Ah, Sunday. The rubber match of festival days. The final day to weigh the good against the bad & determine if it was worth your time & money. The festival's first day was a complete success (aside from the weather). Saturday had higher temperatures but the music itself was lacking in numerous ways. What would Sunday hold? Would the crowd reclaim some of that fresh enthusiasm that kicked started the weekend? Or would yesterday's ho-hum atmosphere carry over for a lackluster conclusion? Well to answer this one, we'll use another familiar baseball analogy. On Sunday, Outside Lands knocked it clean out of the park.
Mother Nature did its part again with temperatures in the high 60's and not a single cloud in the sky. The bus lines also seemed less crowded and more orderly compared the chaos of the previous two days. I took both of these signs as a good omen as I walked though the relativity short line into the festival.
The first band on our radar was Lord Huron, who hail from Los Angeles. The five piece indie rock group delivered a fascinating set that incorporated hints of delta blues, worldly folk, and Afro-pop guitars. Lead singer Ben Schneider added more percussion between guitar licks, drumming on a single snare drum next to his microphone ala Local Natives.
Creative scatter box musical project, tUnE-yArDs presented the most fascinating show of the weekend. Merrill Garbus, painted face and all, would create each song by consistently looping fragments of noise, adding layers and layers until the schmorgesborg of sound was almost incomprehensible, only to have it drop out complete and replaced with a chanting chorus line. She was joined on stage with a talented bases, whose repetitious funky baselines kept the listener grounded, and small horns section that put the exclamation point on every song.
Mavis Staples was the perfect counter balance to the zaniness of the tUnE-yArDs. Staples' mellow but uplifting soultown mix fit well with the relaxed crowd who was mostly sunbathing on blankets or resting on lawn chairs. Things picked up however when Win Butler of Arcade Fire surprised the audience & joined Mavis in an accurate take on The Band's classic song "The Weight".
Major Lazar turned the Sutro Stage into a 1993 MTV Spring Break dance party. There was a plethora of neon-looking bathing suit attire, cheep imitation Ray-Ban sunglasses, and for whatever reason, quite a few swimming pool noodles. Hype man Skerritt Bwoy was noticeably absent, but the party still raged on.
The crowd was packed for the evening set of gypsy folk rock troubadours, Beirut. The band's Mariachi feel was very fitting of San Francisco's rich Latino history and the whaltzy rhythms provided the perfect soundtrack to the setting sun.
The night ended with two headliners both worthy of their own set. Deadmau5 had the enormous crowd entranced in hypnotic dance beats that relied less on the "drop" and more on the constantly evolving dance beat. The stage was also an impressive array of neon lights and LED screens that synced perfectly to the DJ's music.
Arcade Fire's set wasn't dramatically different from the previous two times we've seen them. That's not to say it wasn't terrific however. I don't know if I'll ever get sick of songs like "We Used to Wait", "Intervention" & "Neighborhood # 3". Win Butler joked about wanting to move to the Bay area until he remembered the sky high cost of a tiny studio apartment and remarked "Montreal's just fine thank you". And in truth, the nine dollar beers were starting to wear thin on our wallets. So while the band played an epic encore of, you guessed it, "Wake Up", we decided to make our way out of Golden Gate Park one final time and waved goodbye to another successful year of Outside Lands.
Lord Huron
Buffalo
Sutro Stage
Graffiti
Ty Segall
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