Bumbershoot - this Seattle music festival has lovingly become a staple in the Pacific Northwest music scene (rightfully so, considering it’s been around since the early 70s).

Despite Bumbershoot taking place over Labor Day weekend (a weekend that is plenty eventful in Seattle, considering Pax-West, the Washington State Fair, and so many camping trips I’m sure have been planned because c’mon, it’s Seattle), it was packed to the (very comfortable) brim inside the grounds, making for an amazing festival experience. There certainly was no end of things to do, with the festival offering everything from food carts to art exhibits to music to fashion shows (and even the ever so popular Cat Circus, whose line was always so long that I never even had the chance to pop into the tent and see it, so I’m just going to trust that it was incredible).

Sylvan Esso perform at the Fountain Stage

A model walks at a fashion show

This year pulled two major headliners, with legends Weezer on Saturday night and the ever so alluring Aurora closing out Sunday, though I’d argue it was practically three considering the insane production value of Janelle Monae’s set earlier that day. That being said, even without the headliners this weekend was stacked.

Saturday offered what I considered to be a very indie rock focused day, which makes perfect sense when you look at literally any person who lives in the Seattle area (or even Portland, if we’re being inclusive since our music scene is lacking a bit down there. But it’s fine and we will keep driving up because we love you Seattle). We had a little bit of everything, but my personal standouts start with hey, nothing. I saw the duo back in May at Salt Lake City’s Kilby Block Party and they absolutely crushed it so expectations were high, but the indie duo absolutely met those expectations and more, with glowing stage energy and meaningful words.

hey, nothing at the Mural Stage

Scowl was another big one for me this weekend, as it feels rather rare these days to see a hardcore act on a lineup that’s not explicitly advertised as a heavier festival, but they absolutely killed it. Vocalist Kat Moss was a machine on stage, all eyes locked on them as they jumped around stage and introduced what I’m sure was a mixture of middle aged dads there to see Weezer and high school kids who got in through volunteering to the world of hardcore. Zookraught at the Vera Stage was another one who caught my eye for the same reasons: they were fun, loud, and unapologetically themselves. And I can’t resist a moshpit.

Scowl at the Mural Stage

Zookraught at the Vera Stage

It’s not Bumbershoot with a somewhat (appropriately) sad set from a band made up of Seattle locals, which means Car Seat Headrest’s set was absolutely perfect. I’m a bit biased, which I feel I should admit here, as I’m a longtime fan of the band, but they delivered a wonderfully beautiful set consisting of the perfect blend of both old tunes and some newer songs from their latest album, The Scholars. Will Toledo singing happy news for sadness will also just never fail to make me cry, so they get bonus points for that.

Car Seat Headrest at the Fountain Stage

And last but not least, my biggest personal set conflict: legends Weezer (who I did catch at Kilby Block Party, but did not have the privilege of photographing) or iconic drag queen Pattie Gonia, closing out the night with a DJ set. After some internal debate and contemplation, I did end up making a decision: who knows the next time I’ll get to photograph Weezer? And the right decision it was, because I learned several things while standing in that photo pit: Weezer fans are insanely devoted and surprisingly made up of many teenager girls at the barricade (which I absolutely loved), somebody on that stage liked my Katya Zamolochikova shirt (lovely drag queen that I urge you to check out), and Weezer is fucking amazing live

But don’t fret! I may not have caught the beginning of Pattie Gonia’s set, but the second I finished my first three songs in Weezer’s photo pit, I booked it across festival grounds to catch the last fifteen minutes of her performance, and happily so. Pattie looked incredible solo in a fringy bodysuit and her iconic mustache, but her act was made even better by the appearance of several additional drag artists who all looked equally amazing. When Pattie Gonia’s set sadly came to an end, I did in fact haul ass back over to the Fountain Stage to catch the rest of Weezer’s set, and as much as it felt like whiplash, it was totally worth it..

Weezer at the Fountain Stage

Pattie Gonia at the Mural Stage

Sunday was a bit more eclectic with genre, jumping from sad singer-songwriter to punk to indie pop to rap and then maybe back to punk again - who knows. This made things very fun though, because if you’re not careful when planning a schedule, one band will start to just bleed into another.

My personal standouts of the day however started with The Linda Lindas. I’d heard of this band before as they opened for Green Day last year, but hadn’t actually listened to them before (and perhaps had a history of mixing them up with The Marias, despite not listening to that band much either), and all I can say is wow. The group consists of teenage girls playing punk music and they are cool as fuck, with amazing stage presence. I don’t think people in the crowd expected them to come off as strong as they did, but all I heard following their set was raves about how much folks loved themed and rightfully so.

The Linda Lindas at the Fountain Stage

Sylvan Esso provided melodies that took the twenty-something crowd back to their days on Tumblr, and The Murder City Devils got the people really moving as they brought back old school punk, but the real show stopper of the night was Janelle Monae.

I truly do not understand why she wasn’t a headliner (nothing against Aurora, as I would have been shocked if she wasn’t a headliner as well) simply due to the fact that her set was insanely good. The crowd that Janelle drew wrapped around the opposite side of the fountain, and she came prepared with a beautiful stage set up, many backup dancers and live musicians, and a plethora of gorgeous outfit changes. The energy she brought with her was just jawdropping and I couldn’t look away.

Sylvan Esso at the Fountain Stage

The Murder City Devils at the Mural Stage

Janelle Monae at the Fountain Stage

Ultimately, Bumbershoot was a big win this year, and with the way it’s been going I definitely see myself coming back for my third year in a row in 2026.

XOXO,

a Portlander who is always in Seattle for shows.

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