Bumbershoot, Day 1

Whoo! Bumbershoot kicked off pretty awesomely. Started the day off with the Submarines at the Broad Street Stage. I was really sad that I only got to see 15 minutes of their (surprisingly short) set because the will call line for tickets took me an hour to get through, but from what I saw, it was a good performance :) It was actually a lot more crowded than I expected it to be.

I did miss the Maldives because the game was finishing up and then we had to pay, but I made it back in time to see Civil Twilight at Center Stage. This was probably the best act I saw today. Not only were they awesome, but there was a group of people that brought a pink unicorn tied to a stick and they were waving it around. It was pretty amusing. That group were, as a result, really easy to pick out at the Mainstage acts, too.

Like the Decemberists, who were the first Mainstage act of the evening. I didn't really know what to expect from them. I will say I enjoyed the end of the performance better. It seemed to shift over the course of the hour from folk-y to more rock-y. I also can definitely say I enjoyed it.

After the Decemberists, Neko Case played. I also had no clue what to expect from her. I ended up really liking it. Her banter was kinda weird (bases?), but the music was a very good mix of folk and rock, definitely leaning towards rock.

I left the Neko Case performance slightly early so I could go see the Cute Lepers at the EMP Sky Church. That show was just fun and amusing. Their music wasn't exactly good, but it was definitely entertaining. It was a cross between 50s rock ("Great Balls of Fire") and 90s ska punk (stuff like Reel Big Fish) including the obligatory girls with tambourines (50s) and Oi!s (90s). I guess they kind of reminded me of Elvis Costello. It was just really fun to watch them; even if the audience was belligerent, it wasn't an annoying belligerent, but an amusing one: no crazy moshing or anything, just dancing around. On top of that, Sky Church might be my favorite venue at Bumbershoot. It's indoors, so the acoustics are slightly different, and this particular one is better than some of the other indoor Bumbershoot venues that aren't actually set up for concerts, which helps.

Closed out the night with the beginning of Bob Dylan's set. After all, if you're going to be right there for an icon, you have to go see them. Especially when they're as old as Dylan. You could hear the age in his voice. We left well before the end of the set, though, because we were both tired and neither of us is that interested in folk. I'm sure if I enjoyed Dylan more, I'd have loved seeing him play.