This weekend marked Bumbershoot’s 40th birthday. Damn! That’s a lot of years bringing sweet tunes to Seattle. As always, we have dug up some reviews of the festival, everything from the Wall Street Journal to smaller blogs and personal experiences.
via Popthomology
So’s there I was, sittin’ on a wooden bleacher seat, ridin’ out Neko Case’s set at the Bumbershoot Mainstage waitin’ for the Bob Dylan, and I sez to myself, “Hey. What are you doing Marianne. You ain’t diggin’ Neek, it’s a long-ass time until Dylan gets here, you are chilly and far away from the stage and it’s all feelin’ a little…distant. Yeah, that Zimmerererererererman is a big-time big-deal, good to see a legend, dude’s got some serious great songs, but…voice. Is. Shot. You gonna wait…or are you gonna go see two bands you KNOW you like, huh?”
via Weekly Volcano
Bumbershoot means a lot to me, on a number of levels. It is years of memories. It is sun and rain and noise and sweat. But mostly it is a feeling, and a sound. It is the ability to close your eyes and hear the joy of hundreds of musicians and artists at every turn.
via SSG
Finally! The band to break Seattle out of it’s ho-hum shell and get people rocking. Or so I thought. Japandroids took to the Broad Street Stage a few minutes late, but not without polite apologies and promises to “f***ing rock” (Canadians are so nice). And rock they did. From note one the guitar/drum duo had their pedal to the metal, injecting into the air an electricity that was sorely missing from this gloomy Monday afternoon.
via Click & Dagger
Monday was a wet finish to the final day of Seattle’s weekend long Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. As far as Music Festival’s go around here, Bumbershoot is our crown jewel. It’s also the music event that usually marks the end of our Summer too, so it’s also the saddest day in a lot of ways. As we did the entire weekend, we spent a lot of time at the always amazing KEXP Music Lounge.
via Wall Street Journal
With the grandfather of folk rock and the prom queen of grunge headlining the first two days, Boomers and Generation X reigned over the first two days of the 40th anniversary of Bumbershoot, North America’s biggest urban arts festival, embraced as a local, family-friendly freak show and a staple of the Northwest indie music scene.