Who: Mayer Hawthorne and the CountyWhere: Fisher Green StageWhen: Saturday, Sept. 5, 4:00 p.mThe city of Ann Arbor, MI has a lot to smile about today. Not only did its main college football program finally win a season opener after two years on the skids, but the city’s most recognizable music export this year, Mayer Hawthorne and the County, just played Bumbershoot for the first date on their nationwide tour. Hawthorne sang a good amount of songs from his debut album, A Strange Arrangement, but a lot of the studio tricks that made his record sound polished were noticeably absent in a live setting. To cut to the point, Hawthorne is not a singer. He’s a DJ and a producer and he hit a lot of flat notes during his set. The musicians behind him sounded good, but I felt like the performance as a whole could benefit from some female energy on stage. Perhaps a background singer or two to help take the weight off of Hawthorne. Beyond that, crowd favorites, “Maybe So, Maybe No” and “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” (which he opened the set with) sounded good. He followed that up with a cover of Slum Village’s “Fall in Love” and a cover of ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky.” As far as music arrangements go, the group is definitely headed in the right direction. The vocals need to be stronger and more captivating overall but that’s a kink I’m sure they’ll work out as the tour gets under way. For all our festival coverage, visit Bumbershoot.SeattleWeekly.com.