Here’s the final
installment of the Bumberdiary, as written by my pal
Brent.
 |
| Moondoggies guitars :: by Brent |
People Eating
People: Somebody from The
Candy had to go support PEP drummer and one-time contributor Brian
Turner, former skinsman of Schoolyard Heroes, and I was glad to do
it because PEP is super good. The group has expanded to four
members, bringing in an ace bassist and a second
keyboardist/singer, but it’s still all about Nouela Johnston’s
songwriting, clever keyboard playing, and astounding vocals. The
first song was an exercise in heart-tugging epicness, and it only
got better from there.
Trampled By
Turtles: Like Old Crow Medicine
show? Here’s your new second favorite band.
The
Whigs: I latched onto
these Athens,
Ga., natives at
Bumbershoot ’08, and they’ve only gotten better in the meantime.
Whereas before they were more in the vein of Kings of Leon, they’ve
since added a serious heft to their sound and weren’t completely
out of place on a stage that closed with a pair of metal acts. The
sound was total rock, but so was the show — frontman Parker
Gispert, a total dead-ringer for 1969 Neil Young, is something to
behold live, shaking every ounce of sustain out of his guitar,
hopping around on one leg, climbing on amps, screaming … it’s as
entertaining as a guitar-playing singer can get.
Meat
Puppets: A seminal band that’s
best known for not being members of Pearl Jam when they guested
during Nirvana’s Unplugged in 1994; it turns out these guys are way
different than I thought they were. Their set was heavy on the jam
band style, but more like Ween or Dinosaur Jr. than Widespread
Panic. Curt Kirkwood is one hell of a guitar player, by the way,
and he has one of the most hilarious guitar faces I’ve even seen. I
mean, we’re talking John Mayer guitar face gone old and slightly
bitter.
Baroness:
I have
found the heir to Mastodon’s throne as metal’s next big thing.
Heavy, loud, frantic, and with a perfect push-pull between
dissonance and melody.
The
Moondoggies: Alright, these boys
have been my favorite band for the past two years, and it’s about
time their style gets a name, so I’m naming it right now: bootgrass
boogie. It’s not really folk, it’s not bluegrass, it doesn’t rock
that hard, but it’s catchy, groovy, earthy, and honestly it’s a
travesty they haven’t quite found the masses yet. They played a
good chunk of new stuff from the upcoming Tidelands
LP both in
the early afternoon during a lovely KEXP acoustic set and later
plugged in at the Mural, and it all held up, especially “What Took
So Long,” a live staple for some time now. Still, nothing could
match the already-timeless “Changing,” “Make It Easy,” and the
forlorn quiet-loud masterpiece “Night and Day.” If The Moondoggies
aren’t playing every major festival next summer, I
riot.
Loch
Lomond:
Another
solid Bumbershoot discovery for me. Unlike Horse Feathers, Loch
Lomond is a Portland
folk
troupe that makes the most of its myriad of instruments. The
eclectic group stuck mostly to up-beat folk-pop, recalling at times
Belle & Sebastian and Sufjan Stevens. Not a bad way to go. Not
a bad way to go at all.
Jenny &
Johnny: Jenny Lewis and
Johnathan Rice are both successful, good-looking singer-songwriters
who just happen to be sleeping together, so it was only natural
that they pooled their resources together. The set at the Mural was
mostly dedicated to the new stuff that makes up their just-released
LP I’m Having Fun
Now, and it was
California
pop-rock
full-on, all the way. It was nice for a few songs, but it all
started to blend together as the set wore on. Luckily they pulled
out the spectacular three-part 60s-style story song “Next Messiah,”
off Lewis’ Acid
Tongue record, to give the
crowd something familiar to sing along to. They finished off on
another high note, a particularly spare and earnest take on
Nazareth’s
“Love Hurts,” that was completely entrancing. Oh, and Jenny Lewis
is real purty. Just thought I’d add that.
Surfer
Blood: You know when you see
a young band having fun and it just makes you have fun whether you
wanted to or not? Totally happened here. Sure, there’s a bit of
Vampire Weekend influence, but Surfer Blood is much deeper than
that. They’ve got a style of their own that is just a bit
off-kilter and darkly fun, and also marvelously danceable. If you
haven’t heard “Floating Vibes” or “Swim,” go take care of that.
Right now. I’ll wait.
Wild Orchid
Children: It killed me to leave
Surfer Blood, but another one of my favorite local bands was
killing it at EMP. Wild Orchid Children is, dare I say, a side
project for members of Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground, but
its unbelievably chaotic psych-punk-prog-jungle-metal-beat style is
so incredible I don’t think there’s a way WOC can take a backseat
to any other project. It was loud and sweaty and singer Kirk
Huffman was screaming incoherently and guitarist Thomas Hunter (he
of the most fantastic mustache in town) was shredding and reaching
for the sky with searing notes and oh my God it was so awesome you
had to be there. The debut album hits in November and I can’t
freakin’ wait.
Laura Veirs & The
Hall of Flames: And now for something
completely different. I left WOC to catch the adorable Veirs do
some darkly entrancing minor-key folk rock that was great and
reminded me slightly of Sub Pop gem Tiny Vipers. It was nice to see
Veirs had no problem sharing the spotlight with her band, letting
her bassist take lead vocals on a country cover and letting another
member take a lengthy viola solo.
Booker
T.: Definitely one of the
highlights of the entire festivals. Booker T whipped through a
laundry list of blues and R&B classics he had a hand in
recording at Stax Records, including “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Dock of
the Bay,” “Hold On, I’m Coming,” and Al Green’s “Take Me to the
River.” But it got real good when he dropped the guitar and sat
down at the Hammond Organ for his work from Booker T. and the MGs.
The only problem I had was when he let his drummer freestyle rap
over the classics in lieu of bridges. That bugged me, but it was a
small price to pay to see a legend do his thing — and not in a “I’m
Bob Dylan so you’re taking what I’m giving” way.
The
Thermals: Portland’s
power-punk-pop stars closed out my weekend on the
Broad
Street stage with a fiery set
in the rain that prompted a tiny dance party in which I totally
partook. I’ve never been impressed with The Thermals, but they
changed my entire perception with their Bumbershoot set, which was
chock full of songs I could totally see myself get into. Plus they
started their encore with “My Name Is Jonas,” a nice little nod to
the headliner the night before, before sending the crowd home happy
a song later.
