By Ivory Wynne
Photos by Frances Edwards-Hughes
I was so excited for this year’s Bumbershoot lineup. Bumbershoot is one of the most well-known and longstanding music and arts festivals hosted in Seattle, Washington. Throughout the years, Bumbershoot has fused local Pacific Northwest artists with big names spanning across multiple genres—Death Cab for Cutie, Third Eye Blind, SZA, Soundgarden, and Pavement being among some of the most notable acts. It’s safe to say that on all fronts Bumbershoot has always aimed to please Seattle locals. What made this year’s lineup so special to me though was the amount of women performing. Women in alternative music more specifically. There is always room for improvement in diversifying lineups, and I think Bumbershoot is working towards that.
We are already seeing improvement happening in real time. This year, Bumbershoot agreed to collaborate with Book More Women, a non-profit set on expanding lineups to highlight more women and non-binary musicians. According to Book More Women, this year’s Bumbershoot lineup is made up of 60.6% men. This is, of course, is not a Bumbershoot specific issue; the music industry at large has always lacked gender diversity. While we await next year’s lineup to see improvement, it is important to highlight the women who have played at the festival thus far.
KUPS was lucky enough to attend day One of Bumbershoot this year. The lineup was filled with many amazing artists—this year’s headliners being Turnstile and Death Cab for Cutie. These headliners were strong and put on a great show for fans. But as mentioned previously, I found myself more intrigued by the women performing this year.
Bikini Kill for example could have easily been a headliner this year. It is almost surprising that a legendary Washington band was not pushed more heavily this year. Frontwoman Kathleen Hanna is the mother of the Riot Grrrl movement that started in the very early 90’s, it would have been wonderful to see them getting the recognition they deserve at a larger scale. Especially in their home state. Their set was an hour long, packed with classics like “Rebel Girl” and mixed with the deeper cuts like “For Only” and “Tony Randal” off their record Reject All American. During the set, Hanna and Tobi Vail, the band’s drummer and a central figure in the Riot Grrrl scene, shared stories of the early days of the band. Hanna mentioned working at local bars in Seattle and her own experience of attending Bumbershoot in her teens. And of course, it would not be a Bikini Kill show without a call to action. Hanna spoke about liberation in local communities across Seattle and the world at large. Bikini Kill has always been, and always will be, the face of classic feminist-punk values. Watching Hanna perform on her hands and knees was especially reminiscent of Bikini Kill’s early years performing in Washington. In the early 90s Bikini Kill struggled with appealing to the male-centerned punk scene. You can see now with the crowds they pull that they are the heart of PNW and know what it means to be involved in the punk scene.
Die Spitz was another band that caught my eye this year. The Austin, Texas four-piece tries on many different subgenres within the alternative spear. Regardless of how you want to label the band, they remain loud in the punk scene. Their set this year at Bumbershoot had everything you would expect from them– moshing, loud guttural vocals, and shameless attitudes from all the band’s members. The crowd seemed more than pleased with their performance, by the end of it many people still seemed to have the energy to keep going on with more songs– all good things must come to an end I suppose.
It was a really special experience to see two different generations of punk bands fronted by women play back to back. After seeing Bikini Kill and Die Spitz play, I was able to compare the two in real time. On stage, both Bikini Kill and Die Spitz are outspoken politically. It is important for future generations to continue advocating for others, it is also great to be able to see two women-led bands have a stage to perform on at all– as it’s not always been the case. I am reminded of how far we have come politically as a collective, and how much further we need to go. With this year’s lineup, Bumbershoot created a great experience for both long-time fans of punk and newcomers alike. Women have always influenced music and been integral to its development. A lot of progress is still to be made regarding showcasing women in festivals and getting them booked. I am hopeful that lineups in the coming years will reflect the contributions of women across all music scenes.