Billboard says that their inclusion of Prince and Rage Against the Machine as Bumbershoot headliners [mb] was an error. Their guide to summer music festivals [billboard] has been corrected. Carry on.

I doubt this just about as hard as I can, but maybe Prince and Rage Against the Machine are part of the Bumbershoot lineup? Via rumor-loving Ear Candy [#], this blurb from Billboard’s guide to summer music:

BUMBERSHOOT
August 30 - September 1
Seattle Center, Seattle
Lineup Includes: Prince, Beck, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, Neko Case, Lucinda Williams
Festival Web Site: www.bumbershoot.org

Originally beginning as The Seattle Arts Festival in 1971, Bumbershoot consists of a variety of art, including music, film, comedy, theater, spoken word, dance, visual, performance, and literary arts. The festival takes place at the Seattle Center, a 74-acre park with over 20 indoor/outdoor venues and independent vendors located throughout the area. Headliners aside, other must see artists include !!!, Ingrid Michaelson, M. ward, and Del tha Funkee Homosapien.
[billboard]

Prince’s long jam, variety show, “Creep”-covering set at Coachella last month was something to behold [mb], but it reportedly cost Goldenvoice somewhere in the neighborhood above four million dollars to pull it off for a festival with daily admission tickets hovering close to a hundred dollars. Does Onereel really have that kind of cash on hand?

From Pinkpop in June, to Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds in August, Rage Against the Machine have headlining spots for a slew of ever-multiplying summer festivals, but nothing on their calendar after 23 August. When I saw them a couple years ago (right after they reunited), the crowd was intense and huge. It would certainly change the scene at Seattle Center if their hardcore fans parachuted in for a Battle of Bumbershoot.

I dashed off a note to Onereel to see if there’s any merit to Billboard’s story and will let you know when I hear more. Thoughts?

update: Billboard regrets the error. [mb]

Bumbershoot just gave us all a sneak preview of the lineup for this year’s festival. The biggest names among the music acts for the 30 August to 1 September Labor Day extravaganza? Beck The rest:

Beck, Stone Temple Pilots, Lucinda Williams, Neko Case, Ingrid Michaelson, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Jakob Dylan, !!!, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Saul Williams, Joe Bonamassa, M. Ward, The Walkmen, Asylum St. Spankers, Dan Deacon, MIDIval PunditZ, Blitzen Trapper, Bedouin Soundclash, Tim Finn, Dale Watson, John Vanderslice, Final Fantasy, The Fall of Troy, Orgone, Forro in the Dark, Ryan Bingham, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, Arthur & Yu, Darondo and Nino Moschella, Pacifika [bumbershoot]

They also promise three (crowded) stages of comedy, visits from William Gibson, Starlee Kine, Dan Clowes, and Adrian Tomine; a One Pot residency by “food adventurer” Michael Hebberoy; a Seattle–Tehran poster exhibition; and a lot more to be announced. Three-day passes are up for pre-sale prices: buy now and the weekend will run you $80 for the basics, more for perks [b’shoot].

viva voce // bumbershoot 2007

At first, this is going to sound kind of crazy, but once you think about it maybe it makes a little more sense. Right now Bumbershoot is selling three-day passes to the 2008 festival at a deeply discounted prices. You might think that your life is such a combination of chaos and free-spiritedness that committing to be in Seattle for Labor Day weekend, two hundred seventy-seven days from now, is impossible. On top of that, you don’t even know who will be playing! But if history is any indication you can probably guess that the mainstage will feature some teen-friendly emo one night, hip-hop superstars another night, with the wildcard slot held for either an up-and-coming rock act, rebounding nostalgia artist, or Fergie, there will be tons of comedy, and a couple dozen local and national indie touring artists you’ve been hearing on KEXP all year.

If you’re the type of person who likes Bumbershoot, you know that you’ll be at Seattle Center from 30 August to 1 September; so why not pre-emptively save a little money? In the event that you’re whisked out of town on an all-expenses-paid end-of-summer holiday, I’m sure that you can find a slacker friend who forgot to buy tickets until who would be happy to get yours, making you someone on a dream vacation who profits off their friends. Your life just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?

There you go. Tickets are $60 [bumbershoot]. You’ll need to become a “bumberfan” (this has never worked for me, despite multiple efforts) or you can just type “BUMBERHOLIDAY” into the form and get the goods. Buy a set now and all of the sudden you’re a responsible adult who plans your life nearly a year in advance. Or you’re a idealist who throws caution to the wind on good faith and decent savings. Or, you’re a person who gives good gift. Either way, you’re a winner.

Before this year’s Bumbershoot fades completely into the ether, a few more things I really liked about it:

1. the crowds, Sure, is one of the things that we, as Seattleites, are obligated to grumble about on an annual basis. But I think that this complaint misses the point. How disappointing would it be to show up at the city’s biggest, most eclectic, and culturally important festival only to find Seattle Center sparsely attended? A big part of the event is that so many people are there, milling around, seeing each other, and experiencing new things. Otherwise, what’s the point? I don’t need to spend every day with Fergie fans, kids being pimped out for busker duty, giggling teenage girls, singing French guys, the man telling us all that we’re bound for the flames of eternal damnation, hippie dancers, and all of the other characters who file in for the weekend, but rubbing elbows, sharing pathways, spots on the grass, and elephant ear lines for a few days a year is just about the right amount to remind us that there’s more to the city than the people we see every night at our favorite neighborhood bars.

2. the lineup: Like #1, among the unfounded ritual gripes. (I’m not touching the third– ticket prices — except to ask if you’ve looked at pricing for anywhere else). I sort of agree that there were fewer big must-see names on the bill this year, but it’s hard to think of another event with the kind of breadth that Bumbershoot does so well. In addition to being a wide-ranging music festival, it’s also a solid comedy, short film, literary, and art festival. I feel like people who complain about there being nothing to see either aren’t trying very hard or irrationally expect that they should want to see everything happening at every time slot. Related to #1, I like how you can draw a line through the schedule at any time point — for instance, 10 pm Saturday — and find Panic! at the Disco, Gogol Bordello, Rodrigo y Gabriela, DeVotchKa, and Grand Archives competing for your your attention. Sure, you might only be interested in one or two of these, but it’s really cool to know that they’re all there, bringing slightly (or vastly) different people to the grounds. And with all of those people from #1 being occasionally aimless means that a lot of local bands might just pick up a few new fans who might not otherwise take a gamble on a weeknight opener at a local nightclub.

3. Art: Mostly tucked out of the way in the Northwest rooms, this is probably the most overlooked part of the festival. But year after year, it is always worth venturing up to check out the exhibits. This year, I loved Instant Coffee’s activation of a room by filling it with nooks of various sizes. People stopped, had conversations at tables in little freestanding rooms, rolled around on cushions, and, presumably, drank coffee. In stark contrast to the cozy and homey setting next door, PDL’s portable confession booths were downright clinical on the outside, complete with a whimsical instructional video playing to a rows of seats in a quiet waiting room. I didn’t get a chance to see the insides and spill my guts in the name of art. Did any of you? Further along, BLVD’s presentation of large-scale street art was similarly transformational. As Samantha already mentioned, seeing these pieces with a little more breathing room was fantastic.

4. Flatstock: I didn’t think that it was possible for me to love this semi-annual poster exhibition any more than I already did until I found the poster from the Carissa’s Weird CD release show at the Graceland for You Should Be At Home Here Now and achieved new levels of poster bliss.

5. the KEXP lounge: Maybe a bit of a snobby item for this list since it wasn’t exactly open to the public — only certain passholders, BumberFans, and people recruited from food alley for unfilled shows — but I hope that KEXP keeps up the tradition of these little semi-secret shows next year. I only caught a few of these more intimate performances, yet they were definitely big highlights. As wonderful as Andrew Bird’s Sunday performance at the Mural Amphitheater was with a full band and seemingly on-the-spot teardowns and reconstructions of familiar melodies, getting to see him up close performing solo renditions of old, new, and cover songs was a rare treat.

6. Something I didn’t see: After the Frames played their outstanding set, Glen Hansard came back for an encore and brought a volunteer from the crowd onto the stage to sing “Falling Slowly”, the duet from Once. Then he led the whole audience in a singalong. I’m a little goosebumpish just thinking about it. Damn the schedule for making me choose between staying for the whole show and getting to see Miranda July. (update via reverb [#]: someone youtubed the it [#])

7. Miranda July: I’m not surprised that a lot of people chose to end their Bumbershoot in a thoroughly packed Memorial Stadium with the Wu Tang Clan, but I’m awfully glad that I closed out my festival in the Bagley-Wright with Miranda July. Overcoming jet lag after flying in from Ireland, she guided us through some of her favorite Learning to Love You More report (occasionally in screenshots of screenshots), pausing along the way to share some background on the assignments that she and Harrell Fletcher created as part of a desire to see beautiful things on the internet. Along the way, striking impromptu performance art was made from brave volunteers and photocopied scripts: narration of an exhibition of the art in a parent’s house [#] and readings of impossible fanatsy phone calls [#] were so good that even Miranda July said that they were the sort of thing that makes people think there are plants in the audience.

The second half of the presentation had nothing to do with the first; so we all pretended that we’d just arrived for a new show taking place a year later, though we were unaged (and all still alive!) and in the same clothes and seats. Before the show, three items had been donated and the auction of these the small objects consumed the rest of the evening. Before the bidding began, the original owners — an Xbox game programmer (donation, Pacific Science Center coin purse), a high school senior (scissors, not suitable for cutting thread), and a educator/mediator (homeopathic remedy, slightly used) — were first interviewed onstage. The discussions included talk of a dead father, a forced career choice, and tendonitis. When all was said and done, the items & their commemorative signed envelopes fetched a total $160 in donations ($30, $70, & $60, respectively) for a local charity.It wasn’t until we all closed our eyes, raised our hands if that amount of money could make a difference in our lives, and waited for the “grant” to be awarded to an anonymous recipient that I realized how truly exhilarating and emotionally exhausting the hour had been.

–

Obviously, I saw a lot of other good acts, readings, shows, kittens, Eddie Argos crowd-diving dance parties, and beer gardens that I didn’t really have time to mention and missed pages of performances that just didn’t fit into my schedule. What did you see and love? And what is the difference between a funnel cake and an elephant ear? I have my suspicions, but still haven’t gotten around to investigating in a fried dough face off. Maybe next year…

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Whew! Bumbershoot ended and ushered in monsoon season. Did everyone make it out alive and get their last elephant ear, funnel cake, or roasted corn to last until next festival season?

My last batch of Bumbershoot photos are now posted for your browsing pleasure. In this extra action packed edition (trying to make up for a relatively slackery Sunday after talking to one of the T.I.G. photographers [flickr] at the end of the day and realizing that I’d only been to a few shows):
Spencer Moody vs. Jetpack McLeod in a live Yeti interview; Andrew Bird (again!) going back to his solo roots and making us all want to be better whistlers; the Mother Truckers; newish local band, the Sneaky Thieves sounding vaguely brit-influenced, smooth, and pretty; the Blakes opening their set with a geography lesson about the grimy clubs of Western Washington; Tokyo Police Club teaching a new generation the pleasures of slouchy, synthtastic, dance rock while breaking new ground in enthusiastic tambourining (at one point Graham Wright deflected a flying beach ball with his tambourine without missing a beat); Jonathan Coulton turning the audience at the Intiman into a mob of brain-hungry zombies, covering “Baby Got Back”, milking Flickr for musical inspiration, and celebrating the pleasures of springtime; Portland’s favorite husband & wife duo, Viva Voce making much more noise than you’d expect from two people; the Damnwells bringing southernish rock all the way from Brooklyn; Fleet Foxes living up to the hype (which is saying a lot given the level of buzz from all quarters); the Frames winning everyone’s heart at sunset; My Brightest Diamond, sounding a little less weird than last time, but still lovely; the Wu Tang Clan complimenting Seattle on the quality of its weed; and Miranda July working magic with web assignments, volunteers, interviews and an auction.

… and the time-delayed photo posting continues! This time with a batch from Sunday featuring the lovely Watson Twins, the newly-shaven Kings of Leon playing in the early afternoon heat (thankfully, they broke out the water cannons to cool the crowds), the saddest busker in all the world, the hilarious rock antics of Art Brut, and the always amazing wearer of stripey socks, Andrew Bird.

Expect even more photos and text recapping once we’ve recovered from three nearly nonstop days at Seattle Center.

On a bit of a delayed posting schedule here — too much Bumbershoot to see & do, so little time to type about it! For now, a few pictures from Saturday are posted.

In this batch: St. Vincent solo at the KEXP stage working multiple microphones, a drum pad full of loops, and a guitar; Carrie Akre and her band at the Mural Amphitheater, Crowded House inducing unexpected nostalgia at the Mainstage, the Shins packing the stadium and inducing the occasional stage rush and crowd surf (really, as pretty, perfect, and “life changing” as it is, I didn’t think I’d ever see a day when it caused a pack of teen guys in neon-outfitted braces to charge the stage at full speed. It’s a lighter’s in the air song, people!).

Later, Ellen Forney’s hilarious multimedia extravaganza on radio death songs, the sexual landmarks of Seattle, and a date with Camille Paglia [insert amazing rock riff here], followed by Indigo Blue, a burlesque dancer who took the “when life gives you lemons” mantra to heart [er, skin], the Zepesque D.T.’s, and “firecracker emcee” Whitney Pastorek who wrote a Bumbershoot song on the spot and convinced the crowd to sing along to Poison while stalling through lemonade cleanup time.

Menomena brought a multitalented choir in monk’s robes along for their show at the Broad Street stage. Every so often, one of the cue-card reading backup singers would pull out a trumpet or guitar, as necessary. Finally, Grand Archives played in front of a giant light show and Panic! at the Disco closed out the Mainstage to a dedicated core of bouncing teens and an equal number of confused onlookers.

St. Vincent performing at the KEXP music lounge on Saturday afternoon.

Agoraphobics wanting to get a taste of Bumbershoot without involving themselves with the teeming mess of humanity that descends upon Seattle Center over Labor Day weekend would do well to tune their radio dials to KEXP. Throughout the weekend, they’re broadcasting some of the best acts live from a not-too-widely-disclosed lounge [#] on the grounds. Only certain passholders can get in to see the shows, but everyone can listen in at home (or, I guess, you could just pack a walkman and tune in from the International Fountain).

Here’s tentative schedule for today and tomorrow, either as a way of avoiding Bumbershoot (not recommended) or as a warm-up before you head down to experience all of the wonderfulness for yourself. After all, you’re not going to be able to get an elephant ear and roasted corn and see all of the things that we recommended [mb] from the comfort of your living room, are you?

Showing up to the mainstage early pays off not only in terms of hearing “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and Australian jokes about cheap sunglasses and human pyramids, but also for a guest appearance by Eddie Vedder for “World Where You Live” and “Something So Strong” at the end of Crowded House’s set.

(update: a much better picture of eddie via bumbershoot [flickr])