except the drummer on her setlist, and that was because we weren't sure if his name was Rod or Ron, (it was Ron). So the point of this article is that indie rock, and music in general is not intimidating. Listen to the radio, listen to the station you like. Talk to your friends. Watch your friends. Enjoy music.
I saw two days, got one ticket at 18 and the other at 28, both were worth it. We headed there early to see Common, it's cool that he was someone everyone liked. He was great! I've sort of started to get into hip-hop lately so I was pretty excited to see him. My sister and her friend are so short, though, that it was hard for them to see so we ended up moving around a lot. I'm glad that they came and that Go had a cool video, it's always fun to go to concerts (my first one was just april last year). Talib Kweli played before him and he sounded like he'd be pretty awesome too. I *think* he was on stage at one point, and Common gave big props to him. I like the way Common uses r&b sounds in his music, and The Corner is a great song (as is I Used to Love H.E.R.). He played all three songs I wanted to hear, so that was cool. I put my hand and down for a while and was told that I was off beat. I'm sure I was. My parents even thought he was pretty great, although they were in the stands so they couldn't hear much. I saw a few Northwest people there. I'm really glad I saw him; my first hip-hop show! We were able to get very close to the stage as it was ending. Then, it started to rain and progressively turned into a full-fledged downpour. We walked by the Locust stage and my dad, after reading a Stranger review that mentioned blistering eardrums and the spreading of an antisocial disease, was very curious. I was also intrigued by the description, but looked at the crowd and determined that it wouldn't really be a family type thing ( a gross understatement; saw someone getting arrested at he edge of the stage. We could hear a bit and the people coming out looked a bit.. well dazed I suppose is the best way to describe how they looked . The Locust will come up again in an interesting twist of events. We walked over to the Backyard Stage and saw a bit of the Duhks; it was pouring down rain, and I was just in a hoodie. They were singing in French for a bit; I think they're from Quebec. I'm just amazed by how down-to-earth and normal many musicians seem. Then, we headed to Bahn Thai, after stopping by an empty Thai Heaven. I think I walked by Caitlin and Hannah about two or three times and said hi :) Bahn Thai was really good although they did mess up our order ( we ordered a seafood dinner; I loved the soup and the shrimp, tried some squid and it was pretty good). It was wonderful to get out of the rain and sit and eat good food; I think that the chicken satay was the best I've tasted. I looked at my shredded Corpse Bride Poster and glanced at Filter mini. In a suprising twist of events the KISS booth was pretty awesome, although on Saturday I sort of stood off to the side but Sunday I got stuff (A Corpse Bride Poster). KEXP was awesome, and I still have an Arcade Fire + Fiery Furnaces postcard. Free stuff is awesomeness in so many ways. I got a caribiner, which led to much amusement and clicking. It was fun to walk around with my friend Molly, she lives right down the hill and we've became good friends over this and previous summers. After eating, my dad, Molly and I decided to head back to see Elvis Costello and whatever else before. I had thought I missed Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, but I was able to see them; they were wonderful in a sad and folky way. It's always nice to see a person who really knows how to sing. I would say their show was somewhat moving, I only saw the very end. The seats in McCaw Hall were wonderfully comfortable, and it was dry(!) inside. The rain had mostly cleared up by then and we were able to walk right in. Son Volt was very good; they had a more rocking feel, still very melodic, although incredibly loud. I'll have to check them out more. Then, we saw Elvis Costello, who of course was an interesting person to see. I knew he was a famous name, but didn't know very much about him. When my dad told me that he was a big new-wave person, I knew I wanted to see him. He played on acoustic guitar mostly the entire time, and made a very strange comment, remarking on the fact that he had seen Richard Simmons make a comment on Larry King that New Orleans was the Venice of the world. As he said, just think about that for a moment; he was thankful for a chance to get off the couch and stop watching CNN. He seemed like a very cool person, was wearing sunglasses at night. He did a great job and I clapped my hands. It would have been more enjoyable if not for the stifling smell of weed. As Becky so accurately commented, it smells like mud. It was everywhere at the festival, but I didn't really notice until the end of the day Saturday as I heard people commenting on it. I breathed through my mouth. My throat was really dry the entire time; more water would have been nice. We didn't stay 'till the very end but I was fine with that. I'm glad I stayed late on Saturday though. It was a cool day; my real birthday! Pretty good way to celebrate, if I do say so myself. (In a strange sidenote - now Broken Social Scene's anthem for a seventeen year old girl is ...somewhat relevant I suppose)
For the next giant block of text; Sunday! If Saturday was awesome; which I thought it was; be prepared for a new dimension -- of fantastic. (I can't even write that without feeling silly). I didn't sleep all that well the night before, my ears were ringing from the loudness. Still, did sleep and was able to have some coffee-chocolate. I opened my birthday presents in the morning before we left (a digital camera!! so happy). We started out with the Decemberists - who were great for the morning. I love The Decemberists, and I think the set they played was pretty much perfect. They played my favorite Decemberists song, which is also in the running for favorite song in general (The Engine Driver - I sang along). At least, it's high in my personal top 40. They also played a bunch of awesome songs from their Picaresque CD which I had gotten as a birthday present two days before hand and some older ones (The Infanta, The Tain, 16 Military Wives, and what I thought was a Belle and Sebastian cover turned out to be an orignal song called Leslie Anne Levine. I want to eventually collect stuff from The Decemberists, Colin Meloy actually has an EP out where he sings Morissey. One of their old songs, The Bachelor and The Bride, was really great, a sad song with very vivid lyrics. I loved the audience participation, of which the highlight of a great show was when they prompted the audience to scream as if swallowed by a whale. They detailed how the sound exactly should sound, a mix of scream and (squishedness)... it was so cool! The stadium was packed, I glanced behind a couple times and was amazed. I am really happy with how close we were able to get. No t-shirts unfortunately, didn't see a merchandise booth -- but I will remedy that with an internet order. So after the Decemberists we got food (yummy salmon caesar salad and split shiskaberries). This is taking a while... I'm still a bit starstruck but set on describing my memories. There were so many great artists at Bumbershoot.. and there was never a dull moment, loved looking at the booths (the bluebottle one was super cool). Saw Eva in between, said hi to her and Becky's friends. Next, is Idiot Pilot. Wow, that was an experience. We went in basically knowing nothing besides that they were being hyped on The END, but this was soon corrected as the people behind us discussed Idiot Pilot's style, describing it as screamo and praising their originality. Three imaginary girls, a great local website is hyping them a lot, check it out! Idiot PilotI had a vague idea of what that was, and was intrigued but a little sad I missed the Cops and the Charming Snakes. We were very ready to watch and had fun commenting on/observing the footwear, shirts and hair. (On that note, I'll probably order plaid converse, didn't see any like that and meh will draw with permanent marker.) Saw another Northwest student :). As we entered Idiot Pilot, I marveled at the lights (sparkly) and heard people saying I heart myspace. I was actually asked whether I had one or if I knew someone who does- looked Becky's direction. Phenomenons are always interesting, and I think myspace is pretty cool, but it's not really me. Anyhoot, Idiot Pilot was very original. I'd never heard anything like them before. It was a band of two guys and they looked like they were just out of high school, the lead singer was hot. They told people to move and I had heard that you can mosh to them from the other people. Was not enthusiastic about moshing and for the 45 minutes I saw, people were mostly bobbing. I'm proud to say I did move, for quite a few of the concerts actually. The finger tapping has not ceased but I like to do that (It was fun touching the stage at Tegan and Sara: more about them later.) At Idiot Pilot I liked the screaming, and the singer took of his shirt. Definitely a plus - I stood and watched, clapped when he balanced on the railing (it was probably difficult) and listened a bit more. After a bit of confusion about the exit we wandered back and discussed the possibility of seeing Okkervil River. I told her my impressions of For Real (check out their site - to start - here's a link to their bio). I was definitely a little unsure about going there - the Brazilian Girls were playing at the same time. We managed to see a bit of the Waybacks and they were really great, lots of people dancing. I ran into Alex and Elena waiting for the bathrooms, and they sounded like they were having a great time. But Tegan and Sara were going to be at the backyard stage so we needed to go there :D I was really glad we did. Okkervil River has a great sense of humor and wit, and the sound check before was even entertaining. A highlight was when they dedicated a song to Iggy if they played it well, and as an afterthought, to Dashboard Confessional if they did it badly. I'm somewhat intrigued by Dashboard Confessional, as I saw their tour bus with many fans as I walked towards the bus one day. It's pretty funny - the Stranger had Madlibs to Dashboard Confessional and encouraged singing along with you own lyrics. Madlibs are the awesomeness. Yeah, but Okkervil River was great. He broke one of his guitar strings on accident, the other on purpose. Very literate, a bit gothic, fun comments. The band members were all very attractive, especially (the lead singer). We saw who I'd assume are some of their biggest fans, a family who was really enjoying it. Becky agreed that she reminded us of Elaine from Seinfeld, which is in no way a bad thing.
So, for Tegan and Sara!!! Described as a "lo-fi Blondie with a sprinkling of indie pop" by the Bumbershoot guide, that description was very accurate. We were touching the stage, as close as we good possibly get. I moved up and took the place where Teagan would end up standing. We were getting pushed a bit at the beginning but I tried to be a pillar of strength. We were standing by a really nice person with layered socks and we talked with her a bit. I was so excited, even though I hadn't heard any of their songs, just had known that Becky (snig) was increasingly addicted. She brought her digital camera and snapped some great pictures. She just sent them to me and they're very cool, I think the bluriness of the Tegan and Sara pictures adds to the artsy appeal. We also got pictures of the Decemberists and Okkervil River; as for Idiot Pilot... you know where to look. But back to the greatness that was Tegan and Sara, I loved what I heard. One song, Speak Slow, off their latest CD, So Jealous, which sounds great, had a strong resemblance to a Josie Cotton song from Valley Girl. They were great, and the setlist is up at Becky's journal if you're interested. It's a great experience going to a concert with a person who's a fan because she told me about what songs she liked. She was singing along to practically every song and I was deeply impressed by the music, and waved my hands at the beginning and had a constant bobbing motion. Her smiling at Chris, the bass palyer was what guaranteed her getting the setlist - it was so cute. Tegan & Sara played a cover of Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen - I recognized the chorus and sang a bit and Tegan made sure to say that if you don't know the song, don't feel bad because that's not their goal. The stories were wonderful and I sympathized after hearing about silverfish in Tegan's apartment; my mom had dealt with them before. Sara was really cool too, and her coolness was another tidbit shared with they audience. "Cool people are always worried about staying cool." They were so friendly and I was just amazed to be touching the stage, I even tapped my hand and rested my elbow on it. But anyway, I bought a shirt and So Jealous, and ended up getting Ted C, the guitarist/keyboardist to sign my poster, and I got Tegan's signature on my Bumbershoot Ticket. Becky got everyone's signature except the drummer on her setlist, and that was because we weren't sure if his name was Rod or Ron, (it was Ron). So the point of this article is that indie rock, and music in general is not intimidating. Listen to the radio, listen to the station you like. Talk to your friends. Watch your friends. Enjoy music.