What a killer weekend! It was so great, in fact, that it took me all week to (a) recover some semblance of time management skills and (b) sort through the nine zillion photos from three days of blood, sweat and booty-shakin'. Now that we're all back on track and gearing up for the weekend, let's take a look at all the fun we had: this year's Bumbershoot lined up a diverse range of sounds, collided with a killer forecast, and was packed to the gills with happy, band-loving fesitvalgoers (myself and a few other imaginary staffers included).

Here's a sliver of the bliss I was able to capture from some of my personal highlights from this year's festival, starting with the early Saturday groove-assault brought on by JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound — complete with serious shout-outs to KEXP:

Sera Cahoone put on a gorgeous set at the Sub Pop stage — there's lots of buzz around about her new album, out on SP later this month.

Have you ever been to a THEESatisfaction show? No? Let me sum it up for you: the whip-smart lyrics and undeniable beats that Stas and Cat dropped made for a non-stop bump-and-grind fest, punctuated only by realizations that I was in the presence of two people who manage to (somehow) simultaneously exude true greatness and absolute badassery. Were I able to stop shaking my ass for more than .02 seconds, I would have thrown my underwear at the stage. Yep. It was that kind of good:

The Seattle CenterArmory has a great new look that's such an upgrade, from the overall visual appeal to the signage to the quality of the varying eateries installed in the space. Put simply, it's gone from a bit of an afterthought to an out-and-out cool space. And, adding Flatstock to the middle of it all was a perfect move by the festival's organizers. Bravah all around!

Bumbershoot's newest stage (The Promenade, near the press room at McCaw Hall) was another new element of Bumbershoot that won us over, christened appropriately all weekend with some of our favorite bands. Saturday night, Damien Jurado took to the center and blew us away, as usual:

Speaking of KEXP, they nailed it again this year with another incredible set of "secret" shows — Best Breakfast Set (first show of the day) of the weekend hands-down goes to M. Ward, who slayed a packed theater with an eight-ish song setlist that included a cover of "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" by the Kinks. Utter fanperson / audiophile bliss! Also, M.'s performance tied for Best Set That Gave Me All The Feelings (it's a split with the Barr Brothers at the Promenade on Saturday).

If there's winners for Most Feelings and Best Breakfast, then our friends The Young Evils won Best Band That Looked Like Actual Rockstars In The Middle Of The Day (Without Trying To). They put on a seamless, tight performance that didn't feel as festival sets often do (you know, like you're seeing a band in broad daylight and wishing you were in a filthy club at midnight on a Saturday instead), proving once again that they're one of the best bands on the scene right now. Good vibes + going strong with the new drummer = a dozen different kinds of YEs awesome:

Hello, Fruit Bats singing "When U Love Somebody" on a sunny afternoon, in a city that I love. Guh. <3

Best Coast managed to be most excellent even in the booming space of Key Arena — honestly, I was prepared for it to be a little distorted / diluted / bouncy-sounding, but the cavernous space lent well to that lovely, one-of-a-kind vocal prowess.

Posse put on a decent show at the Promenade:

Band I Saw That Made The Most People Freak The Fuck Out: M83

I finally was able to see Bryan John Appleby do a live set up close and personal, and I finally understand what all the hype is about. He does sad-bastard beard core just as good as the next person, but man, when the whole band comes together and rocks one of their louder, more upbeat songs, watch the fuck out. Also, if we're still handing out awards, BJA wins Highest Percentage Of Dapper, Photographic Young Gentlemen On One Stage for the weekend. (And Best Beard, duh.)

Probably one of the most well-matched stage-to-performer pairings was Hey Marseilles' Monday night set at the Mural Stage, which a few of us took in eagerly before closing the night out with a bit of burlesque. They're the one band of the weekend that I actually wished had been a bit louder — all of the instruments were meticulously soundchecked and it would have been great to have just a skotch more volume. Still: they're sounding as solid and sweepingly beautiful as ever.

If you're looking for more photos, there's a veritable metric ton of them in our imaginary flickr pool — and of course, make sure you take a peek at Chris Estey's Bumber-Weekend experience and Amie's Sunday Funday wrapup too. We all want to extend huge, near-inexpressible thanks to our friends at Bumbershoot and One Reel for making this past Labor Day weekend such a great one. Only three hundred and fifty-something days 'til Bumbershoot 2013!

{All photos by Victoria VanBruinisse.}