Did you miss the first two parts? Read part one here and part two here. And there will be a bunch of pictures soon too…
Monday September 5
Last day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival and the routine is familiar. A bit of food in the room and then we took the monorail over to the festival. Once there, we snacked at the hospitality room and pondered the myriad of possibilities for the day. At one of the booths we watched a song or two by Lemolo, which I didn’t really like. It was very low-key female vocal but much too low-key. Today we had decided to see some comedy too, not just music. Our VIP passes got us to the front of all the comedy lines so we wanted to take advantage of that. The comedy show we went to had a short funny introduction by Baron somebody (I think), didn’t catch the last name. But the main show was two fairly well-known comedians, Amy Shumer and Eugene Mirman. Seriously, Amy was so funny I barely stopped laughing for her whole set. Politically incorrect. Yep. Funny? Hilarious! And Mr. Mirman was very funny too. Great show. After that, we watched a four-person panel discussion about being vegan, featuring the Black Metal Vegan Chef. He is so cool, check out his videos on YouTube. The panel was humorous at times and informative.
Petra headed out to see more comedy, including some she really liked (Hari Kandaboly, Kyle Kinane) and one guy that she didn’t like (Anthony Jeselnik). I went into the basement stage (aka “the pit”) to see Eisley, a family band (three sisters up front, plus a brother and cousin) who do alternative rock but with hooks and really nice harmonies. They were very good and I stayed for the whole set. Afterward I bought their newest CD and they signed it for me and chatted with me for a minute or two. Awesome! (side note, I saw this band again a few days ago in Sacramento, you can read about that here). We hooked back up at the hospitality area. Larry and Robin had been there earlier and offered to save us some seats (thanks!) in the Mainstage for the evenings blue-eyed soul double bill. First up was Fitz and the Tantrums, a newer band who had a minor hit with “Moneygrabber”. They were entertaining if not exactly innovative. It was soulful rock that was good but, like I said, felt awful familiar and didn’t challenge the listener at all. Still, the audience was on their feet and loving it! Next up (and I would use the same compliments and criticisms) were veteran rockers Hall and Oates. Yes, that Hall and Oates. They have had a ton of hits and ran through most of them. They put on a good show and did just what people expected. There was not one new song and nothing that hadn’t been heard before. But they have their stuff down and put on a very entertaining show. And that was it, Bumbershoot 2011 was over. Sigh. How many days until next year?
Tuesday September 6
We had today free before we had to fly home tomorrow so we took the chance to see more of Seattle. We took a free bus down to near the Seattle Ferry docks and caught a ferry boat (I’m on a boat! – watch at your own risk) to nearby Bainbridge Island. There are plenty of shops and stuff there so we looked around a bit then had lunch at Emmy’s VegeHouse, an all vegan asian mini-restaurant. It was delicious! The we looked around a bit more and found Doc’s Marina Grill, a nice and friendly place with a big patio area looking out on the harbor. We had a drink and relaxed for a bit there. Then we took the ferry back to the mainland, what a pleasant ride. We caught a bus up to the Capitol Hill area, in search of dinner at the Sage Cafe, another vegan place but with sandwich and burger type selections. Good stuff again. We bussed back but stopped at Everyday Music, a big record store, and Elliot Bay Books, a huge place too. Then a bus back to the hotel. After that day, we went up to the eleventh floor Cloud Room for a glass of wine or two. Not a bad day, huh?
Wednesday September 7
The last day. And this makes stevenology sad. Sigh. So we packed our luggage. Sigh. But it was NOT over! We walked over to Cyber-Dog for an awesome vegetarian dog with plenty of toppings. I love this place! The owner (Tatiana) actually left us in charge of the place when she went to move and park her car. If you go to Seattle then GO THERE. Even if you are not vegetarian, you will like it. Then we checked out of the hotel, caught the light rail to the airport, had a margarita with some chips and salsa at the airport, and then flew Southwest (my favorite airline) back to Sacramento. That wraps it up for 2011. See you in 2012, Seattle! Wait for me!
