Words and Photos by AJ Dent
Katie Kate
With hair like a frosty waterfall, Katie Kate commanded my complete attention in the second performance of hers I’ve had the fortune of catching. Sasquatch 2012 saw this ball of spunk, but that show felt quite different from her spot at Bumbershoot. She seemed more comfortable this time around, both with her bombastic raps and her interaction with the audience. “If you’re wondering where all these beats came from, I made ‘em,” she dead-panned at one point, creating cheers. Whitney Petty of The Grizzled Mighty — another Seattle act gaining speed — and I spotted one another in the crowd, and momentarily danced together to this punky pixie’s flows. “Shit’s about to get real real,” Katie Kate later laughed before busting out 2012’s “Zombie.” Before any of us knew what was happening, people dressed up for Bumbershoot’s Zombie Walk trudge-danced onto the stage. “If you see a zombie, fucking kill it!” she called out, and proceeded to run around kicking some undead ass. It was the perfect example of her confidence and coolness in the city that adores her. With her unique utterances on the mic and instrument intelligence in the mixing room, she’s set to explode across the whole country. Watch out for her.
Matt Pond
If I could choose my ideal setting in which to hear Matt Pond play, it would definitely be atop a frozen lake, him in winter boots with the audience ice-skating all around. I really bet spouts of visible breath and twinkles of snow would complement well his heart-driven guitar-strumming. Bumbershoot’s not half bad either, though. All the sweethearts that’d congregated in front of the Plaza Stage were in for a treat (probably back at home after the show, too). This New England-based artist and collaboration guru emitted warm melodies just right for a Sunday night beneath the Space Needle. “Let Me Live” seemed an especially content mantra, as if each band member knew they were in the precise right place at the right time right then. I think the spectators felt the same way, too.
