Live at Bumbershoot, Day 1: Michael Franti & Spearhead at KEXP

KEXP's stellar lineup at Bumbershoot continues with festival heavy-hitter Michael Franti & Spearhead live on the Secret Stage. Franti has his fingers in many pots. He’s a poet, rapper, and singer-songwriter, who has been spreading positivity all over the world since 1994 with his current project, Michael Franti & Spearhead. Their music blends rap with a wide variety of other genres, from funk, to dancehall, to folk. They're famous for their positive, upbeat sound (like the wildly popular, “Say Hey”). The band’s latest album, Soulrocker, was released earlier this year on Fantasy Records. Though Franti is known for genre bending, Soulrocker is a major departure from the sound he’s known for. Most noticeable is the album's strong EDM bent, though it doesn't leave behind the band's core message peace & love - instead blending acoustic and electric in a way that shows their sound has in no way stagnated, even after 22 years.

Spearhead treated us to a full set of new songs, all from Soulrocker. When asked what a "Soulrocker" was, Franti defined it as someone with "tenacious optimism," which is the man himself to a T. With Franti all smiles behind Mamma Brown, his well-worn acoustic guitar, we all knew we were in for a good time. He opened with "Saturday," a song featuring sunshiney guitars and a repeating cathartic buildup and breakdown, in which Franti assures us that no matter how rough things get, we've just got to make it to Saturday. "Good to be Alive Today" feels like Franti's own iteration of John Lennon's "Imagine," though instead of imagining no countries, religion, or possessions, he's imagining a world where everyone can just be safe and have everything they need. Though he laments the fraught nature of things, the core idea is one of hope, assuring us that everything is going to be ok. Keeping things pared down and folky, Franti gets sentimental, with "I Got Love For Ya" written for his son Cappy as he entered into adulthood, and upbeat love song "Crazy for You." "My Lord" closed the set on a high note, highlighting the beautiful voice of Jamaican singer Yazmin Brown, and featuring a chorus that was both fervent and steady as a rolling train.  At Franti's behest, I think we'll all be "practicing optimism" a little more after this fantastic performance.

Stay tuned on the blog all weekend as we bring you more coverage from Bumbershoot, and join us again live on air tomorrow at noon for Black Joe Lewis.