We’ve got photos coming in by Kirk Stauffer from Saturday’s Bumbershoot shows. Here are some of Stauffer’s shots of the Submarines, Bob Schneider and Parlour Steps. By the way, Schneider is coming Seattle’s way again with a date at the Tractor on October 13th.
the Submarines
Bob Schneider
Parlour Steps
On Monday two of the best Seattle acts you’ll find, Lisa Dank and THEESatisfaction played the EMP Sky Church. I’m just going to categorize these performers’ music as accessible. THEESatisfaction, made up of Stasia Irons and Cat Harris-White, were joined onstage by DJ Chocolate Chunk for the entire magnificent set and OC Notes for “Icing”. Irons and Harris-White have such great voices and delivery, and their words are always moving. Highlights for me were “Bush,” “Lincoln,” “Reagan,” a slowed down/jazzier “Bisexual” and “Sexy Girlfriend”. Lisa Dank put on an ebullient and engaging act complete with costume changes, glamorous backup dancers, the White Widows (Dank’s two female backup dancers/singers), a violin, drums and DJ Skiddle. “COOKIES!,” her cover of Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack,” “On the Radio,” “Ride,” and “Social Networking” and others all sounded brilliant. Lisa Dank and THEESatisfaction should be hitting it big.
Lisa Dank
THEESatisfaction – all photos by Dagmar
Photos by Amy Elyse
Review by Ellie Mansfield
A very shocking bunch of sounds combine in John Mayer‘s current tour: rock ‘n’ soul meet a delightful funkadelic jazzy sound. Even Mayer’s older radio hits are vibrant and alive with his current choice of sounds. He is most certainly not overproduced! His sound is genuine, and his illuminating voice will cover you like hot fudge if you let it. He has clearly evolved and enhanced into a completely different style since he won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
Keith Urban
John Mayer
Keith Urban is pretty nice looking up-close. He writes the majority of his own songs, and plays the guitar well. He clearly has respect and admiration for his bandmates, as he made a point to highlight each one of their talents. There was far less country twang than expected from his music, and little bit of rock ‘n’ roll with Urban’s soulful rolling voice was an unexpected surprise. I do wish Urban had smiled more during his set to let the audience know that he really appreciated their presence, but he is a great live performer overall.
Keith Urban
John Mayer
Yakima has been on a roll with getting some big name acts to play in the area. With Elton John, John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan, and the forthcoming Brett Michaels one has to wonder, Why all of the sudden are the big name acts, playing a small town like Yakima? The only big names to draw here are a few country acts (Carrie Underwood) and maybe a few rock acts. And maybe a comedy act (Jeff Dunham or George Lopez) from time to time. Continue reading
Hole and Weezer played Bumbershoot’s Mainstage last night and I completely enjoyed both sets. I had never seen Hole before but have always liked their music. I think Courtney Love is resilient and talented – “Honey,” off the new CD, Nobody’s Daughter was quite gorgeous. Love’s voice was spot-on, and Live Through This’ “Miss World,” “Violet,” “Doll Parts,” and “Asking for It” especially sounded great. Weezer was fantastic. They packed so much into their show, playing many of their hits – Rivers Cuomo at one point said, “Play your hits Weezer.” Since I love Weezer it’s hard for me to be impartial when talking about them, but highlights for me were the many songs they did off Weezer: “Buddy Holly,” “Undone – the Sweater Song,” and “Say it Ain’t So”. “Hash Pipe” and “Island in the Sun,” from Weezer 2 were fabulous, as was Weezer (Red Album)’s “Pork and Beans”. I also caught some of an energetic Motion City Soundtrack set at the new stage for Bumbershoot, the Center Square Stage and saw Circus Una Motorcycle Thrill Show, a female duo of daredevils.
Hole
Weezer
Motion City Soundtrack
Una Circa Motorcycle Thrill Show – all photos by Dagmar