Bumbershoot goes up this weekend in Seattle

By Karen Martin

Various anomalies are happening at the Seattle Centre this week. Green fences are starting to appear; the parking is being cordoned off; little white tents without sides are beginning to dot the landscape, piles of strange objects are scattered about, and stages are cropping up at various points in the park. What is this phenomenon? Why, it is the preparations for Bumbershoot, of course. The Annual Love Fest that marks the end of summer in Seattle.

The nights are getting cooler and the rain a little more frequent. Folklife and the Hemp Fest both felt the wet stuff during their festivals this year. But are we really ready for the end of the year granddaddy of all music and art festivals in Seattle? The last big hurrah before the new school year begins? BUMBERSHOOT!

As in most years, the 36th annual festival will be filled with fun, comedy, film, art and lots and lots of music. Labor Day weekend at the Seattle Centre is bound to be a big one with the festival running Saturday to Monday.

Bumbershoot has 15 stages this year. Three of these will feature comedy, with one of those in the new Vera Project building (previously the Snoqualmie Room), one in The Charlotte Martin Theatre at the Children’s Theatre Building, and the third will be at the Intiman Theatre located on Mercer. All three of these wonderful stages are sponsored by The Seattle Times. Some of the goodies scheduled this year are Andy Borowitz, Greg Proops, Stella, Comedy Underground, Cody Rivers Show, Laff Hole, People’s Republic of Komedy.

The Bumbrella Stage will be back as the Endurance Stage at the same spot on the Fisher Green. It is sponsored again as ever by the good folks at KEXP 90.3. Forgotten Sol, Honeycut, and GoGol Bordello are featured on Saturday and on Monday, Adrian Xavier,
Kultur Shock, and Solive return to the Endurance Stage.

The Broad Street Stage is named the Sound Transit Stage this year and is sponsored by Sound Transit, KEXP 90.3, and The Seattle Weekly. My pix are on Saturday - The Cops, Menomena, and Devotchka. Sunday - Art Brut and Devendra Banhart. Monday – Viva Voce and The Frames.

The blues and jazz venue at the Mural Amphitheatre is called the Starbucks Stage, sponsored by Starbucks, 103.7 The Mountain, and The Seattle P-I. My picks for Saturday are Carrie Akre, The Avett Brothers, and Rodrigo and Gabriela. On Sunday, don't miss the Ian McFeron Band, Rose Hill Drive, and Andrew Bird. On Monday, it is Allison Moorer, and Steve Earle.

KUOW 94.9 is sponsoring the Boeing Performing Arts Stage at the Bagley Wright Theatre and the Literary Arts Stage at the Leo K. Theatre in conjunction with The Seattle Metropolitan. Both these stages will have live theatre performances by local artists.

The Exhibition Hall Stage, located across from the Intiman on Mercer, is sponsored by 107.7 The End, Filter, MySpace and OurStage.com. OurStage.com has three up and comings that have won their online contest--Merrill on Saturday noon to 12:30pm, Alabaster on Sunday 3:15-3:45 pm, and Satura Monday 2:15-2:45. More good things about these artists at www.ourstage.com.

The Wells Fargo Stage, sponsored by The Sound Magazine, will be located at the Northwest Court Outdoors and willl feature artists from the west coast. Sunday's lineup has Victor Noriega, The Darrell Grant Trio, The Greta Matassa Quartet, The Sam Yahel Trio, and one of my personal favorites, John Wesley Harding.

The EMP/SFM’s Sky Church will be presented by UnsignedArtists.com, 107.7 The End, and Seattle Weekly. Among the indie artists presented, check out the Tiny Vipers and Grand Archives on Saturday, Bloodhag and Seaweed on Sunday, and Siberian and the Whore Moans on Monday.

Of course, there is always the One Reel Film Festival sponsored by The Seattle Centre, 710 KIRO, and the Seattle Metropolitan. This year it is being held in the McCaw Hall with various film shorts, analogies, and videos screened during 26 time slots. Some to look forward are "Dystopia" and "War, What Is It Good For?," on Saturday. "Rear View Mirror," "The Stockholm Syndrome," "Crime Story" and "The Outer Limits" on Sunday, and "Identity Crisis" and "Made in Seattle" on Monday.

More live theatre productions will be staged at the Theatre Puget Sound by Wing-it Productions, Balagan Theatre, Jerk Alert Productions, K. Brain Neel, and Mark Boeker. The Fountain Lawn outside will feature continued performances by Loopistation, Vau de Vire Society, and The Can Can Carnival.

Of Course we can never forget the Main Stage which is sponsored by Samsung and Spin this year. Some of guest artists this year are The Shins on Saturday; Kings of Leon, Seal Paul and Fergie on Sunday; and John Legend and Wu-Tang Clan on Monday.

Now that you know my picks for the weekend, come to the festival and see if you agree. Have fun this weekend knowing that this is the final blowout before we all need to hunker down, go back to school and or make that job of ours serious again. See ya there!