Outside Lands
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA
August 10, 2013
Outside Lands: VIP-ing
Yes, it is that time of the year where it’s difficult to see a top
music act without attending a mega-multi-day music-fest. The mega-multi-day music-fest was designed
for 20 years old with more money and more time and more drugs than they know
what to do with. It’s now become a fact
of summertime for most major cities to have some kind of music-fest, normally with a goofed
up, alliterative/onomatopoeia-sounding name that locks up talent for months in advance. These fests pretty much suck all the oxygen
out of the music scene for weeks and then blow into town like a hurricane. Chicago has Lollapalooza, LA has
Coachella, New York has The Governor’s Ball, Tennessee has Bonnaroo and San
Francisco has Outside Lands. I last
visited the great
Outside Lands fest in 2010 but decided to VIP it once again
this year. VIPing is the adult way to
see a music fest, kind of like riding Business class, once you go VIP, you don’t
go back! Vanilla smelling RVs for
port-a-johns, free massages, special food concessions and separate viewing
sections allow you to get much closer to the action without squeezing between
some drunken louts from Fresno or squealing sorority girls from LA.
Unfortunately, Saturday’s schedule included many conflicts of acts
performing at the same time that I’d like to have seen so this review includes what
time, energy and other vagaries allowed me to attend.
Gary Clark Jr.
After a short limo ride from downtown SF, the day started with Gary
Clark Jr. A blues master extraordinaire
who’s got some major buzz going right now.
Think Stevie Ray Vaughn. But
young, black and hip. If you don’t like
Gary Clarke, you don’t like the blues and why are you even bothering to live? Buckets of talent and quite a lot of
fun. A good way to ease into the day but
a high standard for later acts to follow. GC Jr played at Land’s End stage, the Big One
that the other three stages could fit inside comfortably. For a taste of Gary, check out
Ain’t Messing Round. Even better, go see the real deal when he
returns to the Bay Area to play the Fox Theater in Oakland on October 2. I'll be there.
Mother Hips
It’s amazing that a music fest in San Francisco would not feature more hippie jammy jam-bands. The graying hippie
crowd largely had to make do with Mother Hips.
Thankfully, they were quite rocking, quite jamming, quite fun and hit
just the right spot in this old hippie heart.
Mother Hips played the smaller Panhandle stage which was nicely intimate
and allowed more breathing room and getting down room. Mother Hips are a talented ensemble that has
been around and back and know how to entertain a crowd. I should probably mention at this point that
the sound quality at all Outside Lands stages was fantastic! The sounds guys were absolutely top drawer.
The Head and the Heart
On to the folk-rock portion of the show. It was nice to have a little mellow break
late in the afternoon before moving on to the Headliners. My day was developing its own rhythm that was
quite nice. The Head and the Heart are
playing in the same uber-popular territory as many folk acoustic indie bands, a la Mumford
and Sons, Lumineers, Blind Pilot etc. I
don’t know how this genre suddenly became popular, it’s a bit of a mystery. The Head and the
Heart played at the Sutro Stage, a slightly larger venue than the Panhandle and were enthusiastically received. Check out
Lost in my Mind.
Phoenix
Last Band. In the distant fog
behind us, I could see the lights of Nine Inch Nails on the Land’s End stage
but, in front us, Phoenix played a tight set of enjoyable pop songs. There is really no better pop band on the
market today than Phoenix. The songs are
catchy, hook-laden, intelligent, fun. And
that’s what they did at Outside Lands.
However, sad to admit, the set was a little bland. I had to keep reminding myself not to be too disappointed because they’re
just a pop band after all. I guess my expectations
were too high. They rearranged some
songs but, by the time I left, I felt I could have had the same musical
experience by putting on a Phoenix Spotify songlist and turning the volume
up high. Fun but I was expecting more.
Still, overall, a great day.
Bottom-line: will I return to Outside Lands?
Yes, but only under VIP conditions.
Stevie Wonder
In fact, the only complaint that I can think of is that there was too
much talking. Stevie can be a bit of a
chatterbox once he gets going, thanking God and each musician in his (more than) 30-member band, praising the sublime talents of India Arie (correctly so), who
performed with him, and introducing his brother (who co-wrote “Have a Talk with God”) and his daughters and introducing Sheila E (who received an enthusiastic reception) and explaining each song and introducing Dave Chappelle who came on during the encore to play a half-hearted tambourine. When you have songs as well-crafted and
powerful as those on Songs in the Key of
Life, the music can do the talking. The chatting continued even during the encore when he played a medley of hits, abruptly
stopping several songs after just a verse in order to demand that he be called “DJ
Tik Tik Boom.” This was a bit
frustrating since I would have loved to hear all of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” “For Once in My Life,” “Master Blaster (Jamming),” or “Do I Do.” Fortunately,
he did play all of “Living for the City” and a rousing “Superstition” (two of my favorites) to end
the night.
