Bumbershoot: It's still "mind-blowing"

Seattle, we have a problem.

This is a city addicted to music-based festivals. What started as a casual dabbling is now completely out of control — Folklife, Hempfest, Pride, Georgetown, Fremont and West Seattle music fairs, Seafair music off-shoots, the Capitol Hill Block Party, the KEXP BBQ ...

We inhale music-based festivals like Takeru Kobayashi inhales hot dogs, like the Wu-Tang Clan inhales ... well, you know.

Speaking of the Wu, this year the New York hip-hop superstars headline Bumbershoot, the last and greatest of Seattle's summer music binges. A few of these up-start festivals are hoping to be "the next Bumbershoot," but for now, the Labor Day blow-out at Seattle Center is like Elvis, the King.

It all started in 1971 as a free music festival. Admission was charged a few years later, and like many things, it gets more expensive just about every year: this year's charge at the gate is $35 (three-day passes start at $95). Last year it was $30 per day, the year before that $28, the year before that $25, the year before that $20 ... and people were complaining back in 1992, when it was $9 per day.

Some surely will stay at home and grumble, That's way too expensive, I don't need to pay that to see this ridiculous Fergie, plus it's way too crowded ... and the parking!

While Bumber-bashing is great sport, there are a great many things this festival does with extraordinary precision, which helps it keep its place near the top of American music festivals. Though the headlining national acts are often chosen for popularity, rather than artistic merit, landing the Wu-Tang Clan is a stunner. Especially since that is supposed to mean (believe it when it happens) a concert by all of the original members, except the departed Ol' Dirty Bastard.

Rounds of applause

Most local musicians playing the fest — and there are many (see related story on K6) — are as pumped about the Wu-Tang reunion as actually playing the festival. One of the most interesting things about Bumbershoot is how thin the line is between performer and fan. As soon as they are done winning applause, many of the local musicians become ordinary festival goers, gleefully scrambling around Seattle Center in search of favorite acts. Just like everyone else.

Robin Pecknold was 15 when he first went to Bumbershoot, and was blown away by The Shins. Six years later, his Fleet Foxes will perform at the big festival. "It seems like they've gone for booking more local bands, which is cool," he said.

(Robin's older brother Sean created an animated trailer for Bumbershoot, with the audio from a Fleet Foxes song. It can be viewed/heard at www.myspace.com/bumbershoot.)

You won't catch Pecknold screaming for Fergie, and he's not terribly enthusiastic about most of the national acts, but does plan on catching The Shins again.

The Blakes and the Cave Singers performed before a few thousand last weekend at the KEXP BBQ. Both bands said they are pumped up to play before huge crowds at Bumbershoot.

Two of the three Blakes members are brothers — Garnet Keim, 27, and Snow Keim, 24. They were raised in Maine, with the younger born in a snowstorm. "Back in Maine, no one knows about Bumbershoot," bass player Snow said.

In 1999, he was new in Seattle, working in a coffeehouse, and someone gave him a ticket to something called Bumbershoot. His reaction, shortly after he walked in the gates: Sweet maple syrup! (Or something like that.)

"It was mind-blowing," Snow said, re-phrasing for the newspaper.

After years of scrounging, these former Pike Place buskers are now one of the hottest bands in Seattle, with a pleasing throw-back — they dig the Zombies and Kinks — garage-rock sound.

They have an EP out on the rising label Light in the Attic, and the Blakes have played West Seattle and Fremont festivals, the Block Party, the KEXP deal and now the monster, Bumbershoot.

"It's been the best summer of my life," said singer-guitarist Garnet.

Hip-hop makes headlines

Tilson ("It's my only name"), the leader of the Blakes' label-mate the Saturday Knights, performed at Bumbershoot last year. The Tacoma MC got his mind blown twice. First, leading his party hip-hop crew's jam at EMP's Sky Church, he turned around and saw the venue's trippy light show going on behind him. "I almost stopped." He recovered, finished his set and was off to catch one of his favorite acts.

"I got to sit there and nod my head to A Tribe Called Quest."

And he'll be there with the masses this year, for the Wu-Tang.

Colin Johnson, hip-hop friendly booking agent for Nectar (he previously worked for Chop Suey), is one who has noted Bumbershoot's recent attention to hip-hop.

"Generally, I think Bumbershoot could always round out their national hip-hop a bit more, more artists with diverse backgrounds representing different aspects of the genre," he said. "But I can't complain about headliners; Bumbershoot has made sure in the last three years that hip-hop is prominently featured by bringing in headlining acts like Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, and this year in Wu-Tang Clan.

"Local hip-hop has gotten its fair share of the local pie as well and is well represented."

Derek Fudesco, guitarist of a fast-rising (already singed to Matador Records) new band called the Cave Singers, was with the Murder City Devils when he first experienced Bumbershoot.

His memories of opening for Motorhead? "We drank a lot," he said and laughed. "And played to a big empty stadium. After our set, Lemmy came out and said, 'It sounded alright from my trailer.' "

Fudesco, who later played Bumbershoot with Pretty Girls Make Graves was raised in Fresno, and this music festival was a mind blower to him as well. "It kind of reminds me of a fair — it's like the Fresno Fair, except instead of one stage of music, there's a bunch of stages."

Singer Pete Quirk, who previously played B-shoot with Hint Hint, agreed with the county fair analogy — he was raised in New Jersey. Cave Singers drummer Marty Lund moved from southern Washington to Renton when he was a teenager. His first Bumbershoot: "I remember being stoked to just walk around and see all kinds of stuff."

Yes, there's still that. Art exhibits, performance artists, short films, comedians, theater ...

But mostly, it's the music that has us hooked on Bumbershoot. A few years from now, they'll probably be charging us $50. And we'll grumble as we line up to enter the gates.

Tom Scanlon: 206-464-3891 or tscanlon@seattletimes.com