Bumbershoot 2009 (Mon)

A lot of hip-hop and R&B acts will be taking the stage on Monday, but there will be some serious rock and roll as well. Here’s my review (or preview) of the artists I plan on checking out for 9/7 Monday at Bumbershoot.

	The Knux - Cappuccino Album: Remind Me In 3 Days... The Knux is not your ordinary hip-hop group. Formed by two brothers, they can play instruments as they used to belong in a highschool band. Their style has been compared to Outkast, and their live shows has been talked about from coast to coast. They will be the opening act on the main stage.
	Black Eyed Peas - Rock That Body Album: The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) Black Eyed Peas are coasting through the chart as they recently destroyed Usher’s record for most consecutive #1 by an artist (Usher lasted 19 weeks with “Yeah!” and “Burn”. Peas are currently #1 for 21 weeks, and could extend it longer if “I Gotta Feeling” continues to stay at the top. With that said, Black Eyed Peas not being the headliner was the biggest surprise for this year’s Bumbershoot, but who’s complaining? I haven’t seen them live for about five years now. Now that they are more pop and dance sounding, it would be interesting to see how they would bring the music to the stage.
	Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Sugarfoot Album: Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! There is no doubt that Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears sound like James Brown. It’s one thing to be labeled as James Brown’s cover band or sound-alike, but Black Joe Lewis sounds really good. Unfortunately they are playing during the same time slot as Black Eyed Peas, but hopefully I can catch a bit of their show.
	Janelle Monae - Many Moons Album: Metropolis: The Chase Suite Janelle Monae met Outkast’s Big Boi and was featured on their musical project, Idlewild, which wasn’t too successful. But people still noticed Janelle Monae, including Diddy, who signed her to his Bad Boy label. She has only released an EP album so far, and her full debut album has been delayed several times. Hopefully with more touring, she will get to launch her career with a full debut album.
	Franz Ferdinand - What She Came For Album: Tonight What a treat. I’ve been wanting to see Franz Ferdinand since their debut album, but have always missed them somehow. I’m probably most excited in seeing them live out of all lineup. “No You Girls” is still getting a lot of airplays on the radio, and with three albums under their belt with several hits, they should have plenty of songs to play for the Seattle audience.
	Modest Mouse - Satellite Skin Album: No One's First, And You're Next I saw them live in the freezing rain at Sasquatch last year. Hopefully this time around I can actually enjoy their music (the forecast is calling for rain this weekend). Modest Mouse originates from a city called Issaquah, which is half an hour away from Seattle. They have recently released an EP with unreleased songs and B-sides. Included on the album is a track, “King Rat” which the actor Heath Ledger (played Joker on The Dark Knight), was in process of directing the music video before his unfortunate death. Seattle crowd would be excited to have local band such as Modest Mouse close this ceremony.