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Show Recap: Macklemore Shines At Seattle’s Bumbershoot

Written by Jake Greene. Published: Friday, September 16, 2011.

This year marked a transition year for Seattle music and arts festival Bumbershoot. The main stage made its way in doors to the NBA-vacated Key Arena. The festival appeared to be downsized from the number of people walking around, to the level of artists on the bill. Many regular Bumbershoot attendees gave a thiz face when initially seeing Ray Lamontagne and Wiz Khalifa listed among the headliners, however, the move may be fitting. Seattle has generally gotten the stiff-arm from large acts, being left in the rain while other major cities are listed on artists’ must-visit lists. With this being the assumed direction, Bumbershoot had to be pleased by the outcome of the weekend, highlighted by one of the city’s own acts, Macklemore.

For those who have witnessed Macklemore level of fame rising faster than the basketball shorts of a teenager watching a Nikki Minaj video, this comes as no surprise. But, the magnitude of his performance was surprising to all. If you have been to Seattle, or live in a city with a smaller NBA arena, you can comprehend the capacity, one that is generally filled by the likes of Lady Gaga, Coldplay or Kanye. These are not generally venues packed out by an artist whose resume consists largely of one album and an EP, hometown-bred or not. But Macklemore hit the stage, with an estimated 13,000 fans mesmerized from the jump, and let a memory that Seattle hip hop fans will not forget. He played all of his hits (“And We Danced”, “Irish Celebration”, “Wings”), debuted a new song (“10,000 Hours”), and brought home a town legend and former Sonic great Shawn Kemp to the stage to a crazed frenzy. Macklemore was able to shut it down before Wiz Khalifa, the headliner, rocked for a visibly smaller audience. Macklemore took another step on his path toward true hip hop fame, but he also solidified himself as a Seattle icon, not only overshadowing Wiz, but also the weekend’s only true headline, Hall & Oates.

Other Highlights:

Kendrick Lamar, joined by ScHoolboy Q, bucked the trend of boring performances often associated with West-coast lyricists (see: Blu). While there were maybe a thousand people at the first main stage set of Monday, Kendrick gave a performance worthy of a live arena. He was surprisingly charismatic, drawing the crowd into conversation and call-and-response and even delving into story telling. And when his hits like “Hiiipower” started, the small crowd got wild.

Big Boi’s set was entirely bitter-sweet for the pure fact that it was essentially an Outkast sing-along. It was a damn good set, and everyone hung on every word, mostly repeating them a half second behind Sir Lucious Leftfoot. At the same time, it was disappointing for so many classic anthems consisting of an authentic performances from only one member of of the legendary duo. The performance notably lacked the presence of one of the most recognizable voices in hip hop.

Another hometown favorite, Sol gave a crowd of a couple hundred a surprise by performing the “Spliff Remix” in its entirety for the first time, being joined on stage by Geologic (Blue Scholars), Grynch and Thig Natural. Those who caught the set also gained a good preview of his upcoming album, due out this Fall, as he performed a handful of new tracks. The set also included appearances by Grieves, Dice and Ray Dalton, while being backed by his band, The Zillas.

Biggest letdown: Das Racist. On the same stage and timeslot as the catastrophe that was Jay Electronica’s 2010 Bumbershoot performance, Das Racist hit the stage for a boring, unclear set. It didn’t come anything close to the exciting, anything-goes experience you would expect from their notable and critically-acclaimed recorded material.

Best non-hip hop set: Tie between the soulful Charles Bradley and Little Dragon.