best “surprise” appearance: For those who didn’t connect the dots to figure out the super-secret identity of Transatlantic Orchestra, the 826 Seattle Bumbershoot Benefit’s [#] house band, it was none other than Death Cab for Cutie. Who’d have guessed that our obsession with that band and this event would be connected? Ben Gibbard provided acoustic musical accompaniment to Dave Eggers’s lengthy letter (prose poem?) written from the point of view of an Irish Setter named Steven who is very enamored with forearm-touching and children-tutoring (Wooooo!).

The full band convened to perform various renditions of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” along with Sarah Vowell’s story about the song’s history. Seriously, you’re probably thinking, “could anything top DCFC styled old timey war music?” The answer is their encore cover of “Hungry Like the Wolf” with special guests Mike Doughty and Daniel Handler on accordion played in honor of raising over $18,000 from the wallets of audience members for 826 Seattle. Expect pictures and audio/video as soon (guest photographer coordination issues).

strangest program “innovations”

• This year’s official program is organized not by day or stage, but by the musical and artistic tastes of fictional monsters and robots. The way that the guide is intended to work is that visitors will read the monster’s profiles and determine which represents them by matching their occupations, addresses, or bathroom reading habits to the character and use that as a route to follow for Bumbershoot happiness. It’s a cute idea — although I still haven’t settled on a perfect match — but they reduce the usability even further by organizing the recommendations alphabetically within character instead of chronologically. Another fatal flaw is that the pink one-eyed monster girl who loves to read the Believer wasn’t planning to go to the 826 Seattle benefit. What?
• There is a giant inflatable bubble-spewing volcano on site this year. As it spills from the volcano’s cone, the foam is collected by plastic walls for a party. This is a great opportunity for parents to train their children foam party etiquette, lest they end up in Cancun as drunken teenagers unfamiliar with the concept.