Hello and welcome back to our coverage of Bumbershoot. If you missed Day 1 click here, or Day 2 click here. Enjoy! (also check us out on Twitter here!)

Cascadia ’10

I had no idea what to expect when I set off to check out Cascadia ’10 at the Tunein Stage.  When I got done shooting and had a chance to listen, I was instantly impressed.  It had a soul flavor, a very “Isaac Hayes” sense of funk, but with the Afrobeat feel upon which they hang they’re collective hats.  These guys swing, and I instantly fell for them.  The moment the horns burst in, I was hooked.  I absolutely love soul-funk.  It as a way of creating a certain type of groove that is incredibly cool and laid back, but with a sense of badassery that is sometimes missing from contemporary groove music.  There is also a primal feel to the existing smoothness.  Add that to a fresh horn section and you have the formula for “Things Andrew Loves.”  These guys clearly made the list, and I can’t wait to see them play again.

BellaMaine

I saw this husband/wife-led combo at Block Party for not nearly long enough, so I was excited to see them again, and, much to my pleasure, they did not disappoint.  The chemistry between Nick and Julianne Thompson is not only obvious, but audible.  The way their voices blend is nothing short of inspired.  Sweet vocals not withstanding, BellaMaine is a no-screwing-around rock band, anthemic at times, and heavy at others, and they somehow avoid the pitfalls of their predecessors by remaining unpredictable.  They use the tools they’ve got to their advantage, and each member of the band is both a vastly talented musician and performer.  Not only do they sound good, but they’re also incredible entertaining, gaining the support of the audience with an “aw shucks” charm and keeping it with ease.  At this rate, BellaMaine appears to not be going anywhere any time soon.

The Maldives

As long as I’ve been entrenched in the Seattle music scene, I’ve heard of the mythical creature that is the Maldives.  I’d never met them, seen them, or heard much of their stuff in passing, and every time I sat down to check it out something else happened (i.e. the new Armed With Legs record).  When I finally did sit down in the lawn at the mural to check them out, I was very impressed. They ride easy from blooming rock anthems to intricate love songs, swelling and crashing with a practiced ease that I absolutely love. Singer/guitarist/frontman Jason Dodson’s “little thing” has come to include 7 members, but they’re so unified in their purpose that they sound as if they are one creature, with such a synchronized ease that they almost seem to rattle off their set list as if it were second nature, a reflex to being in front of an audience.  At one point, the Maldives were responsible for representing Seattle in the world of music, and I can’t think of another band that I’d trust to hold those reigns.

The Men 

New York’s own The Men were up next.  During my pre-Bumbleshoot research, I had listened to a fair amount of this band, drawn by a slap-dash trashy surf-rock feel that I’ve loved of late.  In person, it was more of the wonderful same, with driving, brash melodies punctuated by lyrics rife with regret and dreams of release.  They were energetic to the point of being frenzied, perhaps a little too fast and hard for their bassist, who could be seen stretching his wrist between songs.  To be clear, I’m not criticizing the guy for having a sore wrist, I’m saying that The Men played so fast and hard (and well) that they hurt their bassist.  Need I say more?

St Paul de Vence

I lumbered down to the oft-neglected Plaza Stage next to EMP to check out St Paul de Vence.  I had heard some about the band, mostly that the inspiration for many of Benjamin Doerr’s material for the project was inspired by or taken directly from the tales of his grandfather fighting along side the Free French Forces during WWII.  I fell in love with this idea of honoring a grandparent in this way, and basically was a fan without hearing their music.  Luckily for me and everyone in attendance as the sun started to set on Bumbershoot, St Paul de Vence backed up their mythology.  It’s actually quite obvious that each member of the band is an incredibly talented musician in their own right, which gives the solid foundation needed for such a storytelling odyssey.  Doerr is not only solid, but very likeable, charming the audience with his easy smile and approachable nature.  Combine that with the incredible banjo playing and supporting vocals of a woman whose name I was unable to locate (queue everyone in the world telling me now) whose banjo added a very Franco feeling to the whole set.  As a music writer/critic and grandson, I approved of St Paul de Vence in a big way!

Baroness

I couldn’t decide which act to see during this hour, so I picked two and tried to give them equal time.  Baroness is a hard-charging, hard-working hard rock foursome from Atlanta, and, as you can imagine, quite the different feel than the previous performance.  I’ll say right up front that I don’t really care for this style of rock, but I was very impressed by their stage presence and energy.  They had the obligatory shirtless camera-junkie, the bearded singer, sweaty drummer, and subdued bass player that let me know that they were a rock band.  They were tight, technical and tremendously well-received by the crowd, but I couldn’t do it.  It sounded old.  And tired.  It’s the type of music that my best friend Jake likes, but I could never understand why he liked it.  For all the Jakes out there, this band is very good.  For the rest of us, off to see Mark Pickerel!

Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands

Mark Pickerel is the epitome of cool. With a one-off hairstyle that defies ridicule and a unique sound, those of us betting on Mark and His Praying Hands to salvage the hour were to be paid off, and paid off big.  The blurb said something about “saloon crooner” and something else that I can’t remember, but I didn’t get that from Mark.  I got more of a “school dance in the 50s” thing that I fell for completely.  His baritone voice doesn’t hurt, nor does his effortless stage presence.  Through all of this, his sound is universally good, pulling from country (notice the slide steel guitar), rock, blues, and even bluegrass at times to present a conglomerated and very digable style.  Pickerel’s lyrics are casually heartfelt, borne of pain and triumph, celebration and loss, and an overarching feel of a man who has both missed and seized opportunities.  It takes a man to sing songs about such deeply held feelings, and believe you me, Mark Pickerel is The Man.

Ivan & Alyosha

If you’ve been anywhere near the Seattle music scene of late, Ivan and Alyosha have come across your radar.  Listen to them play, and it’s no small wonder why.  This suspiciously attractive 5-piece has bona fide soul. They’re definitely not the loudest, most aggressive, or most popular band on the roster today, but that’s okay, their sound is so goddamn accessible that I liked them immediately upon first listen.  They have a definite California feel despite their residence in Seattle, and to borrow a song title from the band themselves, they are indeed “Easy to Love.”  Swooning harmonies over tumbling melodies provide a marvelous emotional buy-in, and give Ivan & Alyosha, so named after the Dostoyevsky characters, the gift of an attentive and dedicated audience, and all will be happily be filled with music.  Seriously though, even the kids stopped playing and went and sat with their parents.  It was special.  See this band.

Allen Stone

Unfortunately I had to wait through half the set to actually hear him over the band due to a mic issue.  Once I could hear him, I understood why I had heard people murmuring throughout the day in anticipation of his set.  The guy was basically born to perform.  First he took the stage in all his toe-headed glory, then he took control of the thousands of fans in attendance.  He had us doing the “universal sway” and we were putty in his hands.  For the hourlong set, Bumbershoot was Stoneshoot (which, let’s be honest, it was already [thanks 502]) and he could do no wrong.  When he covered “Tell Me Something Good”, he crossed the line from artist to god, or so it would seem given the monstrous reaction by the crowd.  I highly recommend Allen Stone, as does anyone who knows anything about fun.

Deerhunter

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a band like Deerhunter.  The Atlanta natives took to the intimate Fountain Lawn stage to a roar that got me excited to hear what everyone was so excited about.  I was initially struck by the electric phased drums under minor progression vocals.  Sampled ambiance provided the baseline for Deerhunter’s eccentric sound, which seems to roll on an ocean of electric current, flexing and cracking when the energy shifts.  It’s mesmerizing.  Then out of the mist comes something resembling a set of rock songs.  Still with a digital edge due to effected vocals, the lyrics engaging and catchy, but not exactly happy or optimistic.  Deerhunter’s sound is somewhat repetitive, but not boring or monotonous. It’s more of a driving, circuitous style that allows for a full immersion into the tapestry of sound.  Simultaneously, there’s a melancholy edge to it; something that tweaks my radar just a little. It’s as if there’s a twinge of angst and repressed emotion to it. Maybe this is why they call themselves ambient punk.  If I were a super fancy writer, I might say that the ambiance is the salve to the punk burn, the superficiality that allows the two to live in a seemingly perfect symbiosis.  The Atlanta 5-piece flows in and out of a dissociative haze with ease. The continual nature of the sound provides a firm foundation, allowing singer Bradford cox’s lyrics to slide out and over the audience for maximum effect. And maximum it is.  Deerhunter slayed. SLAYED.

Trampled By Turtles

Imagine an astounding bluegrass band on a bicycle.  Now imagine that bicycle has 7 seats and is going down a steep hill, the pedals long since lost to physics and speed.  This is what Trampled by Turtles sounds like to me.  These guys are no joke.  All acoustic (take note of the acoustic bass, everyone), the buys form Duluth, MN have yet to disappoint, from opening a day on the main stage at Sasquatch to closing a stage at Bumbershoot, and that they would be great was a foregone conclusion.  I can’t efficiently articulate how soon you should be listening to them, so I’ll let you go do that now.

Bumbershoot, it was a pleasure to be inside you, and I look forward to seeing you next year!

–Andrew