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COMPREHENSIVE AND INFALLIBLE GUIDE TO

DAILY SCHEDGE

WHO SAID IT: EDGAR ALLAN POE OR BEN GIBBARD?

MAZE! MAD LIBS! PUZZLES!

WHAT TO SEE & WHAT TO SKIP

TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME TO OUR BUMBERSHOOT GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 EVERY! BAND! PLAYING! BUMBERSHOOT! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 DAILY SCHEDULES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 MAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 WHO SAID IT: EDGAR ALLAN POE OR BEN GIBBARD? . . 26 MORE FUN GAMES! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

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THE STRANGER 1101 E Pike St, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98122 VOICE 206-323-7101 Mon–Fri, 9 am–5:30 pm EMAIL editor@thestranger.com AUGUST 2026

THE STRANGER’S BUMBERSHOOT GUIDE

WELCOM TO

EXHAUSTIVELY

COMPREHENSIVE

BURSTING-AT-THE-SEAMS

GUIDE TO P

hew! Another music festival? But it’s September! Isn’t it time to go back to school and drink hot cocoa under a cozy blanket and pretend to care about football? No! There is still summer fun to be had, as exhausted as you may be, because Bumbershoot is taking over the Seattle Center September 5 and 6 with two days of music, comedy, art, wrestling, fashion, and so much more. (Like, literally there is a mermaid???) We know how overwhelming festivals can be, and this year’s Bumbershoot line-up, while smaller than previous iterations, is still loaded with so much good shit.

Bikini Kill! De La Soul! Noname! Peaches! So we did your homework for you and wrote up every! single! band! playing over the weekend, as well as all the fun arts and culture and cat stuff. We even put big fat stars next to stuff you definitely can’t miss. Have some downtime before your favorites hit the stage? Flip through these pages to find fun games like Mad Libs, a musical word search, and a thrilling round of Who Said It?, in which you can test your knowledge of gothic prose and ask yourself: Is this an Edgar Allan Poe poem or a Death Cab for Cutie song? Sleep is overrated anyway. AUGUST 2026

EVERY! BAND! PLAYING!

BUMBERSHOOT! SUDAN ARCHIVES Sunday, Mural Stage

OBIDI NZERIBE

AND ALL THE ARTS, FASHION, WRESTLING, MAGIC, COMEDY, AND KITTY CAT THINGS, TOO! 6

THE STRANGER’S BUMBERSHOOT GUIDE

MUSIC SATURDAY H ANTHERS

This comparison will only resonate with maybe six people, but I’m gonna say it anyway: If you loved long-defunct Seattle punk rock noise makers pleasureboaters, go see ANTHERS and party like you’re at Healthy Times Fun Club circa 2008. Not a 40-something who lived in Seattle nearly two decades ago? Fine. Here are some more rock bona fides—ANTHERS’ latest singles, “Soup” and “Collector,” were recorded by Ben Verellen of Helms Alee and Joel Cuplin of Constant Lovers. And in 2024, The Stranger’s contributing concert photographer Brittne Lunniss—who attends hundreds of shows a year—said the band delivered one of her favorite performances, writing, “ANTHERS was the best car crash I’ve ever been in.” Hell yes. (Upper Courtyard Stage) MEGAN SELING

Aryana León

In a 2024 interview, Aryana León recalls standing in front of the mirror as a young teen, practicing her “lightsaber introduction” as if she were a star on the Disney Channel. Today, she’s flourishing as a pop/R&B artist on the rise, having played her first Capitol Hill Block Party in 2024 and releasing her first EP, PLEASURE, in 2025. Her voice is incredible, warm currents over songs that play like smooth passenger-side car rides by the bay— perfect for a late August day under the shade of the Needle. (Upper Courtyard Stage) ROB MOURA

Bexley

Lead singer Amanda Hardy is the dark-hair-in-her-eyes girl at your high school who exclusively wore baggy Alice in Chains and Soundgarden T-shirts. Her band Bexley keeps that spirit alive by fusing overdriven, heavy riffs, soulful wails over guitar solos, and a Zeppelin/Sabbath foundation of ’70s rock. Your dad will tap his toes, and you might bang your head. We hope to hear “Female Hysteria” in Bexley’s Bumbershoot

KEY• • • • H DON’T MISS! LOCAL! ••••

DIE SPITZ Saturday, Fisher Stage

set, as its core, Nirvana-like riff evolves into a Kim Thayil–worthy guitar upswell. (Upper Courtyard Stage) SAM MACHKOVECH

H Bikini Kill

When Bikini Kill embarked on their first reunion tour in 2019, I traveled to Los Angeles to see it, fearing it’d be a one-time thing. (They’ve since performed approximately 10 million times in cities way closer to me, but I’m not bitter about it, I swear.) See, the Olympia feminist punk band is the reason I went to Evergreen State College; the reason I wasn’t afraid to stand up to know-it-all dudes at said college; the reason I ironed the words “kill me” on a Forever 21 dress in high school. Despite my riot grrl phase blossoming in the 2010s, lyrics to their early ’90s songs like “There are no boundaries on what I can feel” (“Feels Blind”) and “Don’t need you to tell us we’re good / Don’t need you to say we suck / Don’t need your protection / Don’t need your dick to fuck” (“Don’t Need You”) were still just as fresh, jolting, and resonant as they were two (and now three) decades before. (Mural Stage) AUDREY VANN

H Blood Orange

It’s been 10 years since Dev Hynes, aka Blood Orange, dropped his iconic album Freetown Sound, and I, for one, have never been the same. The lush, dreamy ’80s R&B- and funk-influenced songs soundtracked a sun-soaked summer in my 20s and seeped into my memories. Hynes has collaborated with artists as diverse as Britney Spears, Solange Knowles, Tinashe, Carly Rae Jepsen, Debbie Harry, Sky Ferreira, and Mariah Carey. His last album, Essex Honey, is a meditation on grief and his upbringing in Essex, as well as how music has bolstered him throughout his life. I just know that his Bumbershoot set is going to heal me. (Fisher Stage) JULIANNE BELL

H Cain Culto

Are you ready to party your ass off? Because no one can do it like a gay

ANATHEME

icon who used to be an evangelical worship pastor. Born Andrew Padilla, this alt-artist started going by “Cain” as a reference to two things: (1) Cain in the Bible, the scripture’s first recorded bad boy; and (2) the Spanish word for “worship” is “cain,” which hearkens to his Colombian and Nicaraguan heritage. Cain Culto raps, sings, and plays electric violin while dancing like you’re on the floor at your favorite gay bar. While it’s pop music meets Latin rap, there is still an element of worship in Cain Culto’s music. Except now, he’s not asking you to follow Jesus, he’s singing of queer joy and “Uh, fuck Trump, fuck ICE, free Palestine. I’ma say that shit again: free Palestine.” Hallelujah! (Mural Stage) RACHEL STEVENS

is the UK equivalent. Pick your poison. (Mural Stage) MEGAN SELING

Chase & Status

Joey Valence & Brae

If Turnstile’s hardcore isn’t your thing, head over to the Mural Stage where London-based DJs Chase & Status (aka Saul Milton and Will Kennard) will close out Saturday night with what’s sure to devolve into a dizzying drum ‘n’ bass dance party. No, they haven’t won a Grammy like Turnstile, but they have won a Brit Award, which

Die Spitz

Die Spitz popped off—first in their home city of Austin, then nationwide—based on their live performances wherein the band’s all-femme roster would trade vocal leads and put out punk so incendiary it would damn near burn the venue down. After winning their local Album of the Year award (someone should start that here!) for their ferocious 2023 EP Teeth, they secured opening slots for bands like Sleater-Kinney and Amyl and the Sniffers. For better and worse, the group has hype coming out of their pores; fans of loud music should strongly consider catching their set. (Fisher Stage) ROB MOURA Joey Valence & Brae have been collecting Beastie Boys comparisons for years, at least since releasing their 2023 full-length Punk Tactics, and I wanted to hate it, tbh. But their chaotic punk-laced hip-hop tracks that, yes, sound very much like the Beastie Boys and the days when rockstars and rappers collaborated AUGUST 2026

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are bursting with sincerity. They sound less like a rip-off and more like a whole-hearted celebration of all the musicians who inspired them to pick up a mic. Hard to be mad at that. (Fisher Stage) MEGAN SELING

Juliet Daniel

Ever wonder what quitting your tech job at Microsoft to make bedroom pop would sound like? It sounds like Juliet Daniel, because that’s what this hero did. Daniel’s boppable music was born and bred in Seattle, and it sounds like taking the leaps we all want to make but probably aren’t confident enough to take. This sentiment shines brightest while flooded with 2000s nostalgia in the singer-songwriter’s song “Stare You Down.” The parting lyrics would be everywhere on AIM away messages, if only we were all still doing that: If you don’t {want me} ~*~*~I think you’re crazy~*~*~ (Upper Courtyard Stage) RACHEL STEVENS

Molchat Doma

Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is a weird city of contrasts: gold-lined facades on its main streets, and gothic counterculture seeping in its Eastern European shadows. Darkwave trio Molchat Doma thus sound appropriately Belarusian. Bearded men hunch over synthesizers and guitars— and occasionally a standing, dance-

LEADERS). Today, it’s safe to say that the 24-year-old artist is near the top of the most notable rappers to spawn from our waterlogged loam this decade. Considering he’s one of the few rappers at this year’s Bumbershoot (besides fellow local hero Travis Thompson), you owe it to yourself to see the man work a crowd. (Upper Courtyard Stage) ROB MOURA

Pixel Grip

If you’ve been looking for a tighter, gayer, and synthier version of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Chicago trio Pixel Grip would like to slowly sidle up to you at a very sweaty nightclub. Their drums-and-Moog brand of fistpumping dance-pop might not befit a sunny Seattle Center stage, but their chunky, brzzt-brzzt Moog-synth jams may be worth slapping on your favorite sunglasses and black leather before stomping along to bangers like “Dancing on Your Grave.” (Fisher Stage) SAM MACHKOVECH

PEACHES Saturday, Mural Stage

H Sera Cahoone

H Lucy Dacus

Out of the three boygeniuses, I’ve always had an affinity for Lucy Dacus. With her introspective, storytelling lyrics and her impressive Goodreads profile, she’s truly a writer’s musician. I love the depictions of nascent queerness in songs like “Kissing Lessons” and “Christine,” the crackling slow burn of “Night Shift,” and the righteous fury of “Thumbs.” Her 2025 album, Forever Is a Feeling, finds the singer-songwriter in her hopeless romantic era, with swoony, intimate ballads like “Best Guess” and “Ankles.” I attended her Remlinger Farms performance last summer and watched her officiate a wedding ceremony for seven couples during the show, which will be a difficult feat to top—nevertheless, I’m eager to see what she has in store for Bumbershoot. (Fisher Stage) JULIANNE BELL

Meat Hair

If you love local Sub Pop darlings Deep Sea Diver (and who doesn’t?), then definitely don’t miss Meat Hair, an experimental jam band in which members of DSD get real weird. (Upper Courtyard Stage) MEGAN SELING

and “Not in Your Mouth None of Your Business.” I haven’t seen her on this tour yet, so just take it from Reddit user Senhoegahara, who wrote, “This girl has CRAZY energy. She put on a helluva show. Couldn’t believe she’s almost 60. She was topless the entire show and crowdsurfed for a good 10 whole minutes. Lmfao.” (Mural Stage) AUDREY VANN

THE SQUIRT DELUXE

friendly electric drum kit—to bang out shimmering-yet-devilish techno that sprinkles Gregorian chant into New Order’s formula. Don a trench coat and dance darkly, fellow mavens of the night. (Mural Stage) SAM MACHKOVECH

H Oblé Reed

Oblé Reed made the most of Seattle’s post-pandemic plate shift, rushing into the city’s devastated hip-hop scene via a tsunami of well-produced, well-written hip-hop titled LINDENAVE! He followed that up with an equally compelling visual EP (Retrovision) and a second album on which he broke local containment and brought even more underrated national talent into the fold (LINE

H Peaches

It’s 2026, and we need Peaches’ sexually transgressive electroclash hip-hop more than ever. Luckily, the feminist musician, director, and performance artist returned this year with her first album in over ten years, No Lube So Rude. “When the world is friction, lube isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity,” Peaches writes. “It’s how you turn that friction into pleasure, into power, into pride.” The icon’s seventh album does just as advertised by acting as a relieving salve for these dry times, slickening the constant thrust of dystopian news with empowering, funny, and celebratory tracks for the dance floor like “Fuck How You Wanna Fuck”

*Picture the old lady from Titanic here* It’s been 14 years… since Sera Cahoone has played Bumbershoot! She’s basically writing directly to us with her brand-new album (out August 28, 2026), titled I’ve Missed You All These Years. Girl, we’ve missed you, too! Cahoone’s new music feels like it’s infused with a newfound joy that only comes from the other side of really going through it. Of the new album, Cahoone says, “I want people to feel what I felt and put themselves in the way I felt back then. I want them to think, ‘If she made it through, I can too.’” If you don’t yet know the magic of Sera Cahoone’s blues meets folk meets country, it’s never too late to pull up a chair. If you’ve been a fan for decades, welcome home. (Upper Courtyard Stage) RACHEL STEVENS

Silvana Estrada

Mexican singer-songwriter Silvana Estrada combines the sparse acoustic guitars and romantic poetry of South American folk revivalist artists Violeta Parra and Mercedes Sosa with the vocal chops of American jazz icons Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn. (For fans of Joan Baez, Angel Olsen, and crying at concerts.) (Mural Stage) AUDREY VANN AUGUST 2026

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H Travis Thompson

In 2022, the gifted Burien rapper Travis Thompson made a little history by appearing, alongside Marc Maron, on what was then the coolest TV show, Reservation Dogs. Soon after this exposure, Thompson, who is part Navajo, released a music video for his slamming track “Corner Store.” It featured Macklemore, the last superstar rapper to come straight out of this city. Thompson also dropped the NW hip-hop classic “Need You.” Whatever you do, do not sleep on this cat. (Fisher Stage) CHARLES MUDEDE

H Turnstile

Since their formation in 2010, the Baltimore-based hardcore punk band Turnstile have grown from hometown darling to mainstream breakout success, taking home two Grammys in February and drawing praise from the likes of Hayley Williams and fellow Saturday headliner Dev Hynes of Blood Orange. The group counts Bad Brains and Sade among their influences and mixes hardcore with melodic pop structures to irresistible effect. They’re especially known for their high-octane, mosh-heavy perfor-

mances, which many fans describe as life-changing. I saw them at WAMU Theater last October, and the sense of joy and community in the room was palpable—I can’t wait to experience it again. (Fisher Stage) JULIANNE BELL

band with Americana and punk influences.” It’s not revelatory, it’s not perfect, but it’s a warm hug if you’re longing for those days of seeing Tom Petty at the Gorge every summer. (Upper Courtyard Stage) MEGAN SELING

XCOMM

ATARASHII GAKKO!

Teenagers? Playing music!? And it’s good???? It will never not be hilarious when grown-ass music critics realize that teens can play guitars. XCOMM from Los Angeles are the music industry’s current “omg they’re so young!” obsession. Their blistering skate punk is thrashy, fast, and injected with some nu-metal guitar wailing, and it doesn’t hurt that their debut full-length, Time to Burn, was recorded by Ross Robinson, who’s worked with bands like the Blood Brothers, Korn, and Slipknot. And yes, the drummer is like 14. Get over it. (Mural Stage) MEGAN SELING

SUNDAY American Flats

If you need a break from all the modern music pummeling your eardrums, catch local American Flats, who describe themselves as “a rock and roll

TURNSTILE Saturday, Fisher Stage

If you love J-pop, synchronized dancing, matching outfits, and songs about burnout culture, you’re gonna love Atarashii Gakko!, a self-described girl group from Tokyo whose antics have amassed more than seven million followers on TikTok. (The highest of any Bumbershoot performer by far.) In 2024, ahead of their Coachella debut, Nylon profiled the group, writing, “Onstage and off, Atarashii Gakko! radiate a chaotic energy, ping-ponging off one another like kids who’ve had way too much sugar…” Sold! (Fisher Stage) MEGAN SELING

Daughters of Venus

Daughters of Venus, a Seattle-based “alternative rock girl band” (their words), play music that could be the soundtrack for a dramatic reveal during an episode of ABC Family’s hit teen drama Pretty Little Liars. I mean that as a compliment. I fucking loved that show. (Upper Courtyard Stage) MEGAN SELING

H De La Soul

It’s hard to really capture the wonder De La Soul’s debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, produced when it dropped in 1989. And the condition of wonder is produced by something that seems to have appeared from nowhere. One other hip-hop album produced, at the time, a similar effect: Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988). But De La Soul went on to release a string of brilliant albums, such as De La Soul Is Dead and Stakes Is High. Sadly, because one of its members, Trugoy the Dove, returned to the essence in 2023, this show will feature the remaining two, Posdnuos (rapper) and Mason (DJ), of a trio that completely changed the game. (Fisher Stage) CHARLES MUDEDE

H Death Cab for Cutie ATIBA JEFFERSON

Death Cab for Cutie? Let’s talk about their tune “Soul Meets Body,” no matter how briefly. Those familiar

with the ancient tradition of Western philosophy will not fail, upon hearing this gorgeous indie hit by one of Bellingham’s best, to think of what I rate as Aristotle’s greatest work, On the Soul. The question in that work is precisely the one presented by Death Cab for Cutie. Is the soul identical with the body? Or are they different substances? What is for certain is that my soul is moved by the sensations my body experiences while listening to this tune. (Fisher Stage) CHARLES MUDEDE

Goldie Boutilier

Smoking cigarettes is bad. But if you’re gonna smoke a cigarette or two, might I suggest listening to Goldie Boutilier? (Not at Bumbershoot, tho—smoking is not allowed, because they care about your health, okay?!) Boutilier’s music hearkens back to a time where you heard new music in a smoky dive bar after your crush dropped coins in the jukebox and pressed a combination of buttons you never thought to put together. Her music is a combination of chill disco, ’70s glam rock, and alt-country. After hearing this music, you find yourself counting the coins jingling at the bottom of the very deep pockets of your highwaisted Wranglers, hoping you have enough to run that newest Goldie Boutilier song back one more time. (Mural Stage) RACHEL STEVENS

Hannah Duckworth

While music from bands like Evanescence and Flyleaf is having a resurgence, you don’t have to zip open your old CD binder under the passenger car seat to hear this sound, because Hannah Duckworth exists. This Seattle singer-songwriter-rocker has been on the scene since 2023, playing music that makes us remember how much we love pop-punk of yore. From a Duckworth concert, expect everything from acoustic solo guitar strumming to a beginner-friendly mosh pit. Eyeliner and a T-shirt over a long sleeve shirt are not required, but don’t be a loser. (Upper Courtyard Stage) RACHEL STEVENS

H Lucha Luna

If you didn’t already know (if not, where have you been??), Latin music has been thriving in the PNW for quite AUGUST 2026

Aug 16 BrasilFest Aug 22-23 Festival Sundiata presents Black Arts Fest Sep 13 Live Aloha Hawaiian Cultural Festival Sep 19-20 Sea Mar Fiestas Patrias Sep 26-27 The Italian Festival Oct 4 CroatiaFest Oct 10-11 Turkfest Oct 31-Nov 1 Día de Muertos Festival Seattle Nov 7 Diwali: Lights of India Nov 14 Seattle Hmong New Year

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a while. Just cumbia alone has seen a growing list of fantastic acts breaking out in the area, from the Cumbieros to Orquestra Pacifico Tropical. Enter Lucha Luna, the duo of Eva Vasquez (of Toxic Tears) and Thomas Arndt (of Day Soul Exquisite), whose debut EP BRILLA BRILLA announced the act as fully formed—and aimed straight at the jugular. On stage and on record, Vazquez recontextualizes her other band’s punk energy through Arndt’s dense beats, creating a compelling fusion of rhythm and rage. They’re one of the freshest acts on this year’s lineup, and absolutely worth your attention. (Upper Courtyard Stage) ROB MOURA

H Racing Mount Pleasant

NONAME Sunday, Mural Stage

Racing Mount Pleasant, a seven-piece indie rock orchestra from Ann Arbor, MI, plays sweeping and dramatic songs that scratch the Velvet Teen-shaped hole in my heart. Their songs shift from whisper-quiet to explosions of horns and strings and harmonies while lyrics like “Call it easy, call it quits / Well, that’s not how your story ends,” remind you to keep breathing. Goosebumps. (Fisher Stage) MEGAN SELING

H Sextile

H Midpak

Within Seattle’s robust funk scene, Midpak are the hungry young guns on the rise. The quartet had their big break in 2024 with a phenomenal opening set for Colombia’s Balthvs at Barboza, and more recently they wowed a Hidden Hall crowd while opening for NYC Afrobeat ensemble Antibalas. Without a vocalist, Midpak rely on their extraordinary instrumental prowess to create dynamic tracks that funkify psychedelia—or psychedelicize funk, depending on how you tilt your head. Influenced by early Funkadelic, Santana, and Khruangbin, Midpak have also incorporated elements of house, cumbia, and various African musics. I’ve seen them play 12 times and they never fail to whip folks into a frenzy. (Upper Courtyard Stage) DAVE SEGAL

Morgan Paris Lanza

There is no question that Seattle is pumping out incredible musicians at an impressive rate. Though Morgan Paris Lanza can regularly be found performing at Barboza, Nuemos, and Fremont’s newer Cosmic Cottage, she fully operates in what she calls the Lanza-verse. In the Lanza-verse, you’ll experience MPL performing a sultry combination of lounge singing and burlesque that sounds like jazz, R&B, and smooth pop. Her music explores love, loss, and transformation through a vintage filter, making you want to send a postcard to an ex-lover: “Greetings from the Lanza-verse! Don’t really wish you were here…” (Upper Courtyard Stage) RACHEL STEVENS

EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES

H Noname: 10th Anniversary of Telefone

You’re trying to tell me that Telefone is already 10 years old!? It feels impossible, probably because 2020– 2024 didn’t really happen. I don’t remember it. But it’s true, Noname is celebrating a decade since the release of her debut mixtape, which put the rest of the world on the horn with her and her fellow visionary young artists of Chicago: Saba, Ravyn Lenae, Raury, and Smino. In 2015, she explained that she hoped the album would feel conversational—like being on the phone with someone for the first time—incorporating everything from “the awkwardness to the laughter.” Ten years later, listening to Telefone still feels like catching up with an old friend. (Mural Stage) AUDREY VANN

Orville Peck

Nobody’s doing it like Orville Peck. (Well, plenty of people in Seattle are doing it like Orville Peck.) The South African–born gay country artist— and former punk musician, although the spirit never quite leaves you—

has been selling our American tricks back to us for almost 10 years, albeit with a subversively queer twist. He endeared himself to our city almost immediately upon signing to Sub Pop for his first record, Pony, though he’s since ditched his indie rock roots to go full-on country, earning duets with Willie Nelson, Shania Twain, and other legends of the genre. At this year’s Bumbershoot, expect Peck to run through cuts off his newest equinely titled record, and expect to live, as always, for all of it. (Fisher Stage) ROB MOURA

PawPaw Rod

PawPaw Rod’s music is medicinal. It cures what ails you. His posi-soul R&B jams—the result of growing up on Maxwell, Prince, the Gap Band, and Bill Withers, he says—will lift you out of a rut and soften your sharp edges. And if there is a God, she will time it so PawPaw Rod plays “Hit ’Em Where it Hurts” during peak golden hour—“Sunshine, bathe me, lately life been crazy.” Preach, PawPaw. (Fisher Stage) MEGAN SELING

LA duo Sextile’s music exists at the intersection where agitational post-punk collides with sleazy EBM. Recording for the impeccable Sacred Bones label, guitarist/vocalist Brady Keehn and drummer/vocalist Melissa Scaduto (both handle electronics) are a galvanizing experience live, if the electrifying Freakout Fest show I caught by them at Tractor Tavern in 2023 is indicative. Their newest album, yes, please., abounds with sweaty and brazen bangers, and given how their songs seem best heard in dank underground clubs full of illicit activities, it may be strange to witness Sextile outdoors in the summer, with children in attendance. But childhood innocence is overrated, right? (Fisher Stage) DAVE SEGAL

H Sudan Archives

Dropping at random into a Sudan Archives album, you could find yourself surrounded by necksnapping Low End Theory beats, heart-stuttering tech-house rhythms, glossy Beyoncé-pop, warm sun spots of neo-soul, a sudden splash of dubby reverb, or lush, worldly violin tapestries. At her most captivating moments, the Los Angeles-byway-of-Cincinnati singer/multiinstrumentalist finds ways to bend many of these elements to her methods at once, which are always punctuated by her sweeping vocals that oscillate between exploratory poeticism and asides that are sassy as hell. (Mural Stage) TODD HAMM

H Suzzallo

If you like the Sunny Day Real Estate songs where Jeremy Enigk is especially pissed off, you’re gonna love Suzzallo’s ear-pummeling, guitar-driven rock songs. (Upper Courtyard Stage) MEGAN SELING AUGUST 2026

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H Yves Tumor

Yves Tumor is many things, but none of those is a shoegazey, progressive Brit-pop outfit, as I initially thought upon discovering their sprawling, psychedelic Safe in the Hands of Love in 2018. To the contrary, YT is the solo project (though rich in collaborators) of Miami product Sean Lee Bowie, who, through a fascinating touch on a multitude of instruments, a globetrotting lifestyle, and a fixation on detailed, texture-forward sound collageing, has found themself at the cutting edge of a genre-straddling sound that both proggy aesthetes and melody-seeking festival wanderers can get lost in. (Mural Stage) TODD HAMM

YVES TUMOR Sunday, Mural Stage

ARTS DISTRICTS DAILY H Takuya Nakamura

Takuya Nakamura is not your typical electronic-music producer. The trumpeter and keyboardist moved from Japan to the US in 1990 to study at the New England Conservatory of Music under innovative jazz composer George Russell. This was a big fucking deal, as Russell’s concepts influenced John Coltrane and Miles Davis’s modal music. Nakamura applied those ideas to his own playing, doing sessions with Quincy Jones, David Byrne, Lee “Scratch” Perry, the GZA, and many other notables. Check out tracks “BonJah” and “Caged Bird Flying” and the Jon Hassell–esque dub-jazz of Mysteries of the Cosmos for examples of his fascinating fusions. (Mural Stage) DAVE SEGAL

TOKiMONSTA

Los Angeles producer/DJ Jennifer Lee, aka TOKiMONSTA, has a well-documented sunny side, full of mid-fi disco and funk-inflected vocal house to keep summer festival crowds smiling. Her sets, like her albums, however, also have an impressive range of styles

EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES

represented, dipping in tempo into ODESZA or Shlomo territory, as well as a thick bag of remix material to grab from. The variety of moods and counterpunches make for blissful ebbs and flows whenever she hits the stage. (Mural Stage) TODD HAMM

H W.I.T.C.H.

W.I.T.C.H. are the standard-bearers of Zamrock, a short-lived movement in Zambia ca. 1972–1977 in which young African musicians emulated Anglo-American garage- and psychrockers to spectacular effect. Unlike most of their Zamrock peers, W.I.T.C.H. have reunited, cut new music, and continued to tour—albeit aided by musicians from Switzerland’s L’Eclair. W.I.T.C.H.’s classic albums bear primetime Rolling Stones DNA, and vocalist Emmanuel Chanda sang so much like Mick Jagger that he earned the nickname “Jagari.” But later releases such as Zango and Sogolo reveal shocking creative vitality, as evidenced by the songs’ more muscular, funky rhythms and heavier, wilder guitar riffs, while also exhibiting more traditional native styles. (Mural Stage) DAVE SEGAL

H Bumbermania

In which local wrestling crew SOS Wrestling builds a real-deal ring in the middle of the Seattle Center, and dozens of local wrestling superstars (66, to be exact!) fight, tackle, pummel, and toss one another around for a chance at the Bumbermania belt. It’s so fun, so captivating, that I missed part of Janelle Monáe’s headlining set last year because I couldn’t look away. MEGAN SELING

Cat Circus

It is my journalistic duty to set the record straight: The cats do not do tricks in Bumbershoot’s Cat Circus. There are no performances. The cats and kittens, all of whom are available for adoption via Motley Zoo Animal Rescue, mostly lounge around on circus-themed kitty decor while people file in for a quick pat or play. Cats are good; Motley Zoo Animal Rescue is great. But lines are long at the Cat Circus that’s not really a circus. You’ve been warned. MEGAN SELING

H Comedy Coop

In the past half-decade, Bumbershoot’s Comedy Coop has drawn oversized, wait-in-line crowds, and we get it. Seattle’s stand-up

scene has enjoyed a recent, steady rise in quality and quirkiness, thanks to a healthy number of venues and ongoing showcases for locals to work out their boundary-pushing routines. With proven collectives like Pacific North Weirdos (headed by Stranger “Undisputable Geniuses of Comedy” Emmett Montgomery and Derek Sheen), the Disabled List, and #TheBLACKOUT, along with rising showcases like One Man Show (a female/nonbinary showcase) and Laff-a-Ball (nerdy comedy born from Fremont’s popular Add-a-Ball arcade), this year’s comedy options will likely merit their own lengthy queues. Budget your between-bands comedy time accordingly. SAM MACHKOVECH

Euro Bungee

Strap into this contraption that looks like something that sprouted out of Doctor Octopus’s back and jump around on a trampoline, if that’s something you’re into! MEGAN SELING

H Fashion Runway

Although Seattle is not exactly known for its fashion—The Stranger’s Charles Mudede called it “the anti-fashion capital of the world” in 2022— Bumbershoot’s Fashion District is a chance for the city’s few sartorial specialists to flaunt their style bona fides on the runway. I’m excited to see New Affection’s “silhouettes that question dominant beauty standards and nod to queer history,” the “smallbatch, slow fashion design house” Prairie Underground, Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, the teen-run fashion show High Fashion High, and multidisciplinary artist and designer Alter Ego Expressions. JULIANNE BELL

H Flatstock

The world’s greatest poster and art show is back! At Flatstock, more than 20 local and visiting independent artists will be displaying and selling their incredible work. Sure, it’s a smaller iteration compared to the early 2000s (when Flatstock would feature hundreds of artists throughout the weekend), but hey, quality over quantity, baby! MEGAN SELING

Free Range Performances

Keep a lookout for what Bumbershoot calls Free Range PerforAUGUST 2026

THE STRANGER’S BUMBERSHOOT GUIDE

mances, in which folks like the Rat City Roller Derby skaters and conceptual artist Flatchestedmama pop up around the Seattle Center and do what exactly? And when? Who knows! The mystery is what makes it fun, maybe! MEGAN SELING

BUMBERMANIA Daily, Recess District

Gravity Park

You’ll feel like it’s X-Games circa 1997 at Gravity Park, where you can catch skateboard and BMX competitions and demos from Dope Planet, Skate Like a Girl, Ride and Glide, and Alchemy Skateboarding. Also returning this year: 35th North’s Ramp Riot, where the best tricks can win skaters cash prizes! MEGAN SELING

Large-Scale Sculpture & Light Art

Come dusk, gather like moths around the candy-color glow of Sparks Designs’ large-scale light installations. The team collaborates with femme and LGBTQIA+ metalworking artists to create monumental shadow- and light-box sculptures inspired by the lushness of our bioregional ecosystems. Presented in more than 30 cities across eight countries, their work may resemble giant paper lanterns or stained glass, but they’re meticulously welded, cast, forged, and cut into intricate forms that cast prismatic patterns across the landscape. AMANDA MANITACH

Magic Dome

If you only take one thing away from this printed guide, it should be this advice: Never search for magicians on an algorithmic platform. If you ask Insta, YT, or TikTok if this is your card, they will bombard you with corny street magicians. We took the hit to confirm that Bumbershoot’s new Magic Dome isn’t quite the starstudded selection of modern, likable magicians that we were hoping for, with at least one participating magician calling a child a “drunk midget” in his online magic-trick reel, JFC. But Centralia, WA–based Taylor Kyle is a legit close-up magician, and cheesy as he is, his tricks do blow minds, so there’s that. SAM MACHKOVECH

Merchant Village

More than two dozen local vendors— from designers and stylists to jewelers and perfumers—are slinging their

BRITTNE LUNNISS

goods at the Merchant Village. My money will likely end up in the hands of Delusion Bird Vintage (founded by La Fonda!), Seattle Chainstitch Massacre (peep their Widow’s Bay collection), and Embellish the Truth, where fiber artist Sarah Bolden upcycles old clothes into wearable art covered in beads and sequins and crystals to create ready-to-wear pieces that could carry a modern remake of Desperately Seeking Susan. MEGAN SELING

H PROTEST!: A Visual History of Civil Disobedience in Seattle

Seattle is really good at civil disobedience—it’s kind of our love language. When you’re ready for a sensory break (or just want to feed on a little intellectual meat), get over to Art/Not Terminal (A/NT) Gallery, where you can catch up on our city’s history of resistance. From the Red Scare–era strikes of 1919 to chasing the cops out of CHOP, PROTEST!, presented by HistoryLink, is an exhibition of photography and archival imagery that traces the history of our city throwing a middle finger at corruption and capitalism. A fun fact about A/NT: it started as a guerrilla gallery literally born in a downtown bus stop in 1987. It’s gone on to serve as a community art space—the people’s gallery—for nearly 40 years! AMANDA MANITACH

Puppet Playhouse

Did you know comedian Ryan Stiles, aka the tall guy from Whose Line Is It Anyway?, was born in Seattle? It’s true! And in 2004, Stiles, who is quite possibly the world’s most famous improv comedian, founded the Upfront Theatre in Bellingham, WA. And this weekend, it’s Stiles’s Upfront Theatre that’s hosting the Puppet Playhouse, which will present both kid-friendly and 18-plus puppet shows. Another fun fact: Stiles was in Hot Shots! Part Deux, which also featured Martin Sheen, who was in JFK with Kevin Bacon. Just two degrees from Kevin Bacon! That has nothing to do with anything. I just really like the movie Tremors. MEGAN SELING

H Rooftop District

If you need a break from the crush below, the rooftop is the place to be: a perch overlooking the Main Stage, a glass of wine in hand, and intimate performances by artists like improvisational saxophonist KO SOLO and my current dance obsession, atm/overdraft. Whatever you do this weekend, do not fucking miss atm/overdraft. The inimitable dance duo—Kit Wyatt and Hannah Simmons—suddenly seem to be everywhere I look (though it is still not nearly enough), often concealed behind unforgettable mesh masks and dressed in a tangle of flesh-toned lingerie and boudoir stockings. Their

work blends ballet, burlesque, and butoh into an unbroken slow-motion choreography of climbing, collapsing, and folding into one another. It’s gender-bent decadence, oozing an intoxicating mix of terror, sex, and tenderness. AMANDA MANITACH

Una the Mermaid

I am absolutely fascinated by professional mermaids, and Bumbershoot will bring an opportunity to see one work her magic. Hawaiian-born, Portland-based underwater artist Una the Mermaid will swim in a 900-gallon gilded glass aquarium, shimmering tail and all. JULIANNE BELL

VIDEORAMA: Northwest Shorts

This year’s Bumbershoot quartet of short-film showcases are curated by longtime local org Seattle Film Society, and they each share a communal, watch-for-the-first-time freshness that we sure miss in the home-streaming era. Without any pre-fest video snippets to review, we can’t guarantee any of their quality, but on a novelty and surprise basis, we vote for the 48 Hour Film Fest, since it requires participating filmmakers to make short films with creative and timing constraints. It’s the film fest equivalent of an improv comedy show: probably better live and with a crowd. SAM MACHKOVECH AUGUST 2026

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Who Said It? Edgar Allan Poe vs. Ben Gibba rd By Megan Seling

TA IN E

hile waiting for Death Cab for Cutie to take the stage Sunday night, see if you can guess who penned each line tury of morbid prose—Ben Gibbard or 19th-Cen

N FO MY JIM

gothic writer Edgar Allan Poe!

g, darkness peerin 1 ere long I stood th “Deep into that

ng / wondering, feari ng dreams Doubting, dreami dared to no mortal ever dream before.” RD GIB B A POE

to the hearse / And there are days when I wish you’d just become / An acquaintance or a timeto-time someone.” GIB BA RD POE

“And we watched the plumes paint the sky gray / As she laughed and danced through the field of graves / There, I knew it would be alright / That everything would be alright.”

PO E

“Oh, how this penchant is a 2 curse / All the way from the cradle

— I have “I have spoken ve registered ha ey Th / en ok sp faith be my gh ou th d An the vow / art be he my gh ou th broken / And token / en ld go e th ld broken / Beho ” w! no y pp ha That proves me

PO E

GIBBARD

And the fever called “Living” / Is conquered at last.”

GIBB AR D

POE

“Something about 6 Satan’s dart / Someth

ing about angel Bumbershoot Band? wings / Much abo ut

a broken heart / All abo ut unhappy things.”

POE

GIBBARD

GIBBARD “And living above / And I 8 can’t help but keep falling in it ain’t easy

“We buried our lov e in a 7 wintry grave / A lum p in the sno

w was all that remain ed / Though we stayed by its side as the days turned to weeks / As the ice kept getting thi nne word that we’d speak. r with every ” GIBBARD POE

d “As they drowne em th ar he d ul co we ic ag tr a at wh h, screaming / ‘O final days.’” way to see our GIB BA RD POE

love with bones and ashes / With bones and ashes.”

POE

GIBB ARD

THE STRANGER’S BUMBERSHOOT GUIDE

angels in Heaven 9 above / Nor the demons “And neither the

down under the sea / Can ever dissever my soul from the soul / Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.”

GIBB AR D

PO E

“No blinding 1 1 light or tunnel

s to gates of white / Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hin t of a spark.”

PO E

GIBB ARD

Answ ers on next page 26

“Thank Heaven! The crisis / The danger is past / And the 3 lingering illness / Is over at last /

e “I stand amid th

roar / Of a surf 2 1 d I hold An / e or sh d te rmen

to / Grains of the within my hand w few! yet how Ho / nd golden sa ugh my fingers ro Th / p they cree .” to the deep

PO E

GIBBARD

BUMBERSHOOT: RAD LIBS the

summer days, it’s important to

ADJ ECTIVE

throughout the day.

Bikini Kill

Death Cab for Cutie

Cain Culto

Lucy Dacus

Blood Orange

Lucha Luna

De La Soul

Midpak

Noname

Sera Cahoone

Peaches

Sudan Archives

Oblé Reed Racing Mount Pleasant

Sextile

Takuya Nakamura

Suzzallo

Turnstile

Travis Thompson W.I.T.C.H. BY CORIANTON HALE

“POE or GIBBARD?” ANSWERS:

1. Edgar Allen Poe, “The Raven”

Anthers

HELP NONAME ESCAPE THE MAZE AND GET TO HER BOOK CLUB!

2. Death Cab for Cutie, “I Built You a Tower (a)”

BUMBERSHOOT BANDS?

Bumbershooting!

Edgar Allen Poe, “For Annie”

CAN YOU FIND YOUR FAVORITE

ADJ ECTIVE

plenty of

4. Death Cab for Cutie, “Grapevine Fires”

NOU N

VE R B

ADJ ECTIVE

5. Edgar Allen Poe, “Bridal Ballad”

. And don’t forget to apply

NOU N

! And in the Armory Food Hall, fill your belly with

VE R B E N DI NG I N -I NG

. Delicious! On these

NOU N

District, catch

ADJ ECTIVE

6. Edgar Allen Poe, “The Valley of Unrest”

wrestling and extreme

NOU N

things to do between bands. In the

ADJ ECTIVE

and Rising is

ADJ ECTIVE

7. Death Cab for Cutie, “The Ice Is Getting Thinner”

. There’s plenty of

ADJ ECTIVE

. Their album, 3 Feet

. Sunday will be

8. Death Cab for Cutie, “Here to Forever”

VE R B E N DI NG I N -I NG

BODY PART

9. Edgar Allen Poe, “Annabel Lee”

, too! I can’t believe De La Soul are

! And I can’t wait to

ADJ ECTIVE

. Rumor has it, they will play their entire set using only their

YOU R FAVOR ITE B U M B E RSHOOT M USICIAN

ADJ ECTIVE

Peaches! I hope she plays my

VE R B

Away.” It makes me so

NOU N

PLU RAL NOU N

10. Death Cab for Cutie, “20th Century Towers”

see

. On Saturday, I’m excited to

PLU RAL NOU N

VE R B

Needle for two days full of

NOU N

day in

ADJ ECTIVE

, and

PLU RAL NOU N

favorite song, “

will gather under the

PLU RAL NOU N

festival. It’s another

PLU RAL NOU N

11. Death Cab for Cutie, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”

Seattle, and thousands of

music and

ADJ ECTIVE

12. Edgar Allen Poe, “A Dream Within a Dream”

Welcome to Bumbershoot! Seattle’s

Fill in the blanks to write your own silly story!

MAZE BY CORIANTON HALE / ILLUSTRATION BY YASIMAN AHSANI

AUGUST 2026