Part 1: Allison Moorer (around 7 pm Sept. 3)
I must be getting older and unhipper each year, because there seems to be fewer and fewer acts I’m interested in at Bumpershoot. I just went for Allison Moorer and Steve Earle this year. It was just Michael Franti either last year or the year before (he played about an hour past his time, being the last one on that stage).
Allison Moorer has a beautiful voice and is a great songwriter (check out “Fairweather” on her website), although she’s got an album of covers coming out, so did quite a few of them. Late in the set, her husband, Steve Earle, came out and they did a duet of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (much to the approval of the Seattle audience). She’s a little cautious speaking about “you know who”, though I’m sure Steve won’t be tonight.
They weren’t married at the time JoJo and I tabled for Amnesty International when Allison opened for Steve at the The Showbox. When I first saw they were playing the same day at Bumpershoot, I thought “what a coincidence”, then I read her bio. Must have been a good tour!
I unfortunately left the death penalty brochures at home that time and had to hop the bus back to get them (fortunately before the show), leaving JoJo to hold down the fort. Glad we had them for later, as that’s Steve’s big issue (which he’s done a lot of work with leno and AI around).
I’m at home again and heading out soon. Sad, but true. Also needed to get caught up on a few things (though I haven’t gotten my coffee yet and I’m almost out, hopefully stop at the Whole Foods between the bus stop and Seattle Center as I didn’t make it to the one near me). Well, I didn’t call myself Java Colleen for nothing!
Wish I had been bold enough to bring my camera despite the Bumpershoot website’s rules saying you couldn’t use it to photograph performers (because, of course there were anyways). Maybe I’ll bring it tonight. Then again, especially with this camera, night photography can be annoying.
Part 2: Steve Earle (Sept. 4, 6:38 am)
I forgot to mention, Allison brought the sun in the middle of her set. It was night by the time I went back to catch Steve play, maybe appropriately as his writing has gotten progressively darker as the Bush II (Shrub) administration wears on (and wears us all down). He started in easy, with his older stuff, and towards the end of his set, he did a lot of really intense songs from his upcoming Washington Square Serenade album, including “Jericho Road”, “Oxycontin Blues” and a Tom Waits cover, “Way Down in the Hole”. Also a really pretty number for his new wife “Sparkle and Shine”, and of course, Allison came out to sing with him for the next number after that, “City of Immigrants”. Funny how people forget where their own families came from. We’re all either immigrants or descendents of immigrants in this country, except maybe the Native Americans (who, unfortunately, were often forced to move by the whites themselves).
Sad, the times we live in. Steve & Allison have moved to New York City from Tennessee, because, Steve said, he needed to be able to look out and see a mixed race, same sex couple walking down, because it made him feel safer! Damn red state/blue state split. Another thing to hate Bush for.
Looks like I’ll have to wait until tonight or maybe tomorrow to actually post this.
Update: 11:47pm, Aug. 4
I forgot to mention the cute part where Allison stole Steve’s cell phone from his pocket in the middle of his set! Encore: “Rich Man’s War” followed by (what else?) “Copperhead Road”.
With my photography, it probably wouldn’t have mattered much if I had my camera earlier! Oh, well, should have brought JoJo!
Java Colleen's Jitters 