Well, it didn’t rain. Not much anyway, which is a great way to start Bumbershoot, Seattle’s annual music and arts festival, which happens every year over Labor Day weekend at Seattle Center. Another great way to start the festival is to eavesdrop on the people behind you in the press line:

Dude #1: This probably already exists, but what do you think emo rap would sound like?

Dude #2: The Streets?

Dude #1: If it were an actual genre, what would it be called?

Dude #2: Heart Attack.

Here are some other highlights from the day:

The band most likely to be asked to participate in an American Apparel campaign is the electro-indie pop act known as Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head. These four guys and a girl from Seattle have toured with CSS, The Go! Team and Lily Allen.

Pelican shirt.

If you’re a loyal reader of YuppiePunk (but why would you be?), you know we love anything and everything FOUND magazine, which is why we checked out Story Pirates After Dark Present FOUND, a New York comedy troupe who have turned some of their favorite notes from the magazine into short bits of theater.

A couple of them even had songs and choreography.

We went and checked out All-American Rejects for a bit, but we couldn’t get close enough to see what the white stuff on Tyson Ritter’s face and chest was. Which is probably good.

Seattle’s post-punk quartet formed out of the ashes of The Blood Brothers, who were decidedly more hardcore. But Past Lives still rock, just with more right angles.

were no doubt the most dapper band of the day, with every member sporting a tie. They played a solid set of smooth blue-eyed soul that had the folks at their stage dancing.

The founding members of Low vs. Diamond met at the University of Colorado before relocating to Los Angeles to complete their band and get a record deal.

Singer Lucas Field grew up in Seattle and said he used to come to Bumbershoot for free as a kid back when the city used to put on the show. In 1980, Seattle sold it to a promoter, and there’s been an admission charge ever since.

He seriously might be sleeping.

The Old 97s were also on the bill on day one — and we talked to singer Rhett Miller about the festival. “I love it,” he said. “In fact, every year I beg our booking agent to give me a good Bumbershoot slot.”

Miller, who recently released his fourth solo album, also said he likes playing Seattle a lot — even if it’s not at Bumbershoot. “It’s similar in a way to San Francisco or Chicago,” he continued. “Its a big city but it doesn’t have the industry, as it were. So it winds up being a better gig because you don’t have the jaded cell phone talker types.” Look for our complete interview with Mr. Miller at a later date.

RELATED: Bumbershoot 2008