Oh man, I had a great time at Bumbershoot this year! Sure, I scowled at a couple teenagers (like the aging curmudgeon I am…) but I have no real complaints. My pass was gratis, the lineup was awesome (I caught about a dozen bands, then a comedy bit), and there was plenty of time to drift around with friends in the sunshine.

Me ‘n’ Dean chowing down on mini Mighty O donuts. Why are they extra tasty after dark?

The Kills, one of my favorite bands to see live! Nate, Dean, and I watched from a woodsy hill that looked down on the lawn. It’s the perfect spot if you’ve worn out your dancing legs and don’t mind the smell of mulch (so, perfect for me at that point).

Nice Nice, an electronic duo with woozy loops. Background images of bears in swim goggles, bright colors, and vintage swimsuit babes.

Visual arts seemed a little lean this year but Bumber by Number was super fun. At the back of the tent there was a giant, participatory mural where you got to color with food-shaped crayons. My pal Eric, who is almost 7′, got the tall parts. I’m barely over 5′ so I colored in the short parts.

Altered paint-by-numbers: Kurt Geissel, Kelly Lyles, Tim Silbaugh, (sorry, I don’t remember who did the amazing guitars).

Tennis, a handsome couple performing sweet summer songs. Janice likened the lead singer’s gorgeous curls to Bernadette Peters (yes!).

Orange everywhere. I don’t know what this was about but I liked it.

Yep, rainbow magick.

I love Big Boi but clearly the young ladies who rushed onto the stage love him more. Also, there was a mom on stage with her toddler- not the type of girls you expect to see dancing to ‘Tangerine’-they were rad.

One half of Phantogram. Eric and I were the only two of our friends to stick out the festival all three days. This was our last show and we were both blown away- dreamy, dreamy pop. One bonkers, unexpected thing I saw: kids CROWD SURFING during ‘All Dried Up‘.

Further goodness: FLATSTOCK, Little Dragon (Yukimi Nagano’s voice is out of this world!), Taco Bell breaks, Eric frightening teenage hecklers with his stern look and almighty height, getting my hair did with Kristy at the random Garnier booth, DEEP FRIED REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS, School of Seven Bells underneath the Sky Church disco ceiling, constantly running into friends and co-workers. :)