Island ‘glam’ band Gruff Mummies caps a road stint with a show at Bumbershoot.

A rainbow of spotlights flashed across a battalion of fans facing a wide, empty stage at Bumbershoot Friday.

Just off to the side, behind a handful of the Seattle arts festival’s security and technical staff, Bainbridge Island’s Gruff Mummies sat waiting for their cue. The five teens reclined easily, chatting with friends, shaking hands or adjusting bits of their glam-rock wardrobe.

“Yeah, we’re stoked about this show,” said mop-topped guitar player Paul Brinkley, lounging on a folding chair. “For us, I can’t imagine a better place to play. I’ve been coming here for years to hear bands, but I never imagined playing here. It’s definitely different than playing the (Bainbridge Island) Grange, but we’ll give this just as much spirit.”

Moments later, the Gruff Mummies leaped onto the Experience Music Project’s Sky Church stage to a roaring young crowd. Singer Kirk Nordby bounded to the mic carrying a pole-mounted scarecrow as Brinkley, drummer Caleb Strickland, bassist Cameron Snyder and keyboardist Geneva Pritchett took their positions in front of a vast video screen.

“We’ve fought our way to the top,” said Nordby before kicking off a song from the band’s ’70s British pop-tinged first album, “Fogged Nights and Porcelain Eyes.”

While the Gruff Mummies may be sailing high with a slot at the Northwest’s premiere music festival, the band is no stranger to limelight.

The Mummies won the Experience Music Project’s “Sound Off!” battle-of-the-bands competition in Febuary, beating more than 100 other bands. The spoils of victory included professional studio recording time, technical help from former Nirvana producer Jack Endino, a gig with the band the Presidents of the United States of America, radio play on Seattle rock stations and Friday’s spot at Bumbershoot.

The band also knows the hard lessons of life on the road. Recently returned from a West Coast tour, the Mummies sometimes struggled to draw a crowd larger than the number of musicians on-stage. With little promotion in southern California, the band sometimes had to corral an audience on its own.

“It’s hard to get a big crowd when you’re not well-known, but the people that booked us enjoyed us and asked us to come back,” Nordby said. “We got some people to come in by hawking tickets on the street right before the show.”

At first they tried a straightforward approach: “I’d go up to someone and say, ‘Hey, wanna see a rock show?’” Nordby said. When that didn’t work, he playfully chided passersby.

“After a while I started saying, ‘obviously, you’re not rocking if you’re not at the show,’” he said.

The band viewed its first tour as an exploration rather than a conquest.

“I wouldn’t call it a failure,” Brinkley said. “We went in with very low expectations.”

The tour and a steady succession of shows around Bainbridge and Seattle has woven the band into a tight tapestry of sound and theatrics.

Nordby bounced around the stage, yelping about vampires, velvet and starlight. He bantered with the crowd between each song, even dispatching a heckler with the grace of a pro.

“Are you ready for more?” he asked the Bumbershoot crowd before launching into another song.

“No, I’m not,” answered a sarcastic voice from below.

“Not ready?” Norby said, walking to the edge of the stage. “Do you need to sit down, take a time out, take a nap, take a snooze? No? You good? He’s good. That’s the word. Okay, go!”

Even a little ‘wardrobe malfunction’ didn’t slow the band down. Norby’s boots, a recent purchase during a trip to Mexico, crumbled under the pressures of rock-stardom halfway through the show. The singer pulled them off and rolled up his pants slowly as Brinkley hit a guitar solo.

“They say sex sells,” he said after the song. “So I’m showing a little leg.”

The band rounded out their set with a rollicking final song replete with flames, water-spitting, plastic bottle throwing, a faux tantrum and finally the demise of Nordby’s scarecrow, which he pounded and stomped to the crowd’s cheers.

The band says it’s committed to at least a year of gigging and touring to see where a career under the spotlight leads. The more tried-and-true paths of other recent grads, including the band’s likely “plan B” of a college education, can wait.

“We said a year ago that we’d play Bumbershoot,” Norby said. “And here we are. We’re achieving and meeting goals, so that’s a good place to be.”

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Wrap music

The Gruff Mummies’ debut album, “Fogged Nights and Porcelain Eyes,” is available at Glass Onion CD & Tape Works on Winslow Way. The band’s next show is Sept. 17 at the L.A.B. in Seattle, 12510 15th Ave. Admission is $5.

For more information, see www.gruffmummies.com.