Day One:
The atmosphere in Golden Gate Park was a considerable leap from last year’s bottlenecked bout of frustration, despite massive attendance (120,000+ for the weekend) and tales of fence-hoppings galore. With perfect weather, easy parking, mellow crowds (no, that’s not skunk spray in the air) and triumphant rock sets from bands spanning the spectrum of exposure and genres, all was right on Day One at Outside Lands.
With most of the popular indie hipster acts (Autolux, The Duke Spirit, etc) playing early in the day, fans delved into worthy unfamiliars such as Austin’s Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, who by all accounts rocked the hell out of their ever-growing crowd with an enthusiastic horn section and a Otis Redding/dirty soul vibe.
Tom Jones made his own solid run at stealing the show with an hourlong set of hits that included "What’s New Pussycat," "She’s A Lady" and, of course, "It’s Not Unusual". And yes, the panties were flying. He closed with a cover of Prince’s "Kiss," which was considerably more inspired than the other Prince cover fans witnessed last night: Incubus’ take on "Let’s Go Crazy".
By several accounts, Incubus‘ set was less than inspiring – but one look at the setlist could’ve given that little secret away. It appeared as if the band couldn’t decide whether to go all-in for the chick-rock jams (they actually play "Love Hurts" live? That takes balls, man) or all out rockers ("Circles," "Megalomaniac"), opting to ride a bland middleground in the end. They’ve written a good amount of relatively great music over the years, but if this is what amounts to an Incubus setlist these days, count me out.
Incubus setlist:
Pardon Me, Nice To Know You, Anna-Molly, Stellar, Megalomaniac, Circles, Love Hurts, Under My Umbrella, Are You In?, Oil & Water, Quicksand, Kiss To Send Us Off, Wish You Were Here, Let’s Go Crazy
What seemed to be the entire crowd of 40,000 strong crammed to the Land’s End stage for Day 1 headliners Pearl Jam, who are about to unleash their ninth studio album Backspacer, tore out a two-hour set full of hits, wrapping up the first leg of the band’s US tour with the show. The band’s rigorous touring schedule had taken an audible toll on singer Eddie Vedder’s voice, but if the deafening crowd singalongs were any indication, the energy in the air was far from entirely reliant upon the flannel-clad frontman.
Mike McCready’s no-look, over-the-head solo during old crowd favorite "Even Flow" left the uninitiated stunned, while those who knew what to expect (the first 20 rows of heads or so) were still on overjoy mode as the band pulled out some infrequent gems ("Low Light," Pete Townshend’s "The Real Me") and finished with two blasting Neil Young covers: "Throw Your Hatred Down" and the longtime PJ live staple "Rockin’ In The Free World". If you’ve seen them perform it, you understand why the ground was shaking up front.
Pearl Jam setlist:
Why Go, Animal, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Low Light, The Fixer, In My Tree, Small Town, Even Flow, Got Some, I Am Mine, Given To Fly, MFC, Down, Black, Save You, Do The Evolution, Go
1st encore: Wasted Reprise, Better Man, Daughter, The Real Me (Pete Townshend), Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams), Alive
2nd encore: Throw Your Hatred Down (Neil Young), Rockin’ In The Free World (Neil Young)
Read on for Day Two...
Day 2:
Outside Lands 2009 was in full swing Saturday as the sun beat down a little hotter, the rock hit a little harder and the intensity reached a fever pitch. Unlike the first day, Saturday’s lineup encouraged musical wanderers among the festival’s numerous stages. Those arriving mid-afternoon missed impressive showings from Albino!, Zion-I and Detroit garage-soul outfit The Dirtbombs, who opened day two with dueling drummers and triple harmonies, winning new fans by the beat.
Portugal. The Man delivered the blistering performance we predicted they would, ripping through live staple "Church Mouth" before a psychedelic segue into a gorgeous cover of Three Dog Night’s "One". Multi-instrumentalist Ryan Neighbors provided otherworldly soundscapes to counter John Gourley’s eager tenor as he led the band through a set that spanned the band’s career. One noteworthy highlight was the crowd singalong during the “It’ll be alright…” section of "People Say" from this year’s nearly-flawless The Satanic Satanist.
By many accounts, TV On The Radio was through the proverbial roof with energy, turning out a performance that proved even further that the band gets an unfairly bad rap due to their unfortunate hipster-obsession associations.
Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan did her best to create the ethereal atmospherics in the afternoon sun as she and her band rolled out a set of breathily-passionate nu-hippie jams that resonated well with the stoned and sentimentally-inclined. Khan’s keyboard duet with Sarah Jones before a gorgeous rendition of Horse And I, the lead track from her debut album, was a performance highlight.
“I think it’s very appropriate that we’re on the Twin Peaks Stage,” The Mars Volta’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala told the audience, who were clearly on the edge of losing their minds in anticipation of one of the most enigmatic and powerfully psychedelic bands in existence today. “Just remember… do not drink the coffee, there’s a fish in the filter,” he finished, before leaping into an absolutely searing rendition of fan-favorite "Drunkship Of Lanterns". and a set that dabbled heavily in the band’s back-catalogue, offering only a few gems from their latest, Octahedron.
The band was “straight fucking wild, as if electrical currents where running through them,” according to our on-site photographer Alicia Roldán. Cedric was on fire, back-flipping and leaping from the drum riser before tearing down a massive sign and engaging in a sort of epileptic wrestling match with it that ended with Zavala body-slamming himself beneath it. The signature manic intensity of Guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López worked in symbiotic concurrence with Cedric’s cartwheeling insanity and vocal kaleidoscopics, leaving those in attendance breathless with extended solos on "Roulette Dares" and "Wax Simulacra".
With a relentlessly crushing 90-minute set, The Mars Volta further cemented their reputation as psycho-funk rock gods, eclipsing all the day’s previous acts and doing little to prep the audience for the Birkenstock jams of headliner Dave Matthews.
His unsuccessful, brief attempt at breakdancing aside, Dave Matthews and Co. delivered a raucous set of hits that included Don’t Drink The Water, Ants Marching and an overly-indulgent, this-goes-out-to-the-trippers 20-minute version of Lie In Our Graves. Mathews’ longtime guitar-partner Tim Reynolds sat in for the entire set, and the recently-passed sax player LeRoi Moore (who the band’s latest album was dedicated to) was substituted by a three-piece horn section
Dave’s throat was shredded by the show’s end (starting to see a pattern among the headliners here… Mr. Black better be in top form Sunday!), but not too shot to tear off a slowed version of Bob Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower, with Robert Randolph on the lap-steel six-string. The Stairway To Heaven cover was received as less of a joke than it might have under different circumstances, leaving the Wayne’s World generation a bit confused by the notion that the iconic song can actually be played straight.
Read on for Day Three...
Day 3:
Sunburns and chilly San Francisco winds don’t mix. The cool Bay Area air settled into Golden Gate Park for Day Three of the second annual Outside Lands Festival on Sunday, thinning out crowds and leaving many a shivering concertgoer wishing they’d brought more clothes once the sun fell beyond the Pacific horizon.
Cage The Elephant took to the Twin Peaks stage yesterday afternoon with a determination to up the energy ante early in the day, and by most accounts they succeeded. Live-wire frontman Matt Shultz was an epileptic spectacle, throwing his body all over the stage between several bouts of stage diving and randomly grabbing fans by the face. For the band’s finale, Shutlz jumped into the crowd a final time, standing on a fan’s shoulders before dropping down in the middle of the crowd to sing the final chorus amongst his newly devoted followers.
Providing a Hip-Hop flair for Day Three was Atmosphere, who recruited the soon-to-be-legend Brother Ali as hype man for a set that spanned the act’s considerable catalogue. Anyone familiar with Ali knows that the man spits inimitable flow, and once the world hears his new album, Us (out Sept. 22), people will be outright amazed that the legally blind albino MC takes a supporting role to any rapper. It’s far and away the most brilliantly-narrated work to be released this year, and comparisons to Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 aren’t even fair (yes, it’s that good). But supporting kinship is just how the Rhymesayers family rolls, and I’ve got a feeling Ali will be helping out his Minnesota brethren no matter how hot his name gets. But I digress.
Indie monsters Modest Mouse suffered from the unfortunate occasion of being billed at roughly the same time as The Dead Weather, who drew an electric buzz of anticipation among the thousands huddled in the Twin Peaks pit a full thirty minutes before their set. The previous days’ warmth was replaced by a chill descending from the bay, leaving the masses clinging to each other to keep the shivers away – that is, until the Nashville quartet took to their instruments.
Before The Dead Weather played so much as a note, the crowd’s enthusiasm was at near-hysteria levels. Tracks like "60 Feet Tall" and "Cut Like A Buffalo" were soaked in gasoline, with Mosshart’s jagged, aggressively confrontational presence juxtaposing Jack White’s beat-bursts to create the spark that made each song ignite. The tremors and warmth-huddling was traded for leaps and body rock from the crowd, who weren’t fooled by the suggestion that, just because White’s behind the drum kit, we’re supposed to believe he’s not the driving force behind this band. Mosshart, Jack Lawrence and Dean Fertita are remarkable in their own right, but White’s stage presence is, well, "60 feet tall," especially when he steps from behind the kit, straps on an electric and tears off an absolutely ripping dirty-Delta blues solo.
After a very strange-looking prep dancer (we’ll call him Ginger Smurf), M.I.A. arrived in a hideous shiny jaguar print dress and proceeded to fail hard at getting the same energy going at a massive festival that she’s so good at doing in an intimate club setting. Barking her lyrics over deafening bass while male dancers gyrated ridiculously, the crowd didn’t seem to take to her at all and began thinning out early in her performance. They weren’t relocating to wait for Tenacious D’s festival-closing set, either; a good percentage of the people were simply tired of the cold, tired of M.I.A. and really not looking forward to a billing choice that still has this humble reviewer scratching his head. Who the hell thought Tenacious D would be a good replacement for the Beastie Boys?
The D opened with "Kielbasa," giving a shout-out to the Beastie Boys and… you know what? I can’t do this. Tenacious D are a novelty act that’s lasted about a decade past their expiration date, and they shouldn’t have closed the festival under any circumstance; it’s not as if the Beastie Boys’ cancellation was last-minute. This is the equivalent of going to a fireworks show on the 4th of July, only to have the grand finale actually be some morbidly-obese mouth-breather walking up and throwing a wet hot dog at you. That’s it and that’s all, folks. Outside Lands 2009 was a triumph, and we’ll try not to hang on to the final impression. Check out our fantastic pictures instead (provided by the lovely Alicia Roldan and fiancee Rick Pickett), and we’ll see you next year.
