Big crowds under bright skies

"Yo, Bumbershoot, you look great!"

"Thanks — I lost a day."

Leaner but no less entertaining, Bumbershoot 2006 began its three-day run on Saturday. The sun was out, the gates were opened and the music lovers poured in, attracted by acts as disparate as Blondie and AFI.

Mariah Blanton and Amanda Steipek, a pair of dressed-in-black 16-year-olds from Woodinville, were among the early arrivals. They came first thing in the morning and waited all day to see AFI, the hardcore headliners of the night.

In previous years, crowds were usually light in the early going, gradually getting denser. While no official attendance figures were immediately available, Kate Jackson, publicist for One Reel (which produces Bumbershoot), confirmed, "It's much busier than usual."

On Saturday there were human traffic jams by 2 p.m., as kids and adults crisscrossed Seattle Center in search of fun. The weather surely played a part in the big crowd — the only "bumbershoot" (what the English call an umbrella) seen was being used as a sun shield.

It was definitely a family affair early in the day, with plenty of babes-in-arms and toddlers. Throughout the day, more and more youngsters soaked themselves in the International Fountain. And, as the heat intensified, teenagers and adults joined them.

Blondie was the highlight of the afternoon, as Deborah Harry put on a wonderful early-afternoon concert. Bumbershooters were clearly eager to see the 60-something rocker, and those who waited out the long queue were rewarded. Dressed in bright-yellow top and pants, Harry danced in her band's long musical interludes, led a sing-along to "The Tide is High" and paced the stage menacingly for the rap parts of "Rapture." A quarter-century after those hits, one of rock's great vocalists still has a pleasing voice.

As it always does, One Reel came up with new ways to entertain. KeyArena was taken over by women's roller derby. Though the scoring might not have been clear to all (public-address commentary: "I think the whistle was blown before Mouse entered the jam"), watching big, strong, athletic women on wheels knocking into each other brought roars from the crowd.

The Lonely H, a more conventional Bumbershoot offering, pleased the crowd at EMP's Sky Church with its pop-rock set. These five teenagers from the Olympic Peninsula borrow dramatic riffs from Queen and a general flavoring of the Beatles. Singer Mark Fredson, going from midrange to falsetto, is a potential star, and his four backing musicians are skilled far beyond their years.

He can sing — we think

In his native England, Jamie Lidell's voice has been favorably compared to the pipes of such august soul singers as Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye. But he gave the Bumbershoot crowd only a small taste of that agile vocal power in service of a song, in a set dominated by lengthy techno-jams with ... well, himself.

Appearing on Fisher Green in a buttoned-up trench coat and pastel blue scarf (he was expecting rain), Lidell opened with a full-throated original ballad. But after introducing a row of synthesizers as his band, he focused mainly on long, monotonous, heavily processed vocal jams. Next time he plays Seattle, let's hope he makes his touted voice the star.

Images of sand and water, flowers and crystals waft through the folk-rock tunes of Laura Veirs on the More Music Stage. With poetic lyrics like, "The rose is not afraid to blossom / Though it knows its petals must fall," this young Seattle singer-songwriter's music has a spacey but unpretentious vibe. And her band, The Tortured Souls, offers twinkly accompaniment that somehow never cloys.

A gamin in pigtails and with a wispy girlish voice, Veirs is no wimp. Her music has a delicate force, and she wins your affection as she goes. When she invited listeners to lie on their backs and gaze upward, during a typically stream-of-consciousness song about clouds, many happily obliged.

More than music

As usual, there were scores of vendors selling clothes, jewelry, food, etc. An interesting first-timer was Kwytza Kraft, a Eugene, Ore., business that makes jewelry and bowls out of recycled chopsticks.

Myspace.com, the ubiquitous Internet site, was also at Bumbershoot for the first time, with a few laptops for MySpace addicts to log onto the site.

A busker took a break from his "escape from a regulation straitjacket" act to stare down a cellphone user. "If you're that important, I'll wait," he hissed ... and the crowd gathered around him laughed.

The cellphone user disconnected, the junior Houdini returned to his act.

A groovy evening

By 6 p.m., the crowd was cooled by a gentle breeze, the perfect atmosphere for, say, Bay Area outfit Rogue Wave's relaxed groovefest, "Publish My Love." After a pleasant set of psychedelic pop that won the Oakland quartet big cheers, singer Zach Schwartz said, "You made us happy boys. We'll drive to Vancouver [B.C., where its next show is] with love in our hearts."

And from Friday night

Friday's benefit, "People Talking and Singing," certainly showcased the oeuvre that Dave Eggers has become famous for: a brand of smugness best summed up as coffee-shop witticism meets geekier-than-thou hipness.

But when Eggers took the stage at McCaw Hall for 826 Seattle to talk about the work his nonprofit writing centers do in our town and five other cities, little of his usual stylized self-satisfaction was evident.

Eggers let a short, Sesame Street-esque film (narrated by Eggers' fellow geekster Sarah Vowell) do most of the talking. And it was also evident that Eggers' disarming sincerity was a result of his earnest commitment to the incredible 826 centers.

The Bumbershoot benefit was part of a six-city national tour of similar events, featuring indie-rock and literary luminaries culled from Eggers' enviable cadre of eminent buddies. The singing portion this year included local indie-pop group Smoosh, the Decemberists' Colin Meloy and Zach Schwartz of Rogue Wave.

Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, offered a three-act play performed by the Daniel Handler Players — Vowell, Meloy and surprise guest Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, whose appearance as the "Voice of Daniel Handler" was met with frenzied hoots from his hometown crowd.

McCaw was packed, if not quite sold out, and a round of pass-the-hat that touted hugs from Eggers for a $20 donation and a "jovial, buddy punch" from Vowell for $5, raised $10,000 — certainly something to talk and sing about.

Tom Scanlon: tscanlon@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times theater critic Misha Berson and freelancer Rachel Devitt contributed to this article.