West Seattle's Summerfest on Saturday brought the usual mix of music with a broad range of music styles and sounds. The day was led off by West Seattle's School of Rock that had the students trading places on stage as they churned through some rock classics like the Doors Break on Through and Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm amazed. But the capper was the blistering performance of The Hives Because I Wanna by the students led by Nico Sound (his stage name) who brought to mind Mick Jagger before he became famous. "I just live for the audience" he said after his set. 

The afternoon saw the Greenlife Stage filled to overflowing with 15 of the 21 invited Mayoral candidates taking part in what turned out to be a reasonably interesting, and at times amusing exchange of ideas. Conspicuous by her absence was the candidate leading the field in both polls and fund raising, Jenny Durkan. No explanation was offered. The candidates had little time to offer thoughts in depth since they had just an hour to introduce themselves, make simple policy statements and respond to questions. The event was less of a debate than an opportunity for many of those attending to put a face to a name and get a sense of what they represented. 

In attendance were Gary Brose, Casey Carlisle, Jessyn Farrell, Michael Harris, Bob Hasegawa, Lewis A. Jones, Harley Lever, Mary J. Martin, Mike McGinn, James W. Norton Jr. Larry Oberto, Nikkita Oliver, Jason Roberts, Alex Tsimermann. Missing were Jenny Durkan, Thom Gunn, Dave Kane Cary Moon and Keith J. Whiteman.

The headliners for Saturday night Brent Amaker and the Rodeo did not disappoint. They had the usual blend of smoke, humor, burlesque and powerful western rhythms but this time they added an extensive laser light show that at times formed a ceiling of light over the band creating a kind of intimate club atmosphere.. if you can believe it, out of light. The crowd roared its approval of the eclectic cowboy music show.