Line Out Music & the City at Night

Slog

News & Arts

@SEAshows
Twitter feed of Seattle shows on sale now

« A Day in the Life of Mudhoney Madma… | The Ultimate Mobile DJ Setup? »

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Never Heard of 'Em / Bumbershoot Never Heard of 'Em: Tony Bennett

Posted by Anna Minard on Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 10:22 AM

In honor of his Bumbershoot appearance, we assigned Anna Minard (who "knows nothing about music") to write about Tony Bennett.

Okay, okay: Of course I have "heard of" Tony Bennett! I'm not a complete caveperson. He's the guy who did... um... he sang that—wait, name a song that Tony Bennett sang. (Insert deafening chorus of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" here.) Right! But other than that. Well, all of the songs, ever. Or maybe just all of the ones that sound like a sexy grandpa. Every jazz standard. Old songs with slightly dirty-sounding titles like "Young and Warm and Wonderful." I'd thought the most important thing about Tony Bennett was how amazing his hair is. (Quick! Tony Bennett and Skrillex: SWITCH!) But when I consulted the internet to confirm the picture in my head of Mr. Bennett, which is about six inches of combed-back hair pouf, I found my brain had exaggerated by about four to five inches. However! I did discover that his skin is bright orange, and the hair pouf he does have is snow-white. He is quite the high-contrast fellow.

He sounds, depending on the song, like: Santa after two Viagra, the human form of the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas, the human form of a maroon velvet smoking jacket, an actual fox with actual silver fur, and/or what George Clooney will sound like in 20 years.

That all might sound kind of silly. But you literally have to respect him. Seriously, try it—just try not respecting him. Did one of your limbs just fall off? Well, lesson learned. Don't fuck with the pros.

Tony Bennet plays Bumbershoot Sunday at 3:15 pm in the KeyArena. See more Bumbershoot coverage here!