Bumbershoot, Day One

This morning I went downtown to go to the gym. After, when I was waiting for the bus to go home, I read my Time Magazine. This old man came up to me and said, "Someone told me you couldn't read!" Then he said, "Just kidding!" and laughed like it was the funniest thing ever. I don't know why it was funny. What if I really couldn't read?

Anyways, today marked the start of Bumbershoot, the gigantic music festival that is about five minutes from my apartment. My company does community outreach at events such as these, so I can get in for free if I work a little bit, which is what I have done for the last few years.

Entering Bumbershoot always begs the 2-part question, a-why does earth have so many people? and b-why have they all decided to come here? It is very very crowded, and a bit overwhelming for someone like me who does not like large crowds in close proximity. But I do like free music, so I try to grin and bear it.

Today I went down about noonish to watch Crowded House. They had a solid set and Eddie Vedder made the drive from West Seattle to do two songs with them. After Crowded House, the Shins were on. This was the mainstage, and the place was absolutely packed. Not all with Shins fans mind you; as I wrote in my Wilco post, it was a lot of people who probably just wanted to say they saw the Shins or who didn't have anything else to do. The set was good, but the Shins are probably not the best band to play in a football stadium (where they were).

One thing I noticed during the Shins was how many crowdsurfers there were. I felt really bad for the people at the front, because they must have stood there for hours to get that spot, and then they couldn't even concentrate because so many people expected to be held up.

I hope I am never the kind of person who brings a child under 5 to a festival such as Bumbershoot, because it's just trouble for everybody. They don't enjoy it, the parents probably can't enjoy it, and no one around them enjoys it. The only exception to this will be if I marry a rock star, then my kid can come and wear fashionable ear protection and we can eat catering backstage.

Anyways, then I went to work for about 4 hours, and then I had dinner, and now I am at my apartment taking a brief Bumbershoot break. I need to put more clothing on (it is a bit chilly), and then I am going to head back and see DeVotchKa. More on Bumbershoot tomorrow.