Peering over shoulders and through a web of trees and bobbing heads, it was hard to tell whether the smoke billowing from the stage was coming from Thunderpussy’s fog machine or steam rising off blacktop on a sweltering Saturday afternoon.
The Seattle favorites were ripping through one of the hottest rock shows of the summer in predictably mighty fashion. It was shoulder to shoulder at the Mural Amphitheatre, possibly the largest Bumbershoot crowd to gather at the stage for a homegrown artist in years.
Devouring a lumpia burger (the burgerization of a classic Filipino dish) from Beacon Hill’s community-minded hot spot Musang with the same that gusto singer Molly Sides exhibited howling, writhing and contorting herself on stage in front of a friendly hometown audience, it was one of those moments that felt like, to borrow Sides’ words, “a true testament to how special this city, this state truly are.”
For the first time in a long time, Bumbershoot feels like an expression of the Pacific Northwest instead of a reflection of popular culture.
First-time organizers New Rising Sun took the reins for the landmark festival’s 50th year, promising to make Bumbershoot an accessible, bohemian celebration of Northwest art and music once more, and after opening day, it’s safe to say they delivered. When was the last time Bumbershoot hosted a witch’s temple and a cat circus without batting an eyelash (or ball of yarn)?
The local love started early when Seattle standouts The Dip took one of the two central stages, one of them repositioned to make the Space Needle a more direct backdrop. It was a big day for soul music — a guaranteed crowd-pleaser at any music fest — on the Fisher Pavilion stage, with Jacob Banks, Durand Jones and rootsy soul rocker Brittany Howard performing later. Rocking a Jimmy Buffett tee in tribute to the late mayor of Margaritaville, who died a day earlier, Dip frontman Tom Eddy and the blue-eyed soul brigade serenaded a still-gathering crowd with cool-breezing numbers like “Atlas,” with Eddy’s honeyed vocals helping festival goers ease into a bustling Seattle Center campus.
“Bumbershoot, welcome back everybody,” Eddy rejoiced after an easy-swinging “Slow Sipper.”
Indeed, Bumbershoot is back, in more ways than one. But perhaps more telling in the early hours was who was back at Bumbershoot following a more youth-oriented, mainstream-attuned bigger budget era of the festival. There were baby boomers who have held onto their tie-dyed Bumbershoot 2001 shirts for 20-plus years, stroller-pushing families and children squealing with joy while romping through the International Fountain, and tatted-up humans over the age of 30. (Yes, your friendly neighborhood punk rocker has a reason to visit Bumbershoot again.)
Helmed by a trio of local music and arts vets, New Rising Sun also pledged to make Bumbershoot about more than music again, while adopting a broad view of what qualifies as “art.” Visual art exhibitions were on display inside Fisher Pavilion and the A/NT Gallery a stone’s throw from the main stages. A newly christened fashion district (replete with a runway, nail artists and boutique booths) took over the renovated DuPen Fountain area in between the central grounds and satellite music stages at the consistently packed Vera Project and KEXP, as Seattle’s flagship radio station once again hosted a Bumbershoot stage after sitting out 2019.
Despite utilizing a number of pockets around the campus, the flow and layout was conducive to exploration. With an overwhelming amount of programming scattered around Seattle Center, it also ensured that no two Bumbershoot experiences would be exactly the same.
“We got our own little community, our own little family right here,” noted Dave B., the Seattle-reared and L.A.-based melodic rapper, flashing his infectious grin while reconnecting with a hometown crowd on KEXP’s outdoor stage.
Almost every Seattle music festival strikes some kind of balance between local and national artists, often with the locals filling side stages or early afternoon time slots. On Saturday, that regional presence was felt at the top of the bill with Northwest rock greats Sunny Day Real Estate and Sleater-Kinney among the headliner-caliber acts.
With the Mural Amphitheatre packed out again, the reunited Sunny Day sounded even fiercer, crisper and more intense than they did at the Moore Theatre six months ago. Drummer William Goldsmith’s fluid battering carried enough hydraulic force to power a small logging town for a month, as the Seattle stalwarts shot forceful post-grunge/proto-emo bursts into the night sky.
Across the grounds, fellow Sub Pop alums Sleater-Kinney turned back the clock with a joyfully blistering set drawing heavily from 2005’s “The Woods” and their seminal “Dig Me Out” LP. (Only two songs from the Olympia-formed band’s two most recent albums, including 2019’s daring/fan-dividing “The Center Won’t Hold,” made the cut.)
For all the highs of Sleater-Kinney classics like “Modern Girl,” which grew into a slow-building seether with guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein singing pointed feminist lyrics through gritted teeth, it was choice covers (or covers of covers) that made for some of the day’s most memorable moments. Led by singer/guitarist Corin Tucker, the indie-punk heroes dedicated a chilling “Dance Song ’97” to longtime Sub Pop band Low and drummer Mimi Parker, who died last fall, playing the stripped-down, soul-baring version the influential indie rockers contributed to a recent “Dig Me Out” covers album.
“Something amazing about Low, they make you hear things in a different way,” Tucker said, later paying tribute to Sinead O’Connor, closing with a jubilantly defiant “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
Bumbershoot continues Sunday with alt-rockers The Revivalists, Seattle-launched Band of Horses, Phantogram and more. Check back Monday for our full recap and review.
#Review #Homegrown #sounds #rule #Bumbershoots #opening #day
