Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle, Washington
Sept. 1-2, 2001
By Kayt

Saturday, Sept. 1^st

This is the story of a day that started off very early, got a little worse and then got much better as it went on. It was also the last time I flew, and the last time I plan to fly for probably quite a while. I could tell you about our (my roommate’s and my) complaints with United Airlines’ overcrowded LAX terminal on that morning of September 1^st, but in light of what has happened to our country since, it now seems somewhat trivial. Suffice to say, for various reasons, most of them not our fault, we missed our 8:00 a.m. flight but did manage, with the help of a supervisor, to get on the next one. The next flight left at 9:30, which is what I should have booked in the first place, since neither of us is a fan of the early morning hours.

Seattle is a beautiful city that I’ve always wanted to visit, but I think we saw the backside of it in our taxi from the airport. I’m sure there is also a lot more than the downtown area to see, so someday when I have more time I’m going back. I had wanted to go to the Bumbershoot Festival for about two years, ever since Igor once told me that it was very wild and fun and that I should go. So there I was…

First stop, the hotel, the Travelodge nearest the Festival, where we somehow got a “Sleepy Bear Den” for our room. Go ahead, just guess what that looked like…Hint: it’s designed for very small people who get a big kick out of seeing cartoon-like sleepy bears everywhere… on the bedspreads, the lampshades, pictures on the walls, you name it. The bear is apparently a very sporty type; he was portrayed playing hockey, soccer and various other sports…which is fine if you don’t notice that he only ever wears a nightshirt and (gasp!) no pants! Well, he has fur…I guess that’s okay. It was different than the usual hotel “art,” at least, something to laugh about.

Next was lunch and we found a nice Thai restaurant within walking distance of the hotel, which had delicious food. Afterwards we played tourist and took some pictures of the area and the Space Needle, looming two blocks away. That sucker is BIG! It’s much taller than it looks like on TV or in movies. Next time I visit Seattle I’m going up in it, I think. I was pretty tempted this trip but had so little time there to explore.

So, the part you’ve been waiting for (go on, admit it)… later that afternoon I walked over to the Festival and began my search for the Tesoro Bumbrella Stage where Our Favorite Band was to play. Now I’m usually pretty good at reading maps, but the one in that newspaper-like program I picked up on my way in was quite a challenge…I’m still wondering if I was just looking at it the wrong way (like a first-time visitor to Earth might), or if it really bore as little resemblance to reality as I thought it did. I accidentally wandered into the techno music room in my quest for the right area. Loud, confusing, electronic…and not where I wanted to be then. And, true rebel to the end, I went right back out the Entrance door, ignoring the protests of the Guy at the Door that the Exit was “over there!” But eventually I followed my ears, upon hearing a band playing  that sounded like one that would be playing on the same stage as Red Elvises, and found my way to the glorious stage that is Bumbrella.

Having located the place to be, I looked around a little more and then came back, standing near the artists’ area on the right hand side of the stage to say hi to Vladimir and the Elvii. They were busy setting up, positioning cables and guitars and what-all in the optimum positions on the stage. But each guy said hello and/or smiled and waved as he saw me over there. None seemed surprised to see me so far from home (except Vladimir), the Elvii themselves having becoming accustomed to the Red Elvises-related scope of my travel habits… not to mention I’d been happily telling them all since May that I was going to Bumbershoot this year.

There were some people in front of the stage already, as they set up, and others filling the rows of green chairs in front of the stage. The Bumbrella stage seemed to be one of the few outdoor stages that had seats, from what I saw, although I admit I didn’t see as much of the Festival as I should have. It was a 74-acre area, after all, an amazing amount of ground to cover. By the time the guys were ready to go on, the crowd in front was so crowded with people that I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to wedge my way up near the front! But I managed to get close enough to get some very decent pictures with my new camera (check them out in the Photos section).

It was a great show! A girl from The Mountain (103.7 I believe) radio station introduced them, assisted by Oleg, to cheers and whoops. The stage was high so we all gazed up at them as we boogied and jumped and sang along. They started with “Red Eyes Red Lips Red Stockings” and then moved on into “Space Cowboy,”  “Sunshine,” “Get Up and Dance,” and “Scorchi Chornie,” a nice selection of songs to start with which gave each Elvi a chance to do the lead singing honors. The next song was “from the motion picture event of last century,” Six-String Samurai, and was “Three Alley Cats,” with that cool Red Elvises-style rap added in the middle like extra cream in your Oreo, sweet and you wish you had more! The fun continued with another crowd favorite, “Who’s Your Daddy?” old favorites, “Harriet,” and “Please Don’t Tell Me What I Did Last Night” and   another from Six-String Samurai, “Lovepipe.” During “I Wanna See You Belly Dance,” the troupe of Seattle area belly dancers that usually helps the band out during shows there (you’ve probably seen them in Road Photos before) came out and danced onstage in their colorful costumes. Three more songs followed after that:  “Rocket Man,” “Flaming Cheese” and the closing song, “Sad Cowboy Song,” and then afterwards signed autographs in the CD selling tent, to the delight of new and seasoned fans alike.

Sunday, Sept. 2nd:

I got to the Festival a little earlier the next day and had a chance to look around more. I discovered there was shopping! Stalls of jewelry, clothing and all sorts of other artisans’ wares formed a temporary avenue of every sort of craft one could want.  Also in that area was an impressive, BIG round metal fountain shooting huge streams of water into the sky as people ran and played in it to get a break from the hot afternoon sun. The weather in Seattle was perfect for this Festival; aside from a few stray raindrops on the way into the city on Saturday, we had blue skies and no rain for most of the weekend. Walking around another area, not far from the Bumbrella Stage, I found large “animals” made of paper mache, cloth and poles, which were kept in their “pen” when not being periodically paraded through the Festival. Food stalls lined the other side and offered everything from burritos to funnel cake. Strangely enough, I was unsuccessful in finding the beer, but was having plenty of fun without it.

Word had spread about Red Elvises, and on Sunday people started to fill up the area in front of the stage incredibly fast. I could barely squeeze into one side to get a good picture-taking spot, but some nice people let me in.

The show was great again, needless to say! They played a lot of the same songs as the day before, but added “Sex in Paradise,” “Closet Disco Dancer” and a few other different songs. When “Sex in Paradise” began, I told a girl next to me who I’d just met before the show began, “Sometimes he takes off his pants during this song,” meaning Igor, and she laughed. I got the feeling she would be fine with that if it happened. And then he did drop his pants and she and just about everyone else in the audience screamed and cheered.

The girls also screamed when Zhenya shook his derriere all through the show, clad in pretty red pants, and when all three guys played drums during “Sad Cowboy Song.” In general, there was much screaming, whooping, singing, shouting, applauding and other sounds of merriment going on throughout the show. Quite a few people there, from the sound and energy level, had seen them before and were true fans, and I’m sure a lot more people left the Bumbershoot Festival that weekend as newly converted Red Elvises fans as well.