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!
First off, parking for Outside Lands Festival is way easier than the website tries to make you believe. All last year and tonight I have had no trouble finding a perfect spot to park. Just in case you cared. Anyway, I arrived a bit late and missed Akron/Family and Autolux, two bands I was looking forward to seeing since they had extended the Friday timeslots from last year’s. So I waltzed in without a problem and made my way to the Sutro stage to see The Dodos.
Now The Dodos had this extra accessible Animal Collective sound until songs from their next album Time to Die started to leak and fans of the band started to find out what he band sounded like when they were more focused and sharper (much like what happened with The Shins). The band brought that very sharpness and focus to the stage today. Playing many off Visiter and a handful off their next album including Fables, the band was playful yet very concentrated. Most of the crowd didn’t seem familiar with the band’s material but were extremely impressed. Good job boys!
The Dodos – Foolsfrom Visiter (2008)
After that I walked over to the Lands End Stage for Silversun Pickups. Not a huge fan but i was willing to give them some ear space and see what they had to bring. However the Lands End Stage is the ‘Main Stage’ and people had already layed out their blankets and gotten comfortable, making me do somersaults over their shit in order to get a good spot to watch Silversun Pickups. Well about three songs into the set I was bored and ready to move to the Twin Peaks stage to catch Q-Tip. I will admit that I was happy to hear There’s No Secrets This Year from the band. One of my favorites off the new record.
Silversun Pickups– There’s No Secrets This Yearfrom Swoon (2009)
Off to the Sutro stage I bought a nice cup of $7 New Castle and watched the remaining songs from Midnite. The best part about this set; the dancing reggae hippies! Oh my God! I am so surprised (I shouldn’t have been) to see how many stinky, dreadlocked, bad dancing hippies with bare feet there were at the festival. I had a good laugh.
So after 45 minutes of waiting Q-Tip took the stage with a full band. Opening with about 4 songs off last year’s album The Renaissance (One of my favorites). All songs performed flawlessly and with full throttle energy. It only got better from there, he then began to churn out Tribe Called Quest classics like Check The Rhime, Award Tour, Bonita Applebum, and many more.
I was going ballistic! I was dancing and singing along and freaking the fuck out. This was all probably due to the titan of a stage presence he had during the entire performance. He seemed to be channeling James Brown and Otis Redding which kept the entire crowd on their feet and dancing uncontrollably. It was a blast and made it hard for me to believe that anyone could top a performance on that magnitude this week. Yes, it was that good.
Q-Tip– Dance On Glassfrom Lynwood Rose (Bootleg) (2009)
So after he wrapped it up, I grabbed a messy burrito, ate it like a caveman would eat a freshly caught kill, ran into some friends that said watching Incubus was like watching an animatronic display acting out Incubus songs, and then tried to get a good spot for Pearl Jam. Now I have nothing against Pearl Jam, the band has always had a special place in my heart but my local alternative rock radio station (WRRV 96.9) where I grew up ruined the band for me due to them playing their radio friendly songs over and over again. I own Ten, Vitalogy, and Yield. So I know a fresh amount of PJ songs. I was ready for some nostalgia to be pumped into my ears.
They were…good! Really good. They didn’t seem bored or tied to a timeslot. The band had their fair amount of rockin’ solos, sing-a-longs, and lighter waving slow tunes. Nothing new or super special, but it was a nice thing to witness and brought me back to the time I realized Pearl Jam wasn’t just another Alt-rock single-machine. They are songwriters and very good ones at that.
They shoved a few new ones in there and seemed to really have a lot of fun play those. The crowd was more into it than I thought but over all people really wanted to hear their favorite radio hits.
Setlist: Why Go, Animal, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Low Light, The Fixer, In My Tree, Small Town, Even Flow, Got Some, I am Mine, Down, Given to Fly, Black, Do the Evolution, Go, Save You, MFC
Encore 1:Wasted Reprise, Betterman, Daughter, The Real Me, Crazy Mary, Alive
Encore 2: Throw Your Hatred Down, Rockin in the Free World (Neil Young Cover)
Pearl Jam– Do the Evolutionfrom Yield(1998)
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I left surprised how everything was working out real well so far. No hiccups. No major mishaps. Yeah I missed The National but I can live another day. Off to Day Two with my favorite line-up, Mastodon, TV on the Radio, and The Mars Volta.
Seriously. What is it with Outside Lands Festival and the line-ups they continue to churn out? Well, for the past two years for that matter. Lets start with last year’s line-up. Not too shabby but definitely questionable considering many other festivals showcased some very impressive line-ups even without Radiohead. Which brings me to last years savior, Radiohead. That was the kick-off day headliner, arguably the best band in the world right now. What were the other headliners? A washed up Tom Petty and our generation’s Jimmy Buffet, Jack Johnson. Admit it, the only thing more annoying than a Jack Johnson fan is a Jimmy Buffet fan (Parrothead? GTFO!). The rest of the line-up however was stellar, you had Beck and The Black Keys on Friday, Primus, Cake, Regina Spektor, and Lupe Fiasco on Saturday, and Wilco, Broken Social Scene, Bon Iver, Andrew Bird, and Stars on Sunday. I’m missing a whole lot more but you get the idea, there was no shortage of great acts and there were plenty of times where I had to sacrifice seeing someone I liked to see another band. Which is usually the sign of a good festival, since they have so many good acts that you’re torn. I’ll admit, it was a lot of fun when I went. I also realized how much I hate hippies but that’s another story for another time. But last year’s incredible acts clouded my vision with the amount of ‘Bro-Bands’ that performed as well. Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, and ALO just to name a few. Granted a few festivals at the time had these same acts, so I did not fear what was to come in 2009.
Enter 2009, rumors of Green Day, Dave Matthews, and Bjork arise until ‘Ranger Dave‘ started giving hints on his Twitter account as to who will be at this year’s Outside Lands Festival. After a fun evening of finding out who was who and some I just couldn’t figure out for the life of me, the real line-up is announced. Jaws dropped. B-b-black Eyed Peas?J-j-jason Marz? This is in San Francisco! Not the Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View! Were they fucking with us? I mean with Radiohead and Wilco in the line-up last year were they really going to expect us to believe that one of the most artistic, well respected, and musical revolutionary cities in the world was going to host a festival where Tom Jones and Incubus were performing? Sasquatch Festival had Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jane’s Addiction, and Erykah Badu as headliners, Bonnaroo had Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Elvis Costello, and Al Green as headliners, and All Points West had Tool, My Bloody Valentine, and JAY-Z! Which brings me to The Beastie Boys, our one shining star headliner, dropped from the line-up and replaced with Tenacious D. Oh gee thanks. It could be worse, a whole lot worse. But fuck, APW got Jay-Z and Lollapalooza got the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and we get Nacho Libre? Yes we have a fair amount of good acts; TV on the Radio, Mars Volta, M.I.A., Q-Tip, Mastodon, The National, and Band of Horses. But why does Outside Lands have to be the laughing stock of the summer festivals? This is San Francisco! We pride ourselves in the weird and the bizarre. There are plenty of bands that would have gladly picked up their guitar and taken the headlining spot for one of the greatest cities in America. I’m not going to bother naming any, I will just get aggravated.
So in the end…I bought tickets. Like a sucker. While I catch up on my old Pearl Jam albums and hope to God that Tenacious D lives up to their self proclaimed “Greatest Band in the World” , I ask the organizers of this year’s Outside Lands Festival to look out in the festival grounds this year and ask themselves, “Am I proud of this year’s line-up? Is that a group of muscle bound guys with a backwards baseball caps, holding huge cups of Coors Light, and faded sunglasses yelling ‘SHOW ME YOUR TITS!’ at Fergie?” “What is Fergie doing on the same line-up as John Vanderslice anyway?”
I understand organizing these things probably isn’t easy. But you’ve got a reputation now. Two years into the festival thing and you’re starting to gain a specific audience. Lets hope next year’s will knock this out of the park. Otherwise I’m sticking with Treasure Island Festival, at least hipsters have good taste in music.
Radiohead– These Are My Twisted Words (2009)
Jay-Z– D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)from Blueprint 3 (2009)
If you’re in the Bay Area, here’s a few concerts to attend this week…
Sunday:
Woven / Phantom Float / ghost tree
The Crepe Place
1134 Soquel Ave
San Jose 95062
United States
Monday:
A Place to Bury Strangers / Sian Alice Group / The Blacks
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th Street
San Francisco CA 94107
United States
Tuesday:
My Bloody Valentine
The Concourse
620 7th Street
San Francisco CA 94103
United States
Wednesday:
MSTRKRFT / Felix Cartal / Congorock
Mezzanine
444 Jessie Street @ Mint
San Francisco CA CA 94103
United States
Thursday:
Noah and The Whale
Popscene
330 Ritch Street
San Francisco CA 94107
United States
Friday:
Sigur Rós / Parachutes
Greek Theatre – U.C. Berkeley
Gayley Rd.
Berkeley, CA 94701
United States
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 8 (Friday – Sunday)
Iron & Wine / Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy / Gogol Bordello / Alison Krauss and 37 more
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco
United States
Saturday:
Deerhoof / Okay / The Happy Hollows
The Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell Street
San Francisco CA 94109
United States
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)
Seriously. What is it with
