Sound Fest

This year’s list is a mix of favorites from Bumbershoots past, a couple of stage offerings … and the usual dose of heavy curiosity that makes the big festival — bloated and overcrowded as it is — so durned much fun:

1. Nick Vigarino and Meantown Blues (11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Aug. 30, Amphitheatre): Having Vigarino and his crack band play the festival’s opening notes Saturday morning gives every other band on the bill something to aim high for. Camano Island’s Vigarino, a lightning-fast picker and slide player, is ably backed by the veteran band, and saxophonist Sue Orfield is worth the price of admission all by herself.

2. “Reefer Madness: The Musical” (6 p.m. Aug. 30 and 31, Center House Theatre): A condensed version of the giddily funny stage production that played several months ago in Seattle, with a cast that includes Bainbridge Island favorite Tim Davidson.

3. “Apocalypse in Coney Island: A Bumberlesque Cabaret” (8:30 to 9:45 p.m. Aug. 30 and 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. Aug. 31, Bagley Wright Theatre): Burlesque, a randy entertainment that’s been sweeping Seattle the past few years, seems entirely appropriate to the celebration of excess that is Bumbershoot. Plus, with the Roller Derby not making a return appearance, it’s the most likely place to see some fishnet stockings.

4. Paramore (1:45 to 2:45 p.m. Sept. 1, Mainstage): The Hayley Williams-led quartet has visited Seattle’s club stages over the past couple of years of their ascendancy, and it’s a perfect chance to see how they’ve matured into a headliner, capable of grabbing a huge Mainstage crowd and wrapping it around their proverbial little finger.

5. Cheb i Sabbah and 1002 Nights, featuring Riffat Sultana (5:45 to 6:45 p.m. Sept. 1, Fisher Green Stage): Cheb and his pulsating, feel-good Middle Eastern hip hop kicked serious keester two Bumbershoots ago on the same stage, in a show that was both sonically impressive and visually arresting, thanks to some wicked-good belly dancing and exuberant performances by the band. If he’s half as good this time, it’ll be well worth the time spent.

Michael C. Moore covers arts and entertainment for the Kitsap Sun.

Tags: burlesque, Cheb i Sabbah and 1002 Nights, nick vigarino, Paramore, reefer madness

This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 5:53 pm by michael c. moore and is filed under Bumbershoot 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.