You can't have picked up any music publication over the last few months without reading about Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. The brainchild of lead vocalist (and spiritual leader) Alex Ebert, the L.A. collective have been one of the true breakout successes of the summer. From Rolling Stone to our very own Bumbershoot buzz bands preview, everyone has been counting on those zeros.
It's little surprise, then, that Edward Sharpe and his cohorts managed to attract one of the biggest crowds at the first day of Bumbershoot 2010. The band were scheduled to play the Broad Street Stage, but the venue was barely able to contain the hundreds of fans who gathered to witness one of the summer's biggest live acts. Some people jumped the fences into the beer garden, others climbed trees to sneak a view of the stage, while most were left queuing around the corner in the hope of catching a glimpse of these rising stars.
Unfortunately many expectations were thwarted, and not just when it came to the venue's capacity. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros were almost thirty minutes late taking to the stage, by which point some of the curious bystanders had already started to drift away around the fringes of the crowd. With Neko Case on the Mainstage and Balkan Beat Box on the State Farm Stage, there was plenty of competition for our attention.
Opener '40 Day Dream' and smash hit single 'Home' provided some obvious highlights during their lively set, but their show at Bumbershoot suffered from many of the same problems as their debut album, Up From Below. The moments when Alex Ebert breaks into song are uplifting and instantly memorable, but there's far too much filler in between, and the set stalls from time to time when Ebert isn't in the foreground.
The acolytes of Edward Sharpe's peculiar brand of happy-clappy indie pop will still have been ecstatic at witnessing their hero in the flesh, but for the casual fan the material is already starting to feel a little thin. Let's hope they don't go the same route as similarly messianic one-album wonders The Polyphonic Spree. With a few more tunes and a little less filler, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros could be truly mind-blowing.
We will be covering all three days of this year's Bumbershoot live from the festival itself, so be certain to subscribe to our articles (link at the top of the page) or follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest news and reviews from the three-day event. You can also read all of our Bumbershoot 2010 coverage here.
Check out our reviews of Idiot Pilot and The Decemberists at the festival's first day, and Greg Roth's interview with rock underdogs Anvil.
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