SEATTLE — After its well-received return to form in 2023, we now know what Bumbershoot’s new organizers have in store for a follow-up. On Tuesday, the summer-capping Labor Day weekend bash became the last of the Seattle-area’s core music festivals to announce its 2024 music lineup, curated by a familiar face (more on that later).
This year’s cast is led by indie-rock royalty Pavement and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon — who released a riveting new album this spring — as well as indie-rock contemporaries Kurt Vile & the Violators and Courtney Barnett, electronic singer-songwriter James Blake, rapper Freddie Gibbs, pop rockers Aly & AJ and ‘90s hip-hop stalwarts Cypress Hill.
Other highlights include U.K. house/techno hero Carl Cox and electronic party starters Marc Rebillet, Ladytron and Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES; jazz-informed adventurers BADBADNOTGOOD, Moor Mother and Seattle’s Kassa Overall; a joint set with singer-songwriters Madison Cunningham and Andrew Bird; the soul-powered Thee Sacred Souls, Lee Fields and St. Paul & the Broken Bones; rock vets Mercury Rev, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and the Polyphonic Spree; and Lol Tolhurst x Budgie, a gothy dream team of drummers from the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Also on board: home-state staples Black Belt Eagle Scout and Dean Johnson, avant popsmith Helado Negro, indie-rock vets Hurray for the Riff Raff; alt-rap standout Pink Siifu, Portland’s Pure Bathing Culture and TK & the Holy Know-Nothings; k.Flay, I Don’t Know How But They Found Me, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes; Colombian psych-soul instrumentalists BALTHVS and more. Check out the full lineup below.
Tickets for the two-day music and arts fest (Aug. 31-Sept.1) at Seattle Center currently start at $70 for a single day and $125 for weekend passes and are on sale at bumbershoot.com. (Prices are set to go up June 21.)
Last year, new organizers New Rising Sun took the reins of the Seattle institution, pledging to return the festival to its eclectic, Northwest roots while lowering ticket prices and elevating a wide range of art forms.
Beyond the music, this year’s mix features fashion, animation and recess (think physical “arts”) districts, the Out of Sight contemporary art showcase in Fisher Pavilion and other exhibitions and installments around the Seattle Center campus.
If it seems the music lineup bears the mark of Bumbershoots of old, well, there might be a reason for that. This year’s lineup was curated by Chris Porter, a veteran event producer and Bumbershoot’s music talent buyer from 1997 until 2015 when AEG took over from longtime lead organizer One Reel. Outside of Seattle, Porter also books for San Francisco’s free (and billionaire-funded) Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, which according to some estimates, attracts 500,000-plus attendees to Golden Gate Park over three days.
Full music lineup
Acid Tongue, All Them Witches, Aly & AJ, Angélica Garcia, Automatic, BADBADNOTGOOD, Balthvs, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Carl Cox, Corridor, Courtney Barnett, Cunningham / Bird, Cypress Hill, Dean Johnson, Disq, Emi Pop, Flesh Produce, Freddie Gibbs, George Clanton, Gold Chisme, Grynch, Helado Negro, Hurray for the Riff Raff, I Dont Know How But They Found Me, James Blake, k.flay, Kassa Overall, Kim Gordon, King Buffalo, Kultur Shock, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Ladytron, Lauren Mayberry, Lee Fields, Lemon Boy, Linda from Work, Lol Tolhurst x Budgie, Marc Rebillet, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Mercury Rev, Moor Mother, NAVVI, Neal Francis, Oh, Rose, Parisalexa, Pavement, Pink Siifu, Pom Pom Squad, Psymon Spine, Pure Bathing Culture, R E P O S A D O, Rocket, Spoon Benders, Squirrel Flower, St Paul and the Broken Bones, Stephanie Anne Johnson, Sux, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, TEKE::TEKE, The Divorce, The Groovy Nobody, The Polyphonic Spree, Thee Sacred Souls, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, Tres Leches, Warren Dunes.
©2024 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
