I love going to Bumbershoot.

It has a strange name, but Seattle's music and arts festival that spans three days over Labor Day weekend every year is an absolute blast. I generally only go one day out of the three, because to be honest, I can only handle one day of wandering around a jam-packed festival ground for five to eight hours. Bubble of personal space? Non existent.

I always go to Bumbershoot with the express intention of seeing two or three bands, then spend the rest of my time wandering around and stumbling across new music that I never would have discovered otherwise. This year I went specifically to see The Offspring and Flobots. And my great random find for 2008?

Cheb i Sabbah & 1002 Nights

From Bumbershoot's writeup:

"Known as a DJ whose talent is mixing Arabic, Asian and African sounds to rock a party, Cheb i Sabbah will be performing with 1002 Nights, his troupe of dancers and instrumentalists, and Riffat Sultana, a singer who comes from a rich lineage of Indian and Pakistani musical talent."

My group of friends and I were slowly making our way towards the Flatstock rock concert poster exhibit when we passed the Fisher Green stage and had to stop. The bizarre mix of techno-y dance-y type beats with traditional middle eastern sounding music was absolutely arresting. They had already amassed a huge crowd of happily dancing people which we promptly joined (though SOME OF US were too 'tired' to dance... I would prefer not to name names.... but it was NILS). The dancer on stage was extremely talented and a blast to watch... I have no idea what exactly she was doing, but it looked vaguely belly-danceish. I couldn't see very well.

And that was the only musical act I stumbled across that I thought to myself I NEED TO LOOK THEM UP LATER.

The vendor areas were chock full of awesome hippie goods. Rainbow clothing, duct tape wallets, jewelry, masks made out of silverware, airbrush tattoos, art of every kind, more clothing... you name it, it was probably there. My personal favorite were the handmade journals... soft leather covers filled with recycled cotton paper... totally "tree free", as I was told by the vendor. There was a particularly stunning huge sketch book that I would have killed for.... and I would have had to with a price tag of $200. Oh, if only I was less broke... I definitely made sure I picked up one of their business cards, and I'll be saving that website.

And that was Bumbershoot in a nutshell. Lots of fun. Walking back to the ferry, though, was less than fun. Note to self - make sure I have cash for the monorail next time.

My calves still hurt...