Let’s be honest, in what had become a make or break year for one of the biggest music and arts festivals in the region, the new marriage between Bumbershoot and AEG Live didn’t get off to a great start.
The early grumblings out of festival attendees on Saturday were about seemingly endless lines to gain access to the ground and an escalating ticket price system that does seem a little absurd. (A two price system that features an early bird special and then goes up the month of the show is one thing, but Bumbershoot actually had five different price points for just their one day passes.)
Then once people did get into the festival grounds the sky opened up with some Jumanji-style rain and lightning strikes that postponed many outdoor shows.
None of that stopped the masses from making Bumbershoot 2015 successful. 80,000 tickets sold successful. With that level of success the folks at AEG Live have already answered the question on everyone’s minds by announcing that Bumbershoot will return in 2016.
This is important on a lot of levels. Sure a weekend at the Gorge is a ton of fun and most of their events allow the all ages crowd, but how many parents in Western Washington are handing over the keys to the family Subaru and letting their 16-year-old kids head east for a few days?
As far as major music festivals go Bumbershoot is about as accessible as it gets.
Right in the shadow of the Space Needle many people are able to walk, ride a bike, take a bus or an Uber to Bumbershoot with ease. If you decide to drive parking really isn’t too bad either. While people were complaining about the ticket prices the bottom line is that Bumbershoot is still less expensive than a other major festivals like Sasquatch! or Coachella. Also, in a time when many music festivals are only offering a full weekend pass Bumbershoot still offers a single day ticket if you don’t want to attend all weekend.
So how did Bumbershoot turn it around this year? I don’t know, but the music was great.
The local bands I saw were all on point. It was great to see so many people come out to see Kris Orlowski and The Cave Singers. Lonesome Shack started out with a modest crowd at the Rhapsody stage, but three songs into their set and the audience packed in and the trio delivered.
Brandon Flowers had a big crowd for mid day at Memorial Stadium and nobody seemed to hate it when he opened the set with The Killers hit “Human” and ended his set with The Killers smash hit “Mr. Brightside”. He also made it clear that he is one of the best showmen of our time. The performance was flawless and that man deserves to be performing in stadiums as long as he wants.
The Weeknd, Hozier, Social Distortion and Ellie Goulding all played to massive crowds. The kind of crowds that I remember from Bumbershoot’s ten years ago (or more) when bands like The Presidents and Death Cab For Cutie played together.
My only regret from the 2015 Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival is that I missed Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals delivering what many reliable sources described as an epic, almost religious experience.
If Bumbershoot keeps loading the lineup like they did this year I expect we will be enjoying Bumbershoots for years to come. I’ve got high hopes.
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