To some extent, my planning was effective. However, long lines, and limited stage capacities limited the number of acts one could see.
The day started off well. I secured front row spots at the mural amphitheatre, 20 minutes before the set of Seattle's hottest new artist Reignwolf. In the process of convincing my friends to endure the 20 minute wait, I undoubtedly set some pretty high expectations. "Trust me guys, this is going to be one of the greatest things you will ever see!".
Luckily Reignwolf proved me right. Opening with a newer song that I hadn't heard yet, Reignwolf was accompanied by a street performer playing the drums on several plastic buckets. Apparently the two had met outside on the street just a couple hours before the show. Reignwolf proceeded to put on an amazing, and utterly bad-ass performance. Playing to a sizable audience of at least 500 people, on a stage with two large video screens, it was very cool to see how much bigger Reignwolf has gotten since the first time I saw him just three and half months ago. Smoke billowed out of the band's amplifiers through smoke machines that were set up behind them, adding a mystical aura to the performance. As Reignwolf went into some of his more well known songs such as "In the Dark", and "Lonely Sunday", many of the audience members including myself joined in on vocals. Once again, it was very cool to see how much bigger he has gotten since I first saw him. One of the concert's highlights was Reignwolf's performance of "The Chain", a popular Fleetwood Mac song, which he performed while playing an electric mandolin. In addition, during the set Reignwolf: Played the bass, played the guitar using the microphone as a pick, played the guitar using his teeth as a pick, played the guitar while also beating a kick drum, played the guitar while playing the full drum set, solo'd while standing on the band's amps, monitors, in the audience, and on the street performer's buckets, and also gave an incredible vocal performance. What is incredible to me is that Reignwolf does not have a single studio recording out, yet he has managed to accumulate a robust fan base. I can't wait to see what this up and coming artist will go on to do in the future.
After Reignwolf concluded his set, we headed to Key Arena in the hope we could catch the tail end of Best Coast and get down to the floor for M83. However, upon entering the arena we were met with our first, but not last experience of the negative side of this year's festival. Security guards quickly, and not so politely informed us that the arena floor was closed, and that no one else would be let in. We retreated to the rafters of Key arena to watch some of Best Coast's set, but soon agreed that it wasn't worth it to sit in the seated section for M83. We left soon thereafter.
Without access to the main stage floor and few intriguing performances to see, the next hour was somewhat of a low point for the day. However, you can't beat Seattle Center on a nice day, and I took the time to re-live my elementary years and make a couple runs at touching the fountain.
At 4, we got in line at the Exhibition hall to see the Wombat's 4:30 performance. I had only heard a couple songs from the alternative British rock trio, but thought that it seemed to be the best bet for the time slot. And indeed it was. Despite the fact that it was a shame to be inside an exhibition hall on a sunny afternoon, the venue was perfectly suited for the Wombats. Their synth laced alternative pop style was perfect for the largely high school oriented crowd. The audience clapped along in unison to each verse and and went crazy for each chorus. Crowd surfers were common, glow sticks were thrown through the air and a great time was had by everyone. "I honestly expect nothing but utter mayhem on this next song" declared the band's lead singer. The exhibition hall's no moshing, no crowd surfing rule was definitely broken. My personal highlight of the Wombat's set was their song "My First Wedding", on which the crowd emphatically sang a long to the chorus line "She's not that beautiful, she's not that beautiful!
The Wombats made me realize that concert's are all about expectations. I really didn't expect the show to be anything special, but the Wombats ended up putting on one of the best concerts I've seen in a while.
Drenched in sweat, I exited the exhibition hall with a thoroughly satisfied feeling. So far we were two for two in terms of the good concert choices.
By far Bumbershoot's most famous performer, Skrillex was set to go on at 9:30. Our utmost goal for the day was to be on the Key Arena floor for Skrillex. So at 5:45, we got in line to enter the arena. Had we gotten in line 20 minutes later we would not have made it on the floor. No one wants to see a Skrillex concert while standing in a seated section of Key Arena. I will take this time to address the issue of having Key Arena as the Bumbershoot main stage.
I could say a lot about the debate over whether Bumbershoot should or should not be held in Key Arena. The bottom line is this: Key Arena is a better music venue than memorial stadium. Especially for acts such as Skrillex, Wiz Khalifa, and M83, Key Arena allows for better light displays, better sound quality, and a tighter concert atmosphere. HOWEVER, the floor capacity, and really the overall arena capacity is a huge issue. It was reported that there were close to 40,000 people at the festival on Monday. Key Arena fits less than 12,000 people for a concert. I'm guessing almost everyone wanted to see Skrillex. In addition, no one wants to sit in the upper deck to watch a dubstep concert. Basically, there were probably a lot of really disappointed people yesterday who didn't even get to see Skrillex, let alone be on the arena floor to see him. And even though I got to be on the floor, almost six hours of my time at Bumbershoot went towards getting that spot.
Oh, and did I mention that if you wanted to use the bathroom you couldn't get back in to the concert?
With all the complaints that the festival likely had this year, I am guessing that the mainstage will be moved to memorial stadium next year.
Anyways, after waiting in line for almost 3 HOURS! we were shuffled in to Key Arena, barely making it down to the floor level. Instrumental duo Two Fresh opened for Skrillex beginning at 8:30. Mixing many popular hip hop songs, the group's beats were entertaining and highly dancable. Two Fresh really would have been a perfect act for one of the festival's smaller stages. Unfortunately, the anxious crowd didn't really give the group the attention they deserved.
After Two Fresh finished, a five minute countdown was displayed on all three of the stage's video boards. Needless to say, after waiting in line for such a long time, the crowd was excited. Scanning the crowd, I was overwhelmed to see that every seat in Key Arena was taken, all the way up to the last row of the upper deck. I got an odd feeling, thinking "Wow, this whole dubstep thing has gotten way too big". As the timer got down to 30 seconds the crowd's screaming intensified. At 10 seconds, we all counted down together "10!, 9!, 8!...As the timer hit 0 handfulls of glow sticks were thrown into the air, Skrillex pushed some buttons, or did whatever he does up there, and played his first song "Right In". Mixing the opening song with MGK's "Wild Boy", Skrillex went on to play such hits as "Bangarang", "First of the Year", "Kyoto", and my personal favorite, the "Levels" remix. While I am by no means a big dubstep fan, there is certainly something to be said for seeing an artist at the peak of their career, and it was thrilling to be so close for the action. The music itself may have not been some of the best stuff I have witnessed live, but the magnitude of his performance was incredible. Flames and fireworks were shot off from behind stage, streamers were shot out onto the crowd, and I witnessed what may be the most impressive light show I will ever see. "GO SEAHAWKS!" screamed Skrillex. I high fived the people around me, even though he probably said that about the 49ers last time he was in San Francisco.
In the end, the wait to see DJ Skrillex was worth it. During his levels remix I sang along as loud as I could with the song's sample...you know? the one that goes "wooahh sometimes, I get a good feeling yeah". I sang that hook as loud as I could as I thought back to the first concert I saw this summer. That first concert of the summer, of course was at Sasquatch, when I saw DJ Pretty Lights use the same sample. I sang along then too. Thanks for a great summer Seattle. I'll see you next year.
