With over ninety-something options vying for your attention from opening gates until the closing bell, making the most out of your day(s) at Bumbershoot definitely takes a little bit of planning. All the normal festival rules apply: pack light, wear layers, don't forget the sunscreen (and remember pace your drinking!).... but on top of all that -- first and foremost -- get that schedule out and go over it with a fine-toothed comb. We did, and came up with a handful of can't-miss acts and installations to help make your Saturday the best it can be:

Flatstock {all weekend, Fisher Pavillion}
A true no-brainer for the concert-lover in all of us, Flatstock fuses memories of some of the greatest shows on earth with track-stopping-ly gorgeous graphics. For as far as the eye can see -- almost literally -- and for all three days of Bumbershoot, Flatstock displays row after row, booth after booth of a staggering per-square-foot amount of artistic content. With so much talent in such a small space, and no additional costs to check it out once you're on Bumbershoot grounds, you'd be silly to pass it up.

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Oh man is tonight going to be a good one! Get thee to the Tractor tonight for a very, very special night, as everyone sings "It's Your Birthday" to two Seattle pop legendaries - Lulu and Kurt of the Fastbacks. The evening starts off promptly at 8:30 with a heavy dose of Seattle royalty - the Young Fresh Fellows. Then, as if that wasn't enough, a bunch of other, a bunch of Seattle pop royalty, like PUSA, the Tripwires, Thee Sgt. Major III, and tons more will join the stage to sing a bunch of Fastbacks covers. And then, Seattle's favorite Fastbacks cover band, The K-Streets (hint - it's basically just the Fastbacks) will perform all the hits and classics. To top it all off, the night is only $5. I can't possibly think of a better way to spend a fiver.
In honor of this wonderfulness, we at TIG decided to re-run this beautiful piece of Fastbacks nerdery, origially posted by a Dear Mr. Oswald a few months ago for the last K-Streets show at the Sunset.

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at The Blue Moon

I shopped extensively for New Years Eve shows and immediately dismissed The Paramount’s offering with The Presidents of The Unites States of America, as I genuinely detest their music. But...

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107.7 The End hasmade a commitment to raise $50,000 for Vera and this compilation CD, Live from the Morning Alternative, is part of the fundraising effort, including the Divorce, Death Cab, Smoosh, and Pretty Girls Make Graves.

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Their latest release, Love Everybody, puts them right back on the map where they left off.

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I don't know the three imaginary girls because I never go out unless I'm playing. And even if I was down with the three imaginary girls, I don't know what the song "Lump" is about.

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Presidents of the United States of America, I know actual Presidents of the United States of America, and you, Senator, are no Presidents of the United States of America.

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