Hello from Seattle Center! However much I wish that Neko Case was playing right at sunset, her voice soared out through the mainstage area and in the early afternoon, under a light cloud cover, she sounded just right. All festival experiences should start with Neko, I think.

The Girls aren’t dressed as Team Zissou today, but most of them are wearing entertaining airbrushed t-shirts, and they all funny walked onstage and, as always, charmed me. I am easily charmed. Their dance-punk sound fit nicely in the EMP, drowning out even the people talking closest to me, and the crazy light show reminded me of that ride at Univrsal Studios called “Body Wars.” Made me a little queasy, but now I’m super excited to hear their new album.

An early contender for Bumbershoot magic is when Barcelona started a “One is the Loneliest Number” cover, although the very young crowd didn’t seem to know what they were hearing. It’s awfully crowded in Seattle Center today, even more than I expected, and it looks like there are bicycles on the skate ramp thing.