Bumbershoot 2009 (Sun)

Sunday brings in mixture of indie rock musicians and hip-hop acts. All of the performers on the main stage this day have released 2 or more albums, and have tendency to appear on lots of summer festivals. Local hip-hop acts such as Dyme Def and Common Market will also be present, and so will the Canadian rap group, Swollen Members, but the highlight will probably be Jason Mraz closing the night. Here’s my review (or preview) of who I plan on seeing for Sunday, 9/6.

	Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds Album: Robbers & Cowards I saw Cold War Kids at last year’s Sasquatch, and am excited to see them again this year at Bumbershoot. “Hang Me Up to Dry” from 2007 turned into one of my favorite songs of all time, and I’ve enjoyed their latest album, Loyalty to Loyalty as well (particularly the track, “I’ve Seen Enough.” They will be the opening act on the main stage.
	Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll Album: It's Blitz! Yeah Yeah Yeahs has been busy this summer with tour and appearances in festivals. They even replaced Beastie Boys at this year’s Lollapalooza festival after Adam Yanch announced about his cancer. With their latest album, It’s Blitz!, they’ve moved into a new musical direction, but I still liked it. I’m looking forward to hearing songs like “Maps”, “Down Boy” and “Gold Lion” at the main stage.
	Swollen Members - Pressure Album: Black Magic I had never heard of this hip-hop group from Vancouver, Canada until a friend pointed out that she was only attending Sunday to check this group out. Looks like they have a lot of credentials such as winning Juno Awards (Canadian version of Grammys) for best rap recording for four out of five albums they have released thus far. It will be interesting to see what the best of Canadian hip-hop crew can showcase.
	Common Market - Black Patch War Album: Black Patch War EP Along with Blue Scholars, Common Market is one of Seattle’s favorite local hip-hip groups. Fronted by rapper, RA Scion, who has lived all over the world, including Zambia, and DJ Sabzi, who also makes beat for Blue Scholars, they have been active in Pacific Northwest since 2005.
	Michael Franti & Spearhead - Hey World (Don't Give Up) Album: All Rebel Rockers I’ve seen Michael Franti live, and I think he’s very talented and knows how to work up the crowd, but I was surprised to find that he was named one of the headliners over Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But in Seattle, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. The radio and music video channels are starting to play “Say Hey (I Love You)” and he’s finally getting some mainstream attention. “Hey World (Don’t Give Up)” is a touching song from his latest album, All Rebel Rockers.
	Jason Mraz - If It Kills Me Album: We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things This singer-songwriter recently broke the ultimate record on Billboard chart. His song, “I’m Yours” has spent 71 weeks on Hot 100, which nobody in history of chart music has ever done, and that record could continue to expand as it is still on the chart today. I’ve heard that he puts on a great show, so I’m looking forward to seeing him at the Bumbershoot since normally I probably wouldn’t go see his live show.