The Lonely Forest: I made one appearance at the EMP Sky Church this year to catch a few minutes of The Lonely Forest. Of course they sounded great, they have a big sound and front man John Van Duesen is always on, but I’m still on the fence with this band not only due to their young, young audience but also their made for radio poppy sound. Also the bass player needs to stop sashaying around the stage, he looks ridiculous. I was glad I checked them out for a few songs and even made it in the building because the line of high school kids to get in had grown unruly. I have to give them credit, because do to overwhelming crowd demand they were forced back on stage for an encore, I think the only band of the weekend to do so.
Dead Confederate: The huge line outside the exhibition center scared me a bit, because I wasn’t about to miss Georgia’s Dead Confederate. They have been on heavy rotation in my life since releasing “Wrecking Ball” last year. It ended up being a non-issue though because I had forgotten how big the Exhibition Hall is. I really hope one day the Bumbershoot folks will wise up and stop relegating all the good metal and hard rock acts to a shitty concrete, terribly echoey dungeon. This is my only complaint of the festival. Dead Confederate’s set started with three new songs, which were more mellow and psychedelic, but the moment they tore into “Start Me Laughing” it was on. I enjoyed the set, despite the sound issues that weren’t really their fault, it’s just their layered fuzzed out guitars didn’t bode well in that environment. Their gig at Chop Suey, Sept. 23rd will surely be better. On a side note, I’ve always thought singer Hardy Morris has a Kurt Cobain-like quality in his voice, and so I wonder if his cardigan sweater was a coincidence?
The Cave Singers: I was very happy to see such a large audience gather at the Mural Amphitheater for their evening performance. The place was jam packed! One of the highlights from Monday was the make-shift dance party that was started by a lone hippie at the front of the stage during their set. He got a pretty descent group to cut loose during a great mixture of tunes from both records including the foot stomping finale “Graving on our Graves”. This performance had to be a big moment for the band; that kind of response in their hometown underneath the Space Needle, it was something special.
Soulsavers with Mark Lanegan: I was super happy that I showed up a little early to grab a spot on the railing; not only for my tired feet but so I could get a good view of the man in black. It occurred to me that maybe Lanegan would be a good candidate to be handed down that nickname. Johnny Cash is dead (RIP) and it fits him so well. He’s such a mysterious fellow, I keep waiting for him to sprout horns, wings, and hoofs and transform into some sort of devilish creature. That would all make sense, but of course his gloomy demeanor might just be his chosen onstage persona. The Soulsavers sounded great, very moody like the records. Mark who marched on stage and took the center mic after an initial instrumental looked unimpressed as always making little contact with his audience besides a couple head nodes and the occasional deeply muttered “Thank You”, but his voice was pure magic. He sounded so good from where I stood, and I couldn’t have asked for a better performance for the day. “Death Bells” from their newest release “Broken” was great and they even played a moodier version of “Hit the City” from Lanegan’s “Bubblegum” record, which was a highlight. No Trees or Gutter Twins songs but I didn’t expect that to happen. 
Metric: I decided to stick around at the Broad Street Stage and hang in the beer garden for Metric. I wasn’t all that familiar with Metric prior, but right away I recognized their songs. Especially the radio hit, “Help, I’m Alive”. Their set was great, at least the first I half I saw. The standout was indeed Emily Haines, and it occurred to me I have seen some incredible front women live this year including Karen O, Alison Mosshart and now Emily, which is pretty cool. Her voice was amazing, and her energy on stage electric. So glad I took the chance on Metric, I think I might be mild fan now.3 Inches of Blood: No mainstage acts for me this year, as I decided to pass on Modest Mouse. I’ve never been particularly fond of their music, and all weekend I kept hearing that they suck live, so it was an easy decision. It never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t be banging my head in the Exhibition Hall dungeon for Vancouver’s 3 Inches of Blood. I have seen 3IOB at least 12 times over the years, and it has been cool to watch them grow as a band. They unfortunately have had what seems like a revolving door of members in recent times, but let me tell you the current line-up is something special. Now including no original members without screamer Jamie Hooper, I was still very impressed with their new tighter metal show, and it’s pretty clear they are set on moving to a much bigger stage. Shane Clark and Justin Hagberg are an awesome guitar duo, and Cam Pipes who must have not smoked pot before this performance, was super talkative between songs, which isn't usually the case. Cam’s inhuman high notes are always on and Shane Clark always kills the screamed vocal parts. Like I tweeted during the performance they stripped the paint of the walls for a smallish crowd of diehard metal fans. They played a bunch of new tunes but also upped the ante by tearing through favorites like “Wykydtron”, “Goatriders Horde”, and “Deadly Sinners”. By far one of my favorite performances of the day, it was a much needed kick in the pants, too bad it came at the end and I had to try and sleep for work shortly after it.
I knew Monday would be great, and the stellar line-up brought out a decent Bumbershoot crowd. The highlights were most definitely the KEXP Music Lounge, The Cave Singers x2, Soulsavers w/ Mark Lanegan, Metric, and 3 Inches of Blood. A runner up goes to Dead Confederate, they just couldn’t cut through the echo of the exhibition hall. Like I said before, I somewhat regretted not covering the first two days, but I have to have a life outside of concerts sometimes. I took a bunch of video over the course of the day, and snapped a few pics with my iPhone. I’m sorry to say neither turned out very well. I am currently researching some tools to improve that aspect of the site. At least the audio is pretty good in the video. Cheers!
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