Bumbershoot 2009: Your hour-by-hour guide to the festival’s best music

  • By Andy Rathbun Herald Writer
  • Thursday, September 3, 2009 1:37pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Bumbershoot 2009 stays true to its name this Labor Day weekend, squeezing a mountainous number of acts under one gigantic umbrella.

We trolled the schedule — the lineup for all 15 stages, lawns and theaters at Seattle Center — to come up with the must-see bands, comics and authors on an hour-by-hour basis.

Here’s our breakdown, including superstar names such as the Black Eyed Peas, local heroes including Modest Mouse and indie up-and-comers such as Matt &Kim.

Saturday

12:45 to 1:45 p.m.: Everest, an Americana rock act, have already won the endorsement of Neil Young, who signed the California band to his label.

1:45 to 2:45 p.m.: Pop tart Katy Perry’s debut, “One of the Boys,” produced the unavoidable and vaguely controversial hits “I Kissed a Girl” and “Ur So Gay.”

2:30 to 3:30 p.m.: The adrenalized Seattle band Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head never met a synthesizer it didn’t like.

3:15 to 4:15 p.m.: The All-American Rejects churn out anthems for adolescence such as the super-charged songs “Move Along” and “I Wanna.”

3:45 to 4:45 p.m.: Indie comics Reggie Watts, Todd Barry and Matt Braunger tell absurd jokes.

5:15 to 6:45 p.m.: Starlee Kine (“This American Life”) hosts the McSweeney’s New Fiction panel, with authors from the indie-publishing powerhouse.

6 to 7 p.m.: Matt &Kim’s giddy take on pop has pushed the duo onto the charts and into a Bacardi commercial with the jubilant single “Daylight.”

7:30 to 8:45 p.m.: The reunited Os Mutantes, a psychedelic Brazilian group formed in the 1960s, won over fans including Kurt Cobain during its long hiatus.

7:45 to 8:45 p.m.: The Old 97s, led by front man Rhett Miller, rip through high-energy alt-country songs.

9:15 to 10:45 p.m.: Sheryl Crow’s radio-ready take on classic rock has kept the singer on the charts for 15 years.

9:30 to 10:45 p.m.: De La Soul was a leading light in alternative hip-hop in the early 1990s.

Sunday

12:45 to 1:45 p.m.: The seven guys in the Seattle band Hey Marseilles create symphonic folk pop.

2 to 3 p.m.: Jon Glaser (former writer for “Saturday Night Live,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”) and Nick Swardson (“Reno 911”) tell some jokes.

2:30 to 3:45 p.m.: Expect Karen O to wear something audacious while singing the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s synth-driven rock hit “Zero.”

3:30 to 4:45 p.m.: Author S.E. Hinton makes a rare appearance to discuss her books, which include the young adult classics “The Outsiders” and “Rumble Fish.”

4:30 to 5:30 p.m.: Audiences can watch the short horror film “Treevenge” and the animated short “French Roast” at the Best of SIFF 2009 Audience Award Winners.

5:45 to 6:45 p.m.: Critics heap praise on Common Market, a duo that has helped rejuvenate Northwest hip-hop.

6:45 to 7:45 p.m.: Experimental punk band No Age proves you only need a guitarist and a drummer to make a lot of noise.

7:15 to 8:45 p.m.: Michael Franti and Spearhead landed on the pop charts this year by blending rock, rap and reggae on the joyful “Say Hey (I Love You).”

8:15 to 9:30 p.m.: For a comedian, David Cross (“Arrested Development,” “Mr. Show”) gets called caustic and bitter a lot.

9:15 to 10:45 p.m.: Jason Mraz’s melodic alterna-pop vaulted his latest album, “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things,” to No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

Monday

1:30 to 2:30 p.m.: Power pop meets folk rock in the Minus 5, a band led by Scott McCaughey (Seattle’s Young Fresh Fellows) and Peter Buck (R.E.M.).

2:30 to 3:30 p.m.: The vastly underrated Seattle band Say Hi writes indie pop songs like J.D. Salinger wrote stories — quirky, spare and endearing.

3 to 4:15 p.m.: The Black Eyed Peas can claim song-of-the-summer honors thanks to the No. 1 hit “I Gotta Feeling,” the follow-up to another of its No. 1 hits, “Boom Boom Pow.”

3:15 to 4:15 p.m.: Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears bring an explosive sense of humor to soul-shouting tunes.

3:30 to 4:45 p.m.: Get those theories ready: Entertainment Weekly blogger Jeff Jensen hosts a discussion and Q&A with three writers from the hit TV show “Lost.”

5:45 to 6:45 p.m.: Cult star Jason Webley, an Everett resident, shows that cabaret and punk music go together like peanut butter and jelly.

7:45 to 9 p.m.: Franz Ferdinand knows how to make hipsters wearing thin ties dance, as evidenced by the hits “Take Me Out” and “No You Girls.”

9:30 to 10:45 p.m.: Modest Mouse return to Seattle to tear through the fractured rock ‘n’ roll that has put the Issaquah group on top of the Billboard 200.

Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com.

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