Outside Lands hasn’t had a woman headline in its eleven-year existence, until 2018. They must have felt especially bad because two dominated this year. First with Florence on Saturday and last with Janet closing out Sunday. Over the past few years, Sundays seem to be the day. They’ve stacked it well.
For the last two years, I’ve started off Sunday early. I go the whole day. Doing it all three days is probably a challenge not worth taking, but I recommend going all day at least once. It’s a lot warmer, Golden Gate Park is perpetually cold. There’s less dust flying around, because of the best thing yet, no crowds! There’s nothing better at a festival than going up to the main stage and being able to dance with some space to a great soul band. And boy was there one each year!
Last year’s Sunday opened with two soul singers, Lee Fields and then Jacob Banks, who are growing on me more with time and accumulating songs. This year, all it had to be was Durand Jones & The Indications. Durand Jones’ voice was expectedly powerful, but his drummer’s voice was something else.
When I first heard Aaron Frazer that day, I thought it was just a recording. I couldn’t see anyone singing and it was too good to be true live. It wasn’t, Aaron’s voice was there, live, and took me back farther than any other contemporary soul singer. It felt as classic as anyone ever has. In that falsetto kind of way.
I went to Outside Lands for its 10th anniversary to see the Gorillaz, but I ended up getting too drunk and ruining it for my girlfriend. Fortunately, I turned it around day two and three, so that’s good. Especially day three.
For most long weekend festivals, one day usually has the best performances, often more than the others combined. We started off the last day of Outside Lands with Lee Fields & The Expressions, Khruangbin in the afternoon, and Solange at night, but nothing mattered that day more than Jacob Banks. It was his weekend.
Outside Lands 2016 hosted my long awaited show from The Knocks. I had a run in with one of the members, Patts, on my blog almost six years ago and it was a major influence for what I do on here now.
He didn’t like what I had to say about Chiddy Bang’s remix of The Knocks ‘Dancing With the DJ’ and told me “if you don’t like it don’t post it.” I get what he was saying and as much as I stand by my words, I haven’t posted a single track I haven’t liked since (maybe one). I don’t give a fuck about music I don’t like (fuck might be a little harsh).
Their performance may not have been the highlight of OSL (he’s next), but it was so much fun to party with The Knocks & friends in the sun at Golden Gate Park. And they played all the hits, ‘Comfortable’ being one of my favorite dance songs of all time.
Outside Lands begins my favorite time of the year. It’s good weather in San Francisco, except in Golden Gate Park where it’s held, and there are plenty of fun things right around the corner. Treasure Island Music Festival, Beyond Wonderland & SF MusicTech to name three.
This year’s lineup for OSL is looking to be one of its best. I’ve compiled 12 of my favorites, not including Elton, D’Angelo, St. Vincent, Leon Bridges & Toro y Moi. Their SoundCloud presence is lacking and 8tracks doesn’t give us enough numbers to give a damn about dat.
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Below the playlist we have two highlights from the festival, Odesza’s set and meeting Toro y Moi.
I taught a friend a new word this week. I thought it summed up Outside Lands pretty well and most festivals in general. It’s got a negative connotation to it, but a TA at my University once defined himself as a hedonist and at the time it sounded like the most honest look at one’s life I had ever heard. I don’t mean it in its extreme, as it’s often taken, but to some extent it’s what most festivals are in the business for, the senses.
Each year we put together a playlist of our favorites that are performing at Outside Lands, but we got bored of that this year. So we decided on putting together a bunch of Kanye mashups & remixes instead, ’cause Kanye would want it that way. Except them being remixes maybe.
A little disclaimer. For the most part, don’t take these too seriously, especially the first one. Some of the tracks even fall outta sync at times, but each has their moment.
Just prepare yourself with these “unofficial Kanye collaborations” and hope he debuts his official one with Disclosure this Friday at OSL. It could happen. It should happen.
#3 is the best, by the way.
Outside Lands is held inside Golden Gate Park in San Fran and just hit its sixth year running. This was my second go around and both years have held a similar mystique.
The days consist of haze filled skies with a backdrop of what appears to be a misty rainforest, when in fact we’re right smack dab in SF. Each taste of San Francisco subculture is scattered about with accompanying styles of food (love the food). Nights seem to hit sometime around the last act and a certain strange mood fills the air – which in part is brought on by the sunny hazed days mixed with alcohol and the aroma of drugs around you.
I may not experience a festival like this in its pure happiness form that many try for, but I do get a lot out of it. Best described, it’s an unfiltered experience of today’s San Francisco lifestyles all bottled up in one big city park.
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I’ve seen Paul McCartney twice now, once in Minneapolis and the other time at Wrigley Field, and I’m still most excited for him at Outside Lands Festival for 2013. Well, Hall & Oates and Jurassic 5 might be my personal favorites to see, but I’m guessing Paul’s performance will still be my favorite in the end. Which brings up a huge predicament, Pretty Lights plays the same time as Paul. Paul does play earlier, but I couldn’t imagine leaving him to go see PL. If I could only get them to play together…
… also excited to see z Chili Peppers… and even more excited for the food.
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Outside Lands 2012 was an odd affair in a city forest. The music had a sharp range of talent, the food… oh god, the food was sogood and the people were quite pleasant & interesting to talk to. OsL did have its drawbacks though- it was cold as hell, dirty as shit & a trek to get to, but one thing especially bothered me that could’ve turned this massive music fest into a whole ‘nother experience from any other and it just so happens to be what its city & the Bay Area are known for, technology.
Outside Lands takes us back to the beauty of nature and feels more like a party on Safari than in the middle of San Fran, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t try to innovative on what a festival means, especially considering where it’s held. Since the technology capital of the world is right in its backyard, OsL needs to use that to its advantage to become a festival like no other. Not only would a better adoption with technology, especially anything social, help its name spread much farther & deeper across the web, but more importantly revolutionize the music festival experience. From advances in technological art to better socializing the whole festival experience – if OsL doesn’t do it now, they’ll have to do it later, but with many other festivals far ahead of it.
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Outside Lands 2012 has an eclectic set of artists to say the least. I’ll be covering it this year and even though my main goal is to see acts I’ve never heard before, there are a few I know who I’ve got to see! Check out my top picks for Outside Lands 2012 below and let me know who I should and shouldn’t see (here‘s the full line up). If you happen to be going as well, hit me up in the comments or on Twitter and we can meet up!
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