Well, this is going to be a short review! I just want to say 1) despite some shortcomings – most notably moving the mainstage acts inside KeyArena this year – I love Seattle Center as a festival venue and 2) I came away from this year’s Bumbershoot with a ton of new music from bands I wasn’t familiar with who I really dug: Head Like a Kite, MarchFourth Marching Band, YACHT, and Shabazz Palaces to name a few. Of course, the bigger names came through too – The Presidents of the Unites States of America were hilariously fun on day one, Broken Social Scene carried the positive vibes through the middle day, and Fitz & the Tantrums were the only way I could end this year’s festival on day three.

(On a non-music note, I caught one of the comedy acts – The Improvised Shakespeare Company out of Chicago – and they were awesome. If you get a chance, see them!)

Here are a few videos that I think pretty well encapsulate the festival. I heard more covers at this festival than I’d heard in many other concerts put together! First, here’s Fitz & the Tantrums with “Steady As She Goes” and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”:

Now here’s a little Presidents of the United States of America and their improvised version of “Shout”:

… and a little Broken Social Scene covering Modest Mouse’s “World At Large”:

Finally… we can’t forget the dancing raver kid! He was maybe 8 or 9. Pretty sure he was hopped up on Ecstasy. (Kidding!) He was totally feeling the beat during Little Dragon’s set:

REMEMBER: CTRL-ALT-Juneau returns on Sunday, September 18th! TUNE IN!