SEATTLE, WA (One Reel) - Bumbershoot: Seattle's
Music & Arts Festival unveils stellar complete lineup for the 36th annual event to be held Labor Day Weekend,
September 2-4. Exceptional talent in the world of music, comedy, dance, indie crafts, special exhibitions, film, theater, kids' activities, literary and visual arts will descend on 74-acre Seattle Center for a weekend of pop culture immersion at the biggest contemporary music and arts festival in North America. Ticket information provided below. Complete lineup and schedule available at bumbershoot.org.
MUSIC
KANYE WEST, AFI, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, BLONDIE, STEVE MILLER BAND, YELLOWCARD, SPOON, HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS, ATMOSPHERE, THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, ZERO 7, FEIST, BADLY DRAWN BOY, GREAT BIG SEA, METRIC, SHOOTER JENNINGS, OF MONTREAL, ROGUE WAVE, THE BLOOD BROTHERS, THE GOSSIP, LADY SOVEREIGN, BLUE SCHOLARS, MATES OF STATE, SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS, MATT COSTA, JOSE GONZALEZ, SPARTA, THE VERONICAS, THE ENGLISH BEAT, IVAN NEVILLE'S DUMPSTAPHUNK, YERBA BUENA, AS I LAY DYING, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO, THE SUBDUDES, NOUVELLE VAGUE, DEERHOOF, BETTYE LAVETTE, SONYA KITCHELL, BREAKESTRA, PARTICLE, ROCKY VOTOLATO, THE THERMALS, RISHI RICH PROJECT, JAMIE LIDELL, COPELAND, JEREMY ENIGK, LAURA VEIRS, JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY, THE BELLRAYS, THE FALL OF TROY, COCOROSIE, VASHTI BUNYAN, THE LIVING JARBOE, LUTHER "GUITAR JR" JOHNSON, BITTER:SWEET, CLOUD CULT, COMMON MARKET, NOMO, JACQUI NAYLOR, DENGUE FEVER, CRYSTAL SKULLS, THE EPOXIES, MARK PICKEREL & HIS PRAYING HANDS, MEWITHOUTYOU, MOUNTAIN CON, ERASE ERRATA, BRETT DENNEN, GOKH-BI SYSTEM, THE BRIEFS, P:ANO, SLENDER MEANS and many more.
COMEDY
This wildly popular program will expand to two stages in order to satiate festival-goers' appetite for humor! Gathering some of America's most hilarious comics, including Tinkle, created by comedians David Cross, Todd Barry, and Jon Benjamin; improv experts Upright Citizens Brigade; a live version of VH1's pop culture/comedy mash-up Best Week Ever Live!!; Comedy Central's Zack Galifianakis; actress/writer/perfomer Mary Lynn Rajskub; Doug Benson of The Marijuana-logues; and many others.
Trapped In The Closet brings together hot standup comedian Aziz Ansari, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, and a special guest panel for an uproarious look at chapters 6 through 12 of R. Kelly's un-ironic hip-hopera Trapped In The Closet. Easily the most unintentionally hilarious music video ever created, Trapped In The Closet will provide the fodder for an outrageous roundtable that will have you laughing until you cry.
VISUAL ARTS
Innovative exhibits, gallery tours, and hands-on activities in the Northwest Rooms of the Seattle Center will feature arts of varied media.
Many of the exhibits will address the theme of "High Tech vs. Home Ec," exploring the intersection and overlap of technology-based art and the recent surge in the craft movement. Pixel Dolls, MeatSpace, and Everything All At Once brings together virtual artworks, paintings, drawings, videos, and photography exploring the ever-evolving virtual world Second Life. Softly Threatening: Artwork of the Modern Domestic takes a close look at domesticity in contemporary culture, infusing traditional domestic objects with a distinctly subversive edge crafting a thoughtful, political critique of modern domestic life. Experimental Housing Project, an innovative installation by Seattle artist trio SuttonBeresCuller, brings suburbia to the Festival - literally. A mock neighborhood cul-de-sac filled with all the details of suburban life will take over Seattle Center's International Fountain Lawn.
Bumbershoot has also partnered with The Frye Art Museum to present three days of discourse, exhibit tours and hands-on activities that focus on the "Home Ec Revolution" and technology's influence on the arts. Some of the offerings include knitting, embroidery, and virtual arts workshops.
In addition to the "High Tech vs. Home Ec" works, Seattle photographers William Anthony, Bradley Hanson, and Ryan Schierling team up for End of Summer: Three Views of Bumbershoot, capturing the vivid colors and vibrant energy of Seattle's beloved Music & Arts Festival in 2005.
THEATER, PERFORMANCE & DANCE
The Boeing Performing Arts Stage at the Bagley Wright Theatre will feature Hip Hop Theater artists Jerry Quickly (Live from the Front) and Universes (Live From the Edge). The Bagley will also showcase Mike Daisey's Northwest Premiere of "Monopoly!". Additionally, this fantastic stage will also host "Awesome" - part band, part comedy group, and part art collective.
The Center House Theatre will provide a platform for outstanding local theater, curated by Theatre Puget Sound. Performances such as NAKeD PUPPeTS (DArK EArTH), Troy Miszklevitz (The Show - A One Man Show), Macha Monkey Productions (The Cowgirl Play), and subatomic productions (Seattle Neutrino Project).
This year's dance program features Montreal's Rubberbandance Group in their Seattle debut, and Seattle's own Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB). Bumbershoot will also showcase Degenerate Art Ensemble, a performance company that uses hyper-experimental music, dance, and visual projections to transform traditional genres into multi-dimensional explosive and expressive works. Zoe Scofield will present her innovative "there ain't no easy way out" created with visual artist Juniper Shuey and musician Morgan Henderson of The Blood Brothers.
Dance will move from the physical to the oral with a special panel discussion "The Language of Dance" featuring Peter Boal, Donald Byrd, Victor Quijada and Zoe Scofield, with Lynn Jacobson on Sunday.
SPECIAL EXHIBITION & INSTALLATION
A dazzling array of spectacles awaits Bumbershoot 2006 attendees. The weekend begins with the 2006 Bumberbout Flat Track Derby Invitational on Saturday, September 2 at KeyArena. Co-hosted by Seattle's own Rat City Rollergirls, Bumberbout features eight national flat track derby teams vying for the first ever Bumberbout title. The Rat City Rollergirls, Texas Rollergirls, Bay Area Derby Girls, Boston Derby Dames, Kansas City Roller Warriors, Minnesota Rollergirls, Mad Rollin' Dolls, and Carolina Rollergirls battle it out.
Firepod, created by Burning Man Artist Mark "Buphalo" Tomkiewicz, this 11-feet-tall, 20-feet-wide pyrotechnic sculpture fashions a seemingly extraterrestrial creation out of steel and fire. Motorworks II, the latest creation by large-scale sculptor Chris McMullen, draws its inspiration from the inner-workings of an internal-combustion engine. Creating a spectacle that is at once mesmerizing and larger-than-life.
Bumbershoot and the American Poster Institute present Flatstock 10 at Fisher Pavilion, featuring 90 well-known rock poster artists from around the world. Thoroughly embodying the spirit of Bumbershoot, Flatstock 10 unites powerful visual design with the creativity and passion of rock.
LITERARY ARTS
Bumbershoot's 2006 Literary Arts lineup attracts fans of words, stories and pop culture with some of the most relevant contemporary writers of the day. Starbucks Presents "In Context" at the Alki Room and Boeing's Performing Arts Stage in the Bagley Wright Theatre will both feature nationally popular writers and artists.
Greil Marcus, Mary Gaitskill, Chuck Palahniuk, Charles Burns, Erik Larson, Sara Gruen, Starlee Kine, Evany Thomas, Tami Sagher, Holiday Reinhorn, Vis-à-Vis Society, Gary Shteyngart, Sean Wilsey, Sarah Schulman, Michelle Tea, Carl Hancock Rux, Charles D'Ambrosio, Ben Fong-Torres, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Alison Bechdel, Michael Walker, Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler, Eileen Myles, Laila Lalami, John Moe, Jon Raymond, Maria Dahvana Headley, Mel Gordon, Arthur Sze, Erin Belieu, Matthew Zapruder, Jimmy McDonough, Ashok Mathur, James Greer, Trapdoor 62, "A Cup o' Joe," Robert Santelli, Christopher Frizzelle, Screenwriters Salon, Brent Hoff, Shoshana Berger, Stephanie Pearl McPhee, Kurt B. Reilgley, Wave Book Poetry Bus
FILM
For the first time ever, the renowned Seattle International Film Festival has curated Bumbershoot's 1 Reel Film Festival. The 1 Reel Film Festival features 110+ live-action, animated, experimental and documentary shorts and music videos from regional, national, and international filmmakers. Schedule at bumbershoot.org.
BUMBERSHOOT PRESENTS: PEOPLE TALKING & SINGING
This unusual and fantastic event to benefit the youth writing and tutoring center 826 Seattle (826seattle.org) features Pulitzer Prize Finalist and McSweeney's co-founder Dave Eggers; comedian, author, and social observer Sarah Vowell; author, personality, and sometimes musician Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket); Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt; hosts John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton and other special guests wowing audience members with their varied and extremely entertaining talents. This event is a separate paid ticket from the Bumbershoot Festival and will be held at McCaw Hall Friday, September 1. Tickets for this event are $30 reserved seating and are on sale now at Ticketmaster.
BUMBERSHOOT TICKET INFORMATION
Special pre-sale prices are available for one more week only, exclusively at bumbershoot.org until 10 PM on Friday, July 14, at $18 for the single day ticket or $50 for a 3-day pass. Anyone can purchase exclusive discounted tickets by becoming a BumberFan online at bumbershoot.org. BumberFan Club membership is free.
Tickets are on sale to the public at 10 AM on Saturday, July 15 at bumbershoot.org, at Ticketmaster locations, or by phone at 206.628.0888. Single-day passes are $25 when purchased by August 25, or $30 thereafter. Three-day passes are $70 through August 25, or $80 thereafter. Tickets will also be on sale at select Western Washington Starbucks stores starting Saturday, August 5. There are no service fees for tickets purchased at Starbucks.
An $8 ticket will be available only at the gate for seniors 65+, children 10 and under with accompanying adult, and patrons with disabilities. There is free admission for children under 5 all weekend.
Entry to evening Mainstage shows requires a separate free pass obtainable while supplies last at Information Booths inside festival grounds.
