For the thirteenth year in a row, we traveled up north to Seattle for the annual Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. I’ll get some pictures on here soon. We had a few extra days too, to see the city, but of course the festival is the big draw. As in most years, some friends travel along, this time it was Cal and Laura, along with Sam and Mama O. What did we do? Well….

Wednesday August 28

All six of us had the same Southwest flight in the morning. Once in Seattle, we separated at various points. Petra and I took the light rail to our hotel, The Camlin. The room wasn’t quite ready so we had them hold our luggage while we went to lunch at one of our favorites, Cyber-Dogs, a wonderful vegetarian hot dog place. These dogs are more like meals and really delicious. After that we walked over to Whole Foods and got some supplies for the week. Then it was back to the hotel. Now the room was ready and we went up and unpacked. In a bit, we took the monorail over to the Seattle Center and met up with the rest of the party for a while. Then Petra and I had a nice vegan chinese food meal at Bamboo Garden, where everything is animal-free! And then the monorail back to the hotel. It was a good start for the trip.

Thursday August 29

It was raining off and on but we didn’t let that stop us. We caught a bus across the street from the hotel and took a quick trip to the University District. We had some brunch at the Wayward Vegan Cafe (vegan omelets!) and shopped a while at Half Price Books, a great store a few blocks away. Then we music-shopped in Al’s and also Neptune Music. We took a short coffee stop to rejuvenate, and then went to the Vegan Haven shop, an all-vegan store. It rained buckets outside while we were in there but then it stopped and we walked down the street to Pizza Pi, an all vegan pizza place. Are you sensing a vegan theme here? LOL – we had some appetizers and took a couple pizzas back with us on the bus (!) for devouring in the room later.

Friday August 30

We met our friends Cal and Laura at the infamous 5 Point Cafe for brunch. Nicely fed, we walked to the nearby Experience Music Project, an amazingly cool music museum, which also happens to house the Science Fiction Museum. The four of us met Mama O and Sam there and we all did the “On Stage” event for a fun pic and video. We kind of split up and Petra and I went to pick up our VIP passes for tomorrow’s Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. No sense wasting festival time on things like that! Then we looked at all the Visual Arts at the free preview and then hung out for a bit at the International Fountain. And soon it was time for the free Film Festival preview. A full day! Once back at the hotel we chatted with Mama O and Sam for a bit and then called it a day.

Saturday August 31

The first day of the festival! I waited all year for this and here it was, finally. We went to the VIP hospitality room for a snack and also to the Starbucks Lounge to get our complimentary Starbucks pass for free coffee and lounge access. Part of the VIP pass is also access to the “secret stage” (the Music Lounge), a small indoor stage where you can be up super-close. Our first four acts were in there, though we did leave in between for food, bathroom, etc. Anyway we watched Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, who were pretty good. Then ZZ Ward, a small blonde with a nice big voice and bluesy sound. The 60-something soul singer Charles Bradley, who was good for a few songs but the chunky bare midriff and the (not) sexy moves were pretty uncomfortable and we left not wanting to see more. Next was Gary Numan, yes the same one from the 70s, and he was great. I guess I’d compare him to Nine Inch Nails, their more accessible material anyway. Really good stuff.

So after all that it was time for a change of pace. We saw some comedians: Patton Oswalt, Natasha Leggero, and Marc Maron. They were funny, especially the first two. After that we found some more food and bought a little festival merchandise for some souvenirs. We watched a little of Gary Numan’s later outdoor full set and the went into the main stage. Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin tribute was finishing up and they were basically a very good cover band. Then the day’s headliner, Heart, came on and played a fine set of their hits and some other stuff. And then they played a bunch of Led Zep songs that they brought Jason back for. Stairway to Heaven actually sounded fresh. There was so much music today and so much of it was good. I love it!

Sunday September 1

Day two of the festival. We monorailed (is that a word?) over to the Seattle Center grounds and went to the hospitality room for some vegan biscuits and gravy. Who would have thought! They tried to accommodate our diet, though they didn’t have to. But we thank them for that! We met up with Petra’s friend Margaret from Portland, who drove in for two days of the festival. First up in music today was singer-songwriter-rocker Matt Pond in the “secret stage”. Then we went to the Main Stage for sister band Tegan and Sara. I’d seen them before and liked them, but they’ve taken quite a mainstream pop turn which I didn’t think really suited them. It made them more like everyone else and less interesting. Next was Fun, a recent band with a bunch of hits off their latest album. They were really good and really, well, fun too. Quite a show and good songs made for a great show. And then we got some food…

As we waited, we listened to part of Eric Burdon’s set and it sounded like nothing special at all. Back in the Music Lounge, we saw Beats Antique. Man that was strange. There was a belly dancer for a few songs, band members with horse heads for a few songs, and a giant inflatable squid near the end. It was an interesting show but the music was only ok IMHO. We went back to the hospitality lounge and chatted with our Bumbershoot friend John, charged the phones a bit, and had a snack. And then a free coffee drink at the Starbucks Lounge. Next up was The Zombies. Yep, from the 60s and 70s and still recording. But for me their best stuff was in the 60s. They were pleasant enough. Then we split up for a bit. Petra went to see The Voice alumni Vicci Martinez and I went to see Death Cab For Cutie perform their album Transatlanticism in full and then some other hits too. What a great day for music! We took the monorail back and stopped at Cyber-Dogs for some tasty midnight food.

Monday September 2

Last day of the festival. Argh! We stopped by the Toyota booth for some free canvas bags and other swag and then got a snack at the hospitality lounge. We saw 70s act Redd Kross, who were loud and not bad, then Petra watched Superchunk, who she said were good, and I watched Red Jacket Mine, a sort-of New Wavey act that was good but not great. They might be better on CD when you can hear the lyrics better. We met back up for some comedy: Reggie Watts, Mike Drucker, and Joe Mande. It was a funny show. I went into the main stage to watch part of the set by MGMT, which was pretty good and sort of trippy in a good way. Then we saw The Joy Formidable who were loud but good. We took a break and had a drink while half-watching Mark Pickerel and his Praying Hands. Then, back at the hospitality lounge we said goodbye (for this year) to out bumbershoot friend John. Then we watched blue-eyed soul man Allen Stone, who the crowd loved. We also saw part of a set by Trampled By Turtles, too country and bluegrass for me but talented, and then part of the outdoor set by The Joy Formidable. And then the festival was over. Waaahh!! No! But it was so great!!

Tuesday September 3

We had some lunch at a new Mexican Food place we had read about with a number of vegan options, El Borracho. Petra had a small mountain of vegan nachos that was pretty great. Then we met Mama O and Sam and caught a ferry to Bainbridge Island. We walked around and shopped. While there, we learned that our daughter had gotten the new job back at home that she had applied for. Yeah! We took the ferry back and walked to the Seattle Central Library, a stunningly designed building that we had wanted to tour for years and finally got a chance to. Then we took a long walk to the Veggie Grill, a vegan chain from SoCal that is expanding. It was great and we walked back (full and happy) to the hotel.

Wednesday September 4

It was go-home day. I hate when that happens. But before we had to catch the plane, we went for lunch with Mama O and Sam to Mama’s Mexican Kitchen. Then we walked around Pike Place Market for a bit. But then it was time. Cousin Danny (well, Mama O’s cousin) drove us to the Sea-Tac airport and we caught the plane back home. It was another wonderful trip to Seattle and another wonderful Bumbershoot festival. We already have a room reserved for next year!