The Rebirth of Bumbershoot

Seattle needed a big win for music and arts. We got it and more at Bumbershoot 2023.

Happy 50th anniversary to Bumbershoot Music & Arts Fest!

Seattle almost didn’t get to celebrate the half-centennial of our beloved festival.

Because Bumbershoot nearly disappeared, until a band of like-minded show and art promoters who believed in its mission jumped in to save it.

This is a joyous story for my city — and for me as a music writer and mom, and for all of us who love music and fun—because in 2023, we needed a big huge affirming win for wonder.

And we got it.

A Bumber-backstory

Bumbershoot began in 1971 as a free, city-sponsored festival.

My first Bumbershoot was in 1996, shortly after I moved to Seattle; it cost $9 in advance, $10 at the door — unless you wanted to see Elvis Costello, which would cost you an extra $20. (I did want, and paid, and it was one of the greatest shows of my life; all these years later and I still get goosebumps thinking about his “I Want You” encore.)

I attended Bumbershoot for many years, first just for fun, and then as a music writer after launching Three Imaginary Girls in 2002.

Bumbershoot was always an end-of-summer highlight, a whirlwind of bands familiar and unknown, and a celebration of the diverse arts community that made me fall in love with Seattle. The non-profit that produced the event always booked a great blend of local and touring acts and managed to keep ticket prices, well, manageable — so the event was inclusive, diverse, and family-friendly.

My daughter experienced her first Bumbershoot from the womb (Crowded House in 2007). I brought her next in her Ergo as a baby (Neko Case in 2008, she napped the whole show). I even nursed her in the press room mid-festival.

Bumbershoot felt steadfast, anchored alongside other truths like:

• I thought my kids would grow up attending Bumbershoot every year.
• I thought Bumbershoot and I would always be here — that I’d keep on writing and Bumbershoot would keep on Bumbershooting.
• I thought a sense of creative curiosity was baked into the foundation of Seattle, and Bumbershoot was an output of it all.

But then, things changed.

I stopped writing. The truth was, two kids and a big corporate job proved too heavy to carry my “imaginary” job too. It broke my heart, but in 2009, I stepped down from Three Imaginary Girls.

And Bumbershoot got big. Over time a corporation took over Bumbershoot from the non-profit that had run it for years, and the vibe changed. So did the price tag.

Headliners became bangers.

Local bands all but disappeared.

Ticket prices skyrocketed.

By 2019, tickets approached $200, and what once was a community-focused event became a massive festival, financially untenable for many.

And the finances didn’t work for that corporation, either. After the 2019 festival, AEG announced they were D-O-N-E. Things seems dire, probably hopeless for Bumbershoot.

But then something amazing happened.

In 2023, a team of local Northwest concert promoters and visual arts producers obtained rights to produce Bumbershoot. They recognized the cultural significance of the event and vowed to renew it and delight us with music, arts, and big weird fun this Labor Day weekend.

And my god, did they ever.

An imaginary rebirth alongside a Bumbershoot one

Also in 2023, Imaginary Liz and I realized how much we missed Three Imaginary Girls. We needed a way forward that wouldn’t bog us down with tech issues, so we could focus on what we love: music and writing.

I started testing Medium back in May and quickly grew to love it here — the tools, yes, but more importantly, the incredible community of writers and readers. I knew this was the place to rebirth Three Imaginary Girls — which we did, just as Bumbershoot 2023 launched last weekend.

Sometimes life stuns me with its parallels, and this one was no exception. I’m profoundly humbled. And excited!

Let’s go to Bumbershoot!!

Bumbershoot 2023 was exactly what a music festival should be.

Bumbershoot 2023 returned to Seattle’s roots — our unabashedly weird, sonorous, delicious, creative roots.

Everything about Bumbershoot 2023 flowed as a festival show should. Like the Goldilocks of music festivals, it felt just right.

Seattle Center was full but not packed. Gone were the ridiculous food lines. We didn’t fret over schedules, or anxiously queue for a huge headliners; those were replaced with loads of cool bands for music nerds like me, featuring an assortment of old favorites (hi, Sleater Kinney), new obsessions (Destroy Boys), and unknown acts to explore.

Stages were scattered around the park, creating a vibe like we were all exploring an adorable artsy musical neighborhood. Delicious smelling food popups lined the paths, and strange oddities and wonders filled the spaces from stage to stage.

What would we find? Would we encounter a flash mob dance troop? A tent with Tarot readings? Drag lip sync performances? Vintage and indie fashion vendors? Hair stylists offering fancy sparkly hair extensions ? A massive collection of incredible show-poster art? Yes, yes, yes and HELL YES, Bumbershoot had all this and more.

We wandered with glee. We stopped in to watch shows. It all felt so comfortable.

And the cost? $50 for the whole day.

I can’t recall a more bang-for-buck show in recent history.

To experience the day with my eldest — that same child who attended Bumbershoot still in womb and as an infant—and watch her delight in discovering new music, and seeing favorites live for the first time?

My heart is full.

Top 10 moments from our joyous romp through Bumbershoot 2023

(Featured in order of appearance, not importance.)

10. Flatstock

We hopped off the bus on the wrong side of Seattle Center and had to walk a mile around to the entrance. At 80 degrees in this time of global warming I might sound like a wimp, but it felt blazing hot.

Speaking of wimps, we’d planned to start our day seeing Seattle band wimps. I knew my kid would dig their lo-fi, droll punk-pop sensibilities, so I encouraged her to hustle as we encircled the venue.

At last, we arrived: sweaty, thirsty, and ready to rock.

But my daughter also arrived ravenous, as all 15-year-old metabolisms tend to do. So instead we entered the Armory, a revamped food court filled with local eats. While we awaited her goodies, we wandered through Flatstock, an extraordinary display of show poster artwork and longstanding Bumbershoot tradition.

The art truly was stunning.

My daughter soon found her favorite — Seattle-based artist Farley Bookout. She brought me to her booth and soon we were both obsessed, trying to pick which to buy.

We both loved this illustration of a corseted woman in red on her bed; Farley offered she was sitting next to a dead man, which we hadn’t noticed. Decision, made! These two gorgeous works of art came home with us.

9. Local bands at the KEXP and Vera stages

KEXP is the greatest radio station in the world, and the Vera Project is a world-class all-ages music venue and arts space. They’re right next to each other in Seattle Center, and both had stages set up for Bumbershoot.

We’d intended to start our day with Seattle punk-pop band wimps at Vera, but by the time my child demolished her iced PSL and breakfast sandwich, we’d missed them. I can’t let this story go without featuring this band, so please enjoy this video for their song “Mom,” which I find infinitely relatable — especially as my kid made us miss the show — and also loads of head-bopping fun.

“I’m a mom, I do what I want, I like to have fun! I’m a mom watch me make lunches, for everyone!”

Instead we started with Breaks & Swells, a Seattle-based band with soul — and funk, rock, a bit of blues, and a diva of a vocalist in Marquetta Miller, her high-pitched sonorous voice wailing over the horns section. My daughter enjoyed them and said, “I like her high squeaky voice, but I bet you don’t.” That kid, she knows me well. But people were dancing — not exactly what Seattle show-goers are known for — even in the blazing hot afternoon sun. Breaks & Swells clearly were a lot of people’s things, even if not mine.

TV Star came next, an indie band from Seattle with an earthy, harmony-rich sound influenced by American alt-country and maybe a smidge a British folk rock. I’m guessing they all grew up listening to Fleet Foxes, and certainly sound adjacent to that 2010-ish era of Sub Pop bands. We only caught the final few songs, but it was good stuff! A local band to watch for…

Afterwards we dropped into KEXP, where loads of music fans milled in the gathering space to cool off from the heat, drink iced coffee, and explore the record shop…

8. The Fashion District and a drag lip sync show

The KEXP and Vera stages were connected to the rest of the festival via the Fashion District, a series of booths featuring indie fashion designers, drag, vintage clothes, and on-site hair extensions and make-up. My child was in heaven, perusing the fashion and begging for sparkly hair extensions.

Our top two highlights:

• This dress is made of dried oranges.
• Sue from Corporate and her fabulous designs (and sassy attitude). We happened upon Sue performing later that evening in a drag lip sync showcase and it was our happiest accident of the day.

7. Thunderpussy

IT’S TIME FOR THUNDERPUSSY!!!

I dragged my daughter and her BFF forward, wiggling through the crowd to get closer to the stage. There was no shade and blazing heat, and I could sense my two teen northwest flowers were wilting. I told them we needed to move forward, to witness Thunderpussy at close range.

I could sense their skepticism.

But then Thunderpussy stormed the stage, and I felt vindicated.

Imagine the heavy acumen and swagger of Led Zeppelin, only it’s all women — hot-like-fire queer women — and they’re femme as fuck, and they shred with the best, fronted by a goddess of a vocalist with pipes to rival Ann Wilson who undulates onstage like a magnificent musical yogi.

Then you’re getting close to Seattle rock band Thunderpussy.

The set was incredible; the teens, awestruck. I most def earned mom-cred for this recommendation.

You can catch a glimpse for yourself — though my amateur iPhone video does this glorious band no justice.

6. Puddles Pity Party

It takes a special sort of madman to open a performance with a two-minute balloon squeal tribute to the late, great Pee Wee Herman.

Puddles is exactly the madman we needed.

No question, our favorite performer at Bumbershoot was Puddles Pity Party.

For the un-indoctrinated, Puddles is a nearly seven-foot tall sad clown with a baritone from the heavens. He’s mute other than his vocals, allowing for absurd videos, his tragic persona, and his torch song renditions of song picks to speak for him.

In lesser hands (and voices), Puddles would be a schtick.

But his brand of humor is brainy, wry, somehow slightly snarkly yet also universal, uplifting. And his voice is seriously otherworldly. Simon Cowell thought so on American’s Got Talent (he made it to the quarter-finals in 2017), and everyone who packed into the Mural Amphitheater space at Bumbershoot witnessed it as well.

Puddles is profoundly weird in the best of ways. And yet somehow, his 11-song, genre-spanning set and videos— which traversed everything from Kevin Costner to Gilligan’s Island to Stairway to Heaven — all just made glorious sense.

Puddles delighted my daughter and her friend with his renditions of Billie Eilish (“when the party’s over”) and Britney Spears (“Toxic”), and thrilled us GenX folks with his Ozzy (“Crazy Train”) and Cheap Trick (“I Want You to Want Me”). The Cheap Trick cover was especially poignant, as the video featured (presumably) fan-submitted images of pets wearing a signature Puddles hat, and ended with a message to please adopt.

Then he nearly blew my mind with his cover of Nick Cave’s “Ship Song,” even if I was the only one singing along.

What a treasure.

Matt & Kim

The last time I saw Matt & Kim was at SXSW in 2007 and I swear they haven’t aged a millisecond. Are they sorcerers? Vampires? It doesn’t matter, I just remember the manic fun-times of their live performance, so I dragged my kid away from her post-Puddles pizza and back to the Mural Amphitheater to catch them. We only intended to stay for a song or two but once the set started, she insisted we stay.

The duo plays with an infectious charm— Matt on keys and vocals, Kim beating the ever-loving shit outta her drums — with songs so effortlessly effervescent you can’t help but love them.

Highlights included:

• Kim flashing us her boobs.
• Kim pulling out two ginormous dildos and banging her drums with them.
• Kim standing on her drum kit and instigating the crowd to sing along.

Sorry, Matt, but Kim kinda stole this show. I think even he knew (and appreciated) that.

Matt was amazing too and really, it’s the way these two spark off one another and chant along to their infectious tunes together that make a Matt & Kim show so extraordinary.

But the most magical moment was when Matt & Kim each handed out gobs of rainbow balloons to the crowd…

…and asked the audience to inflate them. Then they counted off, “1–2–3–4!!!” and yelled for everyone to release their balloons on four as they burst into the song “Make a Mess.”

My kiddo gasped at the explosion of color. I captured a moment of it from our side view of the crowd so you can see the sight.

Folks in Seattle have a chance to catch this not-to-miss-live duo again on October 9 at the Showbox.

My child is already insisting we go — so you know she was impressed.

4. Destroy Boys

A post-post-punk* rock and next-wave riotgrrl band from Sacramento, Destroy Boys hit the stage full of swagger, grit, and charm, as singer Alexia Roditis called into the mic to their fervent crowd fans at the KEXP stage.

*How many posts do we need after “punk” in 2023? No matter, Destroy Boys sounded fresh and with no need to rely on labels from the past.

Feisty and fierce, the band challenged us to show our queerness, to fuck the police, to challenge the status quo, and to rock out. The crowd — mostly teens or young adults, like my daughter — devoured every word and note, waved rainbow flags, shrieked like, well, the schoolgirls/boys/enbys they were.

Destroy Boys was the most intimate show for us, as we went right up to the side of the stage. “I loved being able to make eye contact with the singer while she performed,” my daughter gushed. And I loved watching the child revel in seeing one of her favorite bands at point-blank range.

Then they thanked Sleater-Kinney, who were up next for us, for paving the way for women artists like them to make some noise.

3. Dumpling TZAR

My child was getting weary at this point and knowing her metabolism, we went in search of food. We found local vendor Dumpling TZAR and each of us gave them a shot, my gluten sensitivities be damned.

Y’all, I can’t stop dreaming of those damn dumplings. Maybe they tasted so good because we’d spent eight hours roaming Bumbershoot before eating them. I got the Classic, and my child got the Razorback (with bacon onion relish). And now my taste buds are convinced these were the dumplings of the gods and oh my god, I’ve been craving them ever since.

They’ve got a physical location behind the Lenin statue in Fremont and how much do I love Seattle that I can type that sentence and have it be 100% accurate.

2. Sleater-Kinney

Not gonna lie, by the time Sleater-Kinney took the stage, we were pretty wiped. But of course we rallied on because it was Sleater-Kinney, legends that they are, and we needed to see them.

The show was at the main Fountain stage, which had two massive screens on either side, so we could see the show in spite of being near the back. The screens also displayed all the lyrics and even banter in real time, which amazed me. The band sounded and looked incredible as ever, a polished contrast the raw, up-close-and-personal performance we’d just seen with Destroy Boys, who were clearly their proteges.

My favorite moment was when Carrie Brownstein paid tribute to Mimi Parker, drummer from Low, who died from cancer late last year. Low had covered “Dance Song ‘97” for a Sleater-Kinney tribute album, so to pay their respects, Sleater-Kinney covered the song right back, in the style of Low. The slower, contemplative version of the normally bouncy track was a heart-punch for sure, and after hearing it, I figured it was safe to leave.

How could Sleater Kinney top that moment?

Oh, they did. And we missed it.

We headed out and missed the final song and speech. Corin Tucker gave a rousing tribute to Sinead O’Connor and then the band covered “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

I’m crushed to have missed it, but thankfully Imaginary Matt Brown caught the whole thing, so we can all enjoy it.

1. Friends!

Truly, the star of the show was the amazing community of friends we ran into all day long. I’m sending huge love to all of you, those we encountered and the ones we never saw but who kept us company with social media posts from other performances. Extra thanks to those of you who humored me with the selfies.

The music and fashion and art and food and fun were fabulous, but what made Bumbershoot 2023 so transcendent was getting to experience it with all of you.

Big thanks, Bumbershoot!

If Bumbershoot 2023 proved nothing else, it’s that local bands, eclectic art, and big fun are part of Seattle’s DNA.

We didn’t need touring headliners.

We needed to connect as a creative community, to revel in arts, to wander our Seattle Central village and stumble upon pals and dancers and drag queens and bands.

And we did.

It amazes me to type up this recap and think how every one of the thousands of people who attended the event had a unique, different experience.

And this was just day one! There was a whole second day we didn’t attend.

So big thanks, Bumbershoot. What a gift you gave us all to ring in your 50th anniversary.

Greetings!

I’m All My Little Words, a GenX word nerd living in the Pacific Northwest with a whole lot of little words to share. I write about career, music, feminism and perimenopause, cooking, ambition, fun, parenting, and more, with an offbeat perspective on how and why the world works (or doesn’t).

If this story resonated with you, why not buy me a coffee? (Make mine an iced oat milk decaf mocha, please and thank you.)

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