I’ve been to Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park 3 years in a row now, and it has consistently been a fantastic experience, in fact, it has rapidly become one of my favorite times of the year. The music, food, drink, atmosphere, (and most importantly) the bands are all exceptional, the microcosm of Golden Gate Park cradling a cultural event that brings some of the best bands in the world to San Francisco, showcasing them in a forest filled with art, wine, social experiments and movements, as well as revelrous San Franciscans. Aside from the excitement and cultural aspects of the festival, the experience is an undeniably good way to introduce oneself to new music, revisit old favorites, and to gain a new perspective on artists and genres of music that you might not listen to often. I must admit that Outside Lands is how I expand my musical horizons for the most part, the musical diversity is such that every year I find several bands that create in unique, interesting or foreign ways that are eternally fascinating to me. In 2012 I remember being impressed by Animal Kingdom and The Kills. In 2013, I was enthused by Little Green Cars and Youth Lagoon, and this year was no different in terms of discovery.

On the first day of the 3-day festival I arrived a little late to the festival and so missed the first part of Night Terrors of 1927, who I heard from the queue into the park. The first full set I watched was Greensky Bluegrass, a 5 man bluegrass band from Michigan who tore up the stage with epic jams and long riffs that slid from musician to musician. I found their frontman Paul Hoffman to be an excellent vocalist, and my overall impression was really positive. I’m definitely going to grab a cd of theirs the next time I’m in San Francisco. Next I trekked towards the far side of the festival to listen to Bleachers, an indie band started by a member of the pop group Fun. I don’t recall the Bleachers being bad, but nothing stood out to me other than the chorus of their first single “I Wanna Get Better.” I’m sure the many fans who were stood cheering had a fun time, but I was certainly more entertained by Nahko and Medicine for the People, who put on a really fun show and also played really good music. The band’s facebook page lists their genre as Acoustic Thump-Hop and Real Talk, which I have to say is a good way of describing their musical and lyrical style. Next I stopped by Warpaint, who I had trouble enjoying, so I moved on to stop by Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, who had great vocalists with some really impressive harmonies. I stopped by the main stage to watch Chromeo start to rapturous applause and moved on to see Grouplove, who had some redeeming to do. I saw them a few years ago in Oakland and their performance was disappointing, badly mixed sound and non-functioning visual effects left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Their performance at Outside Lands however, was really fun, the enthusiasm they had for playing in San Francisco was evident, and the energy was shared by the crowd. I stayed at the Sutro stage to watch Tegan & Sara, who I coincidentally saw at the same concert as Grouplove. Their performance was good, but somewhat tedious to sit through for a new listener as the songs began to blend together the further I got into their performance. Although I had the chance to go see Kanye West play on the main stage, I decided that I would stay at the far side of the festival to watch the Arctic Monkeys play as they were a band that I hadn’t really heard all that much of. I think I made the right choice. The Arctic Monkeys were practically perfect in terms of the sheer quality of their performance. Alex Turner commanded the stage like a true rock star, and the band was technically brilliant. The English band capped off a good first day, but the true fun was only starting.

The second day started slowly, the groggy festival-goers filing into the park coffee in hand in droves. I started the day off at Panhandle stage (the best stage of the festival in my opinion) with The Districts, who performed despite their nameplate being misspelled. The Pennsylvania band set the tone of the day with their catchy jams and chill demeanor. Next, I caught a band that I had been recommended by a friendly stranger at another concert in Golden Gate Park, Finish Ticket. This was a band that I had waited to listen to ever since I saw them billed for Outside Lands, and I feel confident my decision was well warranted, because their performance was extremely good, very genuine, and showcased really impressive talent in terms of songwriting and performing ability. This is a bay area band that I’m going to delve deeper into, so I’ll report more of my findings when I’m done. After a quick break for water and a pretzel, I made my way towards the main stage to catch the last moments of the Local Natives show, unwittingly stumbling upon an epic solo and a really great last few songs. I’m glad I caught them, because they only reinforced my enjoyment of a band I already really enjoyed. At this point I wandered about, catching the Duck Sauce Soiree (on a special cooking stage where artists and chefs prepared food to music) and relaxed in a cordoned-off area where technology was forbidden. After a short break to help recoup my energies, I ventured forth into the ocean of people once more. Vance Joy’s stage was so packed I couldn’t get near enough to hear well, so I decided to catch the first few songs of Capital Cities (who have that one song) before heading to see the John Butler Trio. This was a band that I (I’m reminded by Cameron that he had shown me one of their instrumental songs a little while ago), nor the people I was with were familiar with, but they were extremely good, music that was really easy to listen to, another band that I plan to listen to more. After listening to that entire set, I headed to the main stage to watch Death Cab For Cutie and wait for Tom Petty. Death Cab For Cutie had a good set, but nothing outstanding in terms of what I’d already seen that day. After that came Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, one of my favorite bands as a kid. The vibe was awesome, Tom Petty is pretty much the undisputed king of Outside Lands, and he showed San Francisco a groovy time, despite many people leaving to go see Macklemore & Ryan Lewis perform once he began straying from his hits to his more recent recordings. Speaking of Macklemore, I left early on the second day, early enough to catch the final few songs of his set, and to see the marriage proposal that preceded Same Love. After a long day of good music and good vibes, I returned home exhausted.

On the final day, the park was filled with a strange nostalgia. Everyone was tired, drained from the previous two days of food, music and fun, but firmly determined to finish the event. I was very focused on a single goal for the day however; get as far in front to the main stage as possible for the closing act of the festival. The day started off meeting up with another friend, and hearing the news that Chvrches had been canceled due to some snafu in customs. This allowed for a little breathing room in the schedule on the main stage, meaning that the first band of the day, Imelda May, was allowed a little extra time to do their thing. I was really surprised by Imelda May, an Irish band with a multi-talented crew of musicians that really got me grooving. I may have even danced a little, and I’m not really a dancing kind of guy. Next I journeyed to the Sutro stage to see Lucius, who’s strange mix of pop and indie styles was pretty engaging to listen to. Next came Jenny Lewis, who’s folksy, indie rock set a peculiar backdrop to the intense Magic game that I was having with a friend while camped on the green in the warm San Francisco afternoon. After that, we made the final trek to the main stage to begin camping for the front. I was getting food and refilling water for most of Spoon’s set, a really solid collection of rock songs with a warm addition of some psychedelic elements. The real psychedelic show was to come however, with The Flaming Lips putting on one of the most outlandish, entertaining shows I’ve ever seen. The first thing erected on the stage was a chandelier of what I can only describe as light-noodles, while the lead singer Wayne Coyne emerged to throw flowers into the crowd while the crew set up the stage. Some highlights from the set have to be the various people led onto the stage dressed as butterflies, stars, aliens, mushrooms, even two people dressed as a rainbow. At one point Coyne got into a giant plastic ball and crowd-walked to the sound booth and back, and there was also a strange light-ball-child-thing (this is the best way I can describe it really) that Coyne coddled and swung about as he performed. Last but not least however, was the closing act of Outside Lands, a band that I’ve seen many a time before, and a blog favorite, The Killers. If you want to know more about The Killers, all you have to do is go read my Top 30 list I made for them. The show was incredible, being in the front row again for such an experience was extraordinary, the band reinforced their billing with a fantastic set and sent Outside Landers home buzzing and smiling ear to ear.

For anybody reading who attended Outside Lands, what were your impressions? What bands did you see? For fans of the bands I mentioned, send me your thoughts and recommendations, I’m always looking to listen to some new music!

Thank you for reading,



Alexander