{Bumbershoot photo: Erik Clineschmidt Photography}

One Reel, the talented folks behind putting on Bumbershoot, is reminding festival goers this year that the deadline for the extra-special Any Day Pass is coming up soon: May 31st. The neat idea is that if you buy this $29 ticket before then, you can pick any one of the three days to go on, so as the artists are announced (day by day) till then and you can put together the best bill for yourself any time before Labor Day Weekend. (Also, earlier in the week before, if you figure out which of those days it’s going to pour on, as it seems to do at least one day every year, you can choose an alternate day.) This is a reward for old school Bumbershoot fans (like me) who attend at least one of the days, and like the wiggle room up to the splendiferous event. The only catch being snatching up one of those tickets before the new month. May 31st! And then the Any Day Passes are all gone!

Just shouted-out for Bumbershoot 2011 today is Grant Lee Buffalo, who is joining these already-confirmed artists:

Wiz Khalifa, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Minus the Bear, Little Dragon, Broken Social Scene, The Kills, The Lonely Forest, Mavis Staples, Fitz and the Tantrums, Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs, Leon Russell, The Presidents of the United States of America, Urge Overkill, Over The Rhine, Toro Y Moi, Atari Teenage Riot, NoMeansNo, STRFKR … and more to be announced!

So with all this talk about SIFF and Sasquatch and the Block Party right now, why should you be making plans for Bumbershoot? It’s like three months away and everything! Well, you may have heard that this year things are being cleverly reconfigured to be more appropriate to the actual music world readers of (say) Three Imaginary Girls are into: Special focus on milieus like the Decibel Festival, and an entire day of metal programming (!), to serve more specific needs of committed fans. For me, serving fandom needs beats out monstrously overexposed headliners you can’t see and don’t want to hear “Any Day” (ha! As in “Pass.” Oh whatever). (All I remember of the humungous stadium gig for the Sex Pistols in 1996 was Johnny Rotten kept some kids’ shoe. Otherwise, I’m still dreaming of the Mekons playing a couple of times, or Magnetic Fields and Tiger Lilies blowing minds in the smaller theatre house shows.)

Here are the highlights on the Any Day $29 ticket:

– $29 Any Day Ticket is the only ticket that gives you the freedom to change your plans until the last minute.

– $29 Any Day Ticket is the best value for a single-day ticket.

– $29 Any Day Ticket is a limited offer — available until May 31 or while supplies last.

Once One Reel announces the daily music lineup on June 1, ticket prices will increase to $35 and be day-specific.

Of course, the $75 3-day pass is still the best value overall for diehards!