[NOTE: Yes, I am aware it is not Monday. I had intended these four parts of my 2014 Bumbershoot overview to be posted on a single Monday, but life has a funny way of getting in the way sometimes.]
Monday got off to a little bit of a late start. Part of this was due to being out so late on Sunday. Part of this was due to Kyle. His work schedule had him getting up late. I had to wake him up in order to get going. This day I would take him to Bumbershoot. In years past when he was the only child Laura and I would take Kyle to Bumbershoot for the whole weekend, so it was nice to be able to revisit this in a way.
The Mexican Institute Of Sound was the first band that day I saw I enjoyed, and I enjoyed the heck out of them. Well, I use the term loosely, as it’s the project of Mexican DJ Camilo Lara. Live he had a drummer and bass player with him while he worked samples. This was great dance music that got the crowd moving. I want to see more from him/them.
A few other acts I saw just didn’t move me, which is unfortunate. That’s how Bumbershoot goes. Fortunately one of the best surprises of the whole festival took place on Monday.
I mentioned in a previous post how additional (free) tickets were required for the three comedy stages. The way the schedule worked out I had time to see The Improvised Shakespeare Company before the two musical acts I wanted to see in the evening. And there was no line for tickets. And there were some left. So I got one.
The premise for the troupe is to perform an improvised one act play in the style of Shakespeare based on an audience suggestion. When asking the audience for suggestions a lot of people started shouting. I raised my hand. The guy taking suggestions pointed at me and I said (loudly enough for him to hear) “The Bucket Of Shrimp” to which one of the troupe members visibly winced. I knew I had a winner.
What followed was a riotous tale of a diminutive Spanish prince going to war against France. It was easily one of the funniest things I had seen in a long time. I don’t remember when I laughed so hard or that much in an hour’s time. If you ever have the chance to see The Improvised Shakespeare Company do so.
It was time to go see Jonathan Richman. The New York based musician might be more famous for fronting The Modern Lovers than his solo work, but I was actually more familiar with some of his solo songs, though not as familiar with him as a whole as I would like. Bumbershoot provided an excellent opportunity for me to explore further whether or not I want to delve deeper into Jonathan Richman’s music. And I can say now that I do.
What I really liked about his performance, besides its unbridled positivity, was how unencumbered he was. With just him on acoustic guitar and a drummer he didn’t let the fact he had a song to sing stop him from stepping away from the microphone to dance. Actually, quite often he put down his guitar and shimmied around. I’ll have a separate Music Monday post about him in the future.
Finally The Reverent Horton Heat. This, too, will be a band that will be the subject of a Music Monday post in the future. I managed to get right up front and, well, it was “The Rev” which may not be saying much, but if you’re familiar at all with the band you’ll understand. This was pure rockabilly inspired rock and roll and a good time. It may not be for everybody but for me it was a great way to end the festival.