Wait! You should read part one first.
Already did that? Then let’s continue with our Seattle and Bumbershoot trip for 2015…
Sunday September 6
After a leisurely morning, we went for lunch to Veggie Grill, a chain of vegan restaurants that we’ve loved in many cities now. This was the downtown Seattle location and, while the food was delicious, it was more remarkable that Karl and Betty came with us to eat. Why? Well, Karl is a notorious carnivore but he humored us and even found a tasty sandwich that he devoured. A win for the veg people! Then we headed out to day two of the Bumbershoot festival. The first act that we saw was Eliot Sumner and her band. All through the set I kept thinking that she sounded a lot like Sting (in a good way) and that the music was a bit Police-like (later police, not the earlier reggae-incluenced stuff). It was uncanny how much she sounded like him. We were right up in front and Petra managed to get the set list and had Eliot autograph it! As we walked to the stage for next act, I googled her and discovered why the resemblance. She is Sting’s daughter. Doh! It was not mentioned on the web site, in the app, or anywhere, but true nevertheless. Moving on, we watched part of set by Mikal Cronin. His music is kind of power-pop, a bit jangly, and while not bad we soon ventured in search of the next act.
And what an act it was. We saw Puddles Pity Party. Puddles is a tall clown with a downbeat, sad expression. He also sings, pretty well in fact. Between songs he recruited audience members to get on stage and do various things. It was pretty funny and certainly unforgettable. But also, while I’m thinking of it, there was a bunch of food at the festival too. I like food. Anyway, then Petra went to the Dance Stage to watch a bit of that, while I wandered over to see a “band” called Classixx. It was really two people playing and singing with backing tracks that were prerecorded. It was not bad though, and I watched for a bit. Oh yeah, and in the rooftop lounge, I actually met up with Eliot Sumner, who we watched earlier in the day, and chatted with her for a couple minutes, then got a picture with me, her, and her guitarist. How cool, a pic with Sting’s daughter! Yep. Then Petra and I met up at the International Fountain and hung out with friends and chilled for a few minutes. Next up, at the main stage, was Faith No More, a 90s group that had a big hit with their song “Epic”. We watched about half of their set and (from what I could tell) that was their best song and it didn’t really age that well. But you gotta throw in some loud, in-your-face rock somewhere in the weekend, right? Next we watched a few songs by alt-country star Neko Case, who was good as expected, but we decided to check out a late-night comedy set by Sean Patton, Mike Lawrence, and Paul & Storm. Sean was really funny and Mike was quite good too. Paul and Storm did humorous song comedy that was fun but kind of a novelty act. Still, the comedy set was fun and ended the day on a nice note.
Monday September 7
We got an earlier start today. One of the perks of our VIP passes was free admittance to the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and the Pacific Science Center. We didn’t quite hit them all, but we did ok. Karl and Betty had the passes too and were with us. First we went to the Space Needle. We’d been up there before but it was years ago and, hey, this was sort of free so we we went up again. The last time when we were at the way top, I saw a guy actually OUTSIDE the glass on a chain, washing windows. That really freaked me out. No such scare this time, and a heck of a view. At the foot of the Space Needle is the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, and we went though that next. It was about the same as a few years ago when we saw it, but in this case “about the same” means “still awesome”. If you haven’t seen what can be done with glass, go here. It is very impressive to say the least. Yes, yes, pictures soon. Then it was time for day three of Bumbershoot. The first act we saw was The Moth And The Flame. They were a decent indie-type band. Next was Nathaniel Rateliff, a kind-of Charlie Daniels look and sound alike, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. A couple of songs were more than enough.
We decided to do another comedy show. This one was Alex Edelman, who did a whole hour set. It was very funny and never boring. I would definitely recommend him. After that we had a snack up on the rooftop lounge, looking down on a performance by Nahko And Medicine For The People. It wasn’t bad, groove-type stuff and we watched a few songs. But we soon had to leave to get to the main stage to get a good spot for Hozier, the singer-songwriter-rocker that had a huge hit this year with “Take Me To Church”. He played an hour set that was, well, great. Better than his CD, which is pretty good too. Then it was time for the headliner Ellie Goulding. The crowd got bigger and she had a lot of fans there, but I don’t really see what the fuss is. She’s a young, blonde pop star, better than Britney and that bunch, but the music wasn’t exactly groundbreaking and her bouncing around the stage didn’t do it for either of us. We left after about 5-6 songs and went to watch Ben Harper And The innocent Criminals. Ben is worlds apart form the current pop stars, he’s a genuine musician who earnestly plays and sings his songs. His band was top-notch and the set was very entertaining. So Bumbershoot 2015 ended well, and the three days were great once again.
Tuesday September 8
We couldn’t resist. We had to go back to Araya’s for that Thai buffet one more time! This time Mama O and Sam came with us and enjoyed it too. The next stop was the Experience Music Project. If you didn’t already know it, this is a great music museum that you should NOT miss. If you like music, go there. Period. Afterwards we wandered the Seattle Center grounds a little to see the deconstruction of the festival on the day after, then met up with Karl and Betty for some coffee and conversation. Time went by and then we were hungry, so, yep, we went back to El Borracho. Still good too! Then back at the hotel, six of us went up to the Cloud Room for more talk and to relax on the last full day of the trip.
Wednesday September 9
Go home today? Argh, no! Well, yes, actually. We checked out of The Camlin but still had some time left so Petra and I went back to Veggie Grill for lunch. Mmmm. Then we met up with Karl and Betty and took the Light Rail to the SEA/TAC airport. Cal and Laura had taken an earlier flight, but Mama O and Sam flew back with us. And that was that, for now. But, we already have room for next year… 😉
