Tag Archives: Bumbershoot

The (F)unofficial Bumbershoot Kickoff Party feat. Redwood Plan, Born Anchors, Grynch and Victor Shade

I’ve hinted about it and you’ve probably read about it on other blogs (like this one, this one or maybe this one) or perhaps you received the Facebook invite but now, just in case you haven’t heard the news about what’s sure to be a memorable night, I am making it 100 percent official and legit by dropping the news here: Ear Candy is having itself a Bumbershoot party Sept. 4 at the High Dive. For this show I was very fortunate to book four of my favorite local acts, all of which I know you’ll enjoy if you aren’t listening to them already (but you really should be since I’ve been blogging about them for quite some while now).

The bill has some of the best Seattle talent that was mistakenly overlooked by the Bumbershoot booking crew, including two of the best up-and-coming bands in Seattle with retro-90s alt-rockers Born Anchors and the dance-your-ass-off pop-rockers in The Redwood Plan. Also at the show, The King of Ballard, Grynch, will extend his reign southeast to Fremont. Headlining the night will be the Seattle debut of Victor Shade who will be performing a set you won’t want to miss. Trust me.

Expect to hear more about the show soon and look for ticket giveaways and interviews with some of the acts of the bill. See you on Sept. 4!

Vote and help book my Bumbershoot kickoff show

I’m putting together a show under the Ear Candy name to help kickoff this year’s Bumbershoot. You can help decide who plays the show by voting in the poll below. Here are the details from Ear Candy the Web site:

Ear Candy loves Bumbershoot.

How much does Ear Candy love Bumbershoot? Well, Ear Candy loves Bumbershoot so much that 1) it causes Ear Candy to refer to itself in third person and 2) and Ear Candy loves Bumbershoot so much that it is throwing an unofficial Bumbershoot kickoff party and Ear Candy wants your help with choosing a band to play the show.

While I’m not a liberty to divulge all of the details of the big soiree just yet, I will let you know that it is happening Sept. 4 at the High Dive and it will feature four of Seattle’s finest up-and-coming acts. Plus, it’s only going to cost you $10 so start saving your ducketts. Ear Candy has already booked three out of the four acts on the bill and my lips are sealed at the moment so I can’t reveal who those acts are (besides, I need something to write about in the coming months), but you, dear Ear Candy reader, can play a role in selecting the fourth act.

I’ve narrowed my list of potential fourth acts down to four bands I would like to play the show. All four of these bands have been written about on Ear Candy previously and I have been in touch with a couple of them to gauge their interest in playing the show. I enjoy each of these acts equally and I think each one would fit perfectly on the bill for Ear Candy’s unofficial Bumbershoot kickoff party so I want your help with choosing who to book. If you’d like to help me choose what band to book, vote in the poll below. I will contact the winning band and attempt to book them for the Bumbershoot party.

One point of clarification, just because a band wins the popular vote doesn’t mean they will play the show. It just means I will contact them and see if they are interested and available. I have no control over whether the band actually plays Ear Candy’s Bumbershoot kickoff show. Here are the four acts. The band names include links to their MySpace page so you can check out their music if you aren’t familiar with a particular group:

THE REDWOOD PLAN

The Redwood Plan

ALLIGATORS

Alligators

THE LONELY H

The Lonely H

H IS FOR HELLGATE

H is For Hellgate

Jason Mraz, Kasabian, Kay Kay, Otep, Wale and 58 others added to Bumbershoot

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground

The folks over at One Reel released a slew of names that will be playing Bumbershoot this year. In all the list consists of 63 new acts that have been added to the lineup and a bunch of comedians too. It is a mix of metal, pop, hip hop, folk, rock, alt.country and just about every other genre you can think of. What’s really great about the list of new additions is that it includes more than 25 Northwest artists.

The complete Bumbershoot lineup will not be revealed until the middle of July so you’ll have to wait until then to see whether the two big rumors floating around out there about big-name headliners are true.

Here’s the complete list of who was added Wednesday night:

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Sunny Day Real Estate to reunite, play Bumbershoot?

SDR

Remember a few weeks back when Ear Candy set the Internets ablaze with the rumor of a Sunny Day Real Estate reunion?

Well, mark your calendars for Labor Day Weekend Sunny Day Real Estate fans because that’s when you’re going to get a Sunny Day Real Estate reunion in Seattle. Or at least that’s when the Internet told me a Sunny Day Real Estate reunion will be happening in Seattle.

For all you observant types out there, yes, that is Bumbershoot weekend, which means Sunny Day Real Estate will be playing this year’s Bumbershoot.

How does Ear Candy know this? Well, nothing official from either the band or Bumbershoot has been released stating this is true, so take it for what it’s worth. But trust me, I’m not making this up.

On Twitter, KEXP DJ Marco Collins posted the following: Sunny Day Real Estate @ Bumbershoot? Fact or fiction?

UPDATE: Marco has removed the post from his Twitter page

I consider Marco a credible source. And while Marco did put question marks after his statements, he probably wouldn’t have gone on Twitter and raised the possibility of SDRE playing Bumbershoot if there wasn’t some ounce of truth behind it.

Or, maybe Marco is just screwing with everyone. Who knows?

But he was correct about the Capitol Hill Block Party headliners and he was the person who originally tipped everyone about SDRE getting back together, practicing and prepping for a tour. I think that gives him some credibility as a source.

So, is this rumor true? You decide. But if I were you I would go ahead and buy your advance Bumbershoot tickets now.

Ting Tings, All American Rejects, Brett Dennen and U.S.E. added to Bumbershoot lineup

All American Rejects at the Tacoma Dome in 2006 taken by Steven Friederich

Ear Candy just got word from the Bumberclub that four acts have been added to the Bumbershoot 2009 lineup. Those four acts are The Ting Tings, All American Rejects, Brett Dennen and Seattle’s own party-in-a-band United State of Electronica.

Overall I’m not too excited about these additions, but I am interested to check out The Ting Tings. They were the first band to sell out the new Crocodile (their concert sold out shortly after it was announced) and I’m curious to see what the hype is all about.

All American Rejects will likely draw the youth crowd and I expect to see them on the main stage performing after Katy Perry. And I could see Brett Dennen as a possiblity for an opener for Sheryl Crow.

As for U.S.E., they’re the name on the list I’m most excited about, but I will likely catch their set at Sasquatch before Bumbershoot so they aren’t a must see for me. However, U.S.E. is always a blast live and they have a new album coming out this year so it should be a fun set no matter what.

The last time U.S.E. performed at Bumbershoot it was on the main stage in 2004 back when BShoot was a four-day event. They kicked off what was billed as the "Hometown Throwdown!" and it featured U.S.E. opening for Death Cab For Cutie who in turn opened for the Presidents of the United States of America. Here’s what I wrote about that night for the P-I: 

As if Bumbershoot wasn’t already one big party, U.S.E. got the closing portion of the party started right with its infectious dance grooves. From "La Discoteca" to "Emerald City," U.S.E.’s high-energy stage presence was enjoyable and fun to watch. The colorful septet’s show was complete with pompom-waving cheerleaders wearing pink wigs and a hypeman waving a flag with the band’s logo.

The crowd ate up the band’s catchy, Daft Punk-meets-Junior Senior-with-a-Seattle-twist sound and, appropriately enough, a conga line, which is the equivalent of moshing at a U.S.E. show, broke out at the set’s midway point. Even the hippest of hipsters were seen bobbing their heads instead of staring at their shoes.

Here’s a taste of some new U.S.E. in the form of their latest single "All The World"

Bumbershoot lineup to be released this week, rumor has it a big name Seattle band will headline

If you’ve been following Ear Candy on Twitter then you know Bumbershoot is expected to announce its initial lineup this week.

While I have no inside knowledge about who has or hasn’t been booked for BShoot 09, I do know there is a rumor out there about a big name Seattle band headlining the festival and there is a little bit of evidence supporting this rumor.

If you haven’t figured out who the act is yet, go ahead and click the jump to find out.

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Bumbershoot photo gallery part 2

I mentioned a few days back that I was planning on posting a gallery of Bumbershoot pictures I shot during the Labor Day weekend music and arts extravaganza. Well, it’s not a photo gallery, but below is a slideshow of my Bumbershoot pics. You’ll see Blitzen Trapper, Paramore, The Offspring, Speaker Speaker, SHIM and others.

If you want to see all of the pictures I took, click here.

As for the other Bumbershoot photo gallery I posted shortly after the three-day event ended, those photos were all taken by Steven Friederich and you can click here to see those pictures.

REVIEW: Rock The Bells at The Gorge

Rock The Bells could have been a great event and a possible watershed moment for hip hop in the Northwest. Instead, poor attendance (less than 5,000 people showed up) and the lack of A-List hip-hop talent made the event just a pretty okay festival and a decent, not great, way to end the Gorge’s 2008 season.

I reviewed the festival for The P-I so I won’t go into details about the show, but you can read about it by clicking here.

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