I love Seattle’s annual great all-you-can-eat buffet-O-culture; and this year’s version was better, overall, than those of the previous few.

A relative dearth of bigname touring rock acts (whose summer schedules are increasingly tied up in package tours) meant the spotlight shone a little higher on the locals, and on acts such as Wilco and Blonde Redhead that can draw and wow a crowd without having been on TRL.

A brief history of the Shoot: It began as an early ’70s free fest, designed to use all of Seattle Center for the first time since the World’s Fair a decade before. It started relatively small, but blossomed when national stars were added to the mix (necessitating a cover charge).

Early programming was heavy on the already-calcifying tastes of bland baby boomers; white blues bands and Ronstadtesque commercial balladeers predominated the main stages. Black performers younger than B.B. King were seldom booked. Rock n’ roll bands were mostly of the nostalgia-reunion variety.

By the late ’80s, somebody at One Reel (the former hippie-vaudeville production company that’s run the festival since almost the start) finally wizened up and started inviting new generations of performers to the main stages. That coincided with the rise of “alternative” rock (some of whose local legend-makers performed at the festival), alt-country, white hiphop, and even punk/new wave reunion tours.

But it also coincided with the rise of big corporate-rock arena tours, in which the likes of Sonic Youth were pushed onto stages previously reserved for acts of Rolling Stones-level popularity. As the ’90s progressed-regressed, the big acts became Bumbershoot’s main draw, causing ticket prices to go up every year and causing the phase-out of less-commercial costly fare (such as the Seattle Symphony).

Now, the tide might be turning again. This year’s B-shoot had more of a balance. Local and smaller national acts got more attention. The emphasis was less on getting that precious wristband and/or spot in line for the superstars, more on just being there, having fun, and exposing oneself to something new and intriguing. Which is how it oughta be.

My personal memories of this year’s fest: Kulture Shock’s rousing ethnic-melange at the EMP Sky Church (followed by Yva Las Vegas’s empassioned set in the same building’s open mike later that night). Ani DiFranco’s forceful anti-Bush rant in Memorial Stadium. An eight-woman klezmer band at one of the smaller outdoor stages. The welcome arrival of clammy skies on Monday, marking the all-but-official end of summer. And the ambient sounds heard passing through the gorunds late Monday night, especially those of the Fun Forest amusement rides winding down for the night.