An Oral History

Sheila Hughes: Even now, as producer, the most fun thing is to listen to surveys after the festival. They may come for the headliners, but when they're asked what was the thing you'll never forget, it's some exhibit they walked through, or some strange performance-art kind of thing.

Baby Gramps: It's always great, even in the rain. I remember one time I was playing Bumbershoot, and it started hailinghail the size of golf balls. I remember running to shelter and I kept performing. Everybody who was watching ran with me.

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More About

• Ray Charles
• Jon Kertzer
• David Cross
• Bumbershoot Festival
• Sheila Hughes

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Sheila Hughes: You have to make sure people see what they hope to see and not just come and get crushed. You have to make sure the experience is worth their $20.

Artis the Spoonman: I've never fucking paid my way in there, and I never will. If it doesn't work at one gate and someone just says, "Oh, it's Artis, just let him in," then I'll go over to the next one. If I can't go up to someone at the gate and [be] let in, I ain't going.

David Cross (comedian): At the end of the first night I experienced it, I asked one of the security guards, "How many arrests do you have to make every year?" And he said, "Oh, a couple. Guys are drunk. No violence or anything." That blew me away. I was [seeing] the Fastbacks and Sleater-Kinney. They had a beer garden in the back of the room, and a makeshift balsa wood picket fence thing, and a skinny 20-year-old kid in a yellow T-shirt saying, "You can't come in through here." And everyone said, "Oh, OK," and went around the side to the entrance. In Boston or L.A., that would not happen. People would say, "Fuck you, bitch" and push their way in, and the festival would be over in two years. I can't imagine it working in any other city.

mmatos@seattleweekly.com