Finally Celebrating it’s 50th season after a 3 year hiatus.
Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot, Seattle’s annual Arts & Music Festival, returned to the Seattle Center grounds over Labor Day weekend to celebrate it’s 50th anniversary after a 3 year hiatus. The festival which brings together local, national and international artists partnered with several Seattle organizations and businesses (including Amazon) to bring back Bumbershoot as an affordable, inclusive, fan powered experience. Organizers seem to have paid close attention to complaints and concerns from attendees of the past and appeased fans with some welcomed changes. Tickets were reasonably priced with early purchase discounts and payment plans, free admission for kids under 12 and no additional charge for ADA seating. (which some venues and ticket markets need to take note of!) While there was no re-entry, guests were allowed to bring in their own food, a reusable water bottle and most food and drink vendors averaged between $7-$12 dollars.
The lineup for both Saturday and Sunday was a blend of artists that originated in the Pacific Northwest and emerging talents on the local music scene. (Scroll below for band reviews).
Bumbershoot, has curated several art exhibits over the years including the screen print lovers favorite “Flat Stock” which was on display inside the Armory. Inside the larger Fisher Green Pavilion an interactive titled “Out of Sight” brought in curious minds.
If fashion is your passion, the festival introduced the Fashion District across the lawn near the Vera Project stage. Local designers modeled their creations in several fashion shows and guests could shop for new attire in the fashion market.
There were some new additions to this year’s performance entertainment such as “Bumbermania” wrestling, situated inside the children’s court. Pole dancing (oddly also inside the children’s court) roller skating, movies, and a Witches Temple offering up aura and tarot card readings. It was disappointing there was no comedy stage, considering the area has some top notch talent.
The weekend weather was hit and miss or perfect, depending on your temperature tolerance. If you liked it hot and sunny then Saturday was for you! Sunday’s temperature dropped to the 60’s with light wind and periods of rain which only brought out a couple of bumbershoots. If you lived in Seattle long enough you adapt to the rain season and proudly boost about how you don’t need one.
While the festival itself seemed to have more accessibility options with live closed captioning on the large digital stage screens and ASL signers on risers over the crowd, improvements could be made for next year. Two of the stages, Mural and KEXP, were at times impossible to view acts or even access due to overcrowding and fencing that limited entry points.
Adjacent Memorial stadium was not utilized (except for its restrooms) and neither was Climate Pledge Arena which meant less walking, less lines and less security checkpoints. It probably helped keep ticket costs down too. The close proximity of stages made the festival feel more intimate and easier for fans to see more music. Set times didn’t overlap too much which was pretty great. I could spend all week talking about the massive amount of music I consumed over two days, but instead here are my pics for my favorites.
Ride, the pioneers of shoegaze from Oxford, England have been capturing the attention of fans since the 1990’s and have a devout following in the Pacific Northwest. The band performed a greatest hits set sprinkled with a new song or two. Vocalists and guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardener took several moments in between songs to talk to the crowd. Mark mentioned how they love being in Seattle and are excited to be working on a new album. My favorite moment was watching Andy Bell smile during the entire performance of “Vapour Trail”. Their set was one of the most popular on Saturday with fans packed together on the entire Fountain Lawn, which overflowed into the fountain itself.
One of the most anticipated sets for Saturday came from AFI , short for A Fire Inside. The California genre bending punk, alternative rock band has been kicking out hits since 1991 and are led by original members, Davey Havok (guitar, vocals) and Adam Carson (drums). Jumping onto the stage first was bassist, Hunter Burgan and guitarist, Jade Puget followed by Carson and Havoc for the set’s opener “Girls Not Grey” off 2003’s award winning album Sing the Sorrow. AFI’s set was a mix of chart toppers off their more mainstream albums like December Underground and Burials mixed with older fan favorites.
Watching Davey Havok for the first time was more than what I expected. Super playful and interactive with the audience and had us laughing on more than one occasion. Especially while commenting on the beautiful scenery surrounding the stage. As Havok was talking about the evening, a large bang emerged from the Seattle Center fountain which made the singer pause and say “Hey, there’s a fountain over there. It keeps erupting in an ejaculatory fashion”. More jokes and several mic stands later, AFI proved to be more than a music making machine. Every member of the band played with such intensity and physicality which kept your eyes constantly moving from all sides of the stage. Towards the end of the set Havok jumped into the crowd who then carefully surfed him back onto the stage. As the band started their closer “Miss Murder” everyone’s fists pumped through the warm end of summer air til Havoc dropped the last note and one last mic stand.
Rebirth Brass Band, hailing from New Orleans, has been combining traditional brass sounds with jazz, funk, soul and hip-hop since the 1980’s. The 2012 Grammy award winners welcomed early festival goers with a toe tapping burst of energy more powerful than that morning cup of coffee. It was the perfect way to start of the day as weather was expected to get less sunny in the afternoon. Rebirth drew a multigenerational crowd and it was nice to see parents dancing with their kids on the lawn. Their sound was crisp and clear with an impressive amount of musicians on their stage. I spent most of their set clapping along, and for a moment got lost in the excitement.
The crowd to view Russia’s favorite feminist political protest group, Pussy Riot, was so enormous it could have easily filled Memorial Stadium. Moving thru the wide eyed crowd during “Punish” I could see founding member and lead singer, Nadya Tolokonnikova, waving a whip surrounded by BDSM styled dancers in red balaclavas. Pussy Riot is known for its gorilla style gigs of performance art that shock audiences in a form of protest against war, bigotry, sexism and abuse of power. The sex positive advocates sing mostly in Russian, but one could understand a song’s meaning by the imagery displayed on the screens. Nadya’s guttural screams and yelling paired with the images triggered a visceral reaction from some fans. However, Pussy Riot’s powerful messages was received and understood. Especially when asked to collectively yell “F*ck You!” in defiance to those who abuse their authority.
Seattle’s new pop, rock, funk super group, RUB, is a sweet combination of members from Trick Candles, Salt Lick, Acid Tongue, NighTraiN, Cute Lepers & La Fonda led by singer-songwriter, Princella Ray. Rub performed in the all ages venue, Vera Project, to a capacity crowd with a line of 100+ hopeful fans waiting outside. Rub blends pop sounds with positive lyrics meant to inspire you to get up and shake things up. The band’s latest single “Contentment” was recently chosen as KEXP’s song of the day and their fans sang along to every word. The band’s infectious energy had everyone in the crowd dancing. Speaking of dancing, the band invited Flymoon Royalty’s Third Shift Dancers onto the stage. To which Ray jokingly responded to someone in the crowd “I know, we need more people up here.” The tightly packed Vera stage left little room to move, but that did not stop lead guitarist, Robbie Luna from jumping off a set of boxes during his solo. Nor did it prevent Ray and the Third Shift Dancers from using every available inch of space to dance and interact with pretty much everyone. Rub’s performance was refreshing and captured the true essence of Bumbershoot. Outside the venue the skies turned gray and rain down-poured over the festival, but inside it was all sunshine.
The rain did not stop Valerie June‘s performance nor did it deter her devoted fans from crowding the Fountain lawn. The shiny, happy Tennessee native started off her set with “Working Woman’s Blues” and “Call me a Fool”. The multi-instrumentalist stopped in between songs to switch between her ukulele, guitar and mandolin. June’s songs were a mixture of folk, blues, gospel, soul, country, Appalachian and bluegrass that had everyone smiling in the rain. June’s performance was part story teller with her tales of how her lyrics came to be. The published author on mindfulness took a moment to remind the crowd that “We are headed for better times if we just believe” before asking the crowd for an “Amen” since it was Sunday.
It seemed only fitting for Seattle’s former residents, Band of Horses, to close out Bumbershoot’s 50th anniversary. Fans screamed as drummer, Creighton Barrett and lead singer/guitarist, Ben Bridwell, walked onto the the stage waving Seattle Sonics flags. Bridewell greeted the crowd and thanked Bumbershoot for their return to Seattle saying “Its been awhile”. (last time BOH played Bumbershoot was in 2009!) The band started off with “Is There a Ghost?” (normally an encore song) off 2007’s Cease to Begin followed by “The Great Salt Lake” and “The First Song” off 2006’s Everything All of the Time. The playful and charismatic Bridwell posed periodically for those with camera’s or cell phones in the front. Joining Bridwell and Barrett on stage was BOH’s other long standing member, Ryan Monroe (guitar, keys and backing vocals) and newer members, Matt Gentling (bass) and Brett Nash (guitars).
BOH’s performance paired with the rain and the sunset reflecting off the Space Needle made for a very scenic portrait of Seattle. Long time fans who have seen BOH numerous times can predict which songs are next with Bridwell’s song introductions. Before introducing “NW Apartment” Bridwell stated to the crowd “Hey Seattle, we wrote this in Belltown!”
Even though the band performed earlier this year with the Black Keys at Climate Pledge arena there was something about Bumbershoot that gave the feeling of a true homecoming. The rest of their hour long set included top hits like “Warning Signs”, the emotional ballad “No One’s Gonna Love” and a special birthday sing-a-long song dedicated to their tour manager, Steven.
The crowd’s adoration for the closing songs were well received by the band. As rain soaked faces jumped and yelled every word to “The Funeral” and clapped along to “The General Specific”, Bridwell smiled and said “Good Job Everybody!”.
It’s no small task to put together a music festival and one of the things that set Bumbershoot apart from the rest was the sense of community. Kudos to everyone involved because that community feeling was among us. At time when the fad seems to be fans behaving badly, I saw the exact opposite over the course of two days. Maybe it’s a Seattle thing, but everyone was checking in on each other. And while I don’t normally give shout outs in my articles…. Shout out to the Bumbershoot staff member who found my cell phone that fell out of my bag and turned it into lost and found. My anxious hands were only separated from it for 30 minutes. Only in Seattle I tell ya! Thanks Bumbershoot, hope to see ya next year!
