Outside Lands Lives up to Expectations

It started off blazing in the mid-90s and concluded in the frigid
50s. It spanned the gamut from banda electronica to folk-punk to
straight funk. It reminisced on the Nineties, dressed like the
Eighties, and was wired like the ’00s.

This year’s Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, held last
weekend in Golden Gate Park, certainly lived up to its expectations and
exceeded them with music, food, alcohol, and entertainment for nearly
all tastes. Logistically, the second annual event was just as
impressive; the layout, organization, and flow of bands and the crowd
were all incredibly seamless. Security was effective but not
oppressive, and everyone seemed to be having a blast.

Covering last year’s event was a monster, so this year we had our
writers spread out over the grounds to text and tweet their coverage
instantaneously to our web site and Twitter feed (Twitter.com/eastbayexpress).
Considering the multifaceted, multidimensional nature of the festival,
it seemed the only proper way to capture the activities. We cleaned it
up here for you — blame the free beer in the media tent (and the
iPhone’s overactive spellcheck).

Day One: Friday

In contrast to last year’s freezing weather, the first day of
Outside Lands proved to be a scorcher. Shade was a rare and highly
treasured commodity. The first band on the Lands End stage, LA noise
rockers Autolux, started things off with quiet-loud dynamics,
juxtaposing screeching feedback with sinewy basslines and whisperlike
vocals. Fans seemed intrigued by their raw sound. By 2:18 p.m., a few
crazies were dancing outside the fences, and at least one went
over.

Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch sported a full beard and, with eyes
closed, got deep into the solo on “The Plan” off 1999’s excellent
Keep It Like a Secret. While not the most charismatic performer
around, he’s certainly adept at coaxing jam-band-like solos out of
solid indie rock (sans the annoyance factor).

Backstage, we caught up with Chris Kilmore of Incubus, who remarked,
“If I could play with any band from the past it would James Brown.”

Silversun Pickups sounded like Radiohead and the Smashing Pumpkins,
and the fans loved it. Beach balls and ganja smoke abounded (a
reoccurring theme all weekend).

As the sun began to descend behind purple clouds, headliners Pearl
Jam kicked off its raucous two-hour set, mixing old favorites with
newer material. Eddie Vedder seemed to be in good spirits, and
spontaneously decided to play “Lowlight” because “the light was right.”
Vedder reminisced about the band’s time in the area, recording
Vs. in Marin, playing Bridge School benefits, and the time the
band played the park fifteen years ago but Vedder got food poisoning
and had to get Neil Young to cover for him. He enlisted the audience to
sing “Better Man” for him and ended the night with Young’s “Rockin’ in
the Free World.”

Day Two: Saturday

We took Muni to Golden Gate Park. First they only take coins at the
BART station, but they don’t actually provide change. (Guess that would
encourage more ridership or something.) Then we sat in the hot sun for
ten straight minutes without moving. Why do San Franciscans stand for
this? It makes Emeryville traffic a bit more bearable.

The Dirtbombs delivered danceable, dirty Detroit rock ‘n’ roll to
open the Twin Peaks stage. “Underdog” was a predictable highlight.
Great vocals from the female vocalist. Who needs GM when we got the
Dirtbombs? Well, okay, NUMMI. Never mind.

Bostitch and Fussible from Tijuana’s fabulous Nortec Collective
sounded great. They’re like Ennio Morricone for the club set. Just too
bad they went on at 1:30 p.m. and not 1:30 a.m.

The weather was great. Light breeze. The crowd was mellow. The beer
and bathrooms were plentiful. The logistics were incredible:
Handicapped viewing platforms, media uploading stations, and everything
seemed on time so far.

Raphael Saadiq covered “Search & Destroy” by Iggy and the
Stooges. C for execution but A+ for effort.

Extra Golden, a blend of American indie rock and African pop, whose
members hail from DC and Kenya, was devoutly upbeat. Still, everyone
was sitting.

A large green dragonfly hovered helicopterlike above the sunbaked,
dancing crowd at Groundation. Maybe thinking, “What the fuck?” Many
gawked but it wasn’t fazed and stayed throughout an excellent reggae
set.

Dengue Fever, the great LA-Cambodian jazz-pop band, played a
marvelously energetic set to an appreciative crowd of thousands. One
minute there were a few dozen people in the meadow, and then fifteen
minutes later, this. It was a testament to how thoroughly the festival
seems to have banished the crowd-management problems of 2008.

Even the members of Mars Volta checked out Mastodon, who played the
only Bay Area date of its national tour. At first the crowd wasn’t sure
what to make of the heaviest band of the three-day fest. After a few
songs, they started moshing. The Atlanta band was loud — too
loud. But they played an epic, dynamic set sampling grunge and metal.
Drummer Brann Dailor’s double-bass drumming shook the whole stage.
Stragglers in the back couldn’t hang with the heshers up front.

My Bloody Valentine plus Björk makes Bat for Lashes. Mystical,
cinematic, electronic. A small but devoted crowd dug in.

TV on the Radio’s stage filled up to transcendent sounds. Vocals and
sax sounded trebly but sharp. Kyp Malone went for it.

A drum circle broke out by the eco-mom tent. It suddenly felt like
Sproul Plaza.

Black Eyed Peas had the whole crowd jumping. There were waay
more people there than Friday.

Chill song selection on the PA before Mars Volta. Peace Train,
Creedence, Grateful Dead. Wow. Mars Volta started but everyone was at
Dave Matthews Band. Omar said, “Don’t drink the water because there’s a
fish in the percolator.” Sage advice. Mars Volta fans flocked to Dave
Matthews. Dave crowd was about equal to Tom Petty last year. Lame, but
“Ants Marching” was good.

Day Three: Sunday

It was about 40 degrees colder than Friday. The fog was thick. Brrr
…

Overheard: “I can’t believe we’re here. This is so exciting!”

Berkeley’s Morning Benders unveiled some new songs (“Cold War”) and
some oldies (“Damnit Anna”), demanding their fans to sing along. Their
prior lives as a Beatles cover band clearly paid off: they competently
play sunny, upbeat pop, like a more optimistic Walkmen. Although newer,
darker material sounds reminiscent of the Helio Sequence’s last album.
Nice.

North Carolina’s Avett Brothers tore up the Sutro Stage, playing
folkie bluegrass with the energy of a punk band.

New-wavers Matt & Kim were like a shot of something strong,
delivering high-energy hip-shakers to an undeniably amped crowd. Those
two were just so adorably, infectiously, honestly excited to be there.
Matt could hardly sing he was smiling so hard.

The few people hobbling around the park on crutches seriously
deserved medals of honor. The festival was unimaginably spread out.

Calexico sounded kind of like an underwater mariachi band, and the
crowd over at the Presidio stage appeared to be enjoying it.

The Dead Weather: This is Jack White doing what Jack White does best
— swampy, smoky, blues-rock, made even better by Alison
Mosshart’s snarly vocals.

Spotted at the Dead Weather: someone dressed in a head-to-toe
Chewbacca costume. Right on. More fashion spotting — fringe
boots, neon shades, plaid shirts, Sperry Top-Siders, shaggy haircuts,
scarves. And iPhones.

Modest Mouse’s live shows are notoriously hit or miss, but today’s
show was generally solid.

Ween got the crowd dancing with “Roses Are Free.” Not like we needed
more, but the group had the fog machine on high.

You wouldn’t think Brett Dennen’s acoustic mellowness would make for
a particularly energetic show, but he got the crowd moving.

Okay, weather report: it went from merely crisp to legitimately
subarctic. Yikes.

M.I.A.’s dancers were fucking amazing. She did a raucous, frenetic,
completely perfect Beastie Boys cover — a nice tribute to the
group, which, of course, couldn’t be here. Hm. An oddly underwhelming
rendition of “Paper Planes.” She signed off by saying “San Francisco,
stay high.” On that note, there was a truly astonishing amount of weed
being smoked here.

Band of Horses sounded both majestic and intimate; couples cuddled
on the lawn as Ben Bridwell’s voice soared across Lindley Meadow. When
he sang, The world is such a beautiful place in “Ode to LRC,” it
was mighty tempting to lay back and succumb to the sentiment. The band
agreed to an encore after much demand from the audience. They’re so
modest: “Can’t promise it’ll be good, but here’s one more.” The set was
the perfect dinner-time soundtrack, and a welcome opportunity to chill
out before Tenacious D. In the best way possible, Band of Horses truly
is the Coldplay of indie rock.

Despite the mass migration to Polo Field for Tenacious D, there were
zero bottlenecks. This thing was remarkably well thought-out.

Tenacious D was obviously a bit of a wild card, but people seemed to
be genuinely excited for them. Kyle Gass of Tenacious D revealed he
grew up in Walnut Creek, to half-laughter, half-applause. Jack Black
name-dropped DVC to further applause. Their skit was laced with comedic
skits, which made their music more enjoyable than it might otherwise
have been. They featured an acrobatic Jack Black body-double and a dude
named Lee dressed up as both Metal (a metal robot) and the Dark Lord
himself. Musical highlights included “Tribute” (a tribute to the
greatest song in the world, which Kyle and Jack wrote but forgot to
write down) and the closing Tommy medley featuring four songs
from the Who’s classic rock opera. Before leaving the stage, Jack
stripped off his shirt and then his jeans and threw them both into the
crowd, strutting off the stage in a pair of red boxer briefs.