thus spake drake: Bumbershoot streak comes to an end...

So here comes another Bumbershoot, and I'm sad to report that I'm not going.

Why would I bother going to the effort to blog that I'm not going? Well, you see, I have the somewhat unique distinction of having gone to at least one day of Bumbershoot for 25 straight until now. That's right, since 1987, I've either bought a ticket, volunteered, been a VIP sponsor or acted as press every year for 25 straight years. Until this year.

Long story short, I missed the press deadline by a day. Between the new job (which is ironically now ending in time to have made way for plenty of Bumbershoot photo editing) and dealing with kids on Summer break, I just lost track of things. It's too bad, as this year I really was excited for the lineup (not that I'm not usually fairly pumped for at least a day's line-up).

So now I'm resigned to the fact that the streak will end at 25. It's a good round number and I can start a new one. (Or not? I confess I'm kind of at a crossroads now when it comes to the blog and concert photography... not that you couldn't tell, fair reader, what with the lack of posting this summer.)

First band I saw at Bumbershoot in 1987?
Crazy 8s. Saw them again in '89 and '92.

Favorite early Bumbershoot memory:

Soundgarden/Bumbershoot, 1988 (photo by Mattisnotfrench)

Soundgarden playing a small, sweaty venue in 1988. Chris Cornell introducing a song: "Folks are saying, now that there's Soundgarden, you can throw away your Led Zeppelin albums. Well, now there's Kingdom Come, so you can throw away your Soundgarden records. This next song is called 'Kingdom of Come.'" Towards a long interlude near the end of the song, Cornell was screaming something repeatedly... after a minute or so of it, we figured out it was "SUCK MY COCK!"

Other highlights from that year: Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians, Camper Van Beethoven, and my first experience with the Young Fresh Fellows (sooooo many to follow).

Mudhoney in '93 (and '95, and '96), George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic in '95, and 1997 might have been my all-time favorite festival of acts I got to see (Beck, Wilco, Elliott Smith, Sonic Youth, Cornershop, David Byrne, Robyn Hitchcock, Sleater-Kinney, Built to Spill, Pond, Quasi, Kristen Hersh, Mary Lou Lord... it boggles the mind).

Another favorite memory involved Cat Power's Chan Marshall having a complete meltdown in her opening slot for Robyn Hitchcock in 1999. Throw in Imperial Teen, Built to Spill and The Roots, and it was a pretty good day to remember. In 2000 I got to see Jonathan Richman, Big Star and George Clinton (w/ Parliament Funkadelic again).

A lot of memories kind of blur together after that... until I became armed with kids and a camera. Here's some random photos from the past seven years.