I spent the majority of Labor Day weekend at Bumbershoot. This year’s line up wasn’t as good as last year’s. The best shows I saw were:
- Tamango’s Urban Tap: This year’s surprise winner! I only stopped by because the title was interesting, and the title is a definite misnomer; a more accurate (but altogether worse) title would be “Tamango’s Amazonian Tap, Capoeira, Beatboxing, Music, Didgeridoo, and Mime Experience.” Their site has a couple of videos of the performance, including some tap and break dancing, although it really doesn’t do the show justice. Highly recommended.
- Brainstorm 4 B-Boy Battle: This was the far and away favorite last year, and gets second because quality wasn’t as high as last year and Tamango’s had better variety. Regardless, I saw excellent world-class dancing; great stuff.
- After-party Jam Session: This wasn’t part of Bumbershoot, but it was a loft party on Monday night with various Bumbershoot performers, including Skerik from Critters Buggin’ and Stanton Moore from Galactic. It was a great scene, with excellent music and tons of energy, and well worth a groggy Tuesday morning.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of disappointments:
- Crowds: Over half of the venues are small and indoors, creating lines and capacity issues. Sunday was absolutely ridiculous since the Pixies drew so many people, and I didn’t get to see Bebel Gilberto and the Killers. The lines for break dancing were even worse than last year.
- Main stage Shows: I really don’t like the Main stage; unfortunately that’s where both Public Enemy and the Pixies played. Public Enemy had a solid set, but wasted far too much time with political statements and letting Flavor Flav play on the drums while Bushwick Bill (a midget formerly in the Geto Boys) rapped. Unfortunately, the Pixies (a longtime favorite of mine) played a rushed, apathetic set, including a one song encore which consisted of a song they had already played (Wave of Mutilation). Disappointing.
- Brother Ali and Grayskul: This was primarily due to the terrible acoustics of the venue (the What’s Next Stage), but both groups showed little mic control and were screaming way too loud into the microphone. [The poor-quality show led me to leave and watch The Black Keys, who had a solid, energetic set]