The Big Umbrella
Words and photos by Arturo Manrique

The heart of the vibrant city of Seattle, Washington, is the setting for the largest urban arts festival in North America, an event that combines an innumerable amount of artistic expressions in a radius of over 75 acres. They call it Bumbershoot, a colloquial term for umbrella, probably coined in the 19th century as a portmanteau of umbrella and parachute.

And they were really right about this umbrella, basically its an experience to behold, you choose what you want to see within an impressive array of options, which generally results in desperate moments of frustration and/or irrational desires of omnipresence. Because you can’t see everything you would like and you prefer to ignore the food stands so as not to miss the next gig. But it was worth running from stage to stage to share with the readers of La Jerga what happens in this singular party.

There were three days of activities from September 2nd—4th (Labor Day Weekend in the USA) and they were intense. The first thing I noted was the impeccable organization of the festival. There’s a reason they’ve been doing it for 35 years. Envelopes labeled with your name for your tickets and press passes. Ushers who would take you anywhere, sweet.

And there I was, a Mexican without suntan lotion and his can’t-miss list in hand. In the end I would realize the utopia that this represented and the mistake of underestimating the northern sun.

But the first day couldn’t have begun any better. My photographer Steph insisted that we run to the principal stage to see The Gossip. We arrived and I was surprised to hear a group so solidly formed by three people, when only two of them were playing an instrument. A singer, a bassists/guitarist and an incredible drummer. The Gossip were possibly the best surprise that I found during the festival.

Intense songs, refreshing music and an injection of gusto by the band headed by Beth Ditto (a magnificent front woman) catered to the recent arrival of Bumbershoot peeps. “Standing in the way of control” was the climax of their participation and references that the group continue were constant... “Do you know the next band?” Ditto probed the crowd, “They’re a bunch of new kids named Blondie.”

And that was the moment for Debbie Harry to usurp the stage, along with her golden-aged accomplices, ex idols of the golden era of punk turned disco. Blondie commanded a decent participation in a set full of their own classics and some bizarre covers, unfortunately they weren’t quite as contagious as their predecessors, until they closed with the emblematic “Heart of Glass”.

It was halfway through Blondie when I wanted for the first time to divide myself into three people. Erase Errata began to play in the alternate stage and Chuck Palahniuk, the controversial writer of Fight Club and Asphyxia, initiated a conference in another location. So I decided to lunge myself towards the trio of California girls from Erase Errata, who radiated an impressive energy and left it clear that their act is authentic, a very good band from the Kill Rockstars label.

But I couldn’t finish listening to them because I ran to get in line for Chuck, only to find that it was completely packed, so I missed out. Despite that, my photographer did manage to enter and reported that the conference reached a fever pitch when Chuck Palahniuk, after reading his celebrated short story Guts (famous for making dozens of people faint and vomit during various lectures across the U.S.), threw small bottles of white Bacardi, vodka and small, plastic human body parts into the audience that was thrilled with the strange soirée. Later I had a small break to eat while I thoroughly analyzed the program. The following three bands were on the “What’s next stage”, which referred to the new bands that had a good concept. First was The Epoxies, a very entertaining punk band from Portland which for a time opened for NOFX and that have gained respect from the scene, overall thanks to their appearance on compilations for Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph.

Later it was The Thermals turn, a band for which I had many hopes, their songs being very basic and catchy...They reminded me of the post-punk grunge spirit of the Seattle from the nineties. Unfortunately, their show sounds very monotone, but the moment they played “How we know” and “Remember today” they gave me goose bumps.

At the end of this act, Deerhoof took the stage. This is a band that has opened tours for Radiohead and the Flaming Lips; a strange mix of noise-garage, very interesting. The purest Sonic Youth-style feedbacks and an Asian vocalist/bassist which makes me imagine what the voice of Hello Kitty must sound like (does Hello Kitty have a voice?) if she carried a huge bass and was tripping on acid. An excellent band, with a great sense of contrast. Little time remained to cross the festival and listen to a pair of songs by Of Montreal, who dressed glamorously with dresses and boas and got a smile out of the audience when they played “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley.

Luckily we had already missed the presence of Hawthorne Heights and Yellowcard on the main stage. So we only had AFI left to go see. AFI is a band that I liked for their defined style and good punk, but which degenerated into a mediocre American product, which manifested itself (apart from their scenery and coordinated wardrobe) when Davey the vocalist thanked each and everyone of his fans who contributed to their MTV Video Music Award; and even more so when he received an impressive ovation from his acknowledged audience. But in my final opinion, they’re a very mature band with great control of their performance.

		The second day started late for me. I didn’t make it on time to see the New Pornographers, but the remorse quickly evaporated at the start of the Spoon show. They opened their excellent repertoire with “The two sides of Monsieur Valentine”, and the band continued playing great track after track while the vocalist chugged a Tecate. It was hot, but the tone changed when comedian David Cross appeared on the stage to give his very particular version of the song “The beast and the dragon adored” for people with auditory impediments, while the band played masterfully.
They retired from the stage and the audience begged for more, so they came back to give a very emotive close to the show, while the singer Britt announced that this would be the band’s last show with bassist Joshua Zarbo (for a while); although he emphasized that it wasn’t the first time that he tried to leave the band and that he always comes back crawling. So at the end of their last song “Sister Jack” Britt chorused, “you’ll be back, you’ll be back” only to later merge into a hug with his buddy until retiring from the stage.

Later on another stage the Philadelphia band Mewithoutyou presented a show with its very eccentric but very talented vocalist with powerful guitar riffs and bass.

To finish we ran to hear the Swedish-born José González. This area was packed but we were able to enjoy the music and it was well worth it. It was en enormous comfort to hear his fabulous “Heartbeats” and he closed with an intense version of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” which left us all longing for more. Its a shame that he couldn’t continue with a small extra, but he had to run to a stage on the other side of the Seattle Centre, to reach the other project that he collaborates on: Zero 7, just below the space needle, symbol of this city.

And we did the same. As opposed to the 90% of the visitors to Bumbershoot on that day, whose principal destination was the main stage to hear Kanye West, we went towards the back yard to hear the exquisite presentation by Zero 7. In the middle of a passionate concert and a comical display of dancing by the members of the band, Sia the vocalist commented: “Thanks for coming to see us instead of Kanye,” while I thought we were the thankful ones for having them as an excellent excuse not to see the rapper.

That’s how that day ended and then next one started once again very late. I only made it to watch the sunset performance by Nouvelle Vague, the tremendous French cover machine...which did not disappoint, but it also didn’t provoke many surprises. “Too drunk to fuck” by the Dead Kennedys combined with “In a Manner of Speaking” by Tuxedomoon were among the best.

The close of the festival came by way of the respected hip-hoppers A Tribe Called Quest, who took over the main stage full of people hypnotized by their solid show, while I got the car out of the parking lot before I was about to be stuck there for hours.

And although I only focused on the music, this umbrella also had other things to offer, including: films, shorts, comedies, dance, visual and written arts; a lot of colorful people in a big party that left me completely spent, a shade darker than normal and with a smile from ear to ear.