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Bumbershoot Was Exhausting, Not to Mention Rather Slight in the Big Names/Next Big Things Department, By Tom Kipp and Cory Davis

By on Wednesday, September 7, 2011

B’shoot was exhausting, not to mention rather slight in the big names/next big things department. At this point I shouldn’t need to rely on Old Soul Artists (Mavis Staples, Dennis Coffey, Charles Bradley, hell, even Hall & Oates!) to provide my hardcore jollies at a big Seattle music festival, but I guess it’s come to that, give or take Pentagram, Northern Virginia’s inventors of Doom Metal, ca. 1971-75, who acquitted themselves admirably well! And The Butthole Surfers, whom I’d always wanted to see, and now have….big deal.

I will not likely buy an early-bird three-day pass in the future, no matter how seemingly good the deal ($25/day vs. $45 at the gate). But it’s always better to give things a try than not, assuming the back, feet and head all cooperate, particularly when one is blessed with three days of sunshine and perfect 80-degree weather!

And I’d have been sorry to miss Christopher Rice (Anne’s son), Miss Pamela Des Barres, Nelson George, or the three “Dublin Novelists” who constituted a fine roundtable on Monday afternoon.

To (nearly) repeat, at this point I shouldn’t need to rely on various Literary Lights to provide my hardcore jollies at a big Seattle “music” festival….should I?

But thank goodness the aforementioned alternatives were available, elsewise it woulda been a damned LONG holiday weekend! LOL

Rick Holmstrom and Mavis Staples at the Michigan Theatre Ann Arbor
Mavis Staples and her band put on a great show on day one. Her guitar player Rick Holmstrom is one of the most impressive guitarists/bandleaders I’ve seen in many years, if not decades! His feel for rock, soul, blues, r&b, whathaveyou, is exquisite, and his taste–both in influences (I felt I could detect the spare, song-serving discipline of Steve Cropper, the absolute mastery of funky rock and roll exhibited by John Fogerty and Robbie Robertson, both of whom Rick and Mavis covered tonight, as they had last October at Town Hall, and even the taut, spookily quiet emoting of High Fleetwood Mac-era Peter Green), and in what NOT to play–is unerring! I’ll bet Mavis couldn’t believe it whenever they first played together, since he also effortlessly captures the reverberant, stately guitar sound that her father, Pops Staples, pioneered, beginning in the mid-Fifties. Their performance was unquestionably the culmination of Day One of B’shoot; nothing else came close! If you’ve never seen Mavis and Rick, perfectly complemented by their nimble rhythm section and three wonderful backing vocalists, including Mavis’ sister, Yvonne, make every effort to do so while they’re all riding this unexpected wave of Grammy-garnering critical acclaim and even record sales! She’s really all they say…and then some. An absolute soul/rock/gospel powerhouse!

– Tom Kipp

Highlight of Bumbershoot? Deep fried double stuffed Oreo cakesters!

Oh, and Bumbershoot? What’s up with making the bathrooms in the Leo K. Theater available only to premium pass holders? Am I to believe that rich people’s shit doesn’t stink? After all, these are PUBLIC facilities, are they not? That is some classist bullshit that is completely antithetical to the spirit of Bumbershoot, as I understand it. And… it REALLY pissed me off! (No pun intended.)

I must say Hall & Oates put on a practically perfect Arena Rock show, if you like that sort of thing. All the big hits, all translated quite well to the stage, filled out by thunderous drums and TASTY guitar licks from some long-haired hired hand. The other highlights of the day were Charles Bradley, a 60+ Soul man finally getting his break, thanks to Daptone, and Dennis Coffey, who combines his Motown roots with all kinds of funk, rock, and more TASTY guitar licks to the delight of even the most discerning audiences. The only disappointment of the day was Big Boi, as we promptly joined the ranks of the masses who hightailed it out of Key Arena about 20 minutes into his 75-minute set.

I took the video below with my iPhone. Meet Charles Bradley, “The Screaming Eagle of Soul”!

– Cory Davis

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