SEATTLE — Billionaire Paul Allen did not build the Seattle music scene, just the $240 million Experience Music Project, according to local legend Krist Novoselic, the former Nirvana bassist who emceed the final concert on Sunday celebrating the opening of the interactive rock museum.

"A lot of hard work and blood, sweat and tears went into getting our music community the stature it deserves," Novoselic said. "It's important to remember one point, especially this weekend: that stature, that legacy, money can't buy that. It's earned."

Sunday's concert at Memorial Stadium, featuring Heart's Ann Wilson, Queensrÿche, Built to Spill and other bands and supergroups from the Pacific Northwest, capped off three music-packed days of EMP festivities marred only by talk that Allen's money had tainted the spirit of the event.

One of the day's premier attractions, early grunge-rockers Screaming Trees, disbanded several months ago according to frontman Mark Lanegan, but the singer said they were offered enough money to make it worth getting back together for another show.

When asked if there was any significance in playing the group's final show as part of a tribute to Seattle music, Lanegan said, "No. It's just the money." He also said he had no plans to visit the museum, which features several Screaming Trees artifacts and a video interview with the singer.

During a flawless set including "Shadow of the Season" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Dollar Bill," from their landmark Sweet Oblivion album, Lanegan and the Trees appeared unusually dispassionate, not communicating with each other or the lively crowd.

Subset, a new rap-rock group featuring Sir Mix-a-Lot and Chris Ballew and Dave Dederer of the Presidents of the United States of America, drew a large crowd and impressed them with a collection of oddball tunes such as "Ribbie Rib," which chronicles the life of lava. But Sir Mix-a-Lot brought up the money issue at the end of the set. "We got nothin' but love for you. Even when Paul Allen don't pay us, we still got love," he said.

A spokesperson for EMP would not comment on the matter.

No Pearl Jam, Soundgarden

Money obviously couldn't buy everything. Screaming Trees, as many concert-goers pointed out, were the lone representatives of Seattle's prominent grunge era at the EMP festival. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell or others were nowhere to be found.

Instead, Wilson and Queensrÿche, who were coincidentally promoting greatest-hits albums due Tuesday, were the headliners.

Both groups were met with enthusiastic response from the crowd, which barely filled a quarter of the stadium that had been sold out two nights earlier for Metallica, Dr. Dre and others.

Wilson, jamming with a full band, covered Nazareth's "Love Hurts" and closed with a slow, moving rendition of Heart's "Crazy on You" (RealAudio excerpt).

The singer said it was enjoyable to perform and party with her peers. "This is a very chummy music scene, so it's neat that we're all together," she said. "It's our hometown, you know."

Queensrÿche ignored requests for "Silent Lucidity," but rocked out to their other hit from 1990's Empire album, "Jet City Woman" (RealAudio excerpt).

Before the show, Queensrÿche singer Geoff Tate said the band, which is prominently featured in the EMP, always intended to be a part of the opening weekend concerts.

"If the money wasn't good, we'd still play it," Tate said. "It's our hometown and we're part of the exhibit. We're not a pop band, we're a touring rock band. We're all about playing live."

Sunday's Memorial Stadium show, one of six concerts that day, was kicked off by the pop-rock Young Fresh Fellows and the power-punk Fastbacks, both institutions in the Seattle scene since the early '80s.

The New Strychnines, led by Mudhoney singer Mark Arm, followed with a tribute to The Sonics, one of the Pacific Northwest's great, lost garage-rock bands of the '60s. Their songs, such as "Strychnine" and "The Hustler," have become cult favorites and obscure cover fodder for bands including the Cramps.

Closing out the show was Scrap Metal, a supergroup made up of Seattle metal musicians from bands such as Metal Church, Alias, TKO and Rail.

Stealing The Show

The show was an out-of-date history lesson and was far less intriguing than the action going on at the Mural Stage, where the Sonics themselves were jamming in front of an enormous, diverse crowd.

The audience was treated to three versions of "Louie Louie," including one by the band that made the song famous, the Kingsmen. Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Ventures and the Wailers also jammed on favorite oldies such as "Hawaii 5.0" and "Pipeline."

"Looking out and seeing all these old folks dancing made me realize how long I've been doing this," Revere said after his show. "It's great to be here."

The day's activities kicked off in the morning with a performance by the Seattle a cappella group Kickshaw, who featured one of the members as a "human DJ," making beats and record-scratching noises with his voice.

Just 100 yards away, across one of the many parks in the Seattle Center, some of rap music's first DJs used their turntables to rock a crowd. The Cold Crush Brothers, featuring DJ Charlie Chase, performed a free show that included their hit, "The Weekend."

"We educated people, one era to the next," Cold Crush rapper Easy AD said. "We had a lot of fun onstage. The vibe in Seattle is cool. People really know how to welcome groups."

Other concerts Sunday included James Brown with the JBs and Maceo Parker, and an emerging artists show with indie rockers Hovercraft, Bratmobile and the Murder City Devils.