Check out more pics and reviews
Digable Planets
Locust
The rest of Tessa’s pics including Visqueen review.
Peter’s Mudhoney Pics
and Dashboard Confessional Pics
The 35th anniversary of Bumbershoot, an all-encompassing music, film, and arts festival that is held in Seattle’s city center, will be a memorable one for this small-town girl. A novice with a camera, ignorant of digital technology, appreciative of music though not worthy enough to critique it:
this is me and all the self-deprecatory thoughts that occupy my mind as I venture up Hwy 5 from Ashland to Seattle.
All four days of Bumbershoot I wander, sometimes rather aimlessly, absorbing the many spectacles: regular pinata smashings, foam volcanoes, carnival rides, the fantastical architecture of the Experience Music Project, the crazy conceptual art, and the more accessible “Flatstock” exhibit (which included very reasonably priced concert posters, each artist representing their work).
All the while I am approached by fellow photographers, drunk people, and other curious people, about my camera (a nice Canon Rebel that is rented). Each person comments on how nice the camera is, how I must be having so much fun with it. They are wrong!
Maybe I was so nervous about caring for such a nice piece of equipment that I subconsciously manifested this disaster. I don’t know, but I must say it was certainly validating when I returned the camera to the store and they informed me that it was the camera that was mal-functioning and not ME.
Yes the camera was bunk. For the duration of the festival the auto-focus refused to work. I had to resort to manual focus which is somewhat challenging when one is shooting moving targets such as musicians. By Sunday the camera was completely mal-functioning. I knew this because it wouldn’t take photographs anymore and a message was flashing on the screen that read “Error 99”.
So, I must admit, what was supposed to be an exciting gallery of photos of bands that performed at Bumbershoot has turned into a mundane story about how unlucky I was on my first assignment for Ice Cream Man.
But, in retrospect, I managed to have a fun time. Some of the venues had poor acoustics, and some of the sets were pitted against each other so that, unless you are capable of being two places at one time (an ability I have yet to achieve), it is impossible to fully enjoy these sets because in the back of your mind there is this nagging preoccupation with what the other band that is playing at another venue at the same time is sounding like and if you’d be enjoying that one more.
Iggy and the Stooges
What can I possibly say about this performance? It was everything I could
have ever hoped it would be. I got to witness Iggy Pop’s legendary stage
antics live in a crowded football stadium, not to mention he had Mike Watt
on bass. Iggy crowd surfed, then he invited the crowd on stage. When
security persisted in keeping them off Iggy shouted profanities at them
until they relinquished their authority to him. Yes, Iggy Pop used such
intimidating tacticts as yelling to the security guards, “God damn it,
Mother F_cker’s let them on stage!” Then when it became rather crowded up
there and his “fans” were, more or less, mauling him he exclaimed “Alright,
you need to calm down!” and, “Hey now, no kissing!”.
Just when I was wondering how he gets into his jeans, my friend pointed out
to me that he was getting out of them. They were half way down his ass, and
he was just shaking it, like he does so well. Aaahh, the perfect way to
close Labor Day Weekend.
