Every year I spend my Labor Day weekend at Bumbershoot and, in spite of hundreds and hundreds options throughout the weekend, I try to keep my schedule somewhat light. I found it makes for a better time to not have to run back and forth across Seattle Center to catch moments of one band and off to another. It means that I’m not married to a schedule and can rest or find food when I need to. More importantly, it gives me the chance to discover something I may not be familiar with before.
Having said that, there are always a few things that would take an act of @almightygod for me to consider missing; where most of my agenda is penciled in, these ones are written with Sharpies. I’m going to list some of those below (and do it for subsequent days).
Every year, The Stranger gives out what they call “Genius Awards” to their favorite members of the arts scenes whose work they believe are worthy of unwavering praise, and $5,000. The award process is entirely arbitrary. A Bumbershoot panel called “The 3 Most Beautiful People to Ever Win Stranger Genius Awards (and One Ugly One)” is set to discuss the awards, which are customarily delivered by cake.
On the panel are filmmaker Lynn Shelton, actress/musician Sarah Rudinoff, 2011 winner John Osebold and visual artist Ryan Mitchell. I have interviewed Shelton and Rudinoff and they’re both very smart and funny and lively. I’m also pretty sure that in the process of trying to get me to write about her band We Are Golden, Rudinoff sent me the nicest e-mail I’ve ever received. It totally worked. (1:45pm at the Words and Ideas Stage)
More ink has likely been spilled writing about Shabazz Palaces (first ever winners of the Genius Award for music) than any other local band this year. It prompted the music editor at the Seattle Weekly to coin a contest called the “Shabazz Palaces Hyperbole Olympics.” I think all of the attention is well deserved and its Sub Pop debut, Black Up, is my favorite album of 2011 thus far. It’s lyrically dense but still easily accessible. Each time I listen to Black Up, I hear something I didn’t catch the time before. (5:45pm at the Fisher Green Stage)
With a career spanning sixty (!!!) years, spending Saturday night watching soul, gospel and R&B legend Mavis Staples is a no-brainer. She has won a Grammy award, worked as a civil rights activist and has been called one of the “100 greatest singers of all time” by Rolling Stone. I don’t know what better plans you could have. (9:30pm on the Starbucks Stage)
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