Back in 2019, I won VIP tickets to Bumbershoot. Going with my then-girlfriend, now-wife, we went for all three days of the festival, despite her being really sick for the last two days of the festival with something that sounded remarkably like COVID - even though this was back in September.
This year, after a four-year absence, Bumbershoot was back with new owners, tickets were affordable, and the three-day festival was limited to two days over Labor Day weekend. Other changes included a more local lineup with fewer big names (in 2019, Lizzo was supposed to perform but canceled, but it still had Chance the Rapper, Carly Rae Jepsen, and the Lumineers), and more non-musical offerings, like an art gallery, a fashion district, and even a cat circus. It didn’t, however, have comedians, which the 2019 festival had, or VIP areas, which - thank goodness.
Comparing the last festival to this one, the crowds were much bigger this year and included more families and communities, as well as a larger age range of people, from babies to senior citizens. And it had Pussy Riot, which probably didn’t belong in an all-ages show, but was highly entertaining. I hadn’t heard their music before, but it rocked, while the screen behind them showed dildo candles, whips (the lead singer occasionally flagellated the speakers onstage), and sexually suggestive imagery. They also spoke out against the war in Ukraine and for the Ukrainian army.
It also had Bomba Estéreo, which gave my favorite performance of the night (though we only saw them, Pussy Riot, and The Revivalists in full - minus an encore for the last group). Their show had the fullest crowd of people I saw outside of Fatboy Slim (including an inflatable llama). The energy was infectious, though my calves were mad at me afterwards from all that dancing. They also had the most colorful stageshow, which was accentuated as day gave way to dusk.
One controversial decision was not allowing people re-entry. In the past, you could enter and exit as much as you wanted, though security could be a pain. That was probably done to prevent the lines from becoming ridiculous and to make sure that you spent money on-site for food (though there was no ban on bringing in food, just drinks - though you could bring empty water bottles, so long as they weren’t made of glass, and refill stations could be found throughout the venue). It also might’ve been so you couldn’t swap wristbands with people, though the wristbands were ridiculously hard to remove, short of cutting them off.
Regardless of the reasons, getting through the lines was a breeze, with one lane dedicated to people with no bags/clear bags and another for people with bags (getting there, on the other hand, was a bit of a walk). The line for 21+ wristbands wasn’t the crazy, either. And maps were everywhere, which made it easy to figure out where to go once you were inside.
Bumbershoot is a rain-or-shine event, and rain was in the forecast for Sunday, so I made sure to pack an umbrella - at least for when we weren’t watching any acts. It started raining during Pussy Riot but was finished by the time The Descendents took the stage (we watched a bit of them while eating calzones).
Besides calzones from Ballard Pizza, we previously ate some crab and lobster rolls from MARKET Seattle (which were delicious) and bought a couple ciders - the latter near the KEXP stage, which is when it really started to rain. So we drank underneath an awning and then visited the art gallery.
The Revivalists brought with them cool dad energy and seemed positively subdued after Bomba Estéreo. Though we only really knew “Wish I Knew You,” we stayed for their whole set (minus the encore), mainly due to a very enthusiastic woman dancing to their songs like a fangirl glitching. We then briefly headed over to Fatboy Slim before catching the bus home ahead of the crowd. Surprisingly, figuring out where to exit was the most confusing part of the night.
Bumbershoot got new ownership this year after the sparsely-attended 2019 event, which went dark during the pandemic (though its previous owners signaled they wouldn’t be running a 2020 festival long before COVID was a thing). I’m glad we got to go (and my wife wasn’t sick this time), as this year felt more like a Seattle-based music and art festival (even the food was local), as opposed to a big music festival that happened to take place in Seattle. Not that I didn’t enjoy my free VIP tickets (or the experience of seeing some truly terrific bands), but this year’s offering felt more like what Bumbershoot used to be, at least according to what I’ve heard (and this excellent article supports). Given the choice, that’s the kind of experience I’d prefer. Based on the crowds on Sunday, that’s the kind of experience they’d prefer, too.