The final day of Outside Lands Festival was a very foggy and chilly day in Golden Gate Park. I got a bit of joy seeing these LA hipster brats in their designer t-shirts freezing their asses off.
I made it in time to see Australia’s Lenka play a few songs including her single The Show as well as a brand new tune. She was having a good time despite the tiny crowd she generated. Plus she was cute as all hell. When an audience member asked her when the new album was going to be out she responded, “Fuck if I know, next year maybe?” Adorable. [Lenka Kuestionnaire]
I strolled up the John Vanderslice stage a bit confused. There had to be about 15 people in the crowd and he was going to perform in the next five minutes. Here was this talented singer-songwriter and creator of one of the best albums of the year, Romanian Names, and no one was here to appreciate it.
Gradually people started to trickle in and he eventually generated a sizable crowd. And for good reason, he brought his usual sweet and goofy personality mixed with his vulnerable and moving songs. This was a treat for anyone there to witness it. Playing plenty off his extensive catalog and a few gems off his new record including my favorite, Tremble And Tear. An impressive performance from this criminally underrated artist.
John Vanderslice– Fetal Horses from Romanian Names (2009)
My real test was to figure out whether I was stoked enough to see Dead Weather and Band of Horses or Modest Mouse, M.I.A., and Tenacious D. For some people this would be an easy choice, however for me I was torn. I figured I would catch Dead Weather and Band of Horses on their next tour and see Modest Mouse for the first time, see M.I.A. again, and witness the rockin’ that is Tenacious D. So I trekked over to my least favorite stage, the Lands End (Main) stage. The Lands End stage reminds me what I don’t like about festivals; the smell (you know what I’m talking about, that mix of BO, bad medicinal pot, and greasy fair food), loud ignorant people, and being compact with people I otherwise would never converse with. Well here’s a short list of characters I ran into while I was waiting for the Lands End acts.
The Guys Fascinated and Obsessed With The Beach Balls
The Two Valley Girls From Hollywood That Had Nothing Interesting To Say For 45 Minutes Straight But “OMG Why Is She (M.I.A.) Taking So Long?”
The Guys Who REALLY Wanted To Be Seen On The Jumbo-Tron
The Dude Who Smoked (I’m Not Exaggerating) 20 Blunts. “Dude….I’m so high..I….I can’t walk.”
Moving on. I’m a casual fan of Modest Mouse (I own The Moon and Antarctica and Good News For People Who Love Bad News, that’s it), but what I got was a decent performance filled with a few familiar tunes and some not so much. I have no idea whether tonight’s audience favored newer or older material. A nice thing happen though, Float On wasn’t played. Thank you Modest Mouse for building a genuine setlist for all of us and not randomly throwing a radio single in there. Bravo.
The show rocked on and the crowd sang along compellingly. Lead vocalist/guitarist Isaac Brock was short on banter which was also nice for a guy that is famously shitfaced during each show. Modest Mouse songs start (or end) like a lullaby at times but explode with precise time signatures and loud choruses, which was all on display today on this cloudy afternoon in San Francisco.
Modest Mouse– Heart Cooks Brain from Lonesome Crowded West (1997)
This was my second time seeing M.I.A. The first time was a week after Kala was released. Her shows are typically very energetic and this was no exception. The difference from this show and my first M.I.A. concert was the crowd’s energy, which was close to nothing. It didn’t make much sense. She had these twin albino crunk dancers going apeshit, two more hype dancers, she jumped into the crowd several times, they even tossed out a few dozen annoying plastic horns for the crowd to play with. Still, no dancing, no arm waving, just a few head nods. Keep in mind I was directly up front and I was squashed with Tenacious D fans who were vaguely familiar with anything from M.I.A. So I assume it was different at other parts of the crowd, but where I was standing, they were dead.
I however was having a blast with these random strangers I had just met. Dancing and singing along like I usually do. It was hard to keep any level of enthusiasm with the crowd at such a boorish energy level. I still don’t understand it. Anyway, she played a new song which I’ll post in the coming week. I forget the title but it sounds like Tricky crossed with …well, M.I.A.Very experimental and loud. I liked it.
All in all, she rocked, as usual. It’s just a pity the crowd sucked ass.
M.I.A.– MIA from Piracy Funds Terrorism, Volume 1 (2004)
It was time for The Beastie Boys’ replacement, Tenacious D. I would have preferred The Beastie Boys but I figured seeing the D wasn’t too bad of a trade off. After listening to their first full length album and watching a borrowed copy of The Pick of Destiny, I was hyped up enough to see the epic rocking that is Tenacious D.
It was a blast! They’re not a full fledged rock show though. They are more of a combination comedy act with skits, battles against the devil and something called The Metal, and a lot of dueling acoustic guitars and balls out rockin’ the fuck out.
It was very entertaining to say the least. You had to kind of let yourself except that this was more of a ’show’ than a rock concert and once you did that, you were having fun.
Playing classics like Fuck Her Gently (haha, classic…), Wonderboy, and Tribute were great to watch along with some Pick of Destiny songs, and a handful of Who covers during the encore. Not a bad way to end the night and these exhausting but overly satisfying festival.
Tenacious D– Kielbasafrom Tenacious D (2001)
Outside Lands Overall Conclusion? While an epically embarrassing line-up and an audience of people who embrace shitting music, my journey through the festival was 90% a success.Lets rank my top 5 moments…
The Mars Volta. They know how to put on a fucking show. Just an amazing thing to witness.
Q-Tip. Playing Tribe Called Quest songs alone was great but his stage presence was amazing. A born performer.
Portugal. The Man. They need to be experienced live. The band plays like they’ve been doing this for decades.
Pearl Jam. You can tell that this is a band that has the art of performing live down to a science. Fantastic.
John Vanderslice. It was great not only to hear him play new favorites, but old favorites as well…all the while outside in the foggy San Francisco afternoon. Gorgeous.
I had a great time and may go again next year if all goes well. See you then!
BIG week in the Bay. With several Outside Lands After-parties and the festival itself, there is no shortage of things to do here. Also a visit from Ted Leo, a record release party, and a country music legend stops by an unlikely venue.
Tonight we have The Matches playing the final date off their tour with Judgement Day and Dizzy Balloon at the Fillmore, Six Organs of Admittance and Master Musicians of Bukkake rock The Independent, Fleet Foxes drummer and creator of one of the best albums of 2009, J. Tillman stops by Café du Nord, Jay Reatard does a set at Berkeley’s Amoeba Records at 6pm.
Monday, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists hit up the Bottom of the Hill instead of Treasure Island which they originally intended.
Tuesday features Fruit Bats riding on their new record with Death Vessel at The Independent. The Ruminant Band is a beautiful record full of sweet harmonies and lovely song-writing. Pick it up when you get a chance. Also the amazing Ramona Falls play Café du Nord.
Wednesday will find me at The Fillmore watching dredg, Rx Bandits and As Tall as Lions. All of which have released some pretty impressive albums this year. Also going on is The Dodos and Spencey Dude & the Doodles playing the Rickshaw Stop to kick off Outside Lands fever. Oh yeah and it’s sold out. Bummer.
More Outside Landish shows on Thursday; Akron/Family and Howlin’ Rain crash the Rickshaw Stop and Holy Fuck plays The Independent. In addition, we have The Famous‘ Record Release Party at Café du Nord with 20 Minute Loop and Billy & Dolly.
If you’re not going to Outside Lands this weekend, we have the Outside Lands Afterparty with San Francisco local acts Goodbye Nautilus, The Working Title and Wave Array at Café du Nord.
On Saturday we have hip-hoppers Blue Sky Black Death, Boy in Static and Boy Eats Drum Machine at the Bottom of the Hill, Calexico at The Independent, The Pretenders and Cat Power at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, and country legend David Allan Coe at Petaluma’s Phoenix Theater.
Being joked as this year’s ‘Bro-chella’,Outside LandsFestivalhas many unimpressive acts but a lot of overlooked impressive acts. This year’s line-up includes; Incubus, Modest Mouse, Pearl Jam, Black Eyed Peas, Thievery Corporation, Tenacious D, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews Band, TV on the Radio, The Mars Volta, M.I.A., Band of Horses, The National, Built to Spill, Bat for Lashes, Calexico, Tom Jones, Mastodon, Silversun Pickups, Los Campesinos!, Ween, Atmosphere, Brett Dennen, Deerhunter, Lucinda Williams, Os Mutantes, Q-Tip, John Vanderslice, Conor Oberst, Akron/Family, Portugal. The Man, Cage the Elephant, Alpha Blondy, Raphael Saadiq, Groundation, Kinky, Lenka, The Duke Spirit, Matt & Kim, Lila Downs, Autolux, The Avett Brothers, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Dengue Fever, The Dirtbombs, The Dead Weather, Heartless Bastards, Midnite, Blind Pilot, Bettye LaVette, Tea Leaf Green, The Morning Benders, West Indian Girl, Darondo, Ryan Bingham, Zee Avi, Street Sweeper Social Club, Rosin Coven, Extra Golden, JJ Grey & Mofro, Nino Moschella, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Sambada, Reggie Watts, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Big Light, Eric McFadden Trio, Loop!Station, Yard Dogs Road Show, Infantree, Vau De Vire and madd vibe orchestra. A lot to digest. Well I’ll be doing my best to report on everything I see every night when I return from the festival. Photos, mp3s, and everything else I did last year (if you caught that, if not, whatever).
This week is Outside Lands Week here at Kata Rokkar. So we’ll have Kuestionnaires with OLF bands and reports on local acts making their festival debuts. Hope to see you out there!
The Working Title– The Crashfrom About-Face (2006)
Boy in Static– Young San Franciscofrom Young San Francisco (2009)
Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Bandfrom The Ruminant Band (2009)
As Tall As Lions – Sleepyhead (Acoustic Version)from You Can’t Take It With You (Bonus Track) (2009)
J. Tillman– Steel on Steelfrom Vacilando Territory Blues (2009)
There you have it folks; one of the (many) reasons I love living near San Francisco. This is a quite an amazing line-up if you ask me. I’m actually very glad I decided not to go to Coachella this year.
I have never seen any of the headliners live, so I am most definitely excited about Pearl Jam and The Beastie Boys. Dave Matthews Band seems to be the “Jack Johnson” of the line-up to cater to the backwards ballcap bro-crowd.
I was always a fan of Incubus (a shock, I know) until they abandoned their trademark sound with A Crow Left of the Murder. Since then it’s been downhill for the band. So am I excited to see them?…kind of. But I doubt I’ll hear anything from S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
As for Black Eyed Peas and Jason Mraz, that will most likely land on “Dave Matthews Day” which will be my cue to wander around Golden Gate Park and Twitter the weird shit I see.
This will be my 2nd time seeing M.I.A. and TV on the Radio, both of which put on amazing live shows.
Indie-rock heroes Modest Mouse and Ween should be entertaining I guess. I got into both of them kind of late so I’ll be happy with whatever they decide to play.
I’ll finally get to see The National and Mastodon perform live. Both bands always seem to come to town on days I already have plans or have to work. Hopefully we won’t have any scheduling conflicts.
The hip-hop side of the festival is kind of weak. I’m no fan of Atmosphere but I am really looking forward to Q-Tip’s set. He’s only made my favorite hip-hop record of last year.
There’s some odd choices…like…uhh…Tom Jones? Jack White’s Dead Weather seems to be a band that will be forgotten about this time next year. The random toss of Thievery Corporation in the line-up seems kind of bizarre. I don’t see any other trip-hop acts in the line-up so I don’t know why they agreed to perform this year (why not Treasure Island Festival?).
The bottom of the list looks very promising with Portugal The Man, Akron/Family, The Dodos, John Vanderslice, and Heartless Bastards. Plus I’m sure I’ll discover some new acts that I’ve never heard of along the way.
All in all, it seems promising for a festival that is a 20 minute drive from my place. It gets kind of “Bro-chella” around the top, but I like what I see so far.
Want to find a reason to get out of the rain and into some amazing live events? I give you Noise Pop 09! The Noise Pop Festival, which runs this Tuesday, February 24th through Sunday, March 1st, 2009, is an ambitious iteration of San Francisco’s favorite indie music, arts and film. For their 17th anniversary, Noise Pop 2009 will honor what’s made it the best-loved celebration of indie music and culture since its humble birth in 1993. This years music will feature such indie superstars like Antony and the Johnsons, Martha Wainwright, Stephen Malkmus, Deerhunter, St. Vincent, A.C. Newman, French Kicks, No Age, The Submarines, and Ra Ra Riot, among many many others. Noise Pop also features a long list of artist/photographers whose work is currently being displayed at the Mini Bar at 837 Divisadero St in San Fran. Also, there are some great films being showcased this week including Wilco’s Ashes of American Flags, Andrew van Baal’s Largo (a movie I’ve been waiting to see for months), and independent record store documentary I Need That Record. Of course I’m leaving out a whole bunch more but that’s what I’m looking forward to. I plan on catching one or two films and hopefully see Kool Keith (Dr. Octagon vs. Dr. Dooom) at the Mezzanine. All listed Noise Pop shows will be highlighted in blue; so go grab a badge and have fun this week.
As for non-Noise Pop events; today is quite busy for the Bay Area. You’re got Far (live video below) at Slim’s, Modest Mouse at the Fox Theater, and Michael Zapruder at the Bottom of the Hill tonight. See you out there!
Kata Rokkar is a place where you can download free mp3 from artists and bands that I currently love and listen to. They are only for sampling purposes and to influence you to go out and support these artists by purchasing their records and going to their concerts. If you are a record company or an artist that is displeased with a song being displayed, feel free to contact me and I will remove it ASAP. Thank you and enjoy!
Fetal Horses from Romanian Names (2009)
Want to find a reason to get out of the rain and into some amazing live events? I give you 
