What a fab, fab, fab, fab Labor Day weekend. I want to do it again!! I seriously could never get sick of listening to live music. I don’t think ever. But pair that with sunshine and 80 degree pleasant (not too hot) weather, the beautiful Seattle Center, the vibrant music community, and food vendor and trades vendors and you have one hell of a good weekend.
I savored peace and quiet at Ashley’s apartment away from the chaos of my place on Friday night and was ready for Bumbershoot to start. Well, and the UM football game. I headed to Buckley’s in Belltown to join several of my fellow Michigan alums, young, old, and older cheer on the team to a (weird) victory. There was team trivia and bloody mary and mimosa specials and after a drink and a delay in the game I was more than ready to move on to the music. But yeah Go Blue!
I won’t detail the entirety of my Bumbershoot experience because that would be quite to lengthy but I will highlight those worth noting. The bands that were truly great that I saw were Ray LaMontangue and the Pariah Dogs, Curtains for You, Broken Social Scene, Wiz Khalifa, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Fitz and the Tantrums, Countrysky Bluegrass (the sole Michigan band of the festival), and Hall and Oates. Fitz and the Tantrums stole my heart though and now I have stumbled upon their Pandora station and it is quite amazing. I love the jazz, the energy, the uniqueness, and the instrumentals of their band. Maybe the most entertaining concert I have ever seen.
The Key Arena was were all the headliners played which was a great venue but all of the side concerts going on without a break in the action at one of the three outdoor stages were so pleasant in the sunshine and the concert inside the EMP was unique and chic. I got a free bracelet, a free taco thanks to Mission tortillas (which was surprisingly fantastic), free Honest Tea and a ton of free Zone bars. On top of that I tried a Spicy Thai chicken frankfurter with sauteed onions on Saturday, a dark chocolate Shishkaberry skewer and really scrumptious and fun to try Russian dumplings (Pel’ Menis) on Monday. Countless beers were also enjoyed consuming the most beer I have in 72 hours than in probably ever. To the chagrin of probably most of Seattle I stayed with Bud Light for the refreshing taste and as they were a sponsor of the festival.
I love long holiday weekends and just wish there were more of them. But I am truly digging this late summer Seattle apparently gets because we have 80 degree days predicted all week with no end in sight. And I have a new bicycle that I bought through my coworkers finagling that I am so excited to break out. It is a very new and hardly used blue Trek mountain bike (but a hybrid for city use) with good tires, good suspension and a fender. Now it is decked out with a new water bottle and holder, I got a new lock and new gloves that are sweet! I also finally got my library card which I am so excited about (DVD rentals for two weeks…Mad Men here we go).
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 